Without doubt one of the defining factors of improvements in products is not technological advancements but design and style. Though people could assert that design and technology innovations move together, it is also quick to see just how design rules customer behavior. This has actually been the case for a long time since industrialized production enabled manufacturers to create cheap products where the onus was on design instead of functionality. E.g., the paper clothing of the 1960s were inexpensive and arguably of a poor quality but for many fashion conscience people they were items you needed to have in your wardrobe.
This process carries on to this present day. Cell phone builders continually play with the dichotomy of functionality vs design. A lot of manufacturers choose understated designs and rely instead on feature development. Many others choose to provide fewer features and instead focus on design, sometimes collaborating with celebrities.
With such a attention given to design over usability, it is easy to regard devices solely as aesthetic but it is also important to not forget that such products should have helpful benefits. When making your choice of what product to buy there tends to be three different elements that you need to weigh up – design, features and cost. At times you might want to spend more for features and at other times for design. At other times design and functionality are merged. Apple’s product design ethos is a great example of design converging with technology.
If you always go for the design element when choosing products then you should really start to consider the functional element as well. Whilst it might be tempting to get the trendiest design, it may very well not be the best performing. You ought to always consider the functions of the product and how you will use it. There is little point of getting a high-tech laptop if all you do is write emails or surf online.
Thus, whenever you are purchasing new products, always think about how or why you need it. An example of this is e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle. They have practical uses. E.g., many airlines now limit passengers to a single piece of hand luggage. An e-book reader is much smaller than the average book and you can take a lot more books with you on holiday.
Mobile phones are a good example of improved technology features. You may be able to take your cell phone for all of your media needs. Lots of phones now come with large storage capacities letting you save music, videos and pictures on there. Lots of cell phones now have digital cameras too, meaning you won’t need to buy a separate, pricey camera. The net is not any different. Many sites have been created with functionality and usability as the focus. You can now use websites that were developed to allow you to organize your online time much better.
A bookmarks manager will save you time and transform the way you work. Unfortunately, lots of them have a more basic design and layout. It will be interesting to see how they will evolve as more of us expect functionality that is displayed in a well designed end product.