Daily Thought #8: How Apple and Tesla Inspires Me In Design (苹果和特斯拉对我设计的启发）

On the way back to home, and it is like near 12am midnight. Another tiring trip.

Empty train station...

Today I would like to discuss about design. In terms of design, I would like to use Apple and Tesla as the case studies. Going back to when iPhone first launch, the full touch screen was the first of its kind and this is the innovation that Apple brought to the market. How can Steve be so bold to know that this can create a demand from the consumers? Is the design too ahead of time until it cannot be accept by the consumers? How can Steve led and persuade the whole company to pursue such a risky journey? No matter what, he had made the history and proven that his deduction was right, since then the typology of mobile phone changed.

Then talking about Tesla, we were aware that EV (electric vehicle) had been around the market for decades but it was never a hit. However, when Musk joined Tesla, his bold masterplan to roll out the Tesla EV series also changed the world. When the P90 was launched back then, there were almost no complaints about it (except for some incidents like the faulty software, accidents which is rarer than typical vehicles) and the roadster get unprecedented high ratings. In terms of exterior design, it looks quite typical and conservative, but the real tweak was within the car. The innovation brought by Tesla was the anatomy of the EV and the user experience. It was proven to be successful and gained a lot of investors trust.

As a designer, I am constantly questioning myself on how should a good design start with? Especially for a high price goods like EV and real property. A single screwup could mean blowing up your upfront investment. In design school, there were never restriction on design as there are no budget and other constraints. On the other hand, when it comes to the real practical world, it is a totally different story, as there are so many constraints and unknown territory that sometime the designers felt helpless.

Today, I met up with seniors from different field to understand how to pursue this path of design. I would like to list out several of my gain of the day.

1. Learn with a humble heart

This is a must when it comes to learning. Take ourself as an empty glass and fill it up with seniors input and experience. Before meeting, do some homework on the topics so that we could ask the critical questions and this saves time for the seniors too. Whenever we do this when asking for guidance, I think most of the seniors would be glad to help.

1. Cross domain thinking

When comes to design, it is a must to have cross domain thinking skill. For instance, Apple has that sensitive sense to capture the high tech and combined it with its elegant art concept to brand its product. While Tesla combined the art of designing exterior and interior of car, anthropology as well as the fusion of software and hardware to produce Tesla EV. With this skill, we will have vision of multiple dimensions and could possibly identify the blue ocean for innovation.

1. Understand the consumers needs and mentality

Consumers acceptance will be the decisive factor for a product success. Therefore it is vital to understand the consumers via their needs and mentality, like their preference, spending habits and etc. Just like Apple and Tesla which bring the consumer a new kind of sensation that mobile phone and car can be such a cool factor.

1. Balance between the constant and change

In the process of innovating and designing, it is important to know which component should be the same way as it is (as it is already the best form) and which could be change and improve. Being too innovative and create a product that too way ahead of time doesn’t mean is a great product. Thus, it is important to decide the constant and change those details that elevates the overall performance to a whole new level. I think Tesla made a good case study from my point, as they maintain the look of a car but the user experience was a whole new one for all of us. However, iPhone is the exceptional case whereby a total change could also accepted by the consumers. It is probably due to the strong story telling skill of the late Steve.
I truly salute to those innovators and would love to study more about them to learn about the way of design.

十二点半夜，刚要从巴士站，打着火车回家。

今天来讨论一个设计的问题。谈到苹果的创新，回想当时iPhone的推出，那个全频幕模式的手机是绝无仅有。以这样的胆量来面对市场，难道Steve就那么肯定市场有那个需求吗？还是时常可以接受这么新颖的设计吗？他怎么说服团队及公司一起把全力放在这么一个那么冒险的产品呢？但事实证明，Steve的决定是对的，而从此他也改变了日后的手机长相。

到了特斯拉，电子车本身已经浮现在市场有一段时间了。可是，就是得不到市场的青睐。当马斯克加入了特斯拉，他斗胆地投资并推出了电子汽车的计划。当特斯拉的豪华版P90推出后，市场想对这车子设计吹毛求疵，也非常的难。在外观，这车看起来很普通的模型差不多，但真正的创新在于其内部和体验。比起苹果，特斯拉的颠覆稍微保守了些，但也非常的成果，也得到很多投资者的信任。

身为一位设计者，我时常懊恼到底设计本身得从什么地方下手？尤其这产品是高消费的，比如房屋。在设计学校，当然就没有任何的约束，因为没有一个真正的消费者群体，也没有财务控制。可到了现实社会，这就完全不一样了，不同真实的约束和未知让很多设计者束手无策。

今天约见了不同领域的前辈来了解这条路可以如何走下去。这里想清理一些得到的思路。

1.虚心求教

要学习，这是必然的条件。得把自己当着是一瓶空杯子，装上前辈的意见以及经验。约见之前，也得做一些准备功夫，直接能问进主题，别浪费其他人的时间。当有准备并秉持着学习心态，我想前辈都很愿意地传授一些知识和技巧。

2.跨领域思维

在设计领域，必须得有跨领域的能力。苹果有着敏锐的高科技嗅觉和独特美感来把自己的产品包装起来。特斯拉则利用汽车内外设计，使用者的习惯以及软硬件的完美结合来设计出几乎天衣无缝的电子车。有了跨领域的视野，让你看到别人看不到的视角，从中找到创新的点子。

3.了解最终使用者的需求和心理

最终使用者的接受度是产品是否成功的决定性因素。所以，了解他们，透彻地去挖取他们的取向和需求。就像苹果和特斯拉，他们颠覆了手机和汽车使用者的原有看法。他们让消费者耳目一新，原来手机和汽车可以那么酷。

4.变和不变之间的拿捏

在创新的路途中，很多东西可以变。但变得太多就变成了超时代的一个产物，并不代表消费者能接受。所以在一些事物得有所保留，并在一些不经意的地方动手脚。我觉得最好的例子就是特斯拉。外观来看，其实和普通汽车没什么两样。但当你真正驾驶它时，哇靠那个感觉是全然不一样的。但，iPhone可说是设计界中的一个奇葩案例。完全的颠覆并得到如此好的市场反应。可能也是Steve强大的说故事能力吧。

话说回来，我非常敬佩这些创新者。真的得认真学习他们以便让我的设计技术更上一层楼。