: good enough?

Real interesting reading in the Times in their "Ninth Annual Year in Ideas". More stuff along the lines of our culture and how we consciously and subconsciously react to technologies. Of particular interest are some insights gleamed from this that directly effect some of our client's products and the work we do for them. I will say no more on that though except to ask, when is it time to say that something is "good enough"?

Anyway, I guess consumers seem to outwardly strive for the latest and greatest. In the end though, it is convenience, affordability, and continuous availability that matters. Great example from the article - "High-definition televisions have turned every living room into a home cinema, yet millions of us choose to watch small, blurry videos on our computers and our mobile devices." Huh. I guess that is true.

Photo by jovike - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvk/4923343/

Another fascinating item is based on some research at Stanford done comparing lo-fi to hi-fi versions of rock songs. It seems when you ask younger listeners which one they prefer, the lo-fi version seems to win out. So much for that perfect sound quality MP3 player everyone is carrying around in their pocket. I guess some things just weren't meant to be "perfect". Or, maybe it already was?

Read full article and lots of other ideas here.

Comments

[Heather]

You know, I've always struggled with the "good enough" notion (surprise, surprise) until I read Daniel Pink's "Drive". Kind of hearkening back to your post about practice, I realize now that perfection isn't really the goal, but the pursuit of it is. And now I get to quote Samuel Beckett: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

[Administrator]

I personally love things to be "perfect". Unrealistic? Perhaps. This does put it in perspective though. I feel like this is very much connected to Pink's ideas in Drive, my post about practice (and Zinn's idea of "…an infinite series of presents") and even our current discussions around culture creation. It's a never ending process.

[Bryan]

I like Heather's comment; it's a true idealist compromise. Seriously, though - I'm not sure if perfection is what we (as designers) strive for in an idea. We don't want the perfect idea, as much as we say we do.

We want a sustainable idea. An idea that lives on. Too often we associate "sustainable" with "perfect."

And I'm less sure that customers strive, even outwardly, for the latest and greatest (only early adopters do that). They want something that works, that's useful, and that's enjoyable, and that they know will be around for them in the future.

Perfect things rarely stay perfect for long.