I’ve had a recurring thought of late: differentiation through design. I feel the two are synonymous, like success and happiness.
In strategy meetings with colleagues and in proposals written for clients, that very word surfaces again and again —not as a mild prescription, but an imperative: Differentiate or die.
It is simply the best way to separate one product, brand or service from the next, when all other variables appear to be equal.
What’s unique or different about your company, product or service?
Many clients will struggle to answer this question.
Those of us who are keenly aware of the power of design to differentiate also know it can be one of the most elusive tactics to deliver on for our clients. Differentiating something —be it a product, brand, service, or frictionless onboarding experience has become one of the most challenging aspects of creating products for the digital economy.
I am reminded of the heaps of useless apps vying for our attention in Chris Cunningham’s post for Ad Age which suggests there’s a Darwinism of iPhone apps coming. Mobile applications with the same general UX patterns, cookie-cutter PWAs and CMS platforms perpetuating the plug-and-play template mindset.
Look around. Hardware too is a prime example. The lack of differentiation in devices is becoming more obvious and monotonous. Smartphones, laptops, and tablets are all beginning to look and function exactly the same. A thin rectangular slab of glass with radiused edges. The patent infringement cases fought between Apple and Samsung in recent years only underscore this lack of design differentiation.
Don’t get me wrong, hardware and software production best practices are important considerations, but when everything starts looking and feeling the same, the results are largely bland and forgettable.