Guest Speaker: Jeff Mulhasen from Upstream Consulting Firm

The history of design philosophy and the various examples of products throughout the years were most intriguing to me. I thought that Jeff’s presentation was really eye opening and it will definitely be of great benefit to me. I did not realize how much thought is put into the design of products or services. It is unquestionably necessary and important to do so in order to create a successful product. We see that Apple Inc. has embraced this aspect in heavily investing in an excellent design team. The team has a huge influence in the development of products. These high tech products have not only changed our habits but have created a need for them. I can go as far in saying that some people need to have this product in order to function. After seeing and talking about various successful products it has lead me to be sure of conducting and spending more time on the design aspect in my future business ventures. The importance of the design stems from using customer insights to create a better product or service. These insights can solve problems or really make an experience for a customer. For example Kodak‘s customer insight of photo quality being different when taking it far or close resulted in the two lens camera. They produced a camera that could be switched from far to close view. He also mentioned a shoe designed to have the feature of it tightening using a cable in order to provide more support in tougher terrains. This would have never resulted if the research on customer insights had not been conducted.. We also see that Scion, which is the sub brand of Toyota, took a chance and allowed young industrial designers to develop a car. This was smart move because they were designing a car for themselves that was then used to be marketed to those around their early twenties. This resulted in the Scion Xb that has many features but is still very affordable. Jeff stated, “Good designs start to become iconic” which we see happened in some of these examples. These product designs and features become “must haves”. They are mimicked by others because of the popularity, and are needed in order to compete. From this presentation, I have gained new ideas that have refined my thinking process. I really apply this new knowledge to my aspiration of owning a bar business. I have tons of ideas on what to provide in terms of design and services in a bar. I want to be able to take this bar and make it into a successful chain. I want to provide an experience that will keep the customer coming back. The main idea or philosophy that has definitely influenced me and has me re-thinking my ideas is Dieter Rams. He states “good design is as little as possible”. I totally see his point and agree because people do not want things to be complicated. I will be more attentive to customer needs by conducting research in order to gain new insights on what customers really prefer. I would not want my bar to be something like the Swiss army knife that has every tool in the world because it becomes too much for a customer. Customers want options but not bombarded with many and simplicity is the key. I remember that our professor talked about the “Paradox of Choice”. He informed us that it was believed that the more stuff there was to choose from the happier people were which is not the case. It actually leads to becoming unhappier because we do not feel like we made the right choice. We are happier and more certain in making a purchase when there is lesser options. The professor provided an example using a company that provided 32 flavors of jam or ice cream (he could not remember which one it was). Customers often picked up a jar but put it right back. When there were only sixflavors a customer was more likely to purchase the jam. The less options or services in my case would create happy customers. It was also very cool to see how Dieter Rams transistor radio is very similar to the first IPod and how his calculator is similar to the calculator on the I phone. We can see that apple believes in this philosophy of no over designing and keeping it simple. I also agree with the grandfather of design Raymond Loewy philosophy. “Most advanced, yet acceptable” which to me means to push the boundaries and bring something different to the market. This will help differentiate your product or service from the rest.