Design is Dead

Design, style, uniqueness, iconic electronics products; they are basically dead, and I’m here to tell you that’s a good thing…or maybe not?

Making a product pretty isn’t bad in and of itself. This is especially true of products like cars, furniture, clothes, etc; things you spend time looking at or interacting with on a regular basis in a very physical, local way. The problem with tech devices like computers, tablets and phones, is that you don’t actually look at them per say. You certainly interact with them, but you actually look through or past them, to the content being displayed on their displays. What truly matters is content, interaction, usability, efficiency, and functionality on these devices, because the entire purpose of these products is to deliver content from a server on the other side of the planet to your eyeballs.

When you get down to it, every computer, tablet and phone that exists is just a vessel for content. Without the internet, without content, your phone or computer is literally a worthless paperweight. Your old BlackBerry 9900 and iPhone 3G alike, are now actual garbage. No matter how iconic or fashionable they once were, they can’t properly access the web as it exists today. Modern software, web standards, and design elements don’t fit on their screens, and their hardware chokes on even the simplest tasks. They’re pretty to look at for all of a few minutes, but then we’ll all beg to get back to our bezelless displays.

I’m all for pretty products that are beautiful to look at, but how much does it actually matter? Nobody bought an iPhone 4 so they could admire the sleek lines of its aluminum frame. Nobody bought a Galaxy S8 because of the seamlessness of its smoothly curved glass. Some people will say they did, but that’s a lie. They will put a case on whatever phone they buy and then immediately get back to posting selfies on Instagram and wasting money on Clash of Clans. They bought the phone that best fit their needs at the time, and the device simply vanishes from sight once the newness wears off. The iPhone X; some people will love it, some hate it, but I tell you it won’t matter. Content is king.

What really matters then is functionality. Does my product work well? Does the battery last all day? Does the interface aid the experience or hamper it? Is the software stable? Does my device have the necessary horsepower to handle the tasks I throw at it, and does it have enough storage and memory to chug through it? Is the camera better than a potato? If the answer to any of those questions is no, design is immediately not important anymore. If you fail at any of the essential features of a device, you have failed entirely. There are so many areas we can improve upon right now that its ludicrous to even pretend any device is even close to this ideal. With every generation, we add something, and we take away something. Something that seems to be missing from almost every device is decent battery life. New iPhone 8? Oh, we shrunk the battery from the iPhone 7, you know, just for fun. Why? God only knows. The only phones that have great battery life are phones no one wants (hello Moto E4 Plus).

Design can still be important and can still be an added value to a device, but until we have an ideal device that has zero compromises, design will always play second fiddle. Although, I’m not sure that I would even care about the look of a device if it was literally without compromise; I’m convinced that a device that does everything right, will also look just right.