Design holds good promise for future

In an era where products across the board are getting commoditised, design holds the promise to be the principal differentiator when it comes to the consumer's buying decisions, renowned design expert and director of DC Design, Dilip Chhabria, told a gathering of design professionals here recently.

Delivering the keynote address at the first Pune Design Festival, organised by the Pune Design Foundation, Chhabria said design and styling had 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," he opined.

Chhabria said the industries were laying greater emphasis on offering customised or even personalised products as the basic functionalities were getting more and more standardised. This is where the industry can expect greater margins and higher profitability, he pointed out.

Referring to the field of automobile design, which is his forte, Chhabria said a car was the second biggest purchase after a house for any customer and design can be the most powerful determinant of the choice of the customers.

About 90 per cent of the 60 million cars made worldwide is sold in the mature, saturated markets and the remaining 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 the growing importance of design in all sectors, Chhabria said the design engineers now reported directly to the top management and the companies were investing 6 to 8 per cent 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 was planning to set up an institute to offer training in automobile design management.

Design expert Shrikant Nivasarkar said India had a large non-urban population, which can benefit hugely if design can cut costs of products they use and make these products simple and functional.

"Let the design community come together and work towards this goal," he said.