I wonder why some designers put so much more emphasis on how a product looks rather than the job it does. I realize that some things look so much cooler if the use of the product is as important, but I feel like they should be more interested in selling a useable product rather than one that just sits there and collects dust. "The Juicy Salif" is one example. It does look awesome, but consumers are going to have to purchase two squeezers- one to use, and one to look at. And another part of the problem is that the one that actually gets used normally costs so much less than the one that's made just for looks.
One section that I liked particularly well was when Heskett talked about alternative uses for products. It never really occurred to me that there alot of products that are used the majority of the time for something other than what they were designed to do. The one thing that comes to mind for me is firearms. They were originally developed for hunting and survival, but now when you think of guns, you almost predominately think of murder weapons more than anything else.
I also found it very interesting when Heskett was talking about how different building set-ups and designs. It was really interesting to hear about how some companies design their buildings and offices in order to get a desired effect in their products, and even their employees. I also like hearing about how some companies have used new technology to change the workplace. One of the examples I liked the best was the Japanese company that used supercomputers to regulate lighting and temperature throughout the building according to employees' work.
Heskett, John. Design: a very short introduction. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
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