Undoubtedly one of the defining elements of advancements in products hasn’t been engineering advances but design and style. While you could argue that technology and design innovations go together, it is also easy to see exactly how design dominates buyer behavior. Having said that, this is not a new trend since industrialized production enabled manufacturers to build cheap products with the onus on design rather than functionality. Case in point, the paper clothing of the 1960s were really cheap and of a bad level still for many fashion conscience buyers they were must have wardrobe items.
This carries on today. Phone builders continually push and pull on the dichotomy of functionality vs design. Many product designers choose simple designs and instead rely on features. Others choose to offer fewer features but instead focus on design, sometimes even working with fashion designers.
With this attention given to design over functionality, it is easy to regard technology products as simply design orientated but it’s good to not forget that such devices are supposed to have useful benefits. When you are picking a product to buy there tends to be three factors that you have to weigh up – design, features and cost. At times you might want to spend more on design or features. At other times design and functionality are merged. Apple’s design ethos is an awesome example of design converging with technology.
If you always buy products based on their look then you ought to start to consider the functional element as well. While it may be tempting to get the trendiest designed product, it might not be the best performing. You ought to always check the functions of the product and how you will use it. There is no point in buying a really flash laptop if all you do is write emails or browse online.
So, whenever you are purchasing new products, always think about how you will use it or why you need it. An example of this is e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle. They have practical uses as well. For instance, many airlines now limit flyers to a single piece of hand luggage. An e-book reader is a lot smaller than your average book and you can take more books with you on holiday than you might otherwise be able to.
Cell phones have greatly improved their technology features. You may be able to use your mobile phone for all of your entertainment needs. Many now come with large memories allowing you to save music, videos and pictures on there. Many phones now also have decent digital cameras too, meaning you won’t need to splash out on a separate, expensive camera. The net is no different. Many websites have been designed with usability and functionality as the focus. You are able to use sites that have been made to allow you to manage web time much better.
A bookmarks manager will really save you time and can transform the way you work. Unfortunately, a lot of them have a more functional design. It will be interesting to see how they will develop over time as more people expect functionality that is presented in a well designed and aesthetic end product.