Design is often treated as "making things pretty." In reality, design is a financial instrument. It is the primary interface between your revenue and your customer.
The McKinsey Design Index
In 2018, consulting giant McKinsey & Company tracked 300 publicly listed companies over five years to measure the business value of design. The results were unequivocal.
They found that companies in the top quartile of the "McKinsey Design Index" outperformed industry benchmarks by as much as 2 to 1. Specifically, these design-led companies saw 32% higher revenue growth and 56% higher total returns to shareholders (TRS) compared to their peers.
Universal Value
Crucially, this wasn't limited to "creative" industries. The correlation held directly true across medical technology, consumer goods, and retail banking. Whether you are selling software or surgical tools, user-centric design correlates with higher margins.
Beyond Aesthetics
Successful design isn't just visual; it's analytical. Top-performing companies treat design with the same rigor as revenue and costs. They measure it, iterate on it, and lead with it. In a crowded digital market, design is the only sustainable competitive advantage.
For most small businesses, that competitive advantage starts with a website that respects both aesthetics and analytics — see our small business web design service for the approach we take, and our transparent monthly pricing for what that investment looks like.