Reflections on Design

"To be able to look to the future, you must learn to see the past." Henry Dreyfus.

If the ancient Greeks could observe the evolution of the design of modern devices, they would not be surprised at all. No, it is not about universal geometric principles and laws that are embodied in the figures of all things on earth. It is about the very perception of time. They would say it's Kairos.
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Chronos and Kairos are not only two ancient Greek deities, they are two concepts of time. And if the concept of "chronology" does not require detailed explanation, then with Kairos the situation is completely different.

Kairos is an elusive moment of good luck, which always comes unexpectedly, and therefore it is very difficult to use it. This god was very revered by the ancient Greeks. He drew the attention of a person to that auspicious moment when he needed to act in order to achieve success. In his hands, he usually holds scales, which symbolizes the justice of fate, sending good luck to those who deserve it.

In the design of modern devices, each designer, developer and manufacturer to go beyond the canon, catch Kairos "by the hair strand" (it was this deity who had a lock for which he could be grabbed). After all, a canon is both a sample of an existing product and “traditional” materials of its manufacture, and even a general idea of ​​“what this thing should look like.”

After industrial design appeared in the 20th century, the emergence of fundamentally new devices (the explosive expansion of the product range itself) challenges designers and manufacturers around the world. Examples of products that have become an “icon” of design in their niche are easy to bring - these are the legendary Walkman players, Dyson fans, Ferrari cars, etc.

But even in spite of the originally “commercial” essence of industrial design, there is something more in the evolution of technical innovations than simple inheritance, change and expansion of technical capacities.

After the functions of the device are increasingly impossible to determine visually, new tasks appear before designers - to help the consumer in understanding the object, facilitating its use. More and more rarely, the form of an object is “subordinated” to its functional content, and increasingly, ergonomics, external factors - up to the “ensemble” of devices, come to the fore.

In the design of modern devices such examples can be cited - the use of "unconventional" materials of the laptop case (from polished metal in the ASUS Zenbook to bamboo inserts in Bamboo U2). Another example of the interconnectedness brought to the “absolute” is the ASUS PadPhone, when an alternative solution is proposed instead of the “under-platelet” and “resmartphone”. However, there are much more awards “for design” that were received by a more “simple” bundle of tablet + docking station with Transformer Pad keyboard.

Each of the devices named for the example was created to attempt to go beyond the boundaries of the existing frameworks and canons in the design of today's super-popular laptops and tablets. Many users even now cannot realize the many-sided nature of the current situation on the market of high-tech innovations, especially when the discussion lies in the plane of patent law. It is enough to read the indignant exclamations “What's next ?! Everybody make triangular plates ?! “or“ Oh! Another clone of the apple! “, To notice the categorical and heated situation. Reference products in their class become canons in their niche and only new solutions, both designer and technical, will be able to change the situation.

It is necessary to understand the evolution of gadget design is not as linear as the evolution in nature, and, moreover, device manufacturers strive through their design to meet more user needs than ever in the past. What is this about? Very simple. Let's briefly recall the Maslow's “pyramid of needs”, one of the options for classifying human needs. Abraham Maslow recognized that people have many different needs, but also believed that these needs can be divided into five main categories:

• Physiological: hunger, thirst
• Security needs: comfort, consistency of living conditions.
• Social: social connections, communication, joint activities.
• Prestigious: self-respect, respect from others, recognition.
• Spiritual: cognition, self-actualization, self-expression, self-identification.

So, modern technical innovations are increasingly seeking to meet the needs of the "top" of the pyramid. From the concept of “reliable and comfortable” (the need for security), gadgets aim to meet social needs (separate functionality for social networks, microphones, webcams and front cameras in all devices), prestige needs (devices of the highest price category, premium “Materials in the decoration of the device) and, finally, even to the satisfaction of spiritual needs (owning the“ most fashionable ”device as a means of self-expression, reflecting one’s life principles).

This is partly why the “old” laptops supplant the “fashionable” ultrabooks, and the world has split into those who prefer the appearance and functionality of their ardent opponents.

Today, if% of noname% manufacturers from China create devices with the usual design “just to sell”, then large manufacturing companies are trying to find their Kairos, a non-returnable moment of fracture, to create a device, looking at which, they want to take it in hand and never let go .

And I do not know about you, but I am very pleased that ASUS is finding its Kairos more and more often.