I recently talked with Tom Peters about his upcoming keynote address at the AIA convention. Peters' insight about design is either refreshing or alarming, depending on your point of view. He has said repeatedly—at the convention, in his talks, on his Website—that "Design Matters," and his commitment to this principle shines forth in all he says.

Others in the business world echo this sentiment. Harvard's Robert Hayes states, "Fifteen years ago companies competed on price, now it's quality. Tomorrow it's design." Sony's Norio Ohga says, "We assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology, price, performance, and features. Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the marketplace."

Is design a noun or a verb to you? Do you think of a design, as in a building or an "it?" Or are you applying "it" to a firm, professional community, or whatever issue on whatever scale you choose? Let's go further: Apple's Steve Jobs says, "Design is the fundamental soul of a manmade creation." Tom Peters says the soul of experience is design mindfulness.

We can see that many people—architects and nonarchitects alike—are expanding their definition of design. Clients are stating how they perceive architects and the role of architects, while architects in turn are seeing the potential and taking steps to move into these stated areas of need and demand.

Okay, as tempting as pursuit of these lofty definitions and theories of design may be, it's time for a reality check. Following are studies that validate the changes many firms report are occurring, as well as some examples of architects who are expanding and reinventing architecture and even the societal "framework" to architecture to which we contribute.

Research under way
We recently initiated a marketplace research study of why people "think the way they think," which is a part of the overall AIA research program directed by John Eberhard, FAIA. Foremost, it revealed that clients want "architecture professionals" to see the physical facility that they require as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. To achieve this shift in thinking requires that the architect adopt a relationship-based approach with the client. To do so, the architect needs to be able to discuss strategy, design, and implementation of the built environment in terms and context that clients understand and view as relevant to their area of expertise. In short, the architect must "think the way the clients think."

We thought that the clients of educational environments would be a likely group to start this study. I facilitated the first of three "think tanks" on the MIT campus, with five educators and five architects with firms specializing in education environments. The study—a cooperative effort of the AIA and the National School Boards Association, in conjunction with the Committee on Architecture for Education—intends to:
• Question clients about the broader issues they face as stakeholders in creating the built environment
• Prioritize these issues
• Develop knowledge to share with both the client and the architect.

The first think tank indicated that these clients would like the architect to:
• Facilitate helping the client think in new ways—learning by looking beyond
• Assume the role of a "trusted advisor" as facilitator of communication—integrating efforts with the community
• Be a facilitator creating a learning loop and knowledge database—from project vision to maintenance
• Help the client (whether educator, administrator, operator, or school-board member) to ask the right questions about project design and implementation.

A second study involves 91 participants within the building industry. Working with AIA Communications Director Chuck Hamlin, the Context-Based Research Group is using an "ethnographic" study approach, in which anthropologists observe and interview participants to determine how they truly think about architects and the built environment process—beyond what they say they think and feel. Click here to read more about the study. (Link) I think you will be amazed to discover—even at this preliminary stage—the links and patterns between the two studies.

Start with relationship
Valuing communication and relationships, defining architect (the noun or the verb), and offering the client value in the early strategic stages all connect to the Redefinition scenario matrix. Architecture has an increasing impact in the integration/strategic contextual issue portion of the matrix. But how does an architect move into the quadrant of integration/strategy and specialization? Many believe the architect should start with relationship.

Collaborate: Mohanbir Sawhney in the Spring issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review, writes that while relationship marketing assumes that firms relate to clients, collaborative marketing requires that firms work with clients to define, design, and deliver value. So, he says, don't just relate—collaborate! He stresses that reversing your vantage point to think "outside-in" instead of "inside-out," will cause you to ask critical questions, such as:
• What do clients really want from you?
• What do clients really buy from you?
• What do they do to reach the outcomes they seek?
• What do clients do that you can perform better—and vice versa?

Sawhney stresses that only when firms collaborate with end users can the quest for the value in the new marketplace reach its full potential. (The Redefinition scenario matrix is shown with the overlay of the SPARKS cultural archetypes and their gravitation along the matrix.)

Concept services: Callison Architecture, Seattle, provides branding and concept services to clients. Principal Rick Meyer, FAIA, says that clients select Callison for its ability to create experiences that meet the design and financial strategy of the client. In other words, the "it" that Callison offers is strategy-based design that addresses the emotion and the image the client provides to its own customers. Callison employs an internal management structure that needs to work both ends of the integration and implementation axis and make the critical connection between the two ends of the spectrum.

