Reflection | Product Design

How do you get from Good to Great? The age-old question that economists and engineers alike have pondered. When someone has managed to create a product with value, how do you improve on it? The best answer I can give I think requires us to go back to the idea of production being innate to human progression. If a product does not add to our continual progression can it really be great. When you think of great products you think of items like the automobile, the airplane, the mobile phone and even intangible products like the internet or social media. At each of the products’ introduction, the impact could clearly be seen to move humanity forward. This is the true nature of a great product.

Therefore, it becomes increasingly apparent as we discuss product design, that we consider it’s effect on the human condition. How does one’s product and design help us move forward? This should be the goal. It seems that everywhere you turn there’s a new advertisement about a solution you didn’t know existed for a problem you didn’t even know you had. So as a designer, there is a huge responsibility to be this constant medium between the everyday user and the the ever-changing products they interact with. Without this mediator then there is no effective way for both sides to relate.

For as long as we have needs to be met, products will need to be made. Our livelihood is hinged on the ability to seemingly create something out of nothing. Even at the most basic level, we are compelled to meet needs and create value. In this same way product design provides a creative outlet, centered around putting together a valuable solution that meets the need of the user. It’s an area that caters to an innate aspect of our lives as humans. Products provide a platform from which creativity and innovation can be birthed. Their reach is unmatched, their potential in unparrallel.