You're Wasting Time on Design (Hot Take)

Design is everywhere, from the shape of your computer to the layout of a website to the flow of a building.

And design is critical… but only after you get the message right.

My toddler is obsessed with Toy Story. Like, the original movie from 1995. And if I’m going to have to watch the same movie on repeat, boy am I glad he chose this one.

Toy Story was a revolution in filmmaking, the first full-length motion picture created completely on a computer. It opened the floodgates to the movie industry we know today.

But I bet when I said “Toy Story,” that’s not the first thing you thought about.

You thought about Woody, the cowboy on a mission to make Andy happy, whose deepest fear is being lost or left behind.

You thought about Buzz Lightyear, the space ranger on a mission to defend the galaxy and struggling to accept his true identity as a toy who can’t actually fly.

Maybe you remembered Sid, the terrifying kid next door who blows up toys just for fun.

And that emotional final scene on the street where Woody and Buzz chase after the car and catch back up with Andy in the nick of time, where Woody narrowly avoids becoming a lost toy and Buzz saves the day by flying.

In other words, you thought about characters, villains, and the emotional story at its core. The fact that it was a technical triumph is second to the story.

Design can elevate a compelling story, but it cannot save a weak one.

The Design Trap

Have you ever spent thousands of dollars on a web designer, or having a trade show booth built, or having a brochure designed, or an email sales sequence written, and seen practically no results?

I hear it from my clients all the time. And it’s heartbreaking.

“I spent $10,000 having a sales funnel built and I never got a single lead from it.”

It’s always beautiful. Like, a work of art. But it doesn’t connect with anyone, because the words are empty, shallow, or confusing.

That’s what happens when we put design before content, before story.

Whether it’s the messaging on your company’s website, or the email newsletter you send out, or the sales conversation you have with a prospect…

You must get the words right, first.

Once you can weave a compelling story that moves people to action in plain old text, then and only then should you focus on design.

Start here:

• What does your customer want?
• What’s stopping them from getting it?
• How does what you do or sell help them solve that problem?

Those are the same questions expert storytellers ask themselves about their characters. And what is life if not a story?

Your customers are living out a story where they are the main character. Meet them in that story by articulating, in words, where they are and how you can help them.

I’ll say it again: Designers do amazing work. Anyone in business today needs great designers in their circle.

Message first.

Design second.

And by the way, your designers will thank you.