Has Technology Become Too Design Focused?
Certainly one of the defining elements of advancements in products hasn’t been technological developments but design and style. Though anyone could assert that technology and design developments go together, it is equally easy to see precisely how design rules customer habits. Having said that, this is not anything new since industrial production allowed manufacturers to offer cheap products where the onus was on design rather than functionality. E.g., the paper dresses of the Sixties were inexpensive and largely of a bad standard yet for lots of fashionable buyers they were items you needed to have in your wardrobe.
This process carries on to this present day. Phone builders continually push and pull on the dichotomy of functionality vs design. A lot of product designers choose simple designs and rely instead on feature development. Others choose to provide less features and instead focus on design, at times collaborating with famous people.
With this focus on design over functionality, it is easy to regard technology products simply as aesthetic yet it’s important to not forget that such devices should have helpful benefits. When you are picking a product to buy there is always three different factors that you need to think about – cost, design and features. At times you may wish to spend more on features and at other times for design. Other times they are incorporated together. Apple’s product design ethos is a great example of design converging with technology.
If you always go for the design factor when buying products then you should start to think about the functional factor as well. While it might be tempting to get the trendiest designed product, it may very well not be the best performing. You should always consider the functions of the product and how you will use it. There is little point of buying a really flash computer if all you do is send emails or browse the net.
So, when purchasing new products, always think about how you will use it or why you need it. A good example is e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle. These have practical uses as well. For instance, plenty of airlines are now limiting flyers to only one piece of luggage. An e-book reader is much smaller than an average book and you are able to take many more books with you on holiday than you might otherwise be able to.
Phones have greatly improved their technology features. You may be able to use your phone for all your entertainment needs. Lots of phones now come with large storage capacities letting you save music, videos and pictures on there. Many mobile phones now have digital cameras as well, meaning you won’t need to buy a separate, expensive camera. The Internet is no different. Lots of sites have been designed with functionality and usability as the focus. You are able to find websites that have been created to allow you to plan your web time better. They range from a bookmarks site, password software and personalized homepage.
A passwords manager can really save you time and transform the way you work. Unfortunately, a lot of them have a more basic layout. It will be intriguing to see how they will evolve over time as more and more people come to expect functionality that is presented in a well designed end product.
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