The IC3 Blue Train - A little journal about design, marketing, sales and other matters

A simple checklist for engineers, product designers and developers, and marketers to help them create superior user-centred objects, systems, software, and documents of all kinds.

Why is the Apple iPod a market leader in spite of its premium price? Primarily because of its superior, user-friendly design, don’t you agree? Probably also because of the Apple brand, of which power results mainly from a long history of design prowess.

Now, why is the iPod design superior? At first glance, because the little box is simple, attractive and, for most users, likeable. The product catches immediate attention through its aesthetics. However, a further analysis shows that the iPod also stands out because it offers an appropriate set of functions; because it is easy to understand and to use, following the long Apple tradition in superior usability; and because it fits well (and feels nice) into one’s hand, with all functions accessible through the thumb.

In other words, the iPod design scores high in both subjective and objective domains. Have a look at the five-category design yardstick we have developed: the iPod scores high in all five categories. That’s why we think it’s a superior design, with a perfect balance between reason and emotions.

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Engineers (like me) and industrial designers tend to approach design from a rational point-of-view and to focus on measurable parameters. Artists and other ‘creatives’ work on the other side of the spectrum; but they also have to master the technical aspects of their discipline (how to mix colours for a painting; how to combine harmonies in music; how to set up a camera; etc.). Reciprocally, in the last ten years or so, scientists and engineers have ‘discovered’ the importance of feelings in the design of successful products (examples of this trend include books such as  “Emotional Intelligence” and “Emotional Design”).

That's why we think that our yardstick can help engineers, product developers, marketers and other professionals to design better ‘balanced’ systems, products, software, websites, marketing materials and programmes and so on. What do you think?