will "good enough" kill the digital design agency?

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Ryan McCormack :: May 2010 http://bitstrategist.com

Will “Good Enough” kill the digital design agency?

Ryan McCormack :: May 2010 :: http://bitstrategist.com

Outline

•  Abundance, scarcity and commoditization

•  The “good enough” revolution

•  The spectrum of graphic design

•  Cathedrals, bazaars and the digital design agency

•  Summary & Closing thoughts


Two caveats


Designing for business

Art


Abundance, scarcity and commoditization


“Abundance breaks more things than scarcity does.”

– Clay Shirky


Gutenberg Bible (Printed ca. 1445)


A Catholic Indulgence (ca. 1445)

Martin Luther’s “95 Theses”


Johannes Trithemius (Bishop of Sponheim) “In Praise of Scribes” (1494)


Scarcity drives commodification

Commodification: The process by which something acquires economic value (and can thus be sold).


Abundance drives commoditization

Commoditization: The process by which goods that used to be distinguishable in terms of attributes wind up becoming mere commodities.


What’s the tipping point?


Characteristics of a commodity

•  Product differentiation difficult

•  Competition based primarily on price

•  Increased competition

•  Reduced customer loyalty

•  Increased pressure on margins


The “good enough” revolution

See Wired: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/17-09/ff_goodenough


Digital video

• Lower quality • Less features • Easy! Fun! Cheap!

• Great quality • Feature rich • Hard to use & Expensive


Telephony

• Lower quality • Calls drop • Cheap (or Free) • Location-independent

• “Reliable” service • Better call quality • Hard to use & Expensive • Geography-dependent


Music

• Lower fidelity • Infinitely reproducible • Cheap and portable

• Higher fidelity • Harder to reproduce • Not as portable


Software

• Just enough features • Downloadable • Free (or $500)

• Feature rich • Complex • $4000


The spectrum of graphic design


Traditional


Graphic Arts


Politics and Propaganda


Advertising


Identity


Digital


The first web page (ca 1991)


Maturity and open standards make design easier


No wheel reinvention


Patterns mean different problems


Efficiency accelerates results


Processes are clearer


Platforms lower barriers to entry


Underlying technologies

Linux

Web server

Server software

Database software


Multimedia distribution platforms


Publishing platforms

Wordpress

Drupal


The pool of talent has exploded


Cathedrals, Bazaars and the digital design agency


Trust us…


http://www.chrisbrogan.com/a-perfect-dichotomy/


So what’s possible with free tools?


Summary & Closing thoughts


What separates the cathedral & bazaar?

•  Design “quality”

•  Cost of services

•  Uniqueness of design & experience

•  Systemic thinking and underlying strategy (e.g., scalability, extensibility)


Summary

•  Abundance creates more problems than scarcity

•  Digital design is evolving quickly due to an abundance of platforms, tools and knowledge

•  Quality differences are subjective

•  Business decisions can trump artistic value


So is the digital design agency doomed?


DIY Ramen w/cookbook: •  4 grocery stores •  2 days :: 12 hrs cooking :: 2 hrs cleaning


Closing thoughts

•  Digital design for marketing is a commodity

•  For every commodity created, a new opportunity is born


Thank you! Questions?


References

•  Clay Shirky: “Here comes everybody” (2008)

•  Eric Raymond: “The Cathedral & the Bazaar” (1992)

•  Wired.com: “The good enough revolution” (2009)