David Pogue of the New York Times wrote an article last month about the good, the bad and the ugly of product design. In particular he reviews a variety of digital picture frames, but his comments apply to just about any consumer product design.
However one thing irks me a tiny bit about Pogue's comments: he never quite says it (and I don't think he truly believes it), but he sure implies that good product design is easy.
However one thing irks me a tiny bit about Pogue's comments: he never quite says it (and I don't think he truly believes it), but he sure implies that good product design is easy.
So I think we've established that it's easy to know what's right. ... The only question, then, is why manufacturers don't actually bother doing what's right. I’m sure they have all kinds of excuses for compromise: "That would cost money," "That would set us back a month," "That would limit sales in Eastern Europe," whatever.But earlier in the article he hits are the real truth of the matter:
A ten-year old could have identified the design flaws in the frames I tested this week.Aha -- that part I believe. I too know good and bad design when I see it -- at least for products I can imagine using. Creating a great design from a blank sheet of paper is hard. That's why I have such respect for my co-bloggers here. (There may be other reasons too, but the checks haven't cleared yet.)
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