This was quite a fascinating presentation on design by Donald Norman and as a user we interact with a product on a number of levels thus determining how we use and look at it.
The way we emotionally interact with a product
is so important, and surpasses the function of it all together. The very first product, the Philippe Starck juicer produced by Alessi really sets the standard for form over function. It's use ; that being a juicer is totally pushed aside by its quirky shape and free forming creature-like type shape. He speaks about having the limited edition gold plated release, and as he explains there is a large sign which comes with the juicer letting you know not to use it to juice anything as the acid from the fruit will strip the gold plating off.
This is irony in design at its best.... Here we have a product which was designed and constructed to be a juicer, and when all is said and done it doesn't actually achieve this well. But its fun to use, and fascinating to look at which makes it an effective product.
The next product I wish to talk about is by Hiroshi Ishii and his group at the MIT Media Lab. Specifically their projector ping-pong table, which has the coy fish project onto the table and ripples of water every time the ball bounces on the actual table, consequently making the fish sway away from the ball. The actual effectives of the product is quite easy, it needs to be able to bounce ping-pong balls. The addition of the projector doesn't actually make it a better table to play on, but it does allow the user to interact with the product on a emotional level unlike that of any other ping-pong table on the market.
The ability to make a mundane, normal object "fun" and more importantly fun on an emotional level is the absolute key to a good design.
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