In an era where products across the board are getting commoditised, design holds promise to be the principal differentiator when it comes to consumer buying decisions, renowned design expert Dilip Chhabria, who's director of DC Design, said at a gathering of design professionals here today.Design and styling have the power to trigger the emotional appeal in the customer. "In the times when aspiration commands the entire consumer behaviour value addition can come from design alone," Chhabria said in his keynote address at the first Pune Design Festival organised by the Pune Design Foundation.The industries are laying greater stress on offering customised or even personalised products as the basic functionalities are getting more and more standardised. This is where the industry can expect greater margins and higher profitability, Chhabria said.Referring to the field of automobile design which his forte, Chhabria said a car is the second biggest purchase after a house for any customer and design can be the most powerful determinant of the choice of the customers. Chhabria said about 90% of the 60 million cars made worldwide are sold in the mature, saturated markets and the remaining are in the low volume markets like India. It is here that the customisation of cars with low production runs is possible and the Indian design firms can aspire to tap this opportunity, he said.Stressing upon the growing the importance of design in all sectors, Chhabria said the design engineers now report directly to the top management and the companies are investing 6 to 8% of their revenues in research and design development. He also underlined the need to make available design education as an independent branch of learning, adding that he is planning to set up an institute to offer training in automobile design management.Design expert Shrikant Nivasarkar said India has a large non-urban population which can benefit hugely if design can cut costs of products they use and make these products simpe and functional. "Let the design community come together and work towards this goal," he said.
