Consumer needs and globalisation

Globalisation can be viewed as a force, which has to be countered due to it resulting in the unification of the consumers’ culture via the standardisation of all merchandises. ‘Users around the world are no longer willing to simply settle for one-size-fits-all products with standardised designs’ (Delaney et al. 2002, pp.46-49). Designers are increasingly being tasked to nurture cultural diversity via localisation of products in the wake of globalisation.

‘Universality is no longer meaningful in a post-industrial world’ mourning the forfeit of customs, ethnicity and culture (Krippendorff, 2006, p.175).

One exemplar is how globally marketed products by Nokia, Whirlpool and Electrolux have begun to demonstrate sensitivity towards certain cultural specifics, showing a comprehension of the cultural multiplicity of their global users (Ono, 2002). It could be suggested product localisation might be perceived as an offsetting influence in regards to the preservation or stability of nation-wide cultures confronting globalisation coupled with inherently latent capabilities for preserving, maintaining and offering cultural values to the particular artefact. The key objective is to evolve a comprehension of users’ behaviours and values, which may then be transformed into feasible, aesthetics, architecture and concepts of design. ‘Technology is not a good traveller unless it is culturally calibrated’ (Kaplan, 2004, p.xiv). Therefore it is argued products should better factor into design development processes and the anthropological, aesthetical, social and cultural tendencies of their envisioned owners.

A postcolonial approach to design in curriculum would enable this.

The meanings that artefacts signify ought to be formed in the course of a dialogue between design, users and culture. Much of the contemporary studies on the correlation between design and culture are American, European and Asian based. Therefore, we need to delve beyond superficial issues and collate detailed knowledge on how social and cultural

attitudes could be converted into industrial design features. Such an approach would enable us to evaluate the way in which distinctive features of any social system - beliefs, values, behaviour, norms - would beneficially unite when designing technological artefacts.

Technological artifacts may be viewed as the manifestation, connection, and fusion of numerous material and immaterial codes, through which designers may convey elements of their own ideals and desires. Cultural values and preferences provide a ‘frame of meaning’ to objects. Product designers often consciously or subconsciously incorporate their personal encryptions of design values and these encryptions are often consciously or subconsciously deciphered and appreciated by product users.

The literature search brought up very scarce research on how the designer’s own culture can have a shaping role in influencing an end product beyond physical concerns of functionality, usability or ergonomics. However there is some research on the idea of what Carlson (1992, p.177) describes as the ‘cultural creep’. This is the idea that often designers innately introduce their own values, preferences or other non-physical qualities onto their designs and innovations subconsciously. ‘The process of concept generation in product development is, for the most part the designer’s mentality or impressions engendered’ (Lloyd and Snelders, 2001). Much literature however, bolsters the idea that the deliberate integration of cultural knowledge has a substantial function in the effectual design of artifacts bringing tangible benefits to product users but not much investigates the subconscious integration of culture.

In light of this, the primary research undertaken as part of this project explored the effect of the product designer’s cultural predilections that have been formed within his or her individual contexts. Findings and their analysis are presented in the report and discussion (see chapter six and seven, sections 6.1, 6.2 and 7.2). Cross-analysis of product design cycles across diverse cultures would perhaps present new modalities of research. The impact of our own conscious, subconscious and unconscious minds on our product outcomes needs to be

order to subsume ‘culture’ in in his definition of industrial design as a goal for optimizing the lives of individual users.’

Designers being negligent in catering for cultural issues in the product design process is considered as one of the many causes and consequences of globalisation (Mcburnie, and Clutterbuck, 1987, p.18, Bond, 1991, p.3, Nickles, 2002, pp.693-727) outlined how globalisation seeks to deliver greater similarity of perception and lifestyle along with greater uniformity of product culture, whereas in contrast diversity is a natural desire of human beings (Zec, 2002, pp.34-38). Thereby, the cultural diversity would be eliminated in support of uniform artifacts perceived as the given advantage of globally distributed products. The uniformity of global culture, the resemblance in people’s thoughts, along with the expense of designing such subtleties of non-western cultures into technological solutions can be perceived as being the foremost reasons propelling the extent and prevalence of mass produced, globally-marketed artifacts.

Investigations undertaken within culture and product design range from different directions such as contexts of use, culturality, usability, sustainability, user-centered design, pleasurability and spiritual elements of artifacts. Nevertheless, scarce research appears to have been performed that seeks to analyse influences of the product designers’ own socio-cultural ideals on the design elements of artifacts. To seek the pleasurability of our products we need to stop solely addressing functionality. Ellsworth et al. (2002) surveyed cultural impact on the design of the ‘refrigerator’ in Europe, Japan and the United States. The conclusions indicated that the identical concept of ‘keeping things cool’ can be expressed as an range of diversely designed refrigerators, which was accredited to the variances amidst the users’ expectancies, desires and predilections in the varying cultures.