Twenty-dollar products
I didn't think that there would come a time when I would have little to blog about - but sadly, it seems like I come here less often despite my time spent online hasn't really decreased but anyway...
During my time Europe, I came across some creative product experiences, such as encouraging people to not litter in Barcelona:
Or, a sign showing how many parking spots are left in Monaco and a way to prevent others from stealing your spot:
These designs may be simple, yet they seem quite effective (at catching your attention at the minimum). How does design play out in our everyday products?
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$20 Product #1
Consider the Kitchenaid kettle:
The design is great - the silicon handle keeps it from getting hot and the wide mouth makes it very easy to clean. Plus, the base is one unit, so that it's seamless and prevents dirt from getting between the cracks. The spot has some holes so that ideally, the kettle would whistle when the water is boiling. Maybe I don't know how to use a whistling kettle properly, but the first one I bought from Canadian Tire didn't whistle at all so I exchanged it. Then, I read somewhere that I should ensure that the lid is shut so no steam escapes except through the spout, but it does anyway. Well, the kettle is far from being "loud and clear"; if it does whistle, you can hear it trying only if you are standing beside it. For $20, I can let it slide, but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying this product at the regular price ($65?). One would think that a name brand product like KitchenAid deliver better quality, but I was wrong. At least I wasn't the only one with this problem.
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$20 Product #2
Nintendo seems to know what they were doing when they introduced the Wii Fit Plus.
For those who have the original Wii Fit and the board, think of it as a software upgrade. For the same price as the kettle ($20), it's worth it - despite rendering your original Wii Fit useless. When you first put in the disc, it prompts you install a software update, which may explain some of these features:
- Your score board and the games you have already unlocked are transferred
- 15 new games are introduced (plus a new easter egg and some new exercises and exercise programs)
- Calculates how many calories you've burnt (whether it's accurate or not is another story, but it's based on the MET scale)
- You can easily switch to another player without having to exit out of the menu (unlike the first game) - I think that's what they mean by the multiplayer support
- Little novelty items like adding your pets or new tests
There's just one thing we haven't figured out yet: how you convert the weight from kilograms to pounds (like the first game?). Hopefully it's just a setting.