Beauty and functionality in design.
There are two parameters to design: Beauty and Functionality. At times they take each other out, as times, we only look to one, at times they’re combined. What you as a consumer of a product do when choosing is to decide which one of these matter most to you, and where on each scale the product is.
Example:
You see a pair of really nice, high-heeled shoes. They score highly on the beauty-scale. You walk in to the store to try them on, and discover they’re really not functional. They hurt, they’re too high to really move around comfortably in and you know that they’re too fancy to use in most situations. The decision here is: Are they beautiful enough to weigh up for all of the poor functionality?
Another example:
You’re trying to find a new e-mail client. You find one that’s free and really functional. It’s got all kinds of extensions you need, it’ll automatically forward things to your calendar and it can gather all of your 30 e-mail addresses in to one single inbox. The catch? It looks like something Bill Gates coded on his first computer when he was 13. Is it functional enough to make up for the old, poor design?
There are a bunch of things that play in to these two parameters about a product. Kånken isn’t really beautifully designed, it’s expensive and it’s not quite as functional as other backpacks. But it’s got a strong cultural position, which makes it both beautiful and functional. iPhone isn’t that different from any other phone, but us Apple-heads will make it to be because we’re part of the Apple tribe.
When realising these things, it’s easier to direct your behaviour. If you know you have a tendency to sparkly things that usually end up in a box in the attic, there should be a bell ringing in your head when you’re in the mall thinking about buying that new thing.
Consume the right fit for you, with the right balance between beauty and functionality.