Steve Jobs, Product Design,and Me

Yesterday's news was a bummer. I can't help feeling that with the loss of Steve Jobs presence, Product Design is changing irrevocably - our leader has left the building. For years now, much of traditional product design in the US has been slipping away, small parcels sneaking off to China, India, and beyond until what remains is a shadow of the former glory. Manufacturing exited the building first, quickly, soon taking engineering with it. Now, overseas factories provide modeling and tooling, promoting their own products to clients who used to pay for American design.

Nearly every client I've ever worked with has expressed their desire to emulate Apple, to be a leader in their industry, to be like Steve. Honestly, few have had the dedication and guts to risk long-term research and investments the way Steve Jobs did. But his standard still pushed everyone to do a little more. He made me more diligent. He made us all feel like everything is possible.

I hope that Steve Jobs pulls off another miracle, hits yet another grand slam, and surprises us all by debuting another astounding, design-minded company in a few years. I still hope to meet the man some day. But for now, take a listen to his Commencement speech at Stanford, it's classic Steve Jobs.

100th Post: $100 Favorites

It was hard to decide what to write about on my 100th blog entry. While I could certainly come up with top-100 lists, who'd really want to read all of that? One of the things I like best about reading blogs is finding out about cool new things that I come to love in turn. So on this momentous occasion, let me share with you a few of my favorite things that I'd happily drop a hundred dollars on, in honor of the hundredth post:

The Sodastream Soda Maker, favorite purchase of the year


KitchenAid Mixer Attachments - trust me, without these you have no idea what your mixer is capable of!


Philips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player takes long trips from excruciating to easy


Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker - consolidates the baby food process and is a super nice splurge for a new mom.


Dewalt 18V Cordless Drill - a bit over budget, but the ideal drill in my eyes. Great battery life and an easy chuck make short work of DIY work.


SimpleHuman SS Step Trash Can - think about how many times you use your trash can every day. Treat yourself to a good one!


iPod Nano - if you aren't in the apple game yet, this gadget is a great way to get started. With music, media, calendars, and apps like the pedometer, the nano quickly integrates into your day.

Snobject: Moleskine Coming to you in Color!

The Volant Collection from Moleskine offers beautiful vibrant colors - the black's a classic forever, but the new colors are a treat. The green and orange join a family of brightly colored books with great features - tear away notes, removable pages, the palest grid lines, and sticky tabs.  Moleskin continues to make the most delightful notebooks around.

Pioneers of American Industrial Design

Often when people hear the term "Industrial Design" they think of factories and machines.  Those things result from design, but Industrial Design is actually the discipline of solving problems through the design of objects.  It's a strange and wonderful merging of art, engineering, business, and research.  It's a unique field full of wonderfully unique individuals.  The masters of my discipline are being honored by the US Postal Service with lovely iconic images that showcase the simple beauty of designing useful objects.

P-Tree Gives you Permission to Pee

The P-Tree by Dutch designers Aandeboom is fascinating.  Drunken revelers can now pee on trees without worry - although having permission might take all the fun out of it.  The P-Tree is simple:  strap the rota-molded urinal to a tree, tie it into septic or drainage, and viola!  Instant potty.  The only question I have left for Aandeboom is, what about the ladies?

A Castle of Your Own...

It's easy to walk through a room and think, I really need more furniture, or I wish I had more artwork to hang.  It's easy to forget about your walls.  Vinyl decals transform walls in an instant and bring a burst of personality to a drab room.  I especially love the kids motifs, which offer real style at a great price. And if you were ever a gamer, there are retro game decals here that'll make your day.  If you've never browsed the Blik catalog, do yourself a favor and check it out!

Snobject: Weber Genesis E-310 Grill

Honestly, all I think when I look at this grill is "Yes, please!"  Seeing as it's the first day of summer here, I thought it only appropriate to highlight this perennial favorite - The Weber Genesis E-310 Grill.  It's relatively compact but boasts 3 burners and tons of grilling real estate.  Users report it's easy to use and easy to clean.  It's built for the long-run, though the longevity comes at a price. The biggest drawback is that it comes in a ton of pieces, but clear illustrated directions get you grilling asap.  And best of all, it's trimmed out like a classic car.  What is there not to covet?
Weber 6511001 Genesis E-310 Liquid Propane Gas Grill, Black

The Things Users Won't Tell You

Let's cut right to the chase - companies want to know what you want to buy. They really, really want to know. They email you surveys, they print feedback sweepstakes on your receipts, and they pay market researchers a LOTTA money to tell them what you want. And you tell them! You're genuinely thrilled to let them know what you're thinking! You want them to know what you want to buy too!

So what's the problem with all of that? Why does it seem so hard to find exactly what you want on the shelf? Because, honestly, you can't tell them what you want. And they're pretty silly to keep asking! For the average user the majority of any experience doesn't register in the conscious mind. The subconscious processes much of what we see, hear, touch and smell - and only the highlights are big enough to catch our full attention.
What companies could really use is insight into unarticulated needs. These are the things you won't tell them, but you'll recognize instantly when your attention is drawn to it. Take the photo above for example. When surveyed, the owner of this refrigerator was asked "can you store wine in your refrigerator" and responded "yes" with no qualifications. Upon direct observation of the user's fridge, it was obvious that wine bottle storage was not being adequately addressed.

The user isn't going to tell you what they need, but it's right there waiting to be observed through ethnographic documentation. Traditionally, ethnography demands a rigorous period of immersion into a culture for observation. The same principles can be applied to observation research on a smaller scale. Forget the focus groups. Forget the surveys. Take the plunge and get right inside the user's world - the answers are there waiting for you.

Orville's New Bag Needs No Bowl

The Orville Redenbacher's Pop Up Bowl is pretty neato. Click through to watch the video - unfortunately they don't have one available to embed. The bag unfolds and expands similarly to other popcorn bags. Once it pops up, you tear off one edge and end up with a bowl-like package suitable for snacking. Beats coating your knuckles with shiny goodness when reaching deep into the greasy salty sides of a regular bag for the last kernels...

Who Needs a Burger Press?

Grilling season is upon us, and I've been meaning to look into burger presses. Not necessarily because I want one, but because I've been wondering who does? I'm more the type to be lulled into a stress free zone by patting out my burgers systematically, and I haven't as yet desired a machine to do it for me. But the fact remains that there are a LOT of these little devices on the market in many forms - so here's the run-down:Williams Sonoma is all over the idea of perfectly formed burgers. They've got round ones, square ones, and pleasing heavy cast tools all around. The pass-through design seems to make sense as patties drop straight through after you press them.
Crate & Barrel has also been working the burger angle, although their presses make a bit less sense. The presses are virtually burger molds, with not much opportunity to extricate the patties intact...may explain why they're on clearance at this time!
There's also a lot of professional grade equipment on the market, and an affordable option is Weston's Burger Express. It's spring loaded, making it easy to remove the burger intact off of the raised platform after you press it. And you get to set your desired thickness. As with most presses, the use of waxed paper is encouraged to make production perfect.

What I'd like to see next is a press that allows you to customize - who says we all want the same burger size? Or maybe something that cranks out the burgers like a potato slicer? Or a patty sized cookie gun? There's definitely room for improvement here. I now understand the appeal - users describe deep satisfaction with consistent thickness, shape, and ease of production. But I think a better product awaits - after all if you're in the market for a burger press, you're seeking perfection.