Design choices

Example 1: Apparently, in Europe, playgrounds are built with different design principles in mind.

The focus is less on safety and more on controlled risk. Kids can push themselves further to find the limits of what their bodies can do. A fall has more consequences.

Playgrounds in the US, however, have stricter rules and regulations on what is allowed. And you can’t help but think there is a fear of being sued because someone got hurt.

Of course, from a macro perspective, this isn’t just playgrounds. When design is pushed to make manufacturers less liable, we also teach everyone to look for opportunities to blame someone else for our actions.

It really is a discussion of values and the design choices that come from it.

Example 2: I was at the store the other day and bought Muscle Milk. The wrapper was above the cap, so you had to do this annoying tear-away just to get to the cap, which was also sealed. A water bottle, by contrast, has a simple twist, and you can hear the seal break.

I wondered why this extra step was Muscle Milk’s design choice. Was it because there was some kind of milk scare I was unaware of to show that this isn’t being tampered with? What was the point? What was the feeling they were trying to convey?

The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that there was no intentional choice. Someone in the packaging department didn’t talk to the marketing department, and that is how it was shipped based on the size/shipping/material matrix to squeeze another cent.

Design really boils down to what we choose to care about.

A lack of design isn’t actually a lack of design. It shows a lack of care.