back in ‘49
I could program a computer in FORTRAN. But nowadays, if you can’t use a computer, you’re as good as luke-warm, curdling milk. Computers, and their programmers and designers are everywhere. Your TV, DVD player, Playstation, iPod, car, PDA, phone, alarm clock, even your toothbrush.
And besides all the modern day conveniences, such as having your $160 luxury toothbrush gently massage your teeth while you grow fat staring at yourself in the mirror, and then have a soft LED blue haze blink at your to let you know that 2 minutes are up, you might think to yourself, gee, this is the life. How did my parents make it up til now? But then, remind yourself of the 37 hours it took to program your toothbrush to remember daylight savings time and which default brush speed you liked on the first Wednesday of each month.
Computers don’t equal convenience. They offer automation. A series of yes’s and no’s. Nothing truly revolutionary. It is the designer who must first create the tool, and then teach its functionality and features to the end user. They must put the power and simplicity back into the hands of the humanoid. Perhaps, “if you have to ask, it should be designed different”.
Design exists when forms follows function.
Design succeeds when it is approachable.