Response to Reading #2

In this reading, the author talks about multiple concepts of design. What is good design? Is it to make things more functional and efficient or beautiful with little/ minimal regard to function?

When designing appliances that are sophisticated and complex, we have to work on making them easy to operate, or else the design would’ve lost its value. The reading made me think about how technology and devices are most often than not designed to look pleasing rather than to maximize their function. What is the point of making something beautiful if it’s not going to be used to its full potential?

In the reading there was a mention of devices being the problem and not humans, this reminded me of a sewing machine I got for my 15th birthday. It was described to be a perfect siege into the world of sewing- and yet, I don’t think I’ve ever used it more than three times due to how confusing it was to operate. How can we make devices like the sewing machine easy to use, how can we design them so someone who doesn’t have experience won’t need to scavenge for a YouTube video to do the simplest of things when it comes to that particular device?