Designing From A Fresh Perspective

As a designer, its easy to fall into patterns that conform to established models. But to truly innovate, you must bring a fresh perspective to every design challenge. I was recently reminded of the value of a fresh perspective, when my 7 year old daughter took on the challenge of making a computer for her American Girl Doll. Because we all know that any self-respecting doll, has gotta be connected.

However, this was not an ordinary computer. It was a Mac, which was already enough to make me proud. But it was also customized to her doll’s very specific needs. First of all, it was purple, which is the doll’s favorite color, it was also sized perfectly so that it could fit into her purse and it even had a rear facing camera to take pictures of the other dolls while she was on “Facebook.” But what amazed me the most was the keyboard layout. Yes it included most of the typical numbers and letters that you’d find on a keyboard. However this keyboard was also personalized. It had special keys for her email address, zip code, and Facebook username “in case she got tired of typing.” This really made me realize how much I hate typing in my email address all the time, especially on mobile devices. Wouldn’t it be great if I could have a single key that take care of that for me? Yes, I know most web browsers retain email inputs to support an autofill function, however mobile browsers typically don’t support that capability as well. And in mobile interactions, that capability would have most value.

In designing her computer, my daughter never considered the limitations that come with a standardized physical keyboard. In her mind, a computer should be customized to meet the needs of the user. And in today’s world of virtual keyboards and personalization features, there is the opportunity to make that reality. It might even change the way we think about our personal devices. So in your next project, try injecting a fresh perspective and you may be surprised with the results.