The first secret of great design | Tony Fadell

翻译人员: Jing LUO 校对人员: Coco Shen

In the great 1980s movie "The Blues Brothers,"

在1980年的著名电影《蓝调兄弟》里,

there's a scene where John Belushi goes to visit Dan Aykroyd in his apartment

有一幕是约翰·布鲁斯第一次到

丹·艾克罗伊德的芝加哥公寓去找他.

in Chicago for the very first time.

It's a cramped, tiny space

那是一个很窄、很小的房间，

and it's just three feet away from the train tracks.

而且离铁轨就三英尺远。

As John sits on Dan's bed,

当约翰坐在丹的床上，

a train goes rushing by,

一辆火车呼啸而过,

rattling everything in the room.

房间内的每样东西都发出咯咯声.

John asks, "How often does that train go by?"

约翰问：“火车多久过去一辆？”

Dan replies, "So often, you won't even notice it."

丹回答：“太频繁了，你甚至都不会注意到。”

And then, something falls off the wall.

就在那时，一个东西从墙上掉了下来。

We all know what he's talking about.

我们都懂他说的意思.

As human beings, we get used to everyday things

作为人类，我们对日常生活的东西

really fast.

都很快就司空见惯。

As a product designer, it's my job to see those everyday things,

作为一个产品设计师， 我的工作是去观察这些日常生活的东西，

to feel them, and try to improve upon them.

去感受他们， 并尝试改善他们。

For example, see this piece of fruit?

比如，看到这个水果了吗？

See this little sticker?

看到这上面的小标签了吗？

That sticker wasn't there when I was a kid.

我小的时候这上面可没有标签，

But somewhere as the years passed,

但许多年之后,

someone had the bright idea to put that sticker on the fruit.

某些人想出把标签贴在水果上的好主意.

Why?

为什么？

So it could be easier for us

因为它可以让我们更容易地

to check out at the grocery counter.

在商店柜台结账。

Well that's great,

是的这挺好的，

we can get in and out of the store quickly.

我们可以更快地进出商店了.

But now, there's a new problem.

但是现在又有一个新的问题.

When we get home and we're hungry

当我们回家感觉饿了，

and we see this ripe, juicy piece of fruit on the counter,

我们看到了桌上这个成熟多汁的水果，

we just want to pick it up and eat it.

我们想就把它拿起来、吃下去.

Except now, we have to look for this little sticker.

但现在，我们要找到这个小标签

And dig at it with our nails, damaging the flesh.

然后用指甲挖掉它， 破坏了果肉

Then rolling up that sticker --

接着，卷起那个小标签…

you know what I mean.

你懂我意思的。

And then trying to flick it off your fingers.

然后用力把它从你手指上甩掉。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

It's not fun,

这并不好玩，

not at all.

一点也不好玩。

But something interesting happened.

但有趣的事情就发生了，

See the first time you did it, you probably felt those feelings.

想想，你第一次这么做，

You just wanted to eat the piece of fruit.

你就想吃掉这个水果， 你会觉得这种感觉

You felt upset.

让你很烦躁。

You just wanted to dive in.

你只是想开始大吃起来.

By the 10th time,

但到了第十次，

you started to become less upset

你开始觉得不那么烦躁了，

and you just started peeling the label off.

然后你开始去撕掉这个标签.

By the 100th time, at least for me,

到第一百次的时候， 至少对于我来说，

I became numb to it.

我开始对它麻木了。

I simply picked up the piece of fruit,

我只是拿起水果,

dug at it with my nails, tried to flick it off,

用我指甲去抠它， 努力甩掉它

and then wondered,

然后怀疑一下，

"Was there another sticker?"

有没有另一张标签？

So why is that?

所以，为什么会这样呢？

Why do we get used to everyday things?

为什么我们就习惯了这些日常的东西呢？

Well as human beings, we have limited brain power.

好吧作为人类，我们的脑能量有限，

And so our brains encode the everyday things we do into habits

所以我们的脑袋就自动把我们做的 日常的东西编码成习惯，

so we can free up space to learn new things.

于是我们可以腾出一些空间来学习新的东西.

It's a process called habituation

这是一个被称作习惯化的过程.

and it's one of the most basic ways, as humans, we learn.

是作为人类最基础的学习方式之一。

Now, habituation isn't always bad.

习惯化并不总是不好的.

Remember learning to drive?

你还记得你学开车的时候吗？

I sure do.

我肯定你记得.

