Design should be “meaningful, impactful and inspiring,” since it is at the center of every business decision and decides the fate of a company.

That is the belief of Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and social media pioneer.

Participating in the 5th Herald Design Forum held at Grand Hyatt Seoul on Tuesday, the Zuckerberg Media CEO shed light on the importance of design in running businesses.
 

“Even when you go out of technology, and go into fashion, for example, you are seeing companies around the world that are now thinking about design,” Randi Zuckerberg told The Korea Herald.

She added such trends are largely because design can communicate what brands stand for and inspire people to dream bigger.

“Because consumers have a lot of choice in terms of products and services, so they are going to be naturally drawn to things with sleek, nice and compatible design.”

Unlike a decade ago, when it was all about the code and engineering in the tech scene, she said, more and more business decisions are now evolving around design, and designers have a greater voice in Silicon Valley.

“Engineers used to be rock stars all the time but now designers are right up there next to them in terms of their influence,” said Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg.

Diversity is another contributing factor for companies to succeed in the global market, requiring different products and services that cater to various consumer tastes.

“How can you build a global company if everyone on your executive team is exactly the same?” asked the CEO, who said one of her passion is to draw more women into the tech industry — part of efforts to enhance diversity inside a business entity.

Touching on issues including digital addiction or online violence in her speech at the forum, she put emphasis on wise decisions in teaching children about technology.

Mentioning of a case involving a kid who built a grandson-grandfather relationship with a laptop due to too much online video chatting with his real grandfather, she said that parents have to figure out the right balance of tech and non-tech within their own families.

“Technology can really help children be creative, express themselves, tell stories, and learn to program, but definitely ‘no,’ when it is time to put it down and go outside,” said CEO Randi, a mother of two boys.

Randi Zuckerberg, who contributed her marketing expertise to Facebook in its infancy, runs marketing and production firm Zuckerberg Media, which owns digital lifestyle website Dot Complicated and children’s book publisher Dot. The marketing firm partnered with high profile Fortune 500 companies including The Clinton Global Initiative, Cirque du Soleil, Conde Nast and PayPal.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)