Form Follows Function: Tips to Improve Your Product Designs
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the design principle 'form follows function', highlighting its importance in creating meaningful and useful designs. It emphasizes the necessity of understanding constraints and the problem at hand to develop effective designs. The script also discusses the role of visual indicators, manufacturing methods, and conventions in design, and stresses the need for designs to be intuitive and user-friendly. It concludes by advocating for innovation within the bounds of acceptability.
Takeaways
- 📦 **Design with Constraints**: The more specific the constraints, the easier it is to design something meaningful and useful.
- 🍕 **Form Follows Function**: The concept of form following function is crucial for designing objects that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
- 🔍 **Design Criteria**: Establishing clear design criteria helps to focus on specific goals and removes subjectivity from the design process.
- 🔧 **Problem Scoping**: Understanding the problem intimately through design research is essential before creating a design.
- 🎨 **Visual Indicators**: Using contrasting colors, materials, and shapes can highlight the function of a design and guide users.
- ✈️ **High Stress Environments**: In high-stakes situations, clear visual indicators can be critical for preventing mistakes.
- 🔗 **USB Example**: The evolution from USB to USB-C demonstrates how form can follow function by making a design more user-friendly.
- 🗺️ **Mapping Function to Control**: Aligning controls with their functions, as in the case of stovetop knobs, improves usability.
- 🏭 **Manufacturing Impact**: The manufacturing method can significantly influence both the look and functionality of a design.
- 📘 **Convention vs. Innovation**: While it's important to consider existing conventions, being too radical can lead to resistance from customers and potential legal issues.
- 🔄 **Most Advanced Yet Acceptable**: Strive for a balance between innovation and what is currently accepted by the market.
Q & A
What is the significance of constraints in the design process?
-Constraints are crucial in the design process as they provide specific guidelines that make it easier to create meaningful and functional designs. The more specific the constraints, the clearer the direction for the design, as exemplified by the transition from a generic box to a specific pizza box with defined dimensions and material requirements.
What does the phrase 'form follows function' mean in design?
-The phrase 'form follows function' implies that the design of an object should primarily be determined by its intended function or purpose. This principle, coined by architect Louis Sullivan, suggests that the shape and design of an object should be a direct result of its functionality.
Why is establishing design criteria important at the beginning of a project?
-Establishing design criteria is important because it sets clear objectives for what constitutes success in solving a problem. It removes subjectivity from the design process and ensures that every design decision is made to serve a specific goal, aligning with the principle of form following function.
How does understanding a problem intimately help in creating a design?
-Understanding a problem intimately allows for the creation of a design that is tailored to meet the specific needs and challenges of that problem. This deep understanding often comes from conducting design research, which helps in scoping the problem effectively.
What role do visual indicators play in design?
-Visual indicators such as contrasting colors, materials, and shapes play a crucial role in highlighting the function of a design. They guide the user by drawing attention to important or frequently used features, which is particularly useful in high-stress environments where mistakes can have serious consequences.
Can you provide an example of how form following function can make a design foolproof?
-An example of a foolproof design following the principle of form follows function is the USB-C connector, which can be inserted in both orientations. This design eliminates the guesswork and physical force required to insert a USB in the correct way, making it more user-friendly.
Why is mapping the functionality to the user interface important?
-Mapping functionality to the user interface in a way that aligns with the user's expectations and physical layout (like aligning stovetop knobs with their respective burners) enhances usability. It reduces confusion and makes the interaction between the user and the product more intuitive.
How does the manufacturing method influence the look and feel of a design?
-The manufacturing method significantly influences the look and feel of a design because different methods have unique strengths and weaknesses. For instance, injection molded chairs have a different aesthetic and functional outcome compared to those made from bent plywood.
What challenges does breaking convention in design present?
-Breaking convention in design can present challenges such as customer resistance due to familiarity with the status quo and potential legal regulations. While not advocating for blind adherence to convention, it's important to be aware of it and consider how to navigate potential pushback.
