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Product Designers

By Craig Tims


Without doubt one of the characterizing aspects of improvements in devices is actually not engineering advances but design. While you could assert that technology and design trends go together, it is equally simple to see precisely how design rules buyer habits. This has been the case for a long time since mass-production allowed manufacturers to create cheap products with the bonus on design rather than functionality. Case in point, the paper clothing of the 1960s were inexpensive and of a bad quality yet for many fashionable people they were items you needed to have in the wardrobe. This process continues to this present day. Mobile phone producers continually play with the dichotomy of functionality vs design. A lot of product designers choose simple designs and rely instead on features. Others choose to offer fewer features but instead focus on the design, at times working with celebrities.

With such a attention given to design over usability, it is easy to regard products solely as design orientated yet it's also important to not forget that these products are meant to have functional benefits as well. When you are picking a product there tends to be three different elements that you must think about - cost, design and features. Sometimes you may wish to spend more on features and at other times for design. Sometimes functionality and design are incorporated together. Apple's product design ethos is a great example of design meeting technology.

If you always buy products based on their look then you should start to consider the functional factor as well. Although it might be tempting to buy the trendiest designed product, it may not be the best performing. You ought to always consider the functionality of the product and how you will be using it. There is little point getting a really flash laptop if all you will be doing is writing emails with it or surfing online.

So, when buying new products, always think about how or why you need it. One good example is e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle. These have practical uses in real life as well. E.g., loads of airlines now limit flyers to only one piece of hand luggage. An e-book reader is a lot smaller than an average book and you are able to take plenty more books with you on holiday.

Cell phones are a good example of improved technology functions. You can take your mobile phone for all of your media needs. Lots of phones now have large memories allowing you to save videos, pictures and music. Lots of phones now also have decent digital cameras too, meaning you won't need to buy a separate, expensive camera. The web is no different. Plenty of websites have been designed with usability and functionality in mind. You are able to use websites that have been designed to allow you to organize Internet time better. They vary from a bookmarking service, password managers and personalized homepage.

A bookmarks manager can really save you time and will transform the way you work. Sadly, lots of them have a functional design. It will be interesting to watch how they evolve as more and more people come to expect good functionality that is shown in a well designed end product.




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