As humans we get used to everyday things very fast. As designers we have to see, feel and improve these products and services.
He is talking about stickers on fruits that have been invented to put barcodes and quality seals on it. They solved a problem, but reinvented another: The rubbing process before eating the fruits. The interesting part is, that users get really upset by the first time scratching but then they get along with this issue and accept it in a way.
Our brains encode these everyday things into habits. This learning process is called habituation. Think about the first time you sat on the bike. Everything was new, exciting and quite hard to learn. Remember the skinned knees. But somehow you got better and better and used to it. The bike meant freedom to move faster and this was great. But the same goes for bad UX too, we forget about the annoying part. We like to filter all the information, so we have the chance to focus on new things.
He mentions Jerry Seinfeld (Comedian) and Mary Anderson (inventor of the windscreen wiper), they recognized this annoying parts and made something out of it.
Tony Fadell had been working for Apple and he is talking about his learnings from that time.
Steve Jobs taught him and his colleagues to stay beginners in the developing process. And to focus on tiny little details. Tony Fadell became well-known for inventing the iPod. He has always been an „early adopter“ and at one point he bought a new gadget and was very happy to unbox it, but then the disappointment – a tiny sticker, which said: „CHARGE BATTERY BEFORE USE.“ Back in the 90’s almost every product had this sticker on it. He says that Steve Jobs noticed this issue and said: „We’re not going to let that happen to our product.“ And so, excited customers could just start using the product. Today every product comes out fully charged.
His learnings:
1. look broader
2. look closer
3. think younger