Organization strategy: OP-X, Washington, D.C., offers critical organization strategy for its clients. They know that it is efficient to develop and define strategy prior to design, yet, recognizing the comfort factor of the client, they will wait for the appropriate opportunity to shift "back" to the strategy then come around again with design. Clients have hired OP-X to solve "design problems" that are not building-related because the firm provides an integrated service and value through strategy design. By challenging the client to make decisions, OP-X ends up being hired to do more work as it shifts back into the programming and organization strategy phases to help the client make decisions.

Trusted advisor: BC&J, Seattle, excels in creating community, bringing people, values, and design together. Principal Peter Brachvogel, AIA, takes on a "trusted advisor" role with clients by connecting with the spirit and the emotion of the issue. The firm wraps clients up in the process, enabling their desired experience to be implemented. The passion they bring to the client produces a trust to move further into the organization and integrate the design message.

Full circle
Perhaps the moral of the story is that you can define design for yourself! Returning full circle to Tom Peters, note that he calls business today "a brawl with no rules" and defines the "soul of experience" as "design mindfulness" while he challenges his audience to "re-invent the brand called you." He is fond of quoting Dee Hock, who said, "The problem is never how to get new innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get the old ones out." So, what's in your head? Drop us a line and let us know, rhobbs@aia.org.

What Do the Clients Think?
Research shows clients want "trusted advisors" from the outset of a project

A second study currently under way involves 91 participants within the building industry. Working with AIA Communications Director Chuck Hamlin, the Context-Based Research Group is using an "ethnographic" study approach, in which anthropologists observe and interview participants to determine how they truly think about architects and the built environment process—beyond what they say they think and feel. The study will be used to refine the advertising message that the AIA uses in continuation of its successful advertising campaign.

The study was designed to:
• Understand how architects fit into the built environment process
• Define AIA audiences (the marketplace)
• Provide a platform for the 2002 marketing messages
(You can compare this to any professional design firm working on its strategic thinking process).

We will tie the results of the study, of course, to our ongoing work in the Marketplace Research arena, taking advantage of "triangulation."

The study included 91 participants from three distinct client mindsets and management levels.
• Government: This group uses architects, and, as clients, they seem to feel encumbered to expand traditional relationships. They believe they cannot expand beyond the narrow role of the architect.
• Builder of Product: This group makes money from the sale/lease of commercial or residential properties. The way they relate with procedures and relationships vary by company: some are very limited; others are open to a wide range of services.
• Owners/operators: This group encompasses all others. They are more thoughtful about how space impacts people, value long-term functionality and usability, and are open to think beyond traditional to new architect-client relationships. They are searching for open thinking, because they value more highly differentiation of design. (These are the types of clients Tom Peters talks about.)

Key findings
Several key findings emerged from an analysis across all participants, markets, and organization levels:

Communication and relationship: Architects have the opportunity to demonstrate their value not just as designers but throughout the process by taking on a role that the client describes as of "master communicator."

Who is my architect?: The client's perception of the architect is not always consistent with the reality of what architects can and want to do. Clients say they see design as a noun, a tangible thing that architects create. To the architect, design is a verb. Further, clients see architects as great assets, designers, problem-solvers, and innovators; but also as ego-driven, not team-oriented, and challenged by business and construction skills and understanding.

Flexibility: Clients see built environment projects as driven by change. A well functioning team in their mind provides flexibility and creativity, adapts to change, and constantly communicates throughout the process. The client sees change as stress, and seeks simplicity and accountability in a professional.

Evaluation: The clients see "end-user" involvement and satisfaction as critical to any successful project, and, currently, the end user and end user liaison is absent from several stages of the process. The clients feel that architects have the capability to step in as user liaison and enhance the value of the architect throughout the process.

The research offers detailed picture of the client's view of a built environment project from start to finish. It includes the following phases:
• Genesis
• Focus
• Design
• Build
• Operate.

It is interesting to contrast this definition of phases to that used by Razorfish (a dot-com advertising/research/design firm) in its strategic thinking process and approach to user-centered design:
• Clarify
• Architect
• Design
• Implement
• Enhance.

It's interesting to note that the clients' sense of the "big five steps" of the building process differs from that of the AIA Owner/Architect B141 Document definition, and that "design" is the constant of all three lists.

Digging deeper
Drilling down just a little deeper in the project's genesis phase, the report states that the apparent role of the architect in the genesis phase is limited in the client's eyes. Therefore, the architect's role has great opportunity for growth in two broad areas:
• As industry specialists: As specialization increases, architects could become experts not only in particular building types, but also in the users of those building types and alignment of their business strategies.
• As building-industry trend-spotters: Clients already expect architects to be on top of current trends. Now this expertise and perspective is of value early in the strategic process of the client's management of change.

Stay tuned.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.