Five or so years ago, I set myself the task of designing a simple range of furniture, manufacturing it and taking it to market. My aim to create 'to-order' or at least batch production using new technology was derailed by a business model that is ill-suited and outdated.
The traditional approach I took was to design hero products with an intention of making copies of them as people placed orders. The reality was that I needed to make many to achieve a reasonable price point. The benefits of new technologies, and my failure to understand what they could do, brought nothing to this established way of doing things.*
As a result of this experience, I'm interested in how new technologies are changing the way we design, make, sell and deliver products. To make the most of this, I need to investigate the way I approach the process of designing, making, selling and delivering.
From a consumer's perspective, there is a greater awareness of our environment and how we live in it, what products and brands mean to us, how the companies that create them behave, the increasing global nature of the marketplace and the impact of new technology. Consequently, how consumers make purchasing decisions is changing dramatically. New technology is making it possible to create high-quality personalised products – when and where people want them – therefore eliminating the logistics of a mass-production model.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that my approach was linear. As a designer, my job was first to design, and then to see that design into production. Marketing and retailing was a different process after the product was produced, and packaging and shipping was a pesky 'cost' that happened in between all these things. In a global, internet-driven marketplace, how it packs down, how it is protected in transit, how much it weighs and how the end-user assembles it actually becomes central to the whole process.
What happens if you start the design process from the delivery phase: Focus on the joints, how does it fit together and pull apart? How small can it pack down? How easy is it for a non-practical person to assemble? Do they need tools? Are there multiple parts? Do all the parts (or any) need to be shipped – for instance, could parts be sent electronically or simply purchased locally? Could the end-user be a part of the design process?
Will technology eventually democratise design?** The designer may no longer be 'hero' but instead sets in motion a design process with little or no control over the outcome. A designer's role may be to create only a part of a given project like the fittings – joints, legs/feet and end caps for example, setting the tone as it were – which could be available online for printing, routing or laser cutting.*** Other designers or the end-user (or prosumer, see side bar) could select what they need to create furniture to suit their own requirements. If an open source model was utilised, outsiders could submit designs for fittings to be added to an online shop (along the lines of the Apple App store for example), creating a growing resource of possibilities. Aspects of Agile project management could come into play here with results along the lines of IKEA Hackers.
These lines of enquiry form the starting point for my Master's thesis.
Will technology eventually democratise design?** The designer may no longer be 'hero' but instead sets in motion a design process with little or no control over the outcome. A designer's role may be to create only a part of a given project like the fittings – joints, legs/feet and end caps for example, setting the tone as it were – which could be available online for printing, routing or laser cutting.*** Other designers or the end-user (or prosumer, see side bar) could select what they need to create furniture to suit their own requirements. If an open source model was utilised, outsiders could submit designs for fittings to be added to an online shop (along the lines of the Apple App store for example), creating a growing resource of possibilities. Aspects of Agile project management could come into play here with results along the lines of IKEA Hackers.
These lines of enquiry form the starting point for my Master's thesis.
* For example, computer files originally supplied for laser, water and router cutting were later replaced by hand routing from templates. This proved to be cheaper, quicker and just as accurate.
** We saw this happen with music. Electronics enabled music to be made by people who couldn't necessarily play an instrument. Another example is the blogger replacing the journalist.
*** Ponoko is an example of how technology can enable the consumer to also be the producer.