Wednesday 16 November 2011

Has Technology Become Too Design Focused?

By Eric James


Undoubtedly one of the defining aspects of improvements in devices is actually not manufacturing breakthroughs but design and style. While anyone can argue that design and technology advancements move in conjunction, it is equally quick to see how design rules customer behavior. This has been the case for a long time since industrial production allowed producers to create cheaper products where the onus was on design rather than functionality. E.g., the paper clothing of the 60s were inexpensive and of a poor quality yet for some fashion conscience consumers they were must have wardrobe items.

This process carries on today. Mobile phone builders continually play with the dichotomy of functionality vs design. Some designers choose simple designs and rely instead on feature development. Many others choose to offer fewer features and instead focus on design, sometimes even collaborating with fashion designers.

With this attention given to design instead of usability, it is easy to think of products as simply aesthetic yet it is also important to remember that these devices should have functional benefits as well. When you are picking a product there is often three factors that you have to think about - features, cost and design. Sometimes you may want to spend more for design and at other times for features. Sometimes design and functionality are merged. Apple's product ethos is a good example of design converging with technology.

If you always buy products based on their design then you should start to think about the functional factor too. While it may be tempting to purchase the coolest designed product, it might not be the most robust. You should really always look at the functions of the device and how you will be using it. There is no point getting a high-tech laptop if all you do is send emails or surf online.

Thus, when buying new products, always think about how or why you need it. An example of this is e-book readers (such as the Amazon Kindle). These have practical uses in real life as well. For instance, loads of airlines now limit passengers to a single piece of hand luggage. An e-book reader is a lot smaller than your average book and you are able to take a lot more books with you when you go on holiday than you might otherwise be able to.

Phones are a good example of improved technology functions. You might be able to take your phone for all your entertainment needs. Many now feature large memories allowing you to save music, videos and pictures on there. Many cell phones now also have digital cameras as well, meaning you do not need to splash out on a separate, pricey camera. The net is no different. Lots of websites have been created with functionality and usability in mind. You can now find sites which were created to allow you to plan your web time much better. They vary from a bookmarking service, password store and personalized homepage.

A bookmarks manager can save you time and can transform your work process. Unfortunately, lots of them have a functional design. It will be intriguing to see how they will develop over time as more of us expect functionality that is shown in a well designed product.




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