The COVID-19 crisis, has certainly been just that, a crisis. At this writing, it appears that it will continue to be a challenge and a tragedy for some time to come. By no means do I mean to minimize the horrific experiences of a great many people, but I am certain that we will persevere and the world will go on. But what should businesses do now?

While watching what’s going on around me, I can’t help but ponder the long-term effects of shutting down all but our most essential activities.  Before all of this started, the economy was humming along and driving record stock market levels and lots of activity.  Things were buzzing and with all that vibration, like with particulate matter in a churned-up lake, many of our ideas about life and business were in suspension.  Now, because of the virus, the activity and vibrations have calmed down.  All those ideas, habits, and protocols previously in suspension, are now settling.  I think it will be fascinating to watch which of these falls into the cracks of the proverbial lakebed never to be seen again, and which will remain near the surface as part of our ongoing ecosystem.

With that analogy in mind, how might we speculate on where to put our business and innovation resources now during the COVID-19 crisis to work for the future?

Are there things companies can be doing now to prepare for the future?  What will remain, and what will be forever changed, and how should businesses prepare?  Here are a few thoughts, examples, and questions…

For a relatively long time, we have all been aware of what’s doable with video conferencing, although many of us have not had situations that provide incentives to use this common and ever-improving technology. Now though, it has become essential, and workable, for almost everyone.  In light of the tragic nature of Covid19 this may seem silly, but my wife and I have been doing virtual happy-hours with friends.  We prop up our respective iPads on each of our home coffee tables, sit on our individual couches, clink our glasses against the screen and enjoy each other’s company.  While I never would have believed it, there are several aspects of this experience that I might actually prefer over being there in person (for instance, it’s easier to “go home” when you have had enough).  While my little example is social in nature, I imagine that business people everywhere are discovering new virtual and remote ways to get things done.  More importantly, with each passing week, we are all becoming more accustomed to doing things differently.  This familiarity, as with the adoption of all new technologies, will liberate us to find new ways to operate and new tolerances for any perceived shortcomings in the past.

Okay, so what’s all of that mean to businesses?

Well, for one, real estate is probably in for major upheaval. Why should companies continue to pay for buildings that sit empty for 14 of 24 hours now that employees and managers realize that you can actually do a lot of work from home?  Consequently, how will architects design houses and offices?  How will furniture, both home and business, change?  (I personally feel the need for a home conferencing module of some kind.)  And, how will we make use of our abundant, yet now potentially obsolete, existing real estate?

There are also other simple things that I suspect will be forever changed.  Hand washing and public access to water, for instance.  Our common and collective thoughts about germs, no doubt, have been permanently modified.  How many of us would use a common drinking fountain, as currently designed, in an airport right now?  Not me. This could all be bad news for drinking fountain manufacturers because their current products might be obsolete.  But while drinking fountains as we know them might go away, the need for public access to water will likely not.  Who better than the drinking fountain manufactures to figure out the answers? Geez, now that I think about it, probably anything (everything) that people “touch,” particularly in public places, will now need to change (for the better) to remain viable and compelling.

How about retail checkout lanes and associated protocols?  My brother-in-law works at a large garden center in Wisconsin.  Their business is considered essential because they sell lots of seeds and plants for food gardens.  Their customer traffic, in spite of the stay-at-home orders, has been relatively robust.  A few days ago, he spent the day installing plexiglass barriers at all of the checkout tables.  I’m sure that he did an adequate job under the circumstances, but I imagine that with a little bit of time and some thorough planning, a professional design team could really make new checkout lane equipment that not only addresses the current issue of preventing translation of a virus, but also is better in every way than all previous equipment.  This activity would apply to everyone from CVS to Trader Joes to your local flower shop.

My health club is probably in for some potentially scary and expensive changes, but they need to focus on what they do have: a loyal clientele who are accustomed to spending a fixed budget every month.  Their ongoing revenue stream is something that any company would envy.  It’s an urgent time to figure out how to modify your product in such a way to make that revenue stream flow uninterrupted in this dramatically changed environment.

If we sit down and think about it, there are countless other things that will be permanently changed due to this unprecedented series of events.  Anyone who runs an organization needs to be thinking about how all of this will affect their business.  Anyone who makes a product needs to be thinking about how their product will need to change.  And it’s not too early to start the process of figuring it out.  As we inevitably emerge from this crisis, which of our ideas will stay in suspension and become integral parts of our lives, and which will settle to the bottom?  While this whole COVID-19 virus is a tragedy of epic proportions, as a design thinker and industrial designer, it cannot be denied that our world has changed and these changes will create new possibilities.  Strategic investigation into these new need-driven opportunities, followed by creative execution of solutions for products and experiences can, and should, start now.

It is not too early to start applying industrial design thinking methodologies to our new reality.

Sundberg-Ferar stands ready to discuss our approach and the best next steps for you. If you’d like to talk more about how to take advantage of industrial design thinking for your challenges, please let us know. Drop a note at hello@sundbergferar.com !

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