Designers are often asked to make things looks pretty. Today design is still too often associated with graphic design as a function for marketing and branding but in fact the design industry is way more than that.
In fact, we could compare a designer to an architect.
The architect is not only going to make your house look pretty but he will also make it practical and well thought, so that every room will suit your needs as a client.
And it's exactly the same for a designer: he will make your product easy to use, solve your problems and help the end user achieve his goals.
You could say that design is a strategic tool for achieving business objectives.
Sources: https://startupsthisishowdesignworks.com
Good design can make you spend less money on development. It will also make your product easy to use so both your company and your customers will benefit of a well designed product.
As we say, "good design is invisible".
To design great products, services or even websites, you first need to understand what you're making but also why you're making it and for whom. Understanding the problem you're trying to solve is the first step before going further.
And for that you need to talk a lot with your customer, ask them questions about their business, how do they work with their product? In which conditions do they use it? ...
Without all those information, your efforts might end up in a bad design.
You should also be testing your designs but that will be the topic of my next article.
Design has become more and more important for your products and will be even more in the future. Keep in mind that design is not only what it looks like but design is also how it works.