Chapter 4: Israeli Design and Innovation—Is There Such a Thing?
I think I began to understand the complexity of product design when we started the design process for Desky .
Four of us sat together for dozens of hours, trying to develop our first product’s design. In reality, though, we all encounter the complexity of using designed products from infancy.
As Don Norman explains in his book, The Design of Everyday Things : human error does cause accidents, but we must ask what led to the error. In many cases, the underlying cause is poorly designed equipment or procedures. People make mistakes, but those mistakes often begin with flawed design.
Here is a definition I connect with: “Design is a multidisciplinary process that combines the humanities and social sciences, exact sciences, technology, and the arts.”
Does Israel recognize design as a foundation for innovation?
People without extensive design experience often have a substantial gap in both their design abilities and their understanding of design. Although design is an important source of innovation worldwide, Israel does not appear to give enough recognition to creativity as a way to build a real competitive advantage.
Over the years, Israeli design has served as a strategic tool for the competitiveness and innovation of Israeli industry abroad. In 2013, Shenkar, together with the Manufacturers Association of Israel, surveyed 130 small and midsize companies from different sectors. The survey found a clear correlation between innovation, measured through patents and awards, and employing designers.
It also found that only 9% of the 130 companies surveyed in Israel employed academically trained professionals or designers. Shenkar further noted that 98.5% of Israeli companies were small or midsize businesses employing 1–50 people.
Together, these figures suggest that awareness of design as a source of competitive advantage and innovation in Israel was too low.
That awareness matters especially because Israel is a relatively small economy in the global arena and must continually develop its capacity for innovation. If this concern is borne out, it could weaken the Israeli economy, particularly as the world moves toward large-scale automated manufacturing.
Without education in design thinking, resources, budgets, belief, and confidence, we will not join the leading design nations—a status we could undoubtedly achieve. Design also has environmental and human implications. Israel can help solve design challenges for communities around the world and become a leader in design and innovation.
*Image: a prototype created during a makeathon organized by (TOM(Tikkun Olam Makers to help people with quadriplegia turn the pages of a book more easily*
The responsibility of the creative class
The creative industries are among the fastest-growing and most dynamic, compared with many traditional industries that have remained frozen in place. This trend has helped give rise to a creative class seeking to grow out of the consequences of the industrial class’s legacy.
Design innovation carries considerable social and human responsibility. It can also give businesses advantages such as premium pricing, product preservation and protection, better quality and efficiency, improved inputs, greater competitiveness, stronger peripheral regions and exports, and greater sensitivity to people’s needs.
Many companies investing in design have undoubtedly achieved substantial profits and market influence, from the familiar examples of Apple and Google to Israeli startups that began small, such as Houzz, ReWalk, Quicktinary and others. Such companies can generate much stronger returns because of the design thinking embedded in how they operate.
Israel also has several success stories whose explanations deserve articles of their own. I will explore them later.
*Image: the countries shown in green have a gross national product smaller than Apple’s sales in the comparison shown*
Startup Nation and the security threat: an engine for success stories
In our Startup Nation—a term that entered the vocabulary alongside Dan Senor and Saul Singer’s acclaimed book, Start-up Nation—I suppose one could attribute our design successes to the Iranian threat.
Well, not exactly the Iranian threat, but the broader security threat that forces us to improvise and repair, think and innovate, all the time.
A classic Israeli-American success story is the acquisition of ZAG, founded by Zvi Yemini as a plastic design consultancy. Under his leadership, the company reinvented toolboxes by shifting to plastic, and was acquired in 1998 for about $117 million for 90% of its shares, by a leading American tool company,Stanly Works. The Americans took notice after ZAG changed an established market and reached $80 million in annual sales within four years.
We should also mention Keter Plastic and its product lines and storage sheds that became familiar around the world; SodaStream and its breakthrough into the American market, challenging the established carbonated drinks industry; the drip irrigation systems developed by Netafim and Simcha Blass in the 1960s, helping agriculture grow in Africa; and the newer smart irrigation products from GreenIQ , which had already saved more than 140 million liters of water worldwide.
There is also the design and digital user experience of WIX , and the way Greenbo challenged conventions around ordinary plant pots.
These are just a few Israeli success stories that suggest the potential for more. Yet many organizations and individuals feel the Israeli economy needs to do more. I can only try to help the ecosystem, and I hope you find the following resources useful.
Why I write: curiosity and creativity that add value to the ecosystem
I hope you found what you came here to read, and that I have created interest, curiosity, or added value for Israeli design and innovation.
I want to contribute to a leap in the international standing of Israeli design. I explored several ways to help achieve that, which is why I decided to start a blog and tell others about my journey.
In the coming chapters, I will try to explain the differences between startups developing digital products and those developing physical products, and share my adventure at Viewly.
Curiosity and creativity undoubtedly go hand in hand with design and innovation. As Leo Burnett —the American advertising genius behind characters including StarKist’s Charlie the Tuna, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Marlboro Man, Tony the Tiger, and some of America’s best-known campaigns—put it:
“Curiosity about life in all its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people",
Stay curious, and come back for the next chapter.