The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [20]
Somewhere we got off track. Today’s industrial designers do make artful objects. But even the most elegant HDTV or laptop computer or ballpoint pen is built with the expectation that it will soon become obsolete or disposable, so that a new one can be sold. Contractors build new homes with flimsy materials that reduce the initial building cost, but drive up the longer-term maintenance, energy, and environmental costs.
The arrival of the Mesh signals a new dynamic in design, and a return to first principles. Successful participation in the Mesh requires a product that holds up to repeated uses. One that is highly functional, fun, and easy to use. One designed to be repaired, upgraded, and “upcycled” at the end of its life. This dynamic had already found traction in so-called green design and the gradual reform of economic and policy incentives that encourage obsolescence and waste. The Mesh will deepen and accelerate this trend toward design that is more durable, functional, and adaptable, as well as more profitable.
In a Mesh business, products are shared. The flow of information about the products, including feedback from customers, is constant. As a result, favored products are built to last and keep functioning, adapt to different users, and be capable of repair and upgrading. The logic of the throwaway culture is completely reversed. Mesh design is:
Durable. Products that many people use must be safe, well built, and longer lasting.
Flexible. Products accommodate different users with design that is modular, but easily personalized.
Reparable. Standardized parts and transparent design allow products to be fixed and reused, rather than trashed, encouraging a culture of repair and reuse.
Sustainable. Design that reduces natural resource destruction and waste, which is ever more expensive, improves efficiency and reduces overall costs.
heirloom design. or the half-life of crap.
For years now, the common folklore in the West has been that the cheapest way to replace many appliances is to throw the old one away and buy a new one. “Planned obsolescence”—products designed with the expectation that they will have a short life and be replaced—has ruled the day. In contrast, the Mesh motivates designers to create timeless products that can be used over and over again. Saul Griffith, a respected physicist and inventor and a friend, has coined a name for this built-to-last practice: “heirloom design.” Heirloom design is something that’s built to endure for generations. The virtue is baked into the fundamental thought process.
Heirloom products favor retooling, repairing, upgrading, or recycling. MontBlanc pens, Volvos and BMWs, Craftsman and Victorian homes, Eames furniture, vintage clothing made from natural fibers—all are products and styles made from the best materials available at the time. Well-designed products like these hold or increase their value over a long time. They are prized sufficiently to warrant and sustain repair services.
The problem, of course, is the price. People don’t resist buying a Rolex watch because they don’t like it. For the average person, a Rolex is an absurd acquisition because it costs thousands of dollars. But for the sake of efficiency—and the environment—it would be better for everybody to buy a more durable (and consequently more expensive) watch, car, home furnace, MP3 player, and mobile phone. In the Mesh, an individual doesn’t have to foot the cost of an heirloom design product alone. The cost of shared goods is spread over many transactions and people, so the quality can often be higher compared to products an individual customer could afford to own outright. Better-designed products also count as a competitive advantage for a Mesh business.
Durable, well-designed products are usually safer products because they are less likely to break or fail. Mesh businesses have strong incentives, including maintaining their customers’ trust, to buy safe products and to keep them in good