Has Technology Become Too Design Focused?

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Without doubt one of the major elements of trends in products is not manufacturing advancements but design and style. Although anyone can assert that technology and design innovations move in hand, it is additionally quick to see exactly how design rules customer behavior. Lots of men and women purchase things that are not always better function-wise or feature more helpful functions but because they look cool or come in certain colors. This has been the case for a while because mass-production allowed manufacturers to build cheaper products with the onus on design rather than functionality. Case in point, the paper dresses of the 1960s were very cheap and of a bad quality but for lots of fashion conscience customers they were must have wardrobe items.

This carries on today. Mobile phone manufacturers continually push and pull on the dichotomy of functionality vs design. Some designers choose simple designs and instead rely on features. Others yet choose to offer fewer features but instead focus on the design, at times even working with fashion designers.

With such a focus on design instead of usability, it is easy to regard products as solely design orientated yet it’s important to not forget that such devices are supposed to have helpful benefits. When making your choice of what product to buy there is always three aspects that you need to think about – design, features and cost. Sometimes you might wish to spend more for design or features. Other times they get incorporated together. Apple’s product design ethos is a great example of design meeting technology.

If you always buy products based on their design then you should start to consider the functional element as well. Whilst it may be tempting to get the trendiest designed product, it might not be the most robust. You should really 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 surf online.

Thus, when purchasing new products, you should always think about how you will use it or why you need it. A good example is e-book readers (such as the Amazon Kindle). These have practical uses as well. E.g., many airlines are now limiting flyers to a single piece of luggage. An e-book reader is a lot smaller than an average book and you can take more books with you when you go on holiday.

Mobile phones are a good example of improved technology. You can take your phone for all your media needs. Many now feature large memories letting youenabling you to save music, videos and pictures on there. phones now also have decent digital cameras too, meaning you don’t need to splash out on a separate, expensive camera. The Internet is not any different. Lots of websites have been created with functionality and usability in mind. You can find sites that have been developed to allow you to manage your web time more effectively. They vary from a bookmark organizer, password storage and personalized homepage.

An online password manager will really save you time and can transform the way you work. Sadly, a lot of them have a more functional layout. It will be intriguing to watch how they develop as more of us come to expect good functionality that is displayed in a well designed and aesthetic end product.