Industrial design is more than important to our life. I think the way of living is formed by designs, no matter it is a good design or a bad design. Thus, I think the major purpose of industrial design as improving people’s daily life without them even noticing it. From the video and reading, I realize that the purpose of industrial design is more than a one-sentence definition. Essentially, yes, design is to make people’s life better, but there are many other aspects of consideration throughout the design process. Design should never be an isolated discipline, and the process of design should never be stuck in the designer’s little world. It is multifaceted.
- Human factors of design focus on the user’s needs. It is a combination of ergonomics and anthropometrics.
- User behavior pushes designers to consider the functionality and usability of the product so that users do not get confused. Dieter Ram’s principle of “less but better” lights a pathway of a good industrial design.
- Using context is related to the adaptability of the product, the possible scenarios, and the environment that the product can be used.
- Materials, during the design process, are selected for manufacturing products based primarily on their properties.
- Business needs include the manufacturing capabilities and the quantity of manufacture. Nowadays, mass production in streamlines replaced handcraft.
- Resource management and sustainable production consider the consumption of raw materials, consumption of energy, and production of waste. Even the phase of user consumption should be kept in mind during the design process.
Products that I use:
LIKE: erasable highlighter
I particularly like my erasable highlighter because I like to read physical files. I love the feeling of writing on paper and making notes physically. However, I cannot erase the highlighted parts with most of the highlighter if I made a mistake. I cannot even apply a highlighter on correction tape or correction fluid. The product is almost the only product that I found that can solve the issue. After I erase the highlighted part, there is almost no trace remaining, and I can easily apply it on top of the erased part with any different types of pens and highlighters.
DISLIKE: erasable highlighter
I think my bookshelf is a bad design because every shelf is too deep. If I place normal-sized books, there is a huge space left. I do not want to put another layer of books on the shelf because it will be hard to grab the books from the inner layer. To solve this issue, I had to buy additional storage boxes.