Welcome to the latest edition of our new weekly blog series, The Underrated Series. Each week, we will highlight an important, often underrated component of marketing success.

Last week’s underrated topic was easy to use forms.

What are we underrating this week? Product design.

I don’t claim to be a design expert. Nor am I able to measure the exact business impact of strong product design vs. weak.

But what I do know – and what the point of this post is – is that product design must be, at least partially, a marketing function.

Steve Jobs knew this. The user interface teams behind some of today’s most popular apps know this.

The way something looks matters. It impacts how you are perceived by consumers. It impacts how users interact with your product. It can mean the difference between “oh my god, this is amazing”, and “oh okay, I get it”.

Take advantage of every chance to wow your customers. And product design, the way it looks and feels, is a big opportunity to do just that. So stop ignoring it.

Have something you think deserves more attention? Send us your suggestions for the Underrated Series using the comments below or submit them here.