New satisfactions often emanate from new utility. But more than ever before, new satisfactions also spring from other sources - sources that speak to our desire for artistic beauty, emotional significance and meaningful experience.
Design has taken center stage in the quest for new satisfaction. Target stands toe to toe with the Walmart Goliath, primarily by bringing a design ethic to the masses. A decade ago could we have imagined a toilet brush designed by a renowned architect, Michael Graves, or a trashcan by Rashid Garbo that has sold millions at retail and appears in The Museum of Modern Art in New York?
As Daniel Pink explained in A Whole New Mind:
“For businesses, it’s no longer enough to create a product that’s reasonably priced and adequately functional. It must also be beautiful, unique, and meaningful …”
And as it turns out, great design has not only compelling emotional value, but functional value as well. In one study, patients in well-designed hospital rooms needed less pain medication and were discharged two days earlier than patients with identical ailments who were treated in less appealing hospital rooms.
In an age of abundance, design is an indispensable tool for creating wildly enthusiastic customers.
