One of my favorite topics is design. In fact "design thinking" is a topic I've blogged about in the past. That's why Tom Peters' book Design appealed to me. Tom Peters is not in the landscape business and he's not a designer. But he knows design.
Not I'm not saying he knows a good landscape design from a bad one. I have no idea whether he does or not. He uses the term "design" to describe a much broader concept.
In the book he encourages the application of "design thinking" to all aspects of business, product design, marketing, systems and more.
Here are a couple of examples.
I recently switched my cellular service to AT&T. That is the same company that handles my land line and internet. I called to inquire about combining the billing. I get one bill with my internet and land line on it. Seems to me they ought to be able to add the cell phone to the same bill. After 10 minutes of discussion with the rep on the phone, I was told that I need a different plan (with a cost of course), to get that feature. Also, I would have to call the wireless division. Huh? The woman laughed at me for assuming that she would be able to handle it. Nice. Bad design.
When someone calls your company after hours, how is he or she greeted? One company I know has the voice mail say something like "You have reached _____. Our office is now closed. If you are prospective customer, press 1 for the sales department. If you are a current design customer, press 2 for the design department..." and so on through a half dozen departments. Then, at the very end, "For a company directory, press 0." Are you kidding me? That should be the first option. Bad design.
There are other problems with the message as well ("sales department"? How about "to reach a design consultant"?), but that's another topic.
Anyway, consider this an intro. There will be other posts on "design thinking." This book struck a chord.
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