Peer Comments: Project 1 Experience Enrichment

Jill Darbey

Shan Shan Wang

Jen Jun Zhu

Gabriel ly

Nicholas Baroni

Video Reflection: Don Norman

Emotional Design

Don Norman talks about his book‘Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things’. The subject revolves around how consumers are buying products because of its looks rather than its function.

Take for example Philippe Starck’s ‘Juicy Salif’, it is said to be a juice squeezer and looks unique and interesting, however, on the package of the product, it is instructed not to squeeze any juice as the acid would ruin the gold plate. Although most people would think this is an absurd design they do not realise that they themselves are not buying products that work best but rather look the best and is also interesting. It is our curiosity and fascination in the design that chooses the product in the end.

Emotional design has gradually grown to play a big role in the final product. Industrial designers therefore have to consider designing products that are more interesting and enhance the consumer’s experience of the product

Video Reflection: Annie Leonard

Major take home messages from the video would be that the money from the products that are sold, do not pay for everything that went into the process of making it, such as people who manufacture the goods are not getting paid enough in some countries. Although all we see is the buying and selling of goods, there is so much more to the process of getting a product to the buyer.

As the video is not so much about industrial design, but more the bigger picture, it suggests that our products that we design should strive towards being more environmentally friendly and avoid designing objects that are planned for obsolescence. We should influence the consumers to steer away from this want for products that are to be bought then disposed of, even if it is perfectly useful, by designing things that are timeless, and would be appreciated in many years to come. An example of bad design towards the environment are those juice packs mentioned in the video and how they are made of inseparable materials such as foil and paper or something all merged together, making it impossible to recycle. The part about obsolescence, both planned and perceived is also warning the viewer against consumerism, and constantly buying things unnecessarily.

My opinion about design has changed by giving me an insight into the bigger picture, and how the design of a product affects the world, and this linear cycle that we must develop to become a cyclic cycle. The problem with the cycle is that we are using up all our resources and destroying our planet. It shows why the whole design world is becoming more environmentally friendly.

Video Reflection: Ross Lovegrove

The video opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about design, from the world of micro (magnified images of cells integrated into design) to the idea of designing for the future with "fat-free" or "lean and efficient" products that satisfy the need without trying to look fancy but manage to be different.

Ross talks about moving towards new materials such as types of polymers that don't necessarily look good but work, which is his main aim. Its also interesting when he says "how can i design a phone in three weeks then i look at dinosaurs that evolved in millions of years". This is a very true message that emphasizes the idea of products adapting to new ideas and environments.

The video was an interesting insight into design through instinct to create products that behave like and almost imitate nature for a different and purposeful outcome.