Techno Musings

In this post I talk about minimizing design and also about the removal of features or facets of products as being just as important as adding them in. Well just having got a new MacBook Pro, I have to say that the things Apple has removed from the package have actually made me appreciate the system more not less. Apple has two videos of key technologies they have within the MacBook Pro here, and I suggest that you check them both out. In both cases the technology is about removing unnecessary things from the package and maximizing efficiency. The MacBook Pro sports a unibody design replacing many of the parts found on their older models and competitors products. The unibody is constructed of a single piece of machined Aluminum which means Apple is able to construct a light yet extremely strong structure. Further there isn’t a removable battery in the thing, which now that I have the machine I’m pretty happy about. By assuming the battery could not be removed, Apple was able to jettison all of the surrounding components leaving more room for the battery. Further they changed the materials of the battery, and packed the cells into a more space efficient configuration. The result is a larger, more dense battery that really does last for 6-7 hours . By removing things, Apple is able to do more!

So all of this got me to thinking, sometimes the defining point of a product is what is removed or not included. By removing unnecessary and distracting features it is possible to focus attention on what really matters, and in some sense the product gets out of your way when you work with it. You forget that you are using a tool and instead the tool becomes an extension of you. So all of you folks who design products for a living, in your next design, or redesign choose to take something out. Surely it is risky, but doing it well can make your product your design that much more.