The Magic of Creating Magical Products

A perfect product connects to a fundamentally human domain – it can cause delight in an almost mystical manner. Any consumer product that exists in this world is created to address humans needs. Human needs derive from the most profound layers of human existence. Products that are able to articulate that connection will be perceived as something utterly desirable by humans. By consistently making reference to the essence of why a product is being created, what problem it solves, what human need it addresses, the product will be simple, authentic and meaningful.

The Importance of the Artifact

Humans relate to physical artifacts in a deeply natural way: Both the human and the artifact exist in the spatial dimension. We use space as a metaphor when we think about the dimension of time (“before” and “after” are spatial metaphors). Humans emphasize with the physical artifact, it can be “grasped”, physically as well as mentally, humans built an emotional relationship with the physical artifact.

The entire Device is Interface

The (screen) interface itself is meaningless. So is the physical artifact per se. Both become relevant in a perfect symbiosis. I call this the interface-device transcendence.

The Divergence of Touchpoints

We are in a process of seeing the disappearance of the screen as the sole interface. Physical objects are evolving to be primary touchpoints with the human. Touchpoints will be multiple and diverse. “Digital” will become invisible. It will become a sub-surfaced, technical foundation giving value to humans.

The Metaphor

Humans live consciously and unconsciously by Metaphors. Metaphors can be very powerful when applied in design. Metaphors can stretch from a product itself being a metaphor (“It’s like a magic glass ball.”) to interaction metaphors (“This should feel like clapping hands.”). If used correctly and coherently, metaphors can make a product feel human and credible.