But what Designers do IS magic! That act of synthesis towards craft towards implementation is a wondrous magical thing once turned into a Palm Pre or HP NetBook Mini that brings new areas of delight that were never there before.
What's wrong with magic? What's wrong with the unexplained? Or the secretly explained (LIKE MAGIC!). Yes, I know there are issues in the business case of "the blackbox", but that issue can be handled in other ways. But that magical blackbox that can create a BMW 750i or a VW Beetle. The car itself is a great example. There are few if any "functional usability" issues any longer in the automobile, but in design it is the marriage of market speak with that unique piece of magic that is all the difference. Now to your other point about "intention" ... we agree. Yes STARTING w/ the intention or at least passing through intention as a core driver (sometimes the start of the process is the discover of intention) is definitely required. You can't do good design w/o it. I think the Starck example is bleh. It is an art piece. But I think Don in the book took an example of mine that I offered during research about my Toyota Celica (2001). It was an awesome machine. I loved it. It had no horsepower (I'm cheap and broke) and offered no real luxuries, but I LOVED IT! I felt like I was in a SciFi space ship. The designer and I both looked at THAT shape and said it means ZOOM! Someone else (many) looked at that shape and said, "WTF!?!" But for me, "ZOOM!" This is another important characteristic, is that the focus on a "single product winner" is almost an impossibiity. Even though the iPhone is acclaimed there are many who will NEVER buy it. It's closed system, w/ no keyboard is just preventative. I know others who even hate the way it looks. This is why most companies have multiple devices. Even Apple has 4 versions of the iPod each with disctintiveness of their own. Heck Toyota (in all their brands) has over 30 different models. Anyway, again, it is about balance just up to that last point of choosing your checks. Thanx for offering that Jared! -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45853 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
