The bane of society
Well you may ask surely we need business models for business to run effectively and for growth and thus the prosperity of the general populous. Yes, but were on the chart of importance should it be?
A conversation between a dying Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ended in a humble appreciation of each others skills. But the give away comment for me was Bill's using the phrase of the conversation "well, we have a difference of opinion of our business models" and there is the give away comment. The model first, then how to execute it, whereas Jobs view was innovation and connection. Innovation was primarily about the end user, for example the iphone, before that product the phone market resembled the TV market at present, confused, unconnected (how many handsets does it take to watch TV now!!!) and short term. Connection of products and operation systems learn one then you can operate all the other applications , ie get 'Pages" (macs 'Word') then all the others have the same interface...simple.
Try that with an Adobe product! A circle in Photoshop is different from InDesign which again is different in Illustrator, and before you say well they are different products so they have to be different, ask yourself who are you thinking about the engineers who build it or the end user? Who is your primary concern? Making life easier for the engineer or the end user?
Thats why artists and engineers have to work together, either on their own and you get a pretty product that crashes all the time or a product that works, but is overcomplicated for the ordinary user and therefore not used.
Make IT simple...Three moves
We now take it for granted that we buy a phone and use it, not spending hours trying to find stuff and reading reams of instructions. It has to be intuitive to reach the majority otherwise you have a product the excludes.
So which is the better model?
The one were you sell as a product that is short term, rushed to the market (the ipad has been promised for over 10 years, not until battery life was improved would it be released), selling something that is shiny and status driven or a product that is aimed for everyday people to use, setting bench marks rather than following, actually trying to improve people lives rather than just trying to get cash out of their pockets.
Its always about the end user
"They just don't get it" (Steve Jobs) in reference to Google and Microsoft's approach to product design
As Landscape Architects and Garden Designers we need to 'GET IT' otherwise what is the point? Vanity, personnel status, wealth?
All chasing the wind, here to day gone tomorrow, all is vanity, as Solomon is alleged to have written.
Conclusion
The end user determines design.
This is our mission, if not, go and get a job in the City.
Legacy, what are you going to leave behind?
Is it vanity to want to design solutions and real world interfaces that change lives so radically and beyond the dreams of man that looking back you wonder how it was ever possible to live like it was before?
ReplyDeleteAnd an engineer trained in design... naahh... it'll never happen! Well, perhaps, but to remove the spots of a leopard you have to rub very hard.