Business Thinking for Designers

• Step 1: Identify the direction, velocity, and intensity of 
your business partners 
Analyze where they’re coming from, what they’re looking 
for, what their priorities are, what expectations they have, 
and what they get when they arrive.
• Step 2: Discern the direction, velocity, and intensity of 
design  
Are you considering the same factors as your colleagues? 
Are you working from shared values? Do you have the 
same priorities? Are your expectations the same? Analyze 

---

26 
Why you need to know business
where you’re coming from so you can both head in the right 
direction.