What does the phrase 'most advanced yet acceptable' mean in the context of design?
-The phrase 'most advanced yet acceptable' suggests that while pushing the boundaries of design, it's also important to ensure that the design is still relatable and acceptable to the target audience. It's about finding a balance between innovation and what users are accustomed to.
Why is it beneficial to have contrasting visual elements in a design?
-Contrasting visual elements are beneficial as they serve as visual indicators that can guide users and highlight important features or functions. This is particularly important in high-stress environments where clear and immediate understanding of how to use an object can be critical.
Outlines
📦 The Importance of Constraints in Design
The paragraph discusses the significance of constraints in the design process. It uses the analogy of designing a box, explaining how vague instructions lead to difficulty in creating something useful. As the requirements become more specific, such as designing a pizza box for a 16-inch pizza from compostable material that can support stacking, the design process becomes clearer. The concept of 'form follows function' is introduced, a principle attributed to architect Louis Sullivan, emphasizing that design should be guided by function. The paragraph also stresses the importance of establishing design criteria to clarify goals and reduce subjectivity in design decisions. Visual indicators are highlighted as a tool to guide users and ensure usability, especially in high-stress environments like airplane cockpits. The discussion concludes with the idea that designs should be intuitive and foolproof, using USB-C as an example of good design.
🛠️ Adhering to Convention in Design
This paragraph addresses the role of convention in design. It points out that while innovation is important, deviating too much from established norms can lead to resistance from users who are accustomed to the status quo. The example of power drills is used to illustrate how changing a long-standing design convention, such as the position of the trigger, can be met with skepticism. The speaker acknowledges that while it's not advisable to blindly follow convention, designers must be aware of it and consider how to manage potential customer pushback. The concept of 'most advanced yet acceptable' is introduced as a guiding principle. The paragraph ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe for more content and a mention of books that will be linked in the video description.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Constraints
💡Form follows function
💡Design criteria
💡Design research
💡Visual indicators
💡High stress environments
💡Foolproof design
💡Manufacturing method
💡Convention
💡Most advanced yet acceptable
Highlights
Designing without constraints is challenging because it lacks a clear purpose.
Specifying the purpose, like designing a pizza box, makes the design process easier.
Further specifying details such as pizza size and material clarifies the design requirements.
Adding structural requirements like stacking capacity influences the design's form.
The phrase 'form follows function' by Louis Sullivan emphasizes the importance of function in design.
Establishing design criteria is crucial for a successful project outcome.
Design decisions should not be arbitrary but should serve a specific goal.
Understanding the problem intimately is necessary to create a design criteria.
Design research is essential for problem scoping in the design process.
Visual indicators like contrasting colors and shapes can highlight the function of a design.
In high-stress environments, clear visual indicators are crucial for safety.
The form of a design should ideally prevent users from making incorrect usage mistakes.
USB-C is an example of a design that is foolproof and follows the principle of form follows function.
Mapping the functionality to the user interface clearly is important for usability.
Manufacturing methods significantly affect the look, feel, and functionality of a design.
Conventions in design should be considered, but not necessarily blindly followed.
Radically new ideas can face resistance due to established conventions and regulations.
The concept of 'most advanced yet acceptable' is a useful mantra for innovative design.
Encouragement through subscriptions and likes motivates content creation on the channel.
