Video Reflection 4

Paul Bennet TED Conference 2005 :: "Design is in the details"

The new generation of design requires involving the consumer in the development of the product; 'bringing people into the process of creating things'. Union, followed by overall consideration of the needs of the 'small' and the needs of the 'big' is essential to for success, satisfaction and design harmony in an increasingly demanding world.

Paul Bennet designs from reverse perspective. Essentially companies want their 'product' to please the user. Apposed to designing from the assumption perception of what a company considers to be correct, Bennet begins by experiencing first hand what the consumer is exposed to, and as a result a greater understanding of what is required is achieved.
Bennet uses the example of the devastatingly boring experience of lying in a hospital bed. When an American healthcare company asked to help enhance patient experience, Bennet's company began by understanding exactly what patients experience, and hence desire. By applying basic changes such as mirrors to enhance communicative involvement with other people, emulating a feeling of privatisation and homeliness when entering a hospital room, and the freedom of expression by allowing drawing on the walls, the overall hospital experience was vastly uplifted.

Another example of how a bleedingly obvious and magnificently basic change that focuses more on pleasing the end user is the hand held data computer. By disregarding trying to design a sexy product, Bennet was able to focus on the experience of the patient during a traumatic medical procedure. Observing the importance of making the patient feel comforted, he designed a data storage device that could be operated with one hand, allowing the nurse to hold the patients hand. This shows how consideration from the an alternative perspective allowed for consideration to an element of design that can be easily overlooked, however has had the most profound effect.

Bennet refers to using peripheral vision to see what is often directly in front of us. Instead of approaching design for problem solving with a biased idea of what is required, try approaching for a different angle, and understanding what feelings the design will evoke. By studying conscious and sub-conscious human innuendos in everyday life, Bennet achieved a deeper understanding of basic human principles.
Children, having not been exposed to adult concepts of right and wrong, have an elementary understanding of functionality, and therefore a amazingly more powerful imagination than grown-ups. By adverting what we know, and considering uninfluenced possibility, we can design in a manner than breaks boundaries, challenges the ordinary and spawns creativity and change. By observing the world literally and analytically from a child's 'level', Ikea creative directors were able to design a storage device that challenged linear, functionally correct, conventional storage ideals with impressive simplicity and humbling genius.
Alternatively, the considerable antithesis of such a form focused design was the purely functional water pump for Kenya. By considering the priorities of Kenyan citizens, Bennet was able to understand that there was a greater need for functional qualities than aesthetic. The resulting design was a huge instant success, supporting the idea that designing for the user is by far the most critical consideration in the product development process.

In conclusion, I found this video to be inspiring. It focused attentively on a notion of huge importance that includes understanding the intricate uniqueness of every individual design. Acknowledging the needs of the target market, with consideration to form and function as well as values is emphasised, as it holds such importance in design success. As a young designer, I must address the value in observation from a third person perspective, and not allowing bias, opinion and assumption to influence design.