Assignment 1: Products and Emotion

For this week's blog report, I have chosen the topic of handphones as my focus for behavioral, visceral and reflective designs. The revolution of handphones have been phenomenal, from simple to complicated, luxurious designs. The impact of improvement in handphone designs have somehow compromised the functionality of each generation. I have chosen three phones to use for comparison - Nokia 6510, LG Chocolate and Apple iPhone.

Nokia 6510 - Behavioral design


Nokia 6510 is one of my favourite phones. I have categorized it under a good behavioral design due to its functionality and easy usability. From the outlook of 6510 itself, it evident that a lot thought have been put into the mapping and design of the buttons. The buttons are designed in such a way that it has a flat surface, protruding only by a little, which makes it easy for pressing.

Because most of us use our thumbs when texting or when making a phone call, the squarish diamond shaped buttons kind of maps into the surface of our thumbs. These buttons are easier to press as compared to rounded ones.

One of the raving reviews of Nokia 6510 is it's durability and it's functionality. This phone provides all the basic functions we think a phone should have. Perhaps due to its lack of technology (3G, camera etc.), this phone doesn't hang or lag as much as phones nowadays. Texting has also proven to be smooth and fast. Unlike some phones nowadays, words only come out 1 of 2 seconds after you have keyed in the alphabets.

Furthermore, I personally don't think Nokia 6510 lacks in aesthetic appeal. For a simple, backward phone, it portrays a sleek, tough image. The best thing about its aesthetics is that it is light and compact. Therefore, Nokia 6510 makes a good example for behavioral design.

LG Chocolate - Visceral Design


The LG Chocolate phone is obviously a fashion accessory. With its good looks coupled with its touch screen capabilities (one of the first in the technology), the LG Chocolate creates an impression on the user.

At the time when this phone came out into the market, it became a must have for all trendy people. There were raving comments of its touch-sensitive buttons, it's sleek design and organizer capabilities. This makes the LG Chocolate an exciting phone to use.

However, this excitement only lasted for awhile. People became bored of it after some time. Some even began to complain about its touch-sensitive buttons being too sensitive - a brush of the finger usually sends unintended messages, makes unintended phonecalls etc. The excitement value began to decrease and not before long, the LG Chocolate was not so hot anymore.

Even so, the LG Chocolate makes a good example of a good visceral design, especially when we compare with technology that changes over time. Users tend to demand more from innovators because humans are adaptable creatures. In this technological age, not many of us are willing to settle down for a less than excellent phone, both in the aspects of design and function.

Apple iPhone - Reflective Design

This example provides the closest proximity there is to understand the aspect of reflective design.

The Apple iPhone is probably the most talked about product in the hand phone industry nowadays. In Singapore alone, anyone seen carrying the Apple iPhone is given the extra glance. The iPhone brings high esteem upon its users because, firstly, of it's sleek design (as are all Apple products), and secondly, for Asia countries, it is not yet sold in the Asian market.

In this technology age, there is more demand to mix creativity with technology. The more creative looking your product is, the more users are willing to pay for it. Considering this, it is important to note that the Apple iPhone is a pretty basic phone, in terms of today's technology. It lacks 3G capabilities and it's camera function is probably dated 5 years or more back. The big hoo-ha about the phone is the brand, the "pinching" technology, the full page web browsing and also the sensitive touch screens - all of which are first of their kind.

The Apple iPhone is a good example of a reflective design as it reflects not only on the user's status but also on his fashion sense - the Apple iPhone can up someone's "cool" factor by ten notches!

Conclusion

I do not think that it is possible to have all three aspects in a single technological product alone. A product that is high in its reflective aspect may not be as high in its behavioral aspect and vice versa. A product can possibly be high on two aspects at the same time but to be perfect in all three is, not impossible, but will most probably prove to be costly.