The scope of this post is products that I use frequently and views from a consumer's perspective.
Objectives
While assessing design of something I consider how effectively a product solves user needs and while doing so what makes it unique.
- Innovative - a new method, or product
- Aesthetics - people love beautiful products
- Usable - little friction between what user trying to do and what product is offering
- Attention to Detail - this brings aha moment to users
- Understandable - small learning curve
1. Tesla Cars
Goods
| Attribute | Comments |
|---|
| Innovation | There are so many features in this car which are first of its kind. My favorite is Autopilot. It is the first car with almost perfect self-driving capability. Moreover, it's the first fully electric car with a range that is suitable for most household needs. |
| Aesthetics | From a usability perspective, car interior aesthetics are absolutely perfect. All the systems and settings in the car are controlled by a touchscreen. This is an unprecedented move in the car industry. With all the clutter removed from the eyesight of a driver, the experience of driving the car is smooth. |
| Usable | The car is usuable in any condition where any other vehicle is. Moreover, since Tesla doesn't have a big engine, it has a lot more storage space. One of the biggest fear electic vehicle owners have is charging network. Tesla has superchargers all across US, making it clear winner among competitors. |
| Attention to Detail | There are so many areas where you find attention to detail in this car. Most prominent ones are over-the-air software updates, supercharging network, multiple car features such as online help. Anytime there is a warning light on the display, there is official help link in the notification center where you can learn about what it is and how to fix it. This is helpful for layman users. |
| Understandable | Even though the car has numerous groundbreaking innovations, driving the car is same as any other car. Thus, for a new user there is little or no learning curve. |
Improvement Opportunities
| |
|---|
| Product Quality | The quality of material used for interiors is bad or flimsy. While driving the car there are numerous noises which are not fixed by the service team. This overall leaves a bad taste for a consumer. |
| Aesthetics | This is a bit subjective. I didn't like the design of the car from front. |
2. Airpods Pro
Goods
| |
|---|
| Innovation | First noise cancelling headphones in such a small form factor with no wires. Wireless charging case so that headphones charge while not in use. Before airpods pro, noise cancelling headphones were bulky. Before Airpods, other headphones used to fall easily, especially while working out. However, Airpods stays put no matter what you are doing. |
| Aesthetics | From a usability perspective, car interior aesthetics are absolutely perfect. All the systems and settings in the car are controlled by a touchscreen. This is an unprecedented move in the car industry. With all the clutter removed from the eyesight of a driver, the experience of driving the car is smooth. |
| Usable | The device solves a problem that a lot of consumers have these days. Be it in gym, meetings, phone calls, listening to music, watching moves, people need headphones. |
| Attention to Detail | It detects which Apple device you are using right now and connects seamlessly. This is perhaps one of the top reason I like these. Let's say I am listening music on my Macbook and I get a call on my phone, my Airpods automatically switches from Macbook to Phone and I don't have to do anything to take call. After call, it automatically goes back to Macbook. |
| Understandable | There is no learning curve. Just plug in headphones as any other headphones. |
| Product Quality | The quality of material used is top notch and while holding it, it feels premium product. |
Improvement Opportunities
| |
|---|
| Sustainability | Because of such a small form factor, these can't be repaired. So if anything goes bad, they just go to waste. I wish there were a way to recycle them properly instead of adding to land-fills. |
3. Google Nest Mini Speaker
Goods
| |
|---|
| Innovation | Perhaps first of its kind device where the primary way to interact with the device is voice. It is small but powerful. When properly configured, you can control your home lights, listen to music, search anything and a lot more. |
| Aesthetics | It is small, unobtrusive, and beautiful. It can be easily hung on one of the walls in the room, leaving so small footprint that you would not even notice it is there. Really like that there is no constant on light. Otherwise, it would have been unusable in bedrooms. |
| Usable | It offers a different way of doing things so it is a nice to have device but once you are hooked up there is no going back. |
| Product Quality | The quality of material used is top notch. I have been using mine for the last 3 years and it plays background music all day long and still never needed any intervention. It just works. |
Improvement Opportunities
| |
|---|
| Integration | It would be nice if other applications offer seamless integration with Google Nest. |
4. Roborock Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Goods
| |
|---|
| Innovation | It uses multiple sensors and technology to map out where it is and clean the house in a smart fashion. You can add virtual wall or no-go zone so that you don't have to supervise the device. |
| Aesthetics | Its small form factor makes it accessible to hard to reach areas. |
| Usable | The user interface of the device is super simple. It has power on and go to dock buttons. The app is also very easy to use. |
| Product Quality | The quality of material used is good. Since it will run into the wall and other objects, the product has to use resilient material. |
Improvement Opportunities
| |
|---|
| Integration | It would be nice if other applications offer seamless integration with Google Nest. |