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, all the time by way of a holistic lens to grasp the factors of view of producers and shoppers.
Her supreme function, nonetheless, was one which emphasised extra than simply the underside line. “It clicked the second I noticed that the actual 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 transferring the world ahead.”
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 – necessary within the ever-evolving world of labor.
Trade leaders have taken discover, and in the present day Schneider is a acknowledged thought chief featured on main platforms. Her 2024 TEDx speak, , has greater than 400,000 views and counting. She can also be host of the hit podcast Design Nerds Nameless, and has not too long ago launched BASELINE, the novel ThinkLab initiative. This survey and podcast supplies a real-time snapshot of business sentiment and exercise.
When she’s not on the job, Schneider is a mother to a few boys, and may be discovered chasing journey in her Jeep Wrangler. It’s not all the time straightforward to take care of a really perfect steadiness, however carving out high quality time is necessary. “If I’m being sincere, I’m not all the time nice at switching off utterly, particularly as a result of I really like what I do,” Schneider notes. “However one tiny factor that helps is dinner with my household. No laptops, no telephones, simply actual dialog. It sounds uncomplicated, but it surely’s grounding.”
At present, Amanda Schneider joins us for Friday 5, sharing her favourite stats for designers!
1. The typical 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 instances the speed of the typical American shopper. And should you work at one of many prime 200 Inside Design Giants of Design companies? That quantity jumps to a staggering 140 instances.
Whereas most individuals decide 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 mission. Ripple results throughout provide chains, industries, and the way individuals expertise area.
That sort of energy typically flies below the radar. But it surely shouldn’t. Designers aren’t simply making issues fairly – they’re making selections with actual influence. And whenever 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 may have affect over roughly one-tenth (10%) of the world’s carbon emissions.
Sure, you learn that proper. One-tenth of world carbon emissions – in a roundabout way, form, or kind – 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 for this stat and their work on the Local weather change toolkit!)
It’s straightforward to consider sustainability as another person’s job – the architect, the engineer, the consumer. However designers have their fingers on the levers that management how lengthy issues final, what supplies get used, and the way to keep away from sending product to the landfill. Multiply that by tens of millions of sq. ft throughout properties, workplaces, colleges, resorts, hospitals – and it provides up speedy.
Don’t let this overwhelm you. Let it empower you. Designers helped create this world. Meaning they’re additionally completely positioned to aid redesign it for the higher.
3. As of 2025, Gen Z makes up 27% of the workforce.
That’s a couple of in 4 workers. And so they’re not coming – they’re already right here. Gen Z is shaping how we work, dwell, collaborate, and join. They bring about novel expectations round flexibility, inclusivity, tech, and well-being. And so they’re simply getting began.
Why does this matter for designers? As a result of the areas you’re designing in the present day will nonetheless be in employ a decade or extra from now. If we’re not listening to shifting values, behaviors, and methods of working, we threat constructing environments that don’t resonate – or worse, don’t perform – for the individuals who will really employ them.
Designing for the long run means understanding who’s going to be residing in it. Gen Z is your novel finish consumer. Time to hear.
4. The Inside Design Trade 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 sector are ladies. And 85% of practising professionals are, too. However right here’s the place it will get tough: solely 40% of management roles are held by ladies as soon as we get to the most important companies.
That’s a large 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, your entire 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 atmosphere for all individuals. Step one? Consciousness. The subsequent? Motion.
5. The Common Design Committee Has Doubled in Dimension Over the Previous 5 Years
Design selections are not made in a room of two or three. In in the present day’s world, the typical industrial design mission includes double the variety of decision-makers it did simply 5 years in the past. Meaning extra voices, extra complexity – and a complete novel 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. Attractive options stall out with out alignment. At present’s most profitable designers aren’t simply original—they’re translators. They bridge the hole between imaginative and prescient and enterprise case, between aesthetics and influence.
Good design all the time 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.
