Consumerism: a dilemma for designers?
Living in the 21st Century humans have a desire for something which they don’t need. It’s about living at an utmost luxury. Spending our money to have things which we don’t need but on things which we want.
Why do we buy so many things that we don’t need? From new iPhones to different accessories, Consumerism makes you feel like you’re myopically focused on receiving satisfaction from things you want rather than what you need. John Peretti makes us despair for humanity in multiple sequences of “The Men Who Made Us Spend”, A show which talks about consumerism and the reasons to why we keep spending money but at the same time, he dives deep down into marketing and design geniuses who manage to churn out insane numbers from us consumers. This article is mildly going to based on this series so do watch it if you guys don't want any spoilers.
Being a design student after watching the first episode of this series there’s this huge dilemma which popped up in my brain.
“Whether design can and should do good?”
Should a designer be adhering to the needs/wants of consumers or the clients they work for? Where should we draw the line between the two? Starting off with the initial segment of the video John starts by categorizing different sectors, starting off with technology. How new technology keeps making us want for more! Example - Apple comes out with their go-to product (iPhone) every year, yet they manage to influence users to upgrade to their latest services. Some users waiting in the queue don’t even know all the features of the latest iPhone but still, want their hands on the latest gadget.
Moreover, in some cases apple makes you buy the latest hardware. They slow down the phone, batteries become weak and it’s not just apple. All mobile manufacturing companies try to make their users buy their product every year. So is design a good thing for consumerism or does it just fuel consumerist thirst further, driving us to purchase more frequently based on wants rather than needs?
This leads me to ask the question; are UX designers just tools for consumerism? As UX designers a wide expanse of our work revolves around creating experiences for brands to sell products and make themselves more appealing.
Experience Design: The practice of designing products, processes, services, events and environments with a focus placed on the quality and enjoyment of the total experience. — Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things (2013)
Is UX responsible for consumerism?
Definitely. I’ll support my argument with day to day examples. E-commerce websites and applications are one of the main culprits to consumerism. Certain elements make users panic. User’s don't read screens they scan them.
There are multiple elements placed here which enforces the user to buy a product.
- Time — There’s a sense of urgency which you feel on looking at the time remaining. You make decisions hastily.
- Number — How do we know there are exactly 92 pieces left? Is this true or are they just playing with our heads?
- Discounts — Do they just sell the products at the same price? A slash in price makes us feel like the product are far cheaper than it’s original price making it an incentive to buy.
I could go in depth further but that would be apt for another article.
My take
So I asked myself, what are the implications here? As an Interaction design student emerging into the industry next year, I am intrigued to consider what does design contribute to the world?
I guess it depends on the designer and what kind of designer do they want to be, but more importantly, what kind of person do they want to be? I have always wanted to stick by rightful actions which would make the world a better place. We are going to be consumerists and that’s not going to change, but it’s to the extent we go to.
I hope you guys liked reading this article, let me know if you guys want to know how designers promote consumerism, that could be a separate article.
Adios Amigos.
