In this article, I want to talk about the strange accordion drain pipe under my bathroom sink.
Have you seen these before or do you have one in your home? It looks strange, doesn't it? It feels like it probably isn't the best drain pipe you can buy. It looks like a bad design for a drain but the interesting thing is, it creates an ideal experience.
I want to discuss if it's a good design, who is this product for, and if you can take anything from this product and incorporate it into your future projects?
Let's break down a drain pipe's attributes and functions. How should a drain pipe work ideally? It should carry liquids away without leaking or making a mess. That is the basics. The surfacing should be smooth and optimized for flow and drainage. It should be pitched in the direction the liquid should flow.
How well does that description match this product? It is not smooth and it appears that gunk and objects can get stuck in it and clog the pipe. Based on the criteria for the ideal drain pipe this is a terrible design. If a product team evaluated this with traditional features and performance metrics it would not outrank current plumbing solutions and probably be canceled.
So, who would make this and who did they design it for? Why is this sold in almost every hardware store?
Let's quickly talk about who this is for. This obviously isn't for professional plumbers. This product helps the homeowner who has to fix a plumbing problem. It is quicker and easier than any other plumbing product you can buy. It completely eliminates the problem of needing to be exact. There is no measuring, marking, or having the problem of cutting a pipe too short or too long. It is not intimidating. It tells the buyer "I can adapt to any problem you might have. Everything will be ok." The consumer is buying reassurance.
It has a single prominent attribute that makes up for any functional or performance shortcomings it has. I would call it the Easiest Installation Attribute. That attribute has influenced every aspect of the design. The flexible corrugated walls extend and compress to whatever angle or length is needed. This saves them time, money, it eliminates stress and they can go back to their life with minimal interruption. It makes sense why they are at almost all hardware stores.
This example highlights one of the most important steps in the design process, Framing. At the beginning of this article, I framed a plumbing drain in a specific way that most people would agree with. This product failed when analyze through that framework. It appeared to be a bad product and a bad design. As we talked about the non-expert user and their needs, this product began to change into a good product. This is a great example of how framing a set of problems, users, and their needs will affect how we see it and others see it. Establishing a hierarchy of attributes that will guide the design of a product is important. Changing the highest attribute during the design process will create different but relevant product ideas. Having a single Core Attribute, supported by other attributes for each concept creates focus and clarity for what the product is and consumers can recognize that.
If you're designing an ideal solution for a specific user, it can be easy to poke holes in the product. It's easy to talk about its flaws and how it fundamentally might not be a good design. While that could be true, it could still be a huge success. Defend these ideas. Frame them up properly when you first present them to leadership or your product team. Push back is normal, anticipate it, and counter it with the proper framing. When this is done at the beginning of a project it is easier to get buy-in and the road to launching your product will be quicker and easier.
A word of warning: Focus groups could be problematic here. Strong opinionated personalities can influence other people's thoughts and give you unreliable data. If you want to validate your team's ideas, the best way is to conduct individual appointments with users and have them solve a problem with the product.
To recap, don't rely on traditional product metrics to evaluate your designs and ideas. It will artificially limit your creativity. Evaluate them on the experience it creates for the user. When you are designing an ideal experience it is very difficult to create ideal features and experiences across the board. Focus on one core attribute at a time that is supported by other important attributes. This is a great way to create multiple strong concepts. Don't let the design's shortcomings kill your ideas if the experience is ideal.