Chapter 8 Reading Response

IHaving seen several guiding principles and case studies of effective design from the previous chapters, it only seems fitting that the book ends by discussing the impact of design on broader human behaviors. Indeed, it is amazing to grasp just how impactful design can be. As the book iconically mentions, ‘what we make, makes us,” and in this sense, design both serves as a vessel for fashioning gradual social change as well as a reflection of our practical and aesthetic desires, ethical values, and even an understanding of our own humanity. What I find most interesting in all of this is the first idea that design - whether we are aware of it or not - directly influences society. While the book does not go too deep into specific processes through which this change is brought about, I believe the topic deserves its own separate discussion.


To begin with a case study, consider the design of the iPhone, a device that has undoubtedly ushered in a new age of mobile computing. I argue that the iPhone, by design, has the effect of glorifying a reliance on technology to the point where it becomes integrated into all daily activities, and in that sense, we become completely dependent on our devices. Of course, one may view the iPhone as nothing more than a phone that provides exceptional practical, utilitarian purposes, making life much easier for ourselves. However, as evidenced by the colorful customization options, advertisement appeals to “capturing moments”, and even personalized “Animoji” stickers, the iPhone has conditioned us to view technology as an extension of ourselves: customizable, symbolic, and imbued with memories. Even if the designers did not originally intend to do so, the design of the iPhone - just like the kitchen counters being designed at womens’ heights example from class - reinforces existing ethos to prevent returning to a prior social structure.


From a design perspective, the original designers of the iPhone had a multitude of reasons for envisioning such a product. Perhaps they seeked to enrich the everyday lives of people by giving them access to technology everywhere they go, perhaps they were intellectually inspired by recent trends in the personalization of the computer industry, or perhaps, plain and simple, they wanted to shake up the phone market and build a financially successful product. As the book mentions, design is inherently neutral, and it is the role (and obligation) of the designer to imbue ethics and meaning into their work. Thus, regardless of the actual intended purpose, the creators of the iPhone had to believe that first, integrating technology into our daily lives was a worthwhile and impactful problem to solve, hence resulting in increased convenience, intellectual satisfaction, or financial success. Second, the designers must have made the aesthetic leap that ubiquitous technology access must have been accompanied by a satisfying physical / visual design, and finally, much more implicitly, they must have believed that releasing the product was the ethically sound action to take (in practice, not many people would actually accuse the smartphone of being evil). All of these principles can be viewed in context of the mid-2000s when the iPhone originally came out, as they represented the prevailing ethos of many innovators during the personal computing revolution. Technology was unanimously seen as a positive agent and artifact of beauty, and as such, this fascination with technology bled through in the design of the iPhone. All we can say today is that it has undoubtedly (and perhaps accidentally) ushered the Internet of Things era, transforming our interactions with one another and continuing to reinforce our fantasies of a world connected through technology.