OPINION THE WAY I SEE IT
ACM
Transactions On
Asian Language
Information
catalogs, and internet shopping
sites contain an endlessly proliferating choice of products. Do
we need all of these things? Are
they actually used? Or does every
home have its own private cache
of discarded gadgets hidden away
because they serve no useful
function?
Designers take pride in innovation, but what percentage
of new product innovations
actually succeed in the market
place? Estimates vary, but they
range between 4 and 10 percent,
depending upon which study you
believe. In other words, 90 to 96
percent fail. That’s pretty miserable. It means that whatever we
are doing, it isn’t the right thing.
Innovation is not a guarantee
of success. Successful products
must satisfy a large number
of dimensions: form, function,
value, design, marketing, production, distribution, sales, and
servicing. Successful products
seldom stand in isolation. Most
are part of a strong product family that provides supportive infrastructure, where there is a solid
platform that builds each individual product’s value and sustains
it. Unmet needs? Essential voids?
Let them be.
Processing
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Don Norman
wears many hats, including cofounder of
the Nielsen Norman group, professor at
Northwestern University, and author, his
latest book being The Design of Future
Things. He lives at www.jnd.org.
