Being Inspired.

Jacqueline Sigler
Sep 9, 2018 · 5 min read

by design.

Design thinking is a new area of study for me. As a consumer, professional and human being we come across design nearly every moment of our day. Our mobile phone’s hardware, toothbrush, the way in which we organize our mobile phone apps, the handle to open and close our home’s doors have all taken design into account. But what does it take for a design to be inspiring?

Inclusive Design.

Nike FlyEases.

In How to Design for Everyone in 3 Steps, Moore believes that “inclusive design is first and foremost about giving people independence. Inclusive design enables humans to operate with superhuman strength; it allows the teenager with cerebral palsy to help solve the challenge of tying and untying his shoes everyday. Matthew Walzer sought out Nike to help him regain his independence and by being able to take part an act able-bodied humans rarely think about past age seven. The FlyEases (above) incorporate a wrap-around zipper allowing easy entrance and exiting of the shoe — Matthew no longer having to worry about loop, swoop and pull.

SoundShirt.

Cooper Hewitt’s Access+Ability exhibit emphasizes the barrier-breaking impact thoughtful, inclusive design can have. For so many of us we take for granted our five senses. As discussed in class last week, at least all of us raised our hands to ‘liking’, if not ‘loving’ music. How unfortunate for those hard of hearing to miss out on something nearly all humans cherish and bond over.

Enter the SoundShirt. The SoundShirt “translates the experience of listening to music for the deaf and hard of hearing into a physical and sensory experience felt on the skin. By embedding 16 sensors corresponding to each part of the orchestra — violin, cello, drums, etc. — into the fabric of a specially designed shirt, music is felt as an immersive experience of tactile sensations.” How unbelievably cool and groundbreaking. Making the impossible, now possible.

Magnetic Shirt.

This one I can relate to. The Magnetic Shirt was constructed by fashion designer, Maura Horton, in response to her husband’s daily struggle getting dressed due to Parkinson’s . The shirt embeds a magnetic closure system behind the shirt’s buttons. “Magnets make getting dressed easier for everyone while also retaining a person’s dignity of dressing independently.”… Having recently had 20 stitches on my shoulder, in addition to the pain, it made putting on and especially taking shirts off much more difficult. I immediately grew more empathy to so many facing minor, major and permanent injuries or disabilities.

Good Design is Transparent.

In the 10 New Principles of Good Design, Suzzane Labarre writes that “good design should be transparent enough to empower users — to help them make informed decisions about their privacy, their browsing habits, and more –without overwhelming them.”

This call to action was made in response to the public’s increasing concern with the private sector’s more or less betrayal of people’s privacy. Now that we are much more aware of how our online usage, patterns, and buying habits are all being used for monetization and retargeting opportunities — it is transparency in design that should enable individuals to take back control.

I recently subscribed to Wall Street Journal digital, which naturally was followed by frequent WSJ emails. I have tried and failed numerous times now to alter my emails and alerts settings, only for no prompts to arise. This is not user friendly design. I signed up so that I can engage with the news more directly, but rather than focusing my energy on an engaged digital experience, I’m getting increasingly annoyed with each email and lack of ability to unsubscribe.

Moreover, companies have recently made it near impossible to find “Contact Us” on our website. Who is that serving? The company’s customer service margins or the user trying to actually use the service.

Transparency over opacity is sure to build and re-build trust amongst tech behemoths; the easier it is for users to find what they need on a website, the more pleased they will be with the experience.

Impute.

Co. Design’s 6 Pillars of Steve Jobs’ Design Philosophy breaks down Jobs’ design ethos’ based on Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography.

Pillar four is impute. Impute “emphasized that people form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys. ‘People DO judge a book by its cover,’ he wrote. ‘We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software, etc; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; it we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.’”

One of the things both Apple loyalists and infrequent purchasers know is whether they are buying a laptop or headphones, they are going to come a pristine white box, that upon opening adds this excitement and feeling as if you’re in an exclusive, graphic design meets technology savvy club — I think I play the sound of an Apple laptop turning on in my head anytime I open one of said boxes.

Packaging matters. From the box to the bag to the retail store design. Not only is Apple’s design unparalleled in so many ways, it is also extremely consistent and meets and sets customers’ expectations. No matter what city one finds themselves in, they know what the Apple retail store experience will be and what it will look like. It signals Apple’s commitment to design and customer experience all the way through.

Friendliness.

Apple has a hard-to-emulate way of making category defining devices easy to use, aesthetically appealing and “friendly”. Friendliness was Job’s fifth pillar. As Co.’s article intimates, this specific strategy was “intended to appeal to novice consumers and anyone overwhelmed by the capabilities of a computer,” I would add, while also appealing to the early adopter and super user.

For the first Macinstosh, Jobs kept insisting that it should look friendly…. “As a result, it evolved to resemble a human face.” Trying to ease the fright of what to do with this “ thing”, it was designed to emulate something we see everyday, a face, with the simple, cursive hello, making it inviting — almost in the way a smile does.

From 1984 to present, Apple continues to be one of the most impactful hardware and software design companies of our time.

Apple’s first Macintosh.

Written by

Aspiring social entrepreneur. McCombs MBA student. Tech and wellness enthusiast.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade