The best aesthetic design in the world doesn’t matter if the model doesn’t work.
I am often asked about the first step in my design process for a restaurant company. Some people are surprised when I tell them I start by seeking to understand the brand’s economics at all levels first. Different restaurants have very different operating models, competitors, and ownership structures. In order to meet the design needs, you have to understand how their model works. I didn’t always do this and I wish I had learned this lesson earlier in my career. I used to view design solely as how it looked. That’s, of course, very important, but that isn’t all there is to it. After all, the design is part of the overall business model and if the model doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter how good the design looks.
Understanding the complete picture
Helping a person or a company make the right choices in design means developing a deeper understanding of the business’s financial drivers — well beyond the standard “What’s your budget?” question. For example, a franchise company has a very good understanding of their sales-to-cost ratio and the designer needs to know what that is. If that ratio is out of whack, the design team needs to understand that and tell the client. I have worked with a few chains that bang their heads against the same wall hoping for a hipper fast-casual store design for a brand that can’t support it financially. Understanding that from the start means that a design can be approached realistically and a design suggested that meets the client’s financial reality which is also more than likely much more aligned with their position in the first place. Understanding the sales channels also has a huge effect on where to focus. As an example, many are now forecasting 40% or even more in off-premise but their sore design devotes 10% of the space to executing on that. That’s an imbalance that needs to be carefully considered and designed for.
What’s the competition doing and what are they spending?
A good design team will also research and advise on how the model compares with the client’s competitors. If your intent is to help your clients achieve long-term success, you have to understand the bigger picture and the investment model as it compares to the industry. Be assured, the investment community is doing this calculation and, eventually, it will be factored into the brand’s long-term value. As a brand grows, the differences become a major factor in its long-term ability to stay relevant, resilient, and to adapt to the inevitable changes that come along.
There’s a great scene in the movie “The Right Stuff” where a reporter is explaining to the test pilots being recruited for the Mercury space program that funding is what keeps the fancy machines they love to fly in the air. He sums it up by saying, “No bucks. No Buck Rogers.” Understanding that prototypes don’t get built unless the financial model is successful is the same thing. Maybe in our industry, the saying should be, “No bucks. No burritos.”
COMING SOON. I’ll continue with the next steps in my design process in two future posts:
- Understanding the brand purpose and position
- Follow the guest journey and make sure the design responds to EVERY interaction point
