Old_Responses_Slow_Design, Past Student Work

Slow Design Principles in Designed Products

Posted by Sabrina on

Immediately after reading “Priniciple 1: Reveal”in Carolyn F. Strauss’s and Alastair Fuad-Luke’s “The Slow Design Principles,” the new iPhone came to mind. It was when I read the part about materials and methods being overlooked that made me think of the iPhone 5 and eventually just Apple in general. On Apple’s website there is a video of the Senior Vice President of Design speaking about how they came up with the new iPhone. The most interesting part of this video is when he speaks of the materials they chose to use and how their design reflects the materials used and how they machined the material. 

He speaks of designing the phone to feel and how they go about machining the new chamfered edge. Although the mirrored-chamfered edge is such a subtle feature in the design of the iPhone 5, Apple actually designed new manufacturing processes to make it possible. Not only does it add an aesthetic feature to the phone but it is done without adding any other material to the phone to make it shine. Apple used and manipulated the material they were already using to add a design feature by just how they machined the aluminum. 

(iPhone 5 chamfers being cut with crystals and diamonds)

Apple is very good at using materials for both functional and aesthetic use. Another example of this would be the use of their MacBooks aluminum bodies as a way to get heat to escape from their machines. The aluminum bodies are their computers’ heat sinks so they do not overheat and do not need a fan to cool them. 

These are both strong examples of simple materials and processes that are most likely overlooked or not even recognized by a higher percentage of the average users, however Apple still implements these small features into all of their designs.

VIDEO LINK- http://www.apple.com/iphone/#video (talks about design process around 4:30)

After reading “Principle 2: Expand” and its idea of considering real and potential expressions beyond their perceived functionalities and attributes made me think of design that deals with emotional interaction. A product really takes into account emotional interaction and perceived functionality is the Philips AED Defibrillator.

Philips HeartStart OnSite defibrillator
The reason that this specific design came to mind when talking perceived function and emotional interaction is the fact that the only time this product is used is in high-stress situations and it’s perceived function is that the correct or incorrect use of this product can result in life of death. The design of this product took that perceived function and emotional connection into consideration. The design insight is that when in high-stress situations, people are likely to freak out and not comprehend how to use a new device that saves lives. Therefore, Philips went ahead and designed a product that does not take much understanding to work. It provides the user with very simple instructions with what exactly to do, both visual and audio-based. The simplicity of use of this product makes it much more inviting to use and makes the high-stress situation less stressful in a sense. 
This is an exaggerated example of implementing emotional interaction into the design process but is very successful, in my opinion. It lowers the users stress level in one of the highest stress situations one may encounter, all through how it was designed.