WEEK 9 Design failures or not?

     Sometimes the design can lead to a catastrophic failure, sometimes another element can be used to balance the issue and sometimes the design is simply perfect.

    It was always a close battle between the leaders of the aviation industry Boeing and Airbus, however due to a fatal design flaw by Boeing, Airbus was able to secure a relevant market advantage. In 2014 Airbus reintroduced one of its most successful models, the A320, in a modernized set-up. By keeping most of the design the same the FAA approval had to go through less steps, however by changing the turbines and some material choices the aircraft was made significantly more effective. The new model, the A320 neo, was a big success and to counter that Boeing needed to react fast. Similarly, Boeing reintroduced their most successful model, the 737, as the 737 Max, with the same idea of offering the proven design with updated propulsion systems. Whilst testing their new aircraft the company realized that the engines, whose position had been changed slightly due to their size, was causing too much lift in certain occasions. To combat the physical design flaw, they installed a software solution, the MCAS system. The MCAS systems was supposed to push the nose of the airplane down if it tilted too much. The angle was calculated through a single sensor on the outer shell of the airplane. Therefore, if the sensor failed, the MCAS system could misfunction and force the nose of the airplane down too much. A system of that gravity would need an FAA approval and pilot training, which Boeing could not afford, therefore the design flaw was hidden. The usability of the airplane was strongly limited as the pilots were not aware of the issues. Not knowing how to combat a system failure of the MCAS the pilots were left in the dark, causing multiple airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019. The design flaw, not only of the misplaced motors, but also of the mal-functioning system, caused many deaths, just because of economic greed.

    However sometimes the design is superb, so superb its leads to the success of a product or even product line. A classic example is Apple. They created a product that whilst being capable of computing and working highly complicated systems, the design of the hardware and software thrive through their optical simplicity. A limited amount of buttons, all similarly shaped, rounded of edges and corners. A user interface that is attractive due to its design and easy to use. Some users prefer more options and somewhat less ‘simplicity’ and use android or windows phones instead, however Apples growing customer basis is satisfied. Furthermore, all apple products fit together, whether it is the watch, headphones or tablet, having a combination of ergonomic devices is visually appealing. Of course, it is also about the brand and the status that comes with it. However, not only visually is the design successful, the software allows a continuous work flow when using multiple devices, the system similarities and the collaboration of the devices. No other company can offer such an all-round system that can be used with that ease. Every non-Apple user combines laptops, phones and other gadgets from many different brands limiting the compatibility. To compel their one-brand system Apple sets barriers for interactions between, e.g. its laptops and non-Apple phones, or its headphones and non-apple phones. What I found impressive with Apple at first was the amount of work on the devices and the effort to create the software and hardware design compatibility. However, that has changed as they have been, for multiple years, releasing the same phone with minor differences, not challenging the design and not trying anything new, but it works.

    I discussed rather design systems, than a single aspect of a product, however one can only judge the usability of a design if one understands its tasks. Sometimes simplicity works, when that is what the user needs, but sometimes systems should not be simplified and the user should be aware of how to work with a certain device and understanding what happens in the background.