Beautifully Designed Products That Don’t Function Well
“Everything is design” Paul Rand once said. If you are obsessed with design, you realize that every time you come across a product.
This morning, you woke up in a bed, on a pillow, and probably with a blanket on you. They were all designed by someone.
Then you got up, went to the kitchen to make coffee. Your mug, your coffee machine, your spoon, … all of those products were designed by a person or a team. Sometimes brilliantly, sometimes poorly.
… and sometimes, they look stunning, but they don’t function as good.
Let’s take a look at some examples…
Apple Mighty/Magic Mouse
There is no doubt that mouse is one of the most brilliantly designed products in computer technology. And Apple Mighty/Magic Mouse is one of the most beautiful mouse designs, if not the best.
With its gorgeous curves and amazing multi-tap sensor, it is definitely a stunning product to have.
But there is a problem.
It is great that the mouse is rechargeable, but since the Lightning port is located under the mouse, it is not possible to use it while charging. Imagine how frustrating it can be when the battery of your mouse is dead, and you have a tight deadline for a project.
Yes, you can track the battery level of your Apple Mouse and charge it overnight before it’s completely dead, but couldn’t that additional responsibility be eliminated with a more thoughtful design?
Alessi Salif Lemon Squeezer
Philippe Starck is a legendary French designer known for a lot of iconic products and architectural monuments.
One of his creations, Salif, is perhaps the one and only lemon squeezer that has been displayed in a museum (MoMA to be exact). Manufactured by Alessi, Salif became by far the most unique and iconic product in its category.
When it comes to usability, though, most of the owners have serious complaints. It’s almost impossible to use it with one hand because of the clumsy and lightweight legs. Every time, your kitchen counter and even the nearby wall gets so messy that cleaning becomes a hassle. As it doesn’t have a filter or a tray for the seeds, you have to take care of that by yourself. Cleaning the juicer itself is also a pain in the neck.
Despite its stunning design, Salif has always been a perfect example for ‘design over function’.
Watches Without Numbers
If you are a designer, chances are you love minimalistic watches and clocks without numbers. Look at this Shinola timepiece… Lovely, right?
But it’s pretty clear that reading the time on a watch or clock without numbers is significantly more difficult. If it’s a decorative wall clock, or you wear your watch just as a stylish accessory, you’re good. But if you solely use one of these to check your deadline or arrange your next business meeting, you might be in serious trouble.
Siri Remote
If you write an article about the best designed tech products, Apple is your first address. Strangely enough, though, it applies when you write an article about the design fails, too!
The first Apple Remote was introduced in 2005, and it was revolutionary like many other products the technology giant released. With its super simple design and very few buttons, it was almost reinvention of the regular remote.
10 years later, Apple launched the Siri Remote. It looked even sleeker than its predecessors, and other than a very subtle design change, it still uses the same structure today.
This $59 remote has quite frustrating design flaws, though. Its unnecessarily too thin body and slippery material make it impossible to be gripped properly in the first attempt. A noteworthy amount of people reported that it slipped from their hand, fell down and broke. Also, because of its borderless and super sensitive touch surface, it’s very likely to mistakenly tap on a button without your will. And since the upper and lower parts look almost identical (except for a subtle material difference), you usually pick it up upside down and click the wrong button.
Because of those design flaws, numerous third party companies produce cases for the Siri Remote. In Amazon, search for ‘siri remote case’ and see for yourself how popular those items are. The first product has 5,342 reviews (and counting) and the average rating is 5 out of 5. Even this, by itself, proves how problematic the original design is.
No matter if we design a tangible product, a logo, a brochure, a movie poster, or a building, we must make sure that it functions as brilliantly as it looks.
Even the most beautifully designed logo can easily fail a business if it doesn’t reflect its values. An overly elegant logo can kill a store that sells cheap products. An unnecessarily design-heavy user’s guide booklet can confuse the buyer and cause serious problems.
Before starting to design anything, put yourself into the user’s shoes. If you analyze her well, her needs and pain points will guide you to create the good design that looks and functions equally well.
