How to Design the Perfect Product Article

The article, How to Design the Perfect Product, would be a great read for our class because it deals with everything we have been learning in the last couple of weeks. At first the article talks a little about some design aspects that help with learning why people design things. One part I thought was especially important was,
"Engineers are from Mars, designers are from Venus. Engineers tend to obsess over the details of getting products to work -- but they're uncomfortable with the critical questions that have to be answered before a new product ever gets to manufacturing. Who will buy it? What value will it add? Designers revel in those sloppier issues, but they tend to cower when confronted with problems related to craftsmanship, durability, and reliability. That results in product after product that fails on one dimension or the other -- or worse yet, both."
This part does a great job in explaining why a lot of products fail in the area of design. The main authors of this article are Craig Vogel, a designer, and Jonathan Cagan, an engineer, make products themselves so they have background in the area that they are talking about. Some other key points they have are making sure you merge technology and style to create a great product. Also creating a new value from an old standard, which means taking an old product and turning it into an even more effective one. Finally, as with the book we read in class, The Design of Everyday Things, this article also had seven attributes or "principles" that they can apply toward design. These attributes are 1) Emotion, 2) Aesthetics, 3) Product Identity, 4) Impact, 5) Ergonomics, 6) Core Technology, and 7) Quality. I think these are almost more important than the ones talked about in our book because they are more up to date.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/60/chalktalk.html