With a background in industrial design, Amanda Schneider explored each facet of a product’s trajectory early in her profession, from idea improvement to gross sales, at all times through a holistic lens to grasp the factors of view of producers and customers.
Her preferrred function, nevertheless, was one which emphasised extra than simply the underside line. “It clicked the second I spotted that the true magic occurs on the intersection of creativity and technique,” says Schneider. “I consider that knowledge can empower creatives, and creativity can humanize knowledge. And once we bridge that hole? That’s when design begins altering industries, shaping habits and shifting the world ahead.”
Amanda Schneider
Schneider is founder and president of SANDOW DESIGN GROUP’s ThinkLab, and since 2018 she has led the one market analysis agency centered on the design and structure ecosystem. She thrives on uncovering surprising insights and translating them into tales that encourage significant motion – important within the ever-evolving world of labor.
Business leaders have taken discover, and at present Schneider is a acknowledged thought chief featured on main platforms. Her 2024 TEDx speak, Work is Damaged. Gen Z may also help repair it, has greater than 400,000 views and counting. She can also be host of the hit podcast Design Nerds Nameless, and has just lately launched BASELINE, the brand new ThinkLab initiative. This survey and podcast gives a real-time snapshot of business sentiment and exercise.
When she’s not on the job, Schneider is a mother to 3 boys, and could be discovered chasing journey in her Jeep Wrangler. It’s not at all times straightforward to keep up a great steadiness, however carving out high quality time is crucial. “If I’m being sincere, I’m not at all times nice at switching off utterly, particularly as a result of I really like what I do,” Schneider notes. “However one small factor that helps is dinner with my household. No laptops, no telephones, simply actual dialog. It sounds easy, nevertheless it’s grounding.”
At this time, Amanda Schneider joins us for Friday 5, sharing her favourite stats for designers!
1. The common designer has 40X the advice energy as the typical American Shopper has shopping for energy. Supply: USDIBR
That’s not a typo. In keeping with ThinkLab analysis, designers affect buying selections at 40 occasions the speed of the typical American shopper. And should you work at one of many prime 200 Inside Design Giants of Design corporations? That quantity jumps to a staggering 140 occasions.
Whereas most individuals choose merchandise for their very own properties, designers are making selections that have an effect on dozens – typically lots of or 1000’s – of individuals without delay. One spec. One challenge. Ripple results throughout provide chains, industries, and the way individuals expertise area.
That form of energy typically flies underneath the radar. But it surely shouldn’t. Designers aren’t simply making issues fairly – they’re making selections with actual affect. And while you zoom out, these selections can form how sustainably we construct, how inclusively we design, and the way responsibly we spend. You have already got the affect. The chance? That’s utilizing it for good.
2. By 2050, the inside design business could have affect over roughly one-tenth (10%) of the world’s carbon emissions.
Sure, you learn that proper. One-tenth of world carbon emissions – ultimately, form, or type – shall be influenced by selections made within the inside design business by the 12 months 2050. Not development. Not simply structure. Interiors. (Shout out to Metropolis Journal for this stat and their work on the Local weather change toolkit!)
It’s straightforward to think about sustainability as another person’s job – the architect, the engineer, the consumer. However designers have their palms on the levers that management how lengthy issues final, what supplies get used, and how you can keep away from sending product to the landfill. Multiply that by tens of millions of sq. toes throughout properties, workplaces, faculties, resorts, hospitals – and it provides up quick.
Don’t let this overwhelm you. Let it empower you. Designers helped create this world. Meaning they’re additionally completely positioned to assist redesign it for the higher.
3. As of 2025, Gen Z makes up 27% of the workforce.
That’s multiple in 4 staff. They usually’re not coming – they’re already right here. Gen Z is shaping how we work, stay, collaborate, and join. They carry new expectations round flexibility, inclusivity, tech, and well-being. They usually’re simply getting began.
Why does this matter for designers? As a result of the areas you’re designing at present will nonetheless be in use a decade or extra from now. If we’re not being attentive to shifting values, behaviors, and methods of working, we danger constructing environments that don’t resonate – or worse, don’t perform – for the individuals who will truly use them.
Designing for the long run means understanding who’s going to be residing in it. Gen Z is your new finish consumer. Time to pay attention.
4. The Inside Design Business is 85% Feminine – However Solely 40% of Its Leaders Are
Inside design is without doubt one of the few industries that’s not simply female-friendly – it’s female-dominated. Almost 88% of scholars getting into the sphere are girls. And 85% of working towards professionals are, too. However right here’s the place it will get difficult: solely 40% of management roles are held by girls as soon as we get to the biggest corporations.
That’s an enormous drop-off – and a missed alternative. When the individuals doing the work don’t have a seat on the desk the place selections are made, the whole business loses out on perspective, perception, and progress.
Range isn’t nearly equity. It’s about making the business higher, stronger, and extra consultant of the individuals it serves; particularly once we are main design for the constructed setting for all individuals. Step one? Consciousness. The following? Motion.
5. The Common Design Committee Has Doubled in Measurement Over the Previous 5 Years
Design selections are not made in a room of two or three. In at present’s world, the typical industrial design challenge includes double the variety of decision-makers it did simply 5 years in the past. Meaning extra voices, extra complexity – and an entire new set of challenges.
And right here’s the reality: It doesn’t matter how nice your design is should you can’t talk its worth. Nice concepts fall flat with out buy-in. Lovely options stall out with out alignment. At this time’s most profitable designers aren’t simply artistic—they’re translators. They bridge the hole between imaginative and prescient and enterprise case, between aesthetics and affect.
Good design at all times begins with empathy. If you wish to higher perceive your shoppers – and what’s actually taking place of their world to maneuver tasks ahead – try the Design Nerds Nameless podcast.
Catch Schneider’s TED Speak – Work is damaged, Gen Z may also help repair it – beneath:
