faster horse

Many creatives feel that, due to AI, the tasks involved in design are shifting away from manual work and toward cognitive work. And the latter in a specific direction: less reflective, more predictive.

This development might come in handy. Most companies utilizing AI struggle to create authenticity and identity. They speed up the execution but fall behind in creating distinction: most of what AI delivers is interchangeable. To avoid this, someone needs to show AI the way, define the company’s essence, and, beyond that, explain how this essence will affect the many touchpoints. Someone must hold the reins when it comes to design and make sure that AI doesn’t gallop away. As with automation and digitalization before, the comprehensive use of AI to generate touchpoints can save significant resources and, above all, time. But what good is a faster horse if you’re transporting nothing of value? Banalities will reach customers faster and with greater ferocity, but they will leave them unimpressed. The problem will only get worse.

For a company to reap the benefits of efficient, effective AI in creating design specifications, it must pursue a differentiated strategy and employ specialists who know how to leverage AI to yield authenticity and relevance. A flood of interchangeable images generated by AI campaigns and products is currently shaking up the market. Only those who break out of the mold and generate actual customer relevance will be able to convince the increasingly dwindling customer base. Those who use AI only to optimize their bottom line by saving time and resources are just doing what everyone else is doing—and they won’t gain impact. However, those who use AI to optimize their top line by creating customer relevance and developing aesthetically appealing offerings can achieve long-term success.

This change requires companies to employ specialists who can develop a differentiated and customer-relevant strategy and translate it into outstanding, unique, and aesthetically appealing customer experiences. People who are not only creative designers but also support the company in ways that keep it on track in everything it does. A profile that moves between the usual silos of marketing, product management, development, and design. A profile that is neither fish nor fowl, but both. Fish-birds, so to speak.

I fear that companies will continue to ride their old horses to death. The poor animals are now being fitted with an AI booster. In many cases, it’s futile: as long as you don’t change your perspective—and generate profits by adding value rather than taking it away—you’ll soon have to admit that customers are leaving their tips somewhere else. After all, profits don’t go to the company with the best AI, but to the one with the best customers.

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer,” Peter Drucker once said. After 35 years working with companies, agencies, and consultants, I still must conclude that most organizations do not put the customer at the center of their business and that shareholder relevance far outweighs customer relevance. While everyone complains, few are successful: Steve Jobs (also Tim Cook) and Jeff Bezos are frequently quoted, and their successes prove them right. So why doesn’t everyone follow their strategy? After all, it’s pretty simple. You need to put the customer at the center of everything you do and have capable employees who can implement this strategy, also with AI.

Customer-centered design isn’t new, but it is new to many companies. It focuses on one’s own capacity to design and manage the company to benefit the customer. It establishes the necessary framework conditions for implementing AI that benefit the customer. It implements design management across the company, taking the reins and keeping the herd of AI horses together.

Does that sound like an intriguing task? Then join me at HSLU for further training as a design manager, brand manager, or CX manager.

Would you like to implement this in your company? Then you can get in touch with me; my partners at Customer Metrics and Vetica are ready to help!