Transcripts
what if I asked you to design a box sure
you could make something but it's hard
to make anything meaningful or useful
because you don't know what the box
needs to do
there aren't enough constraints but if I
was a little bit more specific and told
you that it was a pizza box
suddenly the task is a bit easier you
know the shape of pizza um it's round
and you know enough about it to start to
develop more nuanced concepts if I told
you that this pizza box needs to fit a
16 inch diameter pizza and the box must
be made from compostable molded fiber
and it's even more clear if this box
needs to have several other pizzas
stacked on top of it I know to add in
some structural ribbing to make the box
stronger so this is important because
this shows you that the more specific
you are with constraints the easier it
is to design the shape that your designs
take are dictated by what the designs
need to do or how they should function
this is the crux of the phrase form
follows function this is a quote that
was originally coined by architect Louis
Sullivan in the late 1800s and it still
holds true today and it will probably
always hold true the first thing that I
do when I start a project was
established a design criteria it forces
you to be very specific about what a
success will look like for a problem
you're solving and it takes a lot of
subjectivity out of the design process
you can't just arbitrarily choose red
for the products color just because you
like it every design decision should be
made in service of a specific goal and
this is really really important when
you're sort of designing for form
following the function when you present
a design without a clear goal to
engineers marketer senior designers or
business people this is what you sound
like
now you can't really make a design
criteria unless you understand the
problem very intimately and this sort of
problem scoping is done through design
research so I won't get into the details
of design research right now for this
video in the meantime a really good book
on design research is called designing
for growth I
recommended another thing that you can
think about with form following function
is to have visual indicators so properly
using contrasting colors materials and
shapes is a really good way to highlight
function for example the equal sign on
this Brown calculator is a great example
of that
same thing with this messenger bag these
color changes highlight the most
important or most used touch points on
the object the color change draws your
eye in and this is especially useful
when you're working in high stress
environments so in an airplane cockpit
mistakes can mean life or death that's
why many of the buttons in the cockpit
are distinctly different shapes and
colors you don't want to mistake one
button for another now I've never flown
a plane but I'm willing to bet that the
buttons with the red covers on them are
probably only meant for an emergency
this is the power of visual indicators
and form following function it tells you
how to use the object just by looking at
it the form following function really
the best thing that you can do is make
it so that the user can't do something
the wrong way so remember all the USB
inputs
well the visual indicator for which
orientation to insert it is never easy
enough to identify at least in my
opinion in many other people's opinions
and they also require just a little bit
too much force to insert so sometimes
you end up flipping it back and forth
like two or three times before you get
it right now thankfully USBC can be
inserted in both directions or
orientations so this is a problem of the
past and USBC is a great example of form
following function by making a design
foolproof another thing to think about
with functionality is mapping a great
example of very confusing mapping are
with stovetops so I always have trouble
figuring out which knob controls which
burner and a more practical control
array would be one that's aligned with
the stovetop burners now I can almost
guarantee you that there are mechanical
constraints here but from a usability
perspective this makes way more sense
and this particular example is mentioned
by Don Norman in the design of everyday
things which is another
I highly recommend one of the biggest
determining factors in the function look
and feel of your design is the
manufacturing method so a chair that's
injection molded versus one that's made
from bent plywood all yield completely
different visual and functional results
sometimes simply switching up the
manufacturing method is enough to make
the functionality and aesthetic of the
design completely novel and new each
manufacturing method has different
strengths and weaknesses and this is
usually the determining factor in
whether a feature or design detail can
be implemented the last thing I want to
talk about is form following convention
so for example every production may
drill i've ever seen has a trigger in
the same place except for one which was
designed by Porsche so this design has
the trigger on top of the device now
it's totally possible this is a superior
design but power drills have been around
for over a hundred years and they've
always had the trigger in the same spot
so changing that trigger location goes
against a hundred years of convention
and for this reason radically new ideas
are often not accepted customers are
just used to the status quo and even if
the new idea is much better people will
be slow to adopt those new ideas in
addition to that you may be going
against legal regulations that are
heavily entrenched so I want to make it
clear that I'm not saying that you
should blindly follow convention that I
would never suggest that all I'm saying
is that you need to be aware of those
conventions and figure out how to
navigate any potential pushback from
customers what I'm basically talking
about here is ringing a noise mantra of
the most advanced yet acceptable I'm
thinking about making a video about this
at some point so I hope this video was
helpful subscribe if you want to see
more content like this it really
motivates me to continue on with the
channel and leave a like if you enjoyed
the video I'll link the books that I
mentioned in the description and thank
you so much for checking this out guys
and I hope you learned something
you
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