[Sigia-l] Is pricing design?

[Ziya Oz]

So it was a muggy day in NYC but I found myself behind two analysts from
Goldman Sachs running in front of me along the riverfront during my daily
run. For nearly two miles till they took a different route than mine (hey,
they were in their twenties and I had to keep up with their pace; stuff I do
for design :-) they kept talking about the just-announced AT&T/iPhone
pricing.

They ran various scenarios of unit sales, demographic segmentation, upgrade
paths, etc and how each pricing point would have consequences for 'user
experience,' their description and used many times. Various potential
pricing schemes in Europe and Asia and user expectations by those most
likely to buy it were particularly interesting.

And they veered off.

The last two miles I kept thinking that this is very much what I do as
well...as a designer. Marketplace positioning of a product and shaping of
potential mindshare are very much part of strategic design. And price
obviously is one of the primary parameters that anticipate user acceptance >
user experience > product definition, etc.

So is pricing part of design? Should it be? Is it better left to business?

----
Ziya

Business = Design = Business.