One of the interesting things I’ve felt about design and business is how we relate them. Will the Japanese teppanyaki style be suitable for Italian food? I think it depends on the audience, the specific kind of Italian dishes, and even the restaurant atmosphere. Under aftermath reasoning Google may well have a great design for search engine: clean and easy to use, playing a supporting role of its essential PageRank system. As far as how to determine the right recipe, it’s really beyond science plus art, I suppose. Will a sleeker design make MySpace more popular and “sustainable”? Or will it make it less so?

In China there’s a way of attributing success to such scenario: “Timing is right; environment is beneficial; people are supportive”. I love Apple’s persistence on providing aesthetic design. Yet due to so many other factors that are nonlinear, it had swung between success and stumbling a few times before its current prosperity with still unpredictable future.

Although I know little about design, I think in web design/development sometimes it’s more like a sprint of getting attention; sometimes more like a marathon. But something common is like what you’ve mentioned: it’s an integral part of business, meaning both business people and designer need to embrace this fuzzy relation and have more conversations.^^