Redefining Design: Beyond UX to the Holistic Future of Product Creation
The concept of design is a gateway, a channel that binds users to a product in an innately understandable, seamlessly interconnected, and profoundly personal way. Segregating roles in the design process, such as the role of a user experience designer, can sometimes limit our perspective, preventing us from gaining a comprehensive understanding of product design. However, such positions are inconsequential and good use of resources.
Product design delves beyond the superficial level of interaction often associated with user experience. It is an amalgamation of various facets, including user interface, aesthetics, usability, function, and the emotional responses stimulated by a product. A meticulously crafted product establishes a connection with the user that cannot be limited to a description or testimonial, but is deeply felt. This intangible ‘magic’ transfigures a product from being just an object to an entire experience.
Design isn’t solely about sculpting a single facet of the product, like the user interface or the experience. It’s about crafting the product, considering the user, their context, their interaction with the product, and its integration into their lives.
Product design is a journey that commences long before any UX/UI designer becomes involved. It starts with ideation, a comprehensive understanding of users and their needs, evaluation of market conditions, assessment of technological feasibility, and validation of business viability. A product designer’s role is to envisage and give form to the product’s utility and aesthetics, bearing all these aspects in mind.
Therefore, the future of design isn’t defined by segregated roles and responsibilities but by all-encompassing, holistic thinking. We are transitioning towards a time where the borders between design roles will increasingly fade, requiring each designer to understand and consider every aspect of the design, from user experience to material selection and production process.
Designers of the future will need to be versed in multiple disciplines, possessing a wide-ranging understanding across various fields. They must balance business strategy and creative problem-solving, weaving together captivating narratives for users while ensuring the final product serves its function seamlessly.
Ultimately, design is a practice of empathy. It’s about comprehending the people using the products and the contexts in which they will be. Therefore, it isn’t about discarding roles like ‘user experience designer’ but evolving our understanding of design to encompass a broader, more holistic view.
This comprehensive approach acknowledges that design isn’t just a single step in product development but a guiding principle that pervades every stage of the process. From the initial conception of a product to its manufacturing and even its eventual decommissioning, good design is an integral aspect that shapes the entire life cycle of a product.
In this vein, every decision in the product design process — from the broad strokes of its function and form to the minutiae of its materials and manufacture — holds immense significance. Each choice impacts not only the final product but also the experience of the user, the environmental footprint, and the societal implications.
Expanding the purview of design in this way ensures a more sustainable, ethical, and user-centered approach to creating products. And this shift toward a more holistic understanding of design will define this field’s future.
