As a general rule, beloved objects are good. You want people to not just use your phone, and stick with it because it was expensive and they are locked into a contract; you want them to feel it’s an extension of their persona, to have them feel good just by using it.

But what if people, for lack of a better term, love the design too much? Khoi Vinh posted this today, on how he cannot use certain design magazines because they are too pretty. I agree. Print and Commarts are both too precious to carry with you, read, leave on the couch, fold over and take notes on, tear out pages, flatten enough to photocopy.

Khoi proposes the design is too good, essentially. The magazines are too respected to be absorbed, and have become design objects. But I think I disagree with the why. I remember during the heyday of magazines I respect more for their integral design, like Raygun for example, not finding those to be too precious to read, to use, even to draw on and tear apart.

I tend to think it’s the paper and to a degree, the packaging. These precious magazines arrive in pristine condition in cardboard sleeves; there’s something already lived-in about most mail, including periodicals, by the time it arrives, that makes it easier to also live /with/ and utilize more completely.

Overall, this makes me wonder if there are already devices too precious to use. I freak out a lot of people by not worrying about scratches and dirt on my pretty, pretty mac latops. I know a number of people who would never deign to put their iPhone in their pocket…they might scratch it! And even more who have a Shuffle (or even a cheap, 3rd tier MP3 player) expressly so they can carry around a less precious device when gardening, traveling or something else where they might damage their coveted iPod.

We occasionally think about eInk projects. It’s a favorite of Barbara’s, among other things. The use pattern for periodicals above makes me wonder if that’s not a problem in their adoption. Even if someone came up with a miraculously cheap $10 device, I suddenly worry that if it’s too nice – too pretty – it might not be used as robustly, and as universally as a paperback or periodical.

Since I just came up with this, I am not sure I believe it yet, or what it means for designing interfaces and devices. Can design be too precious? What to do about it? It’s worth keeping in mind, and looking out for, as we move into a world of increasingly common – and hopefully increasingly good and beloved – personal, mobile devices.

©2008 Little Springs Design is a user experience design consultancy focused exclusively on mobile.

Little Springs Designs the user experience for mobile devices and services. Our practice of user-centered design means the user comes first, not the technology. We learn about the user, design for the user, and talk to the user - but we understand the technology and its limitations and potential.