Chapter 2 introduced several of what seemed to be the book’s most fundamental, overarching principles on artful design, as well as a few discussions on the role of technology in the first place. As a result, I thought it offered a lot of food for thought and provided a solid glimpse into the different sub-fields (visual, sound, interaction, etc.) of design (in other words, I found it to be a particularly interesting / insightful chapter). Now even with this context in consideration, Principle 2.6: Technology Should Create Calm still managed to completely stand out to me in that it made me look at the role of products we use in a completely new light. I see interesting connections to topics outside the scope of the book as well as intuitive ways it naturally ties in with artful design.
First, at a high level, I’ve never heard the purpose of technology being described as “to create calm”; indeed, at first glance, it may seem that a majority of products we use in daily lives serve no purpose in creating calm or, in some cases, even further mitigate our stress. For example, an owner of a fancy digital photo display may find that it is not only devoid of emotional value - likely because it lacked the sentimental quality that vintage physical copies - no matter how poorly assembled together - naturally possessed. Furthermore, they may have found the process of turning it on and off to be tedious and unnecessary. In this sense, many of the “gadgets” we own are in practice useless because they don’t brighten up or relax our mood, and likewise, Principle 2.6 ties into broader topics of minimalism and decluttering. With successful products being defined essentially as mood boosters, it seems that technology can only produce calm in two distinct ways: through fulfilling a practical need as to make one’s life much easier, or by providing enough satisfaction as an end in itself. In other words, a useful product is merely a thoughtful consideration of form vs. function, whether separately or in relation to each other. Especially with a minimalist mindset that views most products as superfluous, the tight restrictions placed on product utility emphasizes just how beneficial thoughtful design is in creating a satisfying product.
From a specific design perspective, the various successful Smule apps and computer software mentioned in the chapter all happen to meet the requirement of creating calm. It is explicitly mentioned that in certain cases, such as the sonic lighter, there is no practical utility to the program. However, from the rhythmic, meditative sway of the flame to the comforting social presence of the world map, the app still achieved success as users began downloaded it. Although not directly cited, the ability to produce calm seemed to contribute substantially to satisfaction of experience, perhaps best explained by the former soldier’s testimony on Ocarina. Additionally, it seems that under this perspective, the whole purpose of music in the first place is to create calm - either through a cathartic release of emotions or through a relaxation of the mood. When designing an instrument, one should ideally prioritize making an instrument satisfying to play or listen to instead of focusing on technical capabilities or virtuosity, and while this view may possibly be considered naive at first glance, Smule’s most iconic and popular application, Ocarina, turns out to embody this principle perfectly.