Lego is perhaps one of the best and popular toys for kids. It is educational, and most of all it develop kids mental and creative ability. That was before, as at one point in time, the toy became boring. It seems everything is just simply putting in blocks together, and deciding what you want to put up while making the best color combination of course.

Problem

The company’s problem began during the late 1990s when they stopped focusing on design.  They wanted to extend the brand by venturing off on wild forays into new product development. A good example if the Galidor, a legendary bomb inside the walls of Lego. The Galidor line was launched in 2002 and was all about action figures. But the action figures where quite different, it didn’t require building skills, the hallmark of the traditional Lego.

Moreover, they branched into a totally new business line in which they have little knowledge about. The company co-produced a kid’s TV show called Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension. It was meant to sell their new toy line. But it sparked little interest and when it went off-air, the sales of the new toy line faded too.

Solution: Design Transformed

Just as design pushed Lego at the brink, it helped bring the company back. Instead of giving designers free rein to conjure up their most brilliant creations, Lego tied their hands. Instead of rubber-stamping nearly every request for a new component, what Lego did was simple. They put each one to a vote, and the highest vote-getters’ design are put into use. Thus, it eliminated rarely used pieces, slashing the total number of components to about 7,000.

Conclusion

Design is Lego’s key competitive advantage. Over the years, there were several players emerged including that of Mega Brands with nearly half the price cheaper.

But then, with the competitive and dynamic management team, if there is a reason they rose back in the market, then there must be a reason to stay.

Good business treat designs as a holistic process that pulls in savvy marketing and research, as well as smart ideas. Although, it may not always be equal to good business, the point is the companies which create new sources of value in the world are most often achieved through a well structured design process that is more holistic and inclusive that the notion of good design.

In our world today, when one speaks of design, it would seem to be always a noun or even an adjective. They would always follow it with a question about what color? Etc. But more than ever, good design has come to stand for something similar with style. It comes in a largely relativistic judgment of aesthetics and semiotics informed by a constantly shifting zeitgeist.

Although at times, many people would tend to go for things that are aesthetically pleasing, sometimes it reach through a point that design is actually a class of shallow of luxury goods aimed at a specific set of buyers. And this doesn’t represent any lasting value at all.

And to provide remedy, it would always be better to treat design as a verb, a process, and a way of approaching challenges to learn to use, to create positive change in the business arena. At first, it might be hard due to the notion instilled to us on what design is. But with dedication, you would eventually realize the enormous value of design to humanity.

The relationship of design and market success is always parallel to each other. Success in the marketplace is always a result of understanding complex endeavor that allowed one to create a good process design. More than good design actually.

Take the case of Apple, Google, Microsoft, these are all companies who prides themselves with good design. And the result? A very successful presence in the industry.