Your hands clenched at 10 and 2 on the wheel,

你的双手紧握方向盘， 放在十点钟和两点钟方向，

looking at every single object out there --

看着车外面的每样东西－－

the cars, the lights, the pedestrians.

汽车、信号灯、行人。

It's a nerve-wracking experience.

这是个神经高度紧张的经历。

So much so, that I couldn't even talk to anyone else in the car

紧张到我都不能和车里的任何人说话,

and I couldn't even listen to music.

我甚至连音乐也没法听。

But then something interesting happened.

但有趣的事情发生了。

As the weeks went by, driving became easier and easier.

几周过去了 开车变得越来越容易，

You habituated it.

你习惯了。

It started to become fun and second nature.

它开始变成一个有趣、自然的反应.

And then, you could talk to your friends again

然后你又可以和你的朋友说话了,

and listen to music.

又可以听音乐了.

So there's a good reason why our brains habituate things.

所以这是个我们的脑袋 习惯化的好理由

If we didn't, we'd notice every little detail,

因为如果我们不这么做

all the time.

我们会一直关注每个小细节

It would be exhausting,

这会让人精疲力尽

and we'd have no time to learn about new things.

而且我们也没有时间去学新的东西

But sometimes, habituation isn't good.

但有时候，习惯化并不是好事

If it stops us from noticing the problems that are around us,

如果它妨碍了我们去留意身边存在的问题

well, that's bad.

那它就是不好的

And if it stops us from noticing and fixing those problems,

如果它妨碍了我们留意并去修正那些问题

well, then that's really bad.

那它真的很不好

Comedians know all about this.

喜剧演员很清楚这个

Jerry Seinfeld's entire career was built on noticing those little details,

杰里·赛恩菲尔德的整个演艺生涯 都是建立在留意那些小细节之上的

those idiotic things we do every day that we don't even remember.

那些我们每天都在做的、甚至我们都不记得的 很愚蠢的事情

He tells us about the time he visited his friends

他告诉我们，有一次他去找他的朋友

and he just wanted to take a comfortable shower.

他想要舒服地洗个澡

He'd reach out and grab the handle and turn it slightly one way,

他就伸出手抓住手柄，轻轻地向一个方向转动

and it was 100 degrees too hot.

水温太高，热超过100华氏度

And then he'd turn it the other way, and it was 100 degrees too cold.

然后他把它转向另一个方向 水温又太低，冷超过100华氏度

He just wanted a comfortable shower.

他只是想要洗一个舒舒服服的澡

Now, we've all been there,

我们都有过这种经历

we just don't remember it.

只是我们不记得了

But Jerry did,

但杰里记得

and that's a comedian's job.

那是一个喜剧演员的工作

But designers, innovators and entrepreneurs,

但是对于设计师、革新者和创业的人们

it's our job to not just notice those things,

我们的工作不但要去留意那些小东西

but to go one step further and try to fix them.

还要向前一步、尝试去修正它们

See this, this person,

看这个人

this is Mary Anderson.

这是玛莉·安德森 （译者注：著名美国演员）

In 1902 in New York City,

1902年

she was visiting.

她去纽约的时候

It was a cold, wet, snowy day and she was warm inside a streetcar.

那是一个又冷又湿的下雪天 她坐在温暖的有轨电车里

As she was going to her destination, she noticed the driver opening the window

当她快到站时，她注意到 司机打开窗户

to clean off the excess snow so he could drive safely.

清除过量的雪，以保证安全驾驶

When he opened the window, though, he let all this cold, wet air inside,

但当他打开窗户时 他让这些又冷又湿的空气跑进来

making all the passengers miserable.

让所有的乘客苦不堪言

Now probably, most of those passengers just thought,

这时，也许大部分乘客都会想

"It's a fact of life, he's got to open the window to clean it.

“这就是生活的现实， 他需要打开窗户去清扫

That's just how it is."

就是这么回事。”

But Mary didn't.

但玛莉不这么想。

Mary thought,

玛莉想,

"What if the diver could actually clean the windshield from the inside

“如果司机能够从里面去清扫挡风玻璃

so that he could stay safe and drive

那不就能让他保证驾驶安全

and the passengers could actually stay warm?"

还能让乘客也可以保持温暖？”

So she picked up her sketchbook right then and there,

于是她拿起她的随手小画本 就在那个时间，那个地方，

and began drawing what would become the world's first windshield wiper.

