There's a new product hitting the late night TV airwaves that I'm in love with. It's called the Insta-Hang and if you haven't checked it out you really should. Not because this is an ad, but because this thing is a powerful lesson in product design.
See, for years, the movement in the invention world has been to add-on to a problem. We continually complicate everything. Hanging a picture used to involved hammer and a nail. Now we need hammers, nails, anchors, stud finders, laser lines, levels, and even “picture hanging kits.” I think at this point the only people still putting their diplomas on the wall are structural engineers. Us liberal arts types can’t handle it.
While it’s no doubt that all those tools ultimately result in a better picture hanging, it’s all too much for us to handle. That’s where the Insta-Hang comes in. Rather than adding one more tool to the mix, rather than even improving an existing tool, they asked this- “what if, knowing everything we know now, could start over and redesign the whole picture hanging experience? What would we do different?” The result is one of the most elegantly designed tools I’ve ever seen. Everything in one simple place. Not complicated to use, has everything you need, makes doing it right simple.
It’s the same playbook that has made Apple such a raging success. Before the iPhone, there were Palm phones and Blackberries. They had apps, they had cameras, they ran software and surfed the web and got emails. And for years these two went back and forth building on each other’s latest innovations, piling on the features. Until Apple stepped in and said- “what if we could design a phone that did everything the way you wanted right out of the box? What would that look like?” No more stylus to lose or trackball to malfunction?- Done. Want your phone to have a camera and your music? You bet. Want the real internet, not some watered-down “mobile” version? All yours. We’ll even ditch the keyboard for you. And they created the device we all wanted. Not by finally adding enough on; but by taking enough away and making everything work together. Simply. Magically.
And Insta-Hang does it too. They took a very common process, re-thought the whole thing, began with the end in mind, and created a magical picture hanging experience. It’s the future of product design for sure, but here’s my thought:
It’s a new year and many of us are working up our resolutions. We’re going to do this, we’re going to stop doing that, and on and on, trying to build a better “me.” But before you make your resolution laundry list, take a moment and consider this-
What if, knowing everything you know now, you could redesign your life? What you would you put in? What would you take out? How are you going to make it all work together? Instead of looking for the one more add-on that will change everything, what if you actually began with the end in mind and changed everything?
I’ll bet your life would be magical.
No comments:
Post a Comment