User experience design tested by time
Things that have not changed their appearance for centuries
Humanity is running headlong into the technological future, like Sonic to the Nike store on Black Friday sale. A lot of problems await us ahead: terrible climate change, psychological disorders, digital despotism. Lately, we have been getting more and more signals that society, developers and designers, or even businesses are starting to get tired of the “Move fast and break things” philosophy. And indeed, with the war in Europe and the world sinking into an economic crisis, the rate of growth is really going to slow down considerably. And yet, imagine how we will gain momentum after this crisis.
My dad was born when transistor computers were the latest technological breakthrough. Soon integrated computers replaced them, and then everyone moved to microprocessors. In 40 years, computers made their way from massive closets to book-sized boxes. At the same time, the power and capabilities of computers had grown exponentially. And then came the technology that even Jules Verne would drool about: smartphones working 333 times faster than the Curiosity rover computers and allowing going online to instantly transfer a vast amount of data to another part of the world.
Still, neither designers wanting to improve the surrounding reality nor science fiction writers of the past, together with futurists of the present, have ever tried to redesign certain objects. Objects sporting the look and shape created hundreds or even thousands of years ago remain unchanged since then. Of course, they might’ve got updated and modernized, but we still use them in almost the same form they got when they first appeared. Because their design perfectly serves the function.
But before we start our time travel to check them out, we need to agree on terminology. Let’s recall Dieter Rams’ first rule (10 rules of Good Design):
“Good design is innovative.”
However, as UX designers, we look at it the other way because we want to simplify complex things, follow the path of well-known patterns and avoid reinventing the wheel. Yet if everything is so simple and all the problems already have a solution, why do we bother defining Jobs to be Done, doing a lot of research, and fussing about what to offer to users?
Yes, you can always find a common way to solve an issue. But with the current technological progress, you can also find myriads of new ways to do that. And that’s why I’m so surprised by the rare moments when I come across things that didn’t become perfect in the process of endless iterations, grinding, and testing, but were immediately born perfect from the functional point of view. Even more, if they appeared hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
Let’s take scissors, for example. The first scissors found by archaeologists date back to the 5th millennium BC. They were made in one piece and required physical force to cut objects. Rather soon, the scissors received an update: a screw that connected the two blades in the middle. After that, only the materials and finishes were subject to change. Dozens of types of scissors have appeared, but the vast majority of them have the same shape that people created 5,000 years ago. They differ in materials, length, and curvature of the blades or handles.
User problem: Nail scissors that actually make the cut.
The first prototypes of the eyeglasses we know today appeared at the end of the 13th century. But they lacked one crucial detail: the brackets to keep them on the face. This element was added only five centuries later. Since then, the design of the glasses has remained unchanged. It is worth noting that technological development has led us to a new way to solve the problem of poor eyesight — contact lenses. But the lenses do not displace the glasses; rather, they are a good addition to them.
User problem: Something to see what happens next.
The cutlery has not undergone radical changes since its appearance. The knife first appeared when a man attached a sharpened stone to a short stick. It has become a universal tool. Since then, it has been updated several times but has not changed in terms of the concept. Now we attach the sharpened steel to a wooden handle, and we have learned to make many types of knives depending on what we need to cut.
A little later, the spoon appeared. Take a look at this one, for example. It is not from the Middle Ages or even antiquity. This bronze spoon is from China and dates back to the 2nd millennium BC.
User problem: The spoon to become an eating soup-erman.
With the advent of personal computers, e-readers and smartphones, many predicted the demise of ordinary paper books. Technology and digitalization have indeed had a significant impact on printing and publishing. But through tactile and nasal sensations, the paper book still brings readers far more endorphins than the electronic version. The book can stand on the shelf for centuries, it is mobile, and the author’s signature can increase its value. And if you lose your Kindle, you lose access to the entire library stored on it. A book is a universal means of transmitting information that has remained unchanged since the first copies appeared.
User’s problem: Stuff that lets one lose their shelf-control.
Money is one of the oldest ideas that people have embodied in physical objects. They have been used and wanted almost every day for thousands of years.
Cash has not undergone radical changes over the past 3,000 years. And this can be seen if you look at the coin made of electrum (an alloy of gold and silver) found in modern Turkey. It is called the Lydian lion and is at least 2600 years old. At about the same time, the unified style coining started, and the first permanent points of sale appeared.
Today, as a design object and a widely used commodity, money is considered one of the main candidates to disappear from our everyday lives. At least, the battle is still going. And thanks to the cryptocurrency invention, the funeral choir over cash is singing louder than ever. But even in this age of progress and online transactions, real money will not disappear. They still have a higher level of protection and reliability, do not depend on the availability of electricity, and, most importantly, they are harder to track. Although when typing that sentence, I feel the skeptical view of many cryptocurrency preachers and hear the intensifying dramatic singing in the background. But let’s get back to this discussion in a few years.
User’s problem: When trading, stop being afraid of change.
The absolute record holder in the invariability of its design is the nail. It is not known exactly when it appeared. Humanity faced the problem of secure attachment of one object to another at the dawn of our attempts to deal with tools. First, we used the natural remedies available at hand, such as fish bones and plant thorns, but they could not last long. In the Bronze Age, people began casting and forging metal nails.
Today, we have a slew of ways to fasten objects to each other securely, but the nail remains an unchangeable and ultimate leader among them.
User’s problem: Beats me!
Finally, let’s take something more up-to-date, like headphones. This product has recently celebrated its 100th birthday. The first commercially successful headphones were created in 1910 in the United States in the kitchen of a Mormon Nathaniel Baldwin (though, the history of the invention goes back to the XIX century).
The inventor did not even patent his device because he considered it simple and trivial. However, the US Navy immediately paid attention to the novelty and bought Baldwin’s invention. Within a few years, he founded the Baldwin Radio Company, and in the 1920s, it had 150 employees and annual profits of $2 million, incredible money at the time.
However, the company lasted only a few years. In 1924, it went bankrupt. After all, Nathaniel Baldwin was first a Mormon and only then an inventor and businessman. He fought hard for Mormon rights and freedoms and invested heavily in Mormon fundamentalist organizations. It was religious fanaticism that ruined his wealth, business, and fame of the inventor.
Over 110 years of development, the headphones have received several improvements that have made them much more comfortable, and ten years ago, they got rid of wires. But I wonder if this device will pass the test for centuries. Because in the last few years, completely different devices have appeared, so-called “bone conduction headphones,” which transmit audio directly to the inner ear through the cheekbones. Google Glass became the first device to put this technology at its service and popularize sound transmission directly to the brain, i.e., bypassing the ears.
User problem… Do you really need a sound reason to get the music to your ears?
Of course, this is not a complete list of those items which design has not changed, or has changed very little for a long time. But as a UX designer, I am most interested in whether we can leave behind something as long-lasting and sustainable in the digital dimension? While we work in an ever-changing world, where the only certainty is change, what then can become a constant? Perhaps the search bar is a good contender for eternity? Facebook or Wikipedia?
And if “good design never goes out of date”, can digital design be up to the mark if it is always subject to technological innovations and trends? The answers to these questions will be revealed to us only with time.
Thank you for reading!
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