Balancing functionality and emotional experience
Every product, among other things, should fulfill two main needs: functional and emotional.
While the absence of designers can fulfill only one aspect, their presence is likely to combine both: creating a great product.
Inspiration from Architecture
Architecture over the centuries has fulfilled this mission, leaving us with immortal works that are functional today but filled with emotional and historical load.
Italy, Spain, France, Britain, Greece, and many other countries have many of what we can call great products.
The Eiffel Tower Example
An exemplary example that comes to us from architecture is the Eiffel Tower.
Very few people in the world don't know about it and Paris. The Eiffel Tower was not created for any specific functional need: it doesn't serve as a residential center or observation tower.
It was built for an emotional and aesthetic need for the city.
Until that time, Paris did not have a symbol, except for the living culture and history it carried. So for the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, architects decided to create a 300m tower (the tallest at that time) to give Paris a voice and inspire as many people as possible.
The Impact:
- Now one of the most visited monuments in the world
- About 7 million people have visited it
- The main reason tourists visit Paris today
- Later used as a radio transmission tower and for various studies
In an attempt to create something great, the architects created a product that today fulfills emotional and functional needs as a giant tourist center.
From Mediocre to Exceptional
Many people are not proud or feel good using mediocre products because they perform only a particular functional need or only an emotional one.
History never elevates only-functional or mediocre products. It elevates great products that have a function AND create an emotional experience.
The Effort Is More Sacred Than the Achievement
Not all products can be great products, but each product should strive to be such from the genesis.
In a consumption period as high as today, most products only exist but don't fulfill any of these aspects. Fulfilling both creates an extraordinary value that can set them apart immediately in the market.
The presence of a designer is necessary to achieve such a thing.
Any attempt to create a great product, besides being a step closer to bringing it to life, is a commitment to being the greatest.
Great products don't just solve problems. They create meaning. And that meaning is what makes them timeless.
