Video Reflection 4

Paul Bennett ‘Design is in the Details’.

As designers we need to be continually conscious of our surroundings and how we socially interact within these, in order to explore human solutions in everyday products.

In this way, product design can be used as a vehicle to specifically focus on small details within this human interaction, which in effect can greatly improve the overall lifestyle of the user. The human condition of comfort and support, influenced the design of an easy to use hand held data information mechanism for nurses to use while operating, so the other can hold the patient’s hand is a prime example of this process.

As stated by Paul “reframing the ordinary”, by walking inside the consumer’s shoes to truly understand and explore their worldview is fundamental for designers to seek solutions that once weren’t so bleeding obvious. The Kenyan water pump is a great example to show how Paul’s design team at IDEO put this in practice to design a pump that was lightweight, easy to transport on bicycles and fit for anyone to use.

Today, in a fast moving society, it is essential for product designers to explore needs and solutions that will actually benefit the consumer, instead of following the common trait of novelty icons that is greatly impacting the design market today.

For the current assignment on ‘experience enrichment’, I now truly understand how important the target market is, in defining the needs of the consumer and plan to be conscious of how they socially interact in different settings. As a designer I will be conscious of the small brush strokes that paint a very large portrait of the consumer to find solutions in everyday needs.