Drawing by Dane Howard.
Dane Howard is a designer and entrepreneur who helps companies design, prototype, and build products.

Involving Designers in the process of creating good products that sell is becoming more and more of a trend these days.

According to an article in Techonomy written by Ebay design leader Dane Howard, “Customer-centric companies need a design-oriented corporate culture. The goal is to build products and services driven by empathy.” The idea is that Designers are the next CEO Whisperers—they listen intently to what the company’s goals are, and then translate that into a great customer experience.

Howard goes on to say, “Design should be a factor in the entire end-to-end experience of using a product or service. Companies without strong design in their culture make decisions differently. Their criteria are usually more about business performance and less about connecting with customers. Much of the customer insight, passion, and empathy is likely to be stripped out of the design process in order to reach such a fixed target.”

More and more companies are inviting designers into the executive suite. And as a result, designers are using their listening skills to help companies build a reputation for craft and care in their products.

Here is a glimpse of Dane Howard talking about “CEO Whisperers.”

To read the full article, click here: The Next CEO Whisperers: Designers