People often think of design in terms of archetypes—a quest for the perfect toothbrush, kitchen utensil, or task chair. However, a single solution doesn’t always address the needs of people at different times in history or at various stages in their lives. Due to differences in size, strength, motor skills, and aesthetic preferences, a product that is appealing and functional for today’s teenager may not be appropriate for an elderly individual. For that reason, designers have become increasingly focused on designing for different generations of people, from the elderly and aging Baby Boomers, through Generations X and Y, and down to Generation Z, or the “Internet Generation. ” “Age plays an increasingly enormous role in design,” says Katarina Posch, an associate professor of design history at Pratt. During the first half of the 20th century, most designer goods aimed for a wealthy, middle-aged segment of the population, notes Posch, but beginning in the 1960s, “we started to have a youth quake, and the boom of youth culture.” Baby Boomers were coming of age and had money, and they began designing and producing their own products. “They were designing for themselves, as a younger generation,” says Posch. As an example she notes Terence Conran, who emerged as a
furniture and interior designer in 1960s England when he was in his 20s, and quickly became famous for bringing modern design within reach of the general population. Since then, designers have spread their efforts wider, focusing on targeted products for different generations, and on groups with special needs. However, a surprising thing has happened: even as designers seek to address the needs of a specific generation, they often unwittingly create goods with a broader appeal by coming at design problems from entirely new angles. Posch points to IKEA as a perfect example. “It started as a place for a young person’s things in the 1960s,” she says. “It was just for young people who were furnishing their homes for the very first time.” However, the company’s pared down, low-cost pieces resonated with a significantly larger group of consumers who had previously struggled to find affordable contemporary furniture. Now, IKEA “appeals to every group of society,” says Posch. “What you want to do is look at edges,” or small populations with special needs, to develop breakthrough projects and products, says Bruce Hannah (B.I.D. ’63), a professor of industrial design at Pratt. Hannah, an early proponent of universal design, which aims to develop products that can be used by people both with and without disabilities, suggests that by focusing on special needs, designers often develop solutions they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to find. “If you do three things with services or products—make them easy to use, self-explanatory or intuitive, and safe— people will probably buy them,” regardless of age, he says. A key example: the plump line of OXO Good Grips kitchen tools, which includes can openers, vegetable peelers, and meat tenderizers, among other everyday products.
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