Recurring Impressions in Design
I was talking to my brother over dinner about some of the innovative designs in interactions. I was talking to him (a recent Mac switcher, well sorta, he still runs Windows on it) about first impressions, such as the Apple Click Wheel, or closing the lid of a MacBook for the first time. The feel of it is priceless. Well, I thought about the MagSafe power connector found on the Apple's recent rev of laptops, and one thing that occurred to me was a key aspect of design interaction. It's not just 1st impressions but recurring impressions. And the thing is, the MagSafe connector exhibits both characteristics! Not too shabby. My bro told me every time he accidentaly trips on his cord and sees it wistfully detach from his computer, he says, "Wow! Boy, you know, what would've happened if I didn't have this magnet connector. Ingenius! Good thing I have a Mac!" I realize, the greater challenge in design is not just to get the first impression right (which is incredibly challenging to begin with), but to actually get recurring impressions to validate or re-promote the existence of the feature/product to begin with. Too bad few things designed these days focus on the first bling, and not the bling, bling, bling, bling.
Posted by Conrad Chu on Jan 30, 2007
