Yves Behar: Designing objects that tell stories

Before watching this video, my thinking is people love things with emotions and always curious to find the story behind it. I realized that it’s true and quite important for every designer to think about to design objects that tell “stories” when I first saw the title of this video. I think objects only with elegant shapes or functions are just like false blossoms. It is lack of the communication between the objects their selves and their users.

After watching this video, I wonder I have some misunderstanding the world “story”, maybe it is not only refer to an experience but its value. Just as what Yves Behar mentioned in this video “designers should always think about to create a different relationship between our work and the world.”

From the beginning of the video to the end of it, I notice that the lecturer always mention a word “value”. He mentioned designers’ works can bring value to the users and business. We always try to put more and more values to our products and try to make our products have greater values.

There is another concept in his video “design is just like glue, bringing low power consumption, environmental issues, function and beauty, business strategy…”

The Y Water bottle, which has a second life as a children’s toy.

The idea to create the product “The Y Water bottle” which can create healthy drink & organic drink is great. “The Y Water bottle” is completely symmetrical every dimension and can be connected together to create different shapes. The creative thinking of its name comes from kids always ask “Y” or “Y not”. Simply saying is just a bottle, no matter from which view you look at it, but don’t you think that it is impossible there are so many “stories” behind it. The designer considers environmental issues, function and beauty, business strategy… That’s why I consider it as an excellent design…

One Laptop Per Child

What I get from this video is that we should always thing about what “stories” we can give to our products. How we can reach a greater value of our product. The value of our product can really create a “soul” for the company we work with and we can use the value of our products to change people’s life and the whole world.

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Don Norman: Emotional Design

In this video, Don Norman points out our new life is try to understand what beauty is about, pretty and emotions. Pleasant things can help us work better, because they can make us more creative. Why we love of hate everyday things, proposed three levels by which humans holistically analyze aspects of products. This three levels are visceral level, behavioral level and reflective level.

At the very beginning of this video, there is an example of gold plated jucier. This jucer is not meant to squeeze lemons, it is meant to start conversations. Another example is a global cutting knife which is made in Japan. Don make comments on this product from 3 aspects: shape, blance and sharp. He think it is a beautiful and functional product.

He also shows the other examples like PingPongPlus, a digitally enhanced version of the classic table tennis. This design help to add fun when people playing table tennis. The example of special designed teapot, it can tell people the tea is ready with its changed movements. It is quite a clever idea, which make the tea pot like a naughty person. We can say it is now can be considered as an emotional product. Another example which give me a big empression is a designed chair 'who' loose his ball. This design really gives a chair life, which make it emotional.

The three levels at play in design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. Visceral design is about how things look, feel, and sound. Behavioral design is about getting products to function well, and about making that functionality easily accessible. Reflective design is about the meaning of things, about message and becomes more important as products mature. In the early days, it may be a struggle to get something to work well - the first cars, and the first computers. But when you can take functionality for granted, how do you choose between different products?

Don Norman's framework provides a method by which designers can develop a richer understanding of users and their experiences.

image from: www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/de2008/speakers.php

David Kelley: The Future of Design is Human-Centered

David Kelley: The Future of Design is Human-Centered

David pointed that design now is more focus on human centered behavior and personality. Designs give their products emotions, related to the man-machine relationship. David shares several examples of the designs IDEO in his talk at the TED conference.

The idea used in Prada New York is quite a fancy one. They take their consumers’ shopping habit and convenience into account. From the staff device – a data gathering and managed machine to the liquid-crystal glass used in the change room, the magic mirror. This design helps all staff develop better understanding of future client needs and seems more considerable towards their consumers. It adds fun to the shopping process. Prada New York can be considered more human.

London Science museum is a museum involves interactive installation. Different kinds of interactions make the museum become lively itself, make the youth better understand some knowledge and deliver a good mood to all the visitors.

The flower example used in the Dilbert based office cubical is one of the designs I like best in this vido. This flower design is a good example of well combine the emotions of a product and its owner.

The work of Dr. Martin Fisher in Kenya with deep well, low cost pumps to enable farmers to grow crops in the off season. That amazing one person can increase 0.6% GDP in Kenya.

As an industrial designer, I feel like we should not only consider to create a product which has a well-looking surface or consummated functions. We should give it an emotion. We should consider more about how to make the relationship between the product and human closer.