Product Design: Understanding the ipad's industrial design

by Pjesus Diaz from Gizmodo sillymouse translation, Boday School, reproduced please indicate the link ifanr.com translation.

The big media has been full of comments since the ipad went public. Although many are praise, but still can not erase the value of good articles. This is the case, this is a Gizmodo article on the design of the IPAD industry, the evaluation of the very high, we do not translate this text to fully agree with its views.

Apple's latest iPad is a good illustration of Dieter Rams's famous "Ten Principles of Good Design", the 10 golden rules that every company should follow to produce any product. Holding the IPad is like holding the future. But it can still do better.

The IPad is Jon Ive, the ultimate exploration of industrial design, is a practice of minimalism that streamlines mobile computers to only one screen--a crystallization of glass, aluminum, silicon, copper, and gold in the Rams concept.

But the final product remains flawed, somewhat attributable to market compromise, due to production decisions.

Considerations for good Design Guidelines

Excellence in design is innovation
The concept of touch screens makes the mouse no longer important, but the IPad's innovation in touch-screen manufacturing makes the big screen less expensive and makes it a mass-market consumer. This advantage provides the core functionality of the IPad, and a new generation of apps on this basis is strong enough to function on the laptop.

Excellent design makes the product more practical
Function often determines the form, a simple screen can complete all applications. It's actually designed to make the product a reality.

Good design is beautiful.
The IPad is beautiful. The black border, the glass screen and the aluminum rear cover, its size, the curved back and the one-piece screen make it look thinner than it really is.

Excellent design makes the product easier to read and understand
The IPad is a kind of self annotation: the moment you open it, the interface appears on the central stage, inviting you to gently slide and click with your fingers. You don't need to learn a new language to interact with it. The home key functions in a single click. The same is true for power keys, volume keys, and screen direction locking keys. Each element of the design has a clear role to play.

Good design is humble.
No other Apple product is more focused on Rams's design guidelines than the IPAD. Rams says excellent design works "are neither decorations nor artworks." So their design should be moderate and binding, "to be able to express themselves." And this mobile device is exactly the same.

A good design should be honest.
There is no superfluous place on this machine. Everything is born to function, and there is no decoration that makes the product deviate from its core.

Excellent design stands the test of years
Although it is like a device from the future, its design is timeless. Imagine it in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 space Odyssey, where it seems to be a destination. You can put it on a wooden table in a baroque palace, and it looks very coordinated. And if Captain Picard took it to the bridge of the enterprise, it was a good occasion to hold it in his hand.

Excellent design considerations without any details
Every detail of the IPAD starts with a feature. The IPad screen, for example, allows you to hold it firmly without accidentally touching the user interface on the touchscreen.

Good design is caring for the environment
Unlike the previous iPhone, the IPad is recyclable, with green materials: arsenic-free glass screens, brominated fire treatment, mercury-free LCD screens and no use of PVC, according to Apple.

Excellent design is simple.
In Rams's words, the excellent design should be simple and pure. I can't imagine a tablet that could be simpler or more pure than an iPad.

the compromise of the design

Although Apple's newest mobile computer follows 10 guidelines for good design, it is not perfect. It still has room for improvement: the Compromise of design comes from the inevitable physical constraints and market choices that need to be resolved in the future.

Weight

First, the IPad, which is limited by existing technology, is a bit heavier than some people-like the ladies of Geek. Of course, for most of the big-weight, this is nothing.

In fact, the IPAD weighs 680 grams, equivalent to half the weight of a netbook. This is not a lot of weight, but a hand holding a half-day is also tired (but you will be a hand holding the netbook for half a day?) ）。

But the industrial design and engineering departments are at their wits ' end. The weight of the iPad is a necessary tradeoff, limited by current technology and high density materials: if you want a LED backlight screen with optical glass, a high-speed integrated chip, and other features of the IPAD, you need a large battery to keep it alive for more than 10 hours. We don't have a better plan for this.

Support

We saw them sitting on the couch using the ipad in our previous demo video, holding the ipad with both hands, curled up with legs or crossed legs. Obviously they want you to look at the IPad in a reading position.

For me, that's how I use it. And I see it in cafes and bars over the weekend and it's basically how you use it. At home, the most common places I have seen are sofas, toilets and beds. When on a couch or bed, use an iPad to change posture or turn around, or put it on your lap or on a sheet.
When I watched the video, I did the same: I saw two sets of Lost in the sofa, very comfortable. You can always adjust your posture as you look at any big screen.

However, when you look at the video, you may still need a bracket, unless you want to hold it all the time. But some people want to be lazy and steal, and they don't want to use their hands (at least not to hold the IPad) while watching the video. In addition, some people are used to watching TV and doing something else. Now my wife is sitting on the couch, watching weeds and weaving the iPad jacket. She leaned a pillow over the tea table so that she could tilt the iPad on top.

Obviously you always have a need to use a bracket. Apple says most of the time you don't use the iPad like that. Video is just a small part of all the functionality. Most of the other features are in the software, and they all require users to participate. That's why Apple is designing it like a book.

Materials

One of the IPad's most popular features is the fingerprint collector. As long as you want to use the touch screen, there will be fingerprints. At the very least, it can only endure until someone invents a glass that is completely oily. In this respect the IPAD has done its best, the hydrophobic glass can be easily wiped clean, but it is still very easy to get dirty. It's good to look at the screen when the fingerprints are not very conspicuous, but a turn of the light and a reflection is easy to see.

The only thing that bothers me is the aluminum rear cover. It looks beautiful and feels very comfortable. But I can't figure out: They can't breed other materials, so I can put it anywhere without worrying about the scratch on the back. Like rubber plastic? or carbon fiber to make it more frivolous? Is ti a better material? The IPad is strong, but I don't want to keep it in a protective sleeve for the sake of that delicacy. It's best to be indestructible and keep this delicacy.

4:3 ratio

Why choose a 4:3 ratio? One reason--perhaps the simplest--is the utilization and cost of the panel. In addition, there is a functional aspect to consider, mainly how to place and how Apple thinks you will use it.

The proportion of the iPad is the proportion of normal paper. This is a common proportion, especially in the vertical screen mode, which makes us feel more natural and cordial. And the wide screen in the vertical screen mode can make people feel strange. We just played joojoo--it's 16:9-it's the feeling.

The 4:3 ratio is more appropriate for content other than video, and there is nothing extra to keep white. So even though users may have black edges or been cut off from the video, Apple still believes that better adaptation to non-video content is more important than just performing widescreen video.

the future of the future

With the development of technology, new materials, smaller parts, more powerful batteries will appear, and these problems will soon be solved. Next-generation products will be thinner and stronger. Performance will be more powerful and more durable. There are also new features, such as front-mounted cameras. Eventually it should become more flexible and more indestructible. And it's a lot cheaper than it is now.

Although not perfect, the industrial design is the pinnacle of all Apple products. The IPAD's design goal is to provide a simple and elegant platform for users to focus on the real core elements: software. No matter what the software should be running smoothly, on a large enough screen to provide excellent applications. That's why ipad--, despite its heavy and easy fingerprints, is still a perfect design.

After a day's use, holding the IPad "is like holding the future". This is Matt Buchanan's evaluation. It sounds exaggerated, but it's not. I felt the same way after I used it for a day. Will the future be better?
Of course I will. I'll tell you what.