她开始画了起来, 那后来变成世界上第一个雨刮器。

Now as a product designer, I try to learn from people like Mary

而我，作为一个产品设计师 我向玛莉这样的人们学习。

to try to see the world the way it really is,

试着看出这个世界原本的样子,

not the way we think it is.

而不是我们所认为的样子。

Why?

为什么？

Because it's easy to solve a problem that almost everyone sees.

因为解决一个每个人都看得到的问题 是很容易的。

But it's hard to solve a problem that almost no one sees.

但解决一个几乎没人看得到的问题 是很难的。

Now some people think you're born with this ability

好了，有人开始觉得 你拥有这种天赋

or you're not,

或者你不拥有,

as if Mary Anderson was hardwired at birth to see the world more clearly.

就好像假设玛莉.安德森是天生就具备了 看清世界的能力。

That wasn't the case for me.

而我没有这种能力。

I had to work at it.

那我就必须努力。

During my years at Apple,

我在苹果公司那些年，

Steve Jobs challenged us to come into work every day,

史蒂夫·乔布斯挑战我们 让我们每天都深入我们的设计，

to see our products through the eyes of the customer,

看我们能否从客户的角度去观察产品,

the new customer,

从一个新客户的角度，

the one that has fears and possible frustrations

从一个对于新科技产品 会害怕、可能有疑惑

and hopeful exhilaration that their new technology product

但又满心希望它是简单易懂的

could work straightaway for them.

用户的角度。

He called it staying beginners,

他称之为归零心态,

and wanted to make sure that we focused on those tiny little details

而且想确保我们关注于那些小细节，

to make them faster, easier and seamless for the new customers.

让它们为新客户们工作得 更快、更简便、更顺畅。

So I remember this clearly in the very earliest days of the iPod.

所以我清晰地记得我在 iPod 时 最开始的那些日子，

See, back in the '90s,

在九十年代，

being a gadget freak like I am,

一个像我这样疯狂于小电器的人,

I would rush out to the store for the very, very latest gadget.

我会第一时间冲到商店 为了买最新的小电器。

I'd take all the time to get to the store,

我花了所有的时间到达商店,

I'd check out, I'd come back home, I'd start to unbox it.

然后结账，回家 开始打开包装，

And then, there was another little sticker:

此时，又有一张小标签

the one that said, "Charge before use."

写着“使用前请先充电”。

What!

什么！

I can't believe it!

我简直不能相信！

I just spent all this time buying this product

我花了这么多时间去买这个产品,

and now I have to charge before use.

然后我现在居然还要充电了才能用。

I have to wait what felt like an eternity to use that coveted new toy.

简直就像要等待一辈子 才能用这个垂涎已久的新玩具。

It was crazy.

这太疯狂了。

But you know what?

但你知道吗？

Almost every product back then did that.

追溯到那个时代，几乎每个产品都这样，

When it had batteries in it,

只要它有电池在里面,

you had to charge it before you used it.

你就得先充电才能用。

Well, Steve noticed that

然而，史蒂夫留意到了这个事情。

and he said,

"We're not going to let that happen to our product."

他说,

“我们不能让这件事情发生在我们的产品上。”

So what did we do?

于是我们做了什么？

Typically, when you have a product that has a hard drive in it,

传统的方式是 一款带有硬盘的产品，

you run it for about 30 minutes in the factory

你需要在工厂里将它运行三十分钟，

to make sure that hard drive's going to be working years later

以保证客户们把它从盒子里拿出来后,

for the customer after they pull it out of the box.

这个硬盘可以正常工作很多年.

What did we do instead?

相比于此，我们做了什么？

We ran that product for over two hours.

我们让产品运行两个小时。

Why?

为什么？

Well, first off, we could make a higher quality product,

首先，我们可以制造一个质量更好

并容易测试的产品，

be easy to test,

and make sure it was great for the customer.

而且保证它在客户那里也能运行得很好.

But most importantly,

但最重要的是

the battery came fully charged right out of the box,

产品在客户打开盒子的时候 电池是充满的，

ready to use.

可以马上使用.

So that customer, with all that exhilaration,

于是客户便可以带着满心欢喜

could just start using the product.

马上开始使用这个产品

It was great, and it worked.

这是个很好的主意，而且很有效,

People liked it.

人们很喜欢它。

Today, almost every product that you get that's battery powered

在今天，几乎你购买的每种产品

comes out of the box fully charged,

都在打开盒子时就充满了电,

even if it doesn't have a hard drive.

