As I was using my 1st generation iPod Touch this evening, I was
fiddling with the Incase protector I had purchased shortly
after getting the Touch. As I was playing with the case it dawned on me that I had already owned
this technologically sound device for over a year now, and upon a brief introspection into the idea
of design as a general topic, I concluded with a question; is design moving too fast?
Without a doubt, the availability of these newly designed technologies are wonders of the world,
but what would happen if we were to slow things down a notch? Would down design suffer from
it? The world today is all about pushing the most cutting edge technology and design out the door
faster than the next guy, but are the issues really resolved with proper resolution?
Such the example of the recent recall on design for the Tropicana rebrand developed and
launched by Arnell earlier this year. The release of the new design generated so much distaste,
that PepsiCo actually had to recall the design of all released products on the shelves to replace it
back with the more traditional design. Was this merely a coincidental effect of market resilience?
Or was this something a little deeper into the root of the design process and the research that
was supposedly carried out?
With such a large campaign and such a daunting task of rebranding a product as recognizable as
the Tropicana banner, the response should've been caught/experienced at the time of focus
group testing. Yet, it was publicized all over the internet and all over various media outlets for the
world to both see and criticize.
So with that in mind, are we moving too fast? Clearly that design error was not supposed to
happen, and yet it was completely overlooked. Was this a result of anxiousness to make a "drop"
as quickly as possible so that the general public would absorb it sooner?
I think given such an example, we could all benefit from slowing down a notch to develop
solutions that clearly resolve and communicate the issue. What is design without proper
communication? Isn't that the whole point of it?
