IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog

Why Robots Shouldn't Take Over

03/25/08

Ask any fourth grader what the future will be like, and you can be reasonably assured of getting one of two answers. One, that there will be flying cars. And two, that robots will rule the world. Prediction two is rapidly being picked up by futurists and technologists alike as a likely candidate for reality, and some of the predictions that come along with it -- everything from robotic nursing homes to entirely soldier-free warfare -- would push the credulity barrier of the most seasoned sci-fi fan. But if robots are ever to play such a central role in our lives, we have to see a fundamental shift begin to happen in what it means to be robotic: It's not about being non-human, but being pro-human.
IDFuel_robot_receptionist_080325

Permalink • 1 comment

What Zaha Knows That You Don't

2006-12-24

Whether at school, or at work, designers are encouraged(and required) to exercise precision in their descriptive works: drawings, and computer or physical models. After all, how can a mold be cut, or NC router be controlled without a precise directive? In contrast with that stands the fact that the creative mind can benefit from loose, expressive, passionate imagery in a way that would never satisfy a machinist. On this point, we might all learn a little something from a certain world famous architect.
Zaha_small

Permalink • 7 comments

42. ...But What's The Question?

07/17/06

Perhaps the most enduring joke (or truism) of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series was that the answer to life, the universe and everything was 42. Obviously, it's a pretty shoddy answer without the right question (the scheming mice of the book try to pawn off "how many roads must a man walk down"). The same problem confronts designers every day. We are taught that design is about finding answers to question and solutions to problems. Fine, but without the right question or problem, these answers become useless, or even damaging.
071706_question_main

Permalink • 44 comments

From Pokia to Hulger

07/10/06

We first met Nicolas last year when he wowed the world with his custom-made line of Pokia retro-cell phone handsets. At the time, his production was extremely limited, and each handset was hand soldered (by him) and sold on EBay. Since then, Nicolas has moved into the big time, manufacturing his own line of handsets, marketed under the new name Hulger. We had the luck to test one of his first P-phones, and loved it. His latest offering (and our favorite), the Penelope handset has some of the kind of beautiful finish that's been missing from products since the 1950s. We caught up with him to see what his thoughts were on manufacturing, muscling with the big players, and what a new designer can expect in taking their designs all the way.
071006_hulgermainb

Permalink • 183 comments

IDEO Vacation pt. 2 : Top Bill-ing

03/14/06

If you thought the last part of the IDEO vacation was cool, wait until you hear what happened next. Previously, I wrote about my meeting with Daniel Kushner, a designer in IDEO's San Francisco Offices. He and I talked about the certain qualities that make IDEO work as well as it does. About focused knowledge in groups, but broad collaboration throughout the firm. About a development cycle that puts "phase 0", a method for outlining the user and problem space, front and center. About a defined method for problem solving that is both repeatable and adaptable. The more we talked, the more I came to understand that IDEO is less an office full of workers executing some higher-up's wishes, and more a group of designers able to tackle the toughest of problems because of their unique collective state of mind. The next day, I had the good fortune to have a lunch with Bill Moggridge who, along with David Kelley, founded this group and crafted this state of mind. What he told me made me stop asking questions like "What will designers do in the next century?". Instead, I wonder what designers and design thinking won't touch.
031306_bill_moggridge_small

Permalink • 3 comments

IDEO Vacation pt. 1 : What makes IDEO so... IDEO?

01/23/06

Most people take vacations to the ski slopes, or tourist destinations. This winter, I decided that visiting IDEO would be more fun. So with a couple of taggalongs interested in getting some California sun, I headed off to sunny San Francisco, and its lofty neighbor Palo Alto. I wanted to see what makes a firm like IDEO -- which, let's face it, has an almost magical appeal when you're a design student -- what makes it so successful at continually turning out concepts that not only answer design questions, but answer them in ways that are often so far off the beaten path that they create entirely new product definitions.
031306_ideovacation_small

Permalink • 6 comments

Design is: Seeing

12/14/05

In the early pages of The Redheaded League Holmes and Watson receive a very distressed man at Baker Street. As a greeting, Holmes, with characteristic bravado, rattles off a list of intimate details describing the stranger. Both the man, and Watson are shocked that he could have known so much, but Holmes announces out that it was "Quite elementary, my dear Watson", and proceeds to explain the intricacies of his deduction, and later chides Watson good naturedly on his lack of vision -- "You look, but you do not see". As designers, the skill that sets us apart from other builders, sculptors, businesspeople, and engineers, is that we see the connections that make magical deductions like Holmes's possible. Cultivating this skill of looking for real understanding should be at the top of your list.
121405_sherlock

Permalink • 4 comments

Why Robots Shouldn't Take Over

03/25/08

What Zaha Knows That You Don't

2006-12-24

42. ...But What's The Question?

07/17/06

From Pokia to Hulger

07/10/06

IDEO Vacation pt. 2 : Top Bill-ing

03/14/06

IDEO Vacation pt. 1 : What makes IDEO so... IDEO?

01/23/06

Design is: Seeing

12/14/05

Search

Categories

Archives