Nice to hear someone make this point. I’m an industrial design student from Belgium and I’ve been confronted with this problem many times.
I had a one-man design-business for almost two years (after I got my bachelors-degree / doing my masters now) and worked for some companies as a graphic/industrial/concept-designer on an independant basis. And I got the impression that most people try to minimise our role in the process : “Designers are only there to make stuff look good …” While we are there – I believe – to incorporate every aspect (economics, ergonomics, styling, technology, marketing, …) of the value chain into a product that’s as good as it can possibly be.

I’ve quit my business half a year ago because it turned out to be quite time-consuming in combination with my studies. In januari I will start working on a thesis on exactly this topic (In general : How can Industrial Design be incorporated better in a business environement where managers and other narrow minded people have the last word) although I haven’t picked the focus point for this research project yet.

I’d love to discuss this topic further because It’s frustrating when you’re thwarted every time you try to make such a “gravity-defying” product to make the world a better place

Let’s see If we can change this …

Exactly, great comment, ROI and design are probably one of the hardest two topics to connect. Plus, how do you determine a jump in sales was due to styling, adding new functions/features, re-engineering, or marketing’s new commercials? I’d like to write a full post on this topic just because it’s so elusive. Would love to here more of your thoughts on the subject.