Getting started with customer segmentation, the disconnect between design and business, and using Blue Ocean Strategy to uncover opportunities
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ISSUE 11
Welcome to the (lightly) refreshed Designers in Business newsletter!

It's been a year since I launched this project, so a great time for a little update to make things easier to consume and curate.

In other DiB news, you can now get more great content via the new Twitter account. Expect more useful resources to help you gain business confidence, as well as highlights from previous editions of this newsletter.

I'd love to hear what you think of the punchier format. Does it work for you? Are you enjoying the recent curations?

Drop me a reply to this email, or even a Tweet :)


Tom Prior - Curator
Photo of Matt Faulk
​​This short interview with Matt Faulk explores his journey from UX freelancer to entrepreneur and agency founder, acquiring valuable business skills along the way.​​
THE EXPLAINER:
Who’s who: Understanding your business with customer segmentation

As a business grows, it's client base usually does too. It can be hard to really know your customer when an audience becomes particularly broad. When that time comes, segmentation can help. This excellent primer from
Intercom covers the process in detail.
Illustration from an Intercom article about customer segmentation
THE DISCUSSION:
Sarah Tavel: The Value of Intellectual Rigor

Continuing from last month's metrics-focused issue, this fascinating discussion for the
Farnam Street Podcast explores (amongst other things) the danger of businesses optimising for the wrong measures.
Screenshot of a podcast listing for the Farnam Street podcast
THE QUOTE:
"This one trick could increase your business IQ as a UXer: When you’re working on a project, try adding a slide or two of context for why this project is being done and how is it expected to help the business.

Don’t just know it, say it in your own words in there."

THE SOURCES:
A spotlight on the people and organisations providing great business content on the regular. Ones to follow, bookmark and support.
Excuse the self-promotion, but Designers in Business finally has a Twitter account. Follow for more useful links, polls and discussions.


Icon for the Designers in Business Twitter profile
The team behind the Design MBA have been releasing some great content lately, particularly their podcast series and graduate stories.

Icon for the dMBA
If you're interested in how reinventing our economic models could empower sustainable systemic change, then Rebecca's work is for you.

Photo of Rebecca Henderson
THE LISTEN:
In this podcast interview with Invision, Abigail explores how to thoughtfully use numbers to articulate design's value and impact.
Photo of Abigail Hart Gray
THE THREAD:
Screenshot of the start of a Twitter thread by Andy Budd
The Art of Managing Stakeholders Through Product Discovery

Ever found yourself challenged by one of businesses most feared creatures, the HiPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)? Stakeholder management is an art, and this brilliant article by Teresa Torres is packed with sage advice to help level up your HiPPO taming skills.
Photo of a hippo in a lake
THE BOOK:

I'm a fan of the strategy canvas as a tool to understand a competitive space and uncover opportunities for design. It comes from this book, a must read for anyone interested in exploring new ways to stand apart from the competition.
Cover of the book Blue Ocean Strategy
THE TALK:
Bobby Ghoshal: The fastest ways to get your business to invest in design

There are no punches pulled in this reality-check talk from
Bobby Ghoshal, delivered at the Aiga Design Conference 2017. Bobby sets his stall out clearly in the opening minute: "Designers, become business-minded or become irrelevant". 
Frame from a talk by Bobby Ghoshal
Are you enjoying Designers in Business? Know someone who might be starting their own journey to business confidence?

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Tom - Curator of Designers in Business
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