Response: Graham Pullin

This reading made me think more about my life and how I use products though I tried to make a conscious effort to analyze how Pullin’s insights might be useful to the creation of my projects in this class. The discussion of medical aids and design choices was extremely interesting, although I honestly have not reached any conclusions of whether or not I believe that “fashion” should intrude into the design of prosthetics, hearing aids, etc.. This reading probably left me with more questions than answers to some of my beliefs on design and functionality. This brings me to discuss the other aspect of product design and creation in general that Pullin touches on: the importance of functionality and how it plays into the user experience. His discussion of James Leckey and his production of furniture for children with cerebral palsy. In what he calls the flying submarine, is it better to create products that are akin to a swiss army knife? Or are we better off creating products that suit a certain purpose/different people’s needs. Is the reason that Leckey decided to stop creating furniture that served many functions because of technological limitations of creating all these complex functions, or is cognitive overload the real cause in inhibiting its proper use? Like many of the readings, it is hard for me to reach any conclusions, but as I mentioned earlier, this reading made me think a lot about design decisions I make in creating as well as how design plays a role in my life and in others’ lives.