The Value of Design
CATEGORY—Design
Words: Natasha Maben
2 min read
Design rarely appears where we expect.
And it almost never begins when we think it should.
We may mistake it for a final flourish, a touch at the end. But for me, design is the quiet backbone—the force shaping how we think, connect, and move through the world.
Beyond use or beauty, the value of design lies in its emotional resonance, in the way it sharpens intention.
Too often, design gets dismissed as surface, ignored by those who only value what can be measured. And yet, I’ve also seen how the smallest choice—a shift in rhythm, a detail in space—can alter behaviour, change systems, and leave a mark that lasts. The word design carries weight. It lives in both infrastructure and small, daily rituals.²
Bauhaus thinker László Moholy-Nagy captured it best: “Designing is not a profession but an attitude.”³ That attitude guides the work at Somewhere—Something.
And the numbers tell the story, too. The McKinsey study 2018, The Business Value of Design, proved what many in the field already knew: design-driven companies outperform.⁴ Not because they look good, but because clarity, usability, and connection deliver tangible impact—in results, and in how people experience the world.
What I keep returning to is this: design connects. It links us to each other, to places, to histories we carry, and to futures we haven’t yet imagined.
For me, design is an attitude. And one worth cultivating, especially if you’re ready to build something that carries meaning.
² Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
³ László Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion. Chicago: Paul Theobald and Company, 1947.
⁴ McKinsey & Company, The Business Value of Design. McKinsey & Company, 2018.
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