We’re in an era where AI-powered rapid prototyping and streamlined direct-to-consumer startups seem to be grabbing all the attention. But some of the most profound design disruptions didn’t start in a founder’s garage or in the algorithms of artificial intelligence; they were born in the aisles of mainstream consumer stores like Target. In the late 1990s, my company, Michael Graves Design, changed the conversation around design with a kettle that was cheerful, affordable and elegant. It wasn’t just on a stove, it stood for a new idea: good design was not a luxury, but a right. Target’s Design for All programs went on to define the American expectation that great design should be available to everyone. Design evolved from a styling afterthought to a business strategy, and the democratization of design was born.
Today, the democratic design ethos feels more urgent than ever. As consumers increasingly expect thoughtfulness, beauty and accessibility from the products they buy, heritage brands have an opportunity to take center stage again. To do that, they must move beyond nostalgia and beyond jokes like “design thinking.” They must view design as disruption, and use proven frameworks such as participatory design, value-sensitive development and service ecosystems to create meaningful mass-market innovation.
Let’s break that down.
THE NEW COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: LET THE CONSUMER LEAD
The idea of democratic product design is simple: give consumers a real voice in the design process. Many brands have shown that when you allow customers to vote on product features, brands send the powerful message, “We’re building this with you,” which can shift brand loyalty and prevent competitors from catching up. But the magic only works when the mood is real and shapes what comes next.
For legacy brands, this is a powerful opportunity. You don’t have to “reinvent” yourself to resonate; you need to open the design conversation. For us, this means engaging our community to test prototypes to evaluate proposed functional improvements, choose colors and finishes, and ask customers about product categories to explore.
DESIGN WITH, NOT FOR: COCREATION AS A BRAND STRATEGY
The next layer is co-creation, a participatory design methodology that draws on users’ experiences to determine what is designed and manufactured. Consumers are hypersensitive to authenticity. Co-creation does more than just generate goodwill. It transfers creative ownership, builds emotional stakes, and cultivates a tribe, not just a customer base.
Recently, our community helped choose between different finish options for a new kettle design. Their choice, brushed brass, was not what we expected. That insight will shape our launch and increase customer engagement.
When evaluating your own product development process, consider four pillars:
- Dialogue: Do we invite open, two-way feedback?
- Access: Do we share tools and context with users?
- Transparency: do users know how their input affects the results?
- Shared risk/reward: are they more than just participants?
By deploying this framework, our community shares product ideas and their own life hacks for existing items, helping shape mass-produced designs.
THE CASE FOR VALUE-SENSITIVE DESIGN
Design is not neutral. It contains implicit signals about who it is intended for, what it enables and what it presupposes. That’s where value-sensitive design (VSD) comes in: an ethical design approach, adapted to technology design, where values such as accessibility are embedded at every stage of development.
VSD starts with a set of human values. From there you repeat:
- Conceptual research: which values play a role?
- Empirical research: What do users want or need?
- Technical exploration: How can we anchor these values in the final design?
We used VSD to create a line of bathroom safety products for Pottery Barn. These product types, including handles, are often stigmatized and overlooked. No one necessarily wants a handle. VSD helped us transform these functional tools into affirmative, well-crafted objects with functional enhancements, such as combining them with a toilet paper or towel holder. The designs reflect other consumer fixtures, with materials, proportions and lines that reflect style, cache and ambition. Customers said that these aids do not scream ‘medical’. They look like they belong in a carefully designed home, not a hospital. People can finally choose to value safety and style equally. That is VSD in action: designing dignity in everyday life.
THINK ECOSYSTEM, NOT END CAP
Brands must recognize that products are no longer isolated SKUs, but part of a broader service ecosystem. A whistling kettle is not just a tool. It starts your morning ritual, fills your kitchen with sound and steam, and might even appear in your next Instagram story. Understanding that web and intentionally designing within it increases product resonance. A product lives in routines, rituals and spaces. When we honor that, we make more than just goods. We make meaning.
Legacy brands can lead the way in connecting these dots into a more cohesive user experience.
THE PLAYBOOK: FROM LEGACY TO LOYALTY
Democratizing design is not a campaign, it is a commitment. Here’s how legacy brands can turn that into a strategy:
Step 1: Conduct customer-driven design sprints, voting, submissions, and A/B testing early in the product development cycle.
Step 2: Activate co-creation programs with transparency and shared creative ownership.
Step 3: Integrate values mapping and empathy interviews into the design brief generation phase.
Step 4: Position each product within a lifestyle ecosystem: rituals, routines and cultural meaning.
Step 5: Measure not only sales, but also sentiment, engagement, loyalty and brand pride.
HERITAGE IS NOT AN OBSTACLE, IT IS A LAUNCH PLANT
The best design doesn’t demand attention, but earns it over time through usefulness, joy, and emotional clarity. Legacy brands are uniquely poised to champion that mission by reinforcing the radical idea that good design belongs to everyone.
Design is not the garnish, it is the strategy. And legacy brands that democratize that strategy by inviting their customers will not only stay relevant, they’ll leverage their inherent scale to lead again.
Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.
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