So how much does it cost to not have clarity to your product or service?

There was a time I’d look at this solely as a design question. And then, I did the math. Every bad design decision led to something implemented that needed continual support. So, I’d started looking at the costs associated to support (support staff, training, documentation, governance/auditing, etc)…

…the math gets a bit unwieldy, but its actually a fairly straightforward answer every time.

The lack of clarity of a product or service equals the costs you are willing to absorb by having others pay for it. And yes, some companies are simply better at selling their liabilities than they are the product or service. I don’t mean they are actually selling you a service, they are selling you their lack of clarity…

…and here is where my design friends tend to fall voice-lessened. Design (call it UX, HCD, service design, etc) sincerely wishes that the value is held more in clarity than the lack of it. Unfortunately, in spaces where it is easier/faster/etc to sell folks on continual lack of clarity the voice of clarity (and its speed to implement) doesn’t make the math work.

Interesting that in these changing times where types of businesses which have organized around a lack of clarity don’t value design (customer experience, sound engineering, accessibility excellence, etc) are feeling most threatened due to clarity from a disruptor…

…its almost as if a lot of this could have been avoided, or at least better mitigated, by simply listening to what is really being paid for.