“Objectified” Movie Response

The movie “Objectified” was really eye opening for me. Before watching this movie, I did not really think about any of the things tat were talked about in the video. I didn’t think about how every little thing we use everyday has been designed specifically for a purpose and to try and make the use of the object as easy and as comfortable as they can for us. In the movie, on of the designers said, “ It should feel almost undesigned so that people think, ‘Why would you want it any other way?’”. I think this statement is so true about the products we work with everyday. The user would never even think to have it be any other way, but in actuality, there were hundreds or even thousands of other ways made before that one way was chosen. Nobody ever thinks of that part of the process when they are using it, besides the people who actually went through the process of making it. I also agree with the designer who stated that designers have to understand what people need even more than the people do themselves. If this were not true in the designers today, I do not believe that the products made would be successful. If the designers didn’t put as much thought into the products they make I believe that the users would not buy as much of the products because they would think that they could make something better for them then what is available. I know I think like this with some of the products I own because of their poor design. There were many things that some of the designers said that really made me think about how I actually thought of design before the movie. One of the designers said a quote from Henry Ford. The quote stated, Every object tells a story, you just have to know how to read it”. I believe that this can be applied to design and how easy designers make products for their user. Products should be simple so that even the least knowledgable person can figure it out. If a product has a bunch of different parts that have to attach a certain way of can only work ing a certain order and the instructions to use this object aren’t as clear as possible, the user will not be able to use it. In one of my other classes, I learned that a person who has a good experience with a product will usually tell 3-5 people about it. A person who has a bad experience with a product will tell at least nine people about their experience. If this word of mouth spreads far enough, the entire product could go under because no one will buy it. Another thing one of the designers said was that is is a designers job to look into the future, not what has happened, but what will happen. This sentence changed the way I had been thinking about designing. Even since I was little, I had been looking at things and trying to see how i could make it better. Although this is still a way that designers look at products, It is not the complete way that I should have been thinking about designing. I should have been looking to see how I can make a product last. Designers have to be able to make a product be able to stand the test of time and not just end up in a landfill in a few years or even a few months. I believe that this element will be key in our future to be able to minimize our carbon footprint and in making our world and products more eco-friendly. Lastly, each designer gave their own definition of designing. These ranged from everything from a puzzle to honesty. Before this movie, my definition of design was simple. It was the way in which you made a product with the features of additions that would work best for the user. I have drastically changed my definition of design after watching this video, because these designers really know what they are talking about and how to make their designs work for everyone. I believe that my definition of design now would be something like an ongoing and ever-changing process in which designers create products that will be long living, eco-friendly, and functional for the user that gives solutions to even the littlest problems.