The evolving field of Industrial Design #interactiuon design, #product design #industrial design, #experience design, #product innovation, #design thinking, #IoT, #Startup
Daniele Pesaresi
2mo
Maximillian Burton I still remember our conversations about whether we were always doing the same kind of shape. This question feels still pertinent now after more than a dozen years. ID has always been changing, but i agree the advent of AI accelerates this need. The real issue is how industrial design is perceived. Designers have long been asked to deliver quality with fewer resources, leading to commoditization. While many aspire to emulate Apple, few invest the necessary time and resources. Intuitive Surgical stands out for substantial investment in ID, but merely hiring designers doesn’t ensure good design. The lack of a robust design culture within companies often relegates design to a cost-cutting corner rather than a strategic asset. Tech-driven and business-driven firms frequently view design as a means to squeeze money rather than as a value-adding process. The evolving landscape of design education is also critical, driven by companies seeking "design managers" with 2 years of experience. In conclusion i think the focus should be on cultivating a deeper understanding of ID purpose and value. This involves not just adapting to new technologies but fostering a culture that genuinely appreciates and invests in design.
Gabriel Mendes
2mo
It's a very pleasant article to read. In the past, the ability to make a product aesthetically pleasant was what added big value to salaries. Well-paid designers were those who could make beautiful, attractive products. Nowadays, I feel like that ability is sort of saturated in the market. We can notice by the posts on many design pages: lots of beautiful products by young designers. So the salary-raiser now is on the ability to make excellent, smooth experience of use. That is the value we should advertise to show our value. I very much agree with the ideas in your article.
Jan Stillerman
2mo
Throughout my 25-year career in design, spanning large corporations, small consulting firms, and everything in between, these challenges have always been constant in our industry. These aren't new issues; we've faced them time and again and have continually needed to evolve. It's easy to overlook this when the economy is strong, only to wake up in panic when it turns for the worse. To thrive, we must consistently embrace a growth mindset and adopt new tools and methods to predict market success. Our true value lies in our ability to foresee a product's market potential. The better a product works, solves problems, connects emotionally, is intuitive, reliable, durable, appropriate etc. the higher its chance of success. This is our story as designers, and we must stay committed to it. Let's focus on building more pathways and connecting more dots to better predict market success.
Dan Cuffaro
2mo
This is spot on and has been our focus of teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art for over 20 years. The issue we’re seeing now is low interest in even pursuing ID by young people.
Po-Wen S.
2mo
Thanks for sharing, this post is great. In my case, I used to have a second desk with the engineering team in my prior experience. Now, I find myself working among the engineers to solve problems at the front end, stretching across materials, mechanics, and user testing. This experience allows me to stretch, be collaborative, and deeply be a part of creation. Although it is challenging not to have design peers to lean on or share a language around aesthetics, I would encourage everyone to consider setting up a "second desk." 😄
C. Sven Johnson
2mo
"Sadly, in the market, this remains the predominant understanding from engineering and business." I recall, during the "design thinking" boom 20 years ago, the assertions by professionals within the ID community that business had finally taken our profession seriously. I was skeptical then and don't see anything the profession can do now which will change this. I say this because when I entered the industrial design field I encountered a level of bias I'd not expected; a bias even my aerospace engineering degree and practical engineering work experience could not offset; still does not offset. That said, I believe the future favors the profession; specifically how it is evolving. Having worked through the shift from 2D layouts created "on the board" to 3D CAD models tested in the Unreal engine, and having recently been training corporate design teams on technical issues (e.g. color theory/math/devices, electromagnetic theory for mobile antennas, etc), I see a continuing convergence, with AI taking over routine engineering tasks before it takes over non-aesthetic focused design jobs. Because tools evolve quickly; people not so much. Where is the real value in industrial design now? Where it truly always has been.
William Bartlett
2mo
When the economy tanks, the first thing a manufacturer does is cut R&D and that includes ID. When you have a large group of ID's, EM Engineers, Shop Techs, & Office Staff it is painful, but you have to consider a cutback due to overhead which can put even a very healthy office out of business very quickly. However, as stated in the article, ID is so ubiquitous globally that a business can often continue ID using low-cost off-shore labor and the most effective recent technology to maintain their product brand and sales volumes.
Justin Strong
2mo
I'm curious to know how these changes in ID are affecting automotive designers, particularly the exterior designers. Auto exterior design has primarily been an aesthetic endeavor, without much scope for UI/UX depth or need for cross functional teams (siloed). Design schools churn out a lot of talented sketch artists and now Ai has mostly taken away the need for comprehensive rendering skills. Is there a surplus of talent now that Ai is automating creative production (rendering)? Is auto exterior design so niche and specialized that its practice will remain the same just with fewer people? It might be too soon to tell, but I'd be curious to know from anyone currently working in the car biz.
Aidan Petrie
2mo
One of the challenges that Industrial designers continue to face is that they emphasize the what and how and not focus on why. Our role at its best is to understand the aspirational human need, declared or otherwise and explain it to the individuals who have to build it in terms they understand! To make the world a better place, to improve the human condition, to lift us. Happy Friday :)
This Article nails what I also see with changes that need to happen with Industrial Design. FYI, Companies have always tried to take shortcuts. This is nothing different. As ID's, we need to show the advantage we have of seeing the bigger picture as holistic designers. I too see some better looking aesthetics being applied by lower cost designers and AI tools. But it is understanding the full process and applying all these skill sets that really make products great. I am just about finished with a project applying a rigorous process of consumer/market research and using tools like Helium10,, an Amazon/Walmart tool used to produce sales data keyword research. I also used AI generators like Vizcom and NewArc. We did extensive consumer interviews to understand human behavior. Engineering principles were applied to develop a gear design for a unique mechanical function. All this, together with form development and CMF has resulted with my client beyond happy and excited about the results I showed them the power of what really good holistic Industrial Design is. This is my philosophy for Bluelab Design, my small consultancy, People buy a product to do a job and to do it well. That is what I set out to do.