1. What elements of the design process does this article illustrate?
2. What factors would you use to evaluate a “perfect thing”?
3. Whether you own an iPod or not, you probably have some opinions of this product. What do you feel are its strengths and weaknesses?



1. This article provides numerous accounts of times when the design process was being used. First, the design brief, when fadell was told he was attempting to make a portable .mp3 file player. Again, when he was trying to decide on the specific aspects of the product he was analyzing, researching, specifying and problem solving. He was engaging in the presentation part of the process when he showed his three options to Mr. Jobs. This, of course, led to the evaluation of the product sample and was given feedback. Both of these are critical aspects of the system.

2. The factors used to evaluate a perfect thing are, in the most vague sense, form and function. Simply how well does it work, and how good does it look while working. The best result appears when a product finds the perfect balance between these two principles. Some more specific examples would be simplicity of use, size, shape, versatility, durability, strength, and color. All of these are important, but depending on the product, some may become more important than others. For example, a dish washer may not need as much mobility as a car. So, mobility will be less important for a dishwasher, but its electrical efficiency will be much more important than a car’s. Overall, the “perfect thing” would have to do the job the best way possible, and look as good as possible doing it.

3. The iPod is a great product. It has many different characteristics that truly make it a great product. Some of its best features include the ability to operate it with one hand. Also the click-wheel that allows you to scroll through songs quickly and simply. It is fairly durable, and its software is quite simple to access and use. However, due to Apple’s fear of piracy, the iPod cannot upload music to a computer, which although a logical solution to piracy, makes for a difficult situation when you must switch computers. Also, the absence of an on off switch is somewhat inconvenient. All-in-all, the iPod is a great piece of technology that, despite minor software problems, makes listening to ones entire music library a mobile and convenient event.