Organisations built around the customer's experience outperform their peers. Two large studies have measured the size of the gap.

McKinsey rated 300 listed companies over five years. The top quartile grew revenue 32 percentage points faster than their industry peers, and total shareholder returns 56 points faster.

The same research found that two in five of the companies surveyed never spoke to the people using their service while developing it.

That is the gap. Most organisations are not picking the wrong answer through carelessness. They are picking an answer without asking anyone outside the building.  The studies show how design and its approaches close up this gap for success. 

Refs. Design Management Institute, 2015. McKinsey; The Business Value of Design, 2018.