We as industrial designers are creators of fiction. Our purpose is to get enough people to believe in our story that it becomes non-fiction.
From the chair you're sitting on to the smartphone in your pocket, industrial designers shape the world around us. They use a process of learning, clarifying, idea generation, testing, validation, and concepting to bring a designed experience into production and ensure it's long term success.
Here is a the typical definition:
"Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and production. The role of an Industrial Designer is to create a execute design solutions towards problems of form, usability, user ergonomics, engineering, marketing, brand development, and sales."
This definition is missing something...
It's missing the fun, the emotional engagement. The visual appeal and interaction that makes humans desire something!
Industrial design is all about bringing ideas to life. It's the art of blending creativity, functionality, and aesthetics to design products that enhance our lives and engage our emotions. It also pushes the boundaries of innovation and improvement. A never ending progress toward the ideal user experience while creating intellectual property for the company that enables its creation.
Design doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's a team effort! Industrial designers, collaborate with engineers, marketers, and even psychologists to create products that resonate with people on a deep level. Together, they bring ideas to life that we never could've imagined alone.
3 Principals Of Industrial Design
Visceral: This is the appearance. This refers to the perceptible qualities of the object and how the user/observer feel when looking at it. The act of distinguishing a product from another, not by the tangible benefits it offers but by tapping into the users’ attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and how they want to feel, to elicit an emotional response.
Behavioral: Has to do with the pleasure and effectiveness of use. It is concerned with how quickly and accurately users can achieve their aims and objectives, how many errors the users make when carrying out certain tasks, and how well the product accommodates both skilled and inexperienced users. The behavioral level essentially refers to the emotions we feel as a result of either accomplishing or failing to complete our goals.
Reflective: Considers the rationalization and intellectualization of a product. Can I tell a story about it? Does it appeal to my self-image, to my pride?" This is the highest level of emotional design; representing the conscious thought layer. We consciously approach a design; weighing up its pros and cons, judging it according to our more nuanced and rational side, and extracting information to determine what it means to us as an individual.
5 Attributes Of Industrial Design
Aesthetics: Aesthetics is a core design principle that defines a design's pleasing visual qualities. Aesthetics include balance, color, contrast, movement, pattern, scale, shape, and visual weight. Designers use aesthetics to complement their designs' usability, and enhance functionality with attractive layouts.
Function: Function the way a product works. How it moves, what it does, and the way it completes a task.
Understanding: Understanding is the customers ability to know how a product will work without much effort. They are less likely to need a tutorial, onboarding, or other help.
Ease of Use: Ease of use is a basic concept that describes how easily users can use a product. It's a key aspect of industrial design, along with functionality, aesthetics, and simplicity.
Physical Feel: The way a product feels to touch, wear, or interact with. The materials, movement, feedback, and weight influence our opinions of the product and its quality.
My Perspective as an Industrial Designer:
Empathy is required. Follow the process to become someone else.
Industrial design is half "woo woo" and half meaningful, decision making. These two are built on a foundation of empathy for the stakeholders.
So much of my design work is an internal reaction to what I see. When a design isn't working I feel it down in the depths of my body. It agitates my soul. When it is working, it's a joyous experience. I'm in the Zone. I let my feelings guide the work as its being created.
The lens I view my work from is built from the practical needs and the desires of the stakeholders. As an actor becomes someone different for their role, I do the same during idea creation and evaluation. I will change roles throughout the process. The research data and interviews or business needs are used to create my lenses.
This process that happens is why different designers will create very different designs for the same user and market segment. I enjoy listening to designers share their creations and the reasons for their decisions. It opens my mind to more possibilities. It's exciting.
If you're managing designers allow them the freedom to build out their vision before critiquing it. If a designer is stuck give them a day to find their way. This is not a world of check lists and spreadsheets.
If you're a designer, you're designing for yourself but you have to become someone else first.