Products Are People Too
So let’s see. What I hope I’ve done is this:
- I’ve argued that sociality, adaptability and materiality, and all the rest make design a complex task with a lot to take into account. Including the constraints of products – shelf demonstrability and mass production – makes it even more complex. The idea that ‘products are people too’ is a handy heuristic to help you think about products acting in the world, in our homes and in our social groups
- I’ve said that we should keep in mind how we live with products. Remember to design for how we meet them, how they meet our friends, and the different experience hooks they have—those moments in our story together that we especially remember
- And I’ve said that, since products live in the world together, we should look at how they get to gossip, and have manners, and act as people, and that doing that will inspire new product ideas
When I come back to this conference next year, I would love to see presentations full of active products: Websites, media and services that are about experiences, that openly talk about their motives, that gossip and chatter and feel personable and humane.
[Matt Jones says: ‘Webb just gave the conference a year long homework assignment.’]