2. Good design makes a product useful
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
The Safety Pin
(53s reading time)
I suspect we all have a pile of safety pins scattered in some draw in our homes. They are one of life’s useful products. Rarely thought about, but when needed it prompts a frantic scramble around the house trying to remember where the safety pins you bought years ago might be stored.
They do one thing, but do it very well.
The safety pin was patented in 1849 by William Hunt who invented them to settle a debt of $15. He had a track record. He had already invented a sewing machine but he decided not to patent it for fear of putting lots of people out of work. The safety pin was the first pin to have a clamp and spring action and kept fingers safe from harm. The design has remained virtually the same ever since.
When researching it’s story, I was surprised to discover that every gold winning Olympic athlete has used safety pins on their way to victory. Apparently athletes aren’t issued their race numbers with enough time to get them printed on their tops so they still have to use safety pins to put their numbers on. Unlike adhesive, they won’t come unstuck when it rains or they get sweaty. I was a little surprised by this so I googled “Mo Farah 2012”, zoomed in on the image to see that it is true. He was using safety pins to attach his number!
When developing a new idea, piece of software or product, don’t forget about the person who will use it. Ensure that it’s easy for them to use. Don’t add those bells and whistles just to make it look pretty. If you must add them, make sure they don’t get in the way or dominate.
The more someone uses your product, the more they talk about it and the more successful you will be.
“What works is better than what looks good. The ‘looks good’ can change, but what works, works. ”
Shared under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. With thanks to Dieter Rams and Vitsoe.
