NINEIDEA：巷口修了二十多年自行车的老师傅，用满是油污的手捏着一支电动牙刷反复端详。“这里，”他的手指停在刷柄与机身的接缝处，“倒角再收0.2毫米，握起来就更跟手了。”这是我听过最精准的最高级的产品设计评审。在深圳做产品设计久了，你会明白最好的老师不在设计学院，而在街头、在车间、在每一个真实的使用场景里。
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设计的真谛，藏在生活的皱褶里
去年冬天，我为一个老年智能药盒的设计苦思冥想。直到某个清晨，我在社康中心看见一位老人颤巍巍地打开药盒，因手抖差点把药片撒了一地。那一刻我忽然明白：我要设计的不是另一个“智能设备”，而是一双稳定的、能托住那双颤抖的手。
回到工作室，我推翻了所有方案。最后的设计简单得让人意外——药盒底部增加了硅胶防滑垫，开合角度从90度改为120度，内部隔档微微隆起。这些看似微不足道的改变，让老人每次取药的成功率提升了三倍。
在0.1毫米的差距中，看见人性的温度
有位资深设计师常说：“上帝住在细节里，而魔鬼在批量生产时现身。”他带着我们为一款儿童智能手表测试了47种表带材质，最后选定的那种，触感接近母亲皮肤的柔软度。有个小女孩对妈妈说：“这个手表好像在抱我的手腕。”
这就是产品设计的魔力——它把冰冷的参数转化为可感知的温度，在流水线上播种人性的微光。
每个产品，都是设计师写给世界的情书
我始终记得第一个量产的设计——那是个平平无奇的充电宝。当在咖啡店看见陌生人正在使用它时，我竟有种上前握手的冲动。那一刻我懂了：设计真正的奖赏，是你的创造成为他人生活里沉默而可靠的存在。
如今，每当我开始新的设计，总会想起巷口的老师傅。他教会我：好的设计从不高高在上，它蹲下身来，平视着每一个使用者的眼睛。在这个追求炫技的时代，或许最高级的设计，是让人感觉不到设计的存在——就像呼吸，就像心跳，就像生活本身。
The most advanced product design is one that makes people feel the existence of design
NINEIDEA: Teacher Fu, who has repaired bicycles for more than 20 years at the entrance of the alley, holds an electric toothbrush in his greasy hands and looks at it repeatedly. Here, “his finger stopped at the seam between the brush handle and the body,” chamfer another 0.2 millimeters, and the grip will be even more responsive. “This is the most precise and advanced product design review I have ever heard. After doing product design in Shenzhen for a long time, you will understand that the best teachers are not in design schools, but on the streets, in workshops, and in every real usage scenario.
The essence of design lies in the folds of life
Last winter, I pondered over the design of a smart medication box for the elderly. Until one morning, I saw an elderly person tremblingly opening a medicine box at the community health center, almost spilling the pills on the ground due to shaking hands. At that moment, I suddenly understood that what I wanted to design was not another ‘smart device’, but a pair of stable hands that could support those trembling hands.
Returning to the studio, I overturned all the plans. The final design is surprisingly simple – a silicone anti slip pad has been added to the bottom of the medicine box, the opening and closing angle has been changed from 90 degrees to 120 degrees, and the internal partitions are slightly raised. These seemingly insignificant changes have tripled the success rate of elderly people’s medication retrieval each time.
Seeing the warmth of human nature in a gap of 0.1 millimeters
A senior designer often says, ‘God lives in the details, while the devil appears in mass production.’ He took us to test 47 strap materials for a children’s smartwatch, and finally chose the one with a touch that is close to the softness of a mother’s skin. A little girl said to her mother, “This watch seems to be holding my wrist
This is the magic of product design – it transforms cold parameters into perceptible temperatures, sowing a glimmer of humanity on the assembly line.
Every product is a love letter written by designers to the world
I always remember the first mass-produced design – it was an unremarkable power bank. When I saw a stranger using it in the coffee shop, I had an impulse to step forward and shake hands. At that moment, I understood: the true reward of design is that your creation becomes a silent and reliable presence in the lives of others.
Nowadays, whenever I start a new design, I always think of the old master at the entrance of the alley. He taught me that good design is never superior, it crouches down and looks into the eyes of every user. In this era of pursuing flashy skills, perhaps the most advanced design is one that makes people feel the existence of design – like breathing, like heartbeat, like life itself.