即使它没有硬盘。

But back then, we noticed that detail and we fixed it,

但回到那个时候，是我们留意到了 这个细节，并修正了它，

and now everyone else does that as well.

现在每个人也都这么做了。

No more, "Charge before use."

再也没有“使用前请先充电”了

So why am I telling you this?

所以为什么我要告诉你们这个事情？

Well, it's seeing the invisible problem,

因为它正是看到了看不见的问题

not just the obvious problem, that's important,

而不只是那些很明显的问题， 这很重要。

not just for product design, but for everything we do.

不只是为了产品设计, 还为了我们所做的每件事。

You see, there are invisible problems all around us,

你可以看到有那么多看不见的问题在我们身边，

ones we can solve.

都是我们可以解决的问题。

But first we need to see them, to feel them.

但首先我们需要做的是 发现它们，感受它们。

So, I'm hesitant to give you any tips

所以我很犹豫是否要给你们

about neuroscience or psychology.

关于神经科学和心理学的建议。

There's far too many experienced people in the TED community

因为TED社区里有太多经验丰富的人,

who would know much more about that than I ever will.

他们都比我懂得多得多。

But let me leave you with a few tips that I do,

但让我给你们留下一些我自己如何做的秘诀

that we all can do, to fight habituation.

也是我们大家都能做的 去抵抗习惯化。

My first tip is to look broader.

我的第一个建议是 看得更广泛些。

You see, when you're tackling a problem,

当你在处理一个问题的时候,

sometimes, there are a lot of steps that lead up to that problem.

有时候会有很多步骤将你引导到那个问题。

And sometimes, a lot of steps after it.

有时候在那个问题之后 还有更多的步骤，

If you can take a step back and look broader,

如果你能往后退一步，看得更广一些,

maybe you can change some of those boxes

也许你可以改变其中一些盒子。

before the problem.

在问题出现之前，

Maybe you can combine them.

也许你可以把它们结合起来,

Maybe you can remove them altogether to make that better.

也许你可以把它们都移开 让事情变得更好。

Take thermostats, for instance.

拿恒温器做例子,

In the 1900s when they first came out, they were really simple to use.

当它们在20世纪第一次出现时 使用方法很简单，

You could turn them up or turn them down.

你只需调高或者调低温度。

People understood them.

人们理解恒温器的使用方式。

But in the 1970s,

但在20世纪70年代,

the energy crisis struck,

面临着能源危机

and customers started thinking about how to save energy.

客户们开始考虑如何节省能源。

So what happened?

于是发生了什么？

Thermostat designers decided to add a new step.

恒温器设计师们决定添加一个步骤，

Instead of just turning up and down,

不再只是简单地调高或调低，

you now had to program it.

你需要去设计它们的程序。

So you could tell it the temperature you wanted at a certain time.

于是你可以在某个特定的时间 让它运行到你想要的温度。

Now that seemed great.

这看起来很厉害。

Every thermostat had started adding that feature.

每个恒温器便都添加了这个功能。

But it turned out that no one saved any energy.

但结果是没有人节省了能源。

Now, why is that?

为什么呢？

Well, people couldn't predict the future.

因为人们无法预知未来

They just didn't know how their weeks would change season to season,

他们不知道他们的每一周 将在春夏秋冬

year to year.

年复一年中如何变化。

So no one was saving energy,

于是没有人节省能源.。

and what happened?

然后又发生了什么呢？

Thermostat designers went back to the drawing board

恒温器设计师们又回到设计板上，

and they focused on that programming step.

他们依然关注那个程序设计的环节，

They made better U.I.s,

他们把用户面板做得更好，

they made better documentation.

把使用说明写得更好。

But still, years later, people were not saving any energy

但很多年过去了 人们依然没有节省能源。

because they just couldn't predict the future.

因为他们无法预知未来

So what did we do?

而我们做了什么？

We put a machine-learning algorithm in instead of the programming

我们植入一个有机器学习能力的 运算法则来代替程序设计

that would simply watch when you turned it up and down,

它会观察你如何调高或调低温度

when you liked a certain temperature when you got up,

在你喜欢某个温度的时候 在你起床的时候

or when you went away.

或是在你不在家的时候

And you know what?

你知道吗

It worked.

它生效了

People are saving energy without any programming.

人们开始节省能源 不再需要设计任何程序

So, it doesn't matter what you're doing.

所以，和你正在做什么 并没有太大关系

If you take a step back and look at all the boxes,

你只要能往后退一步 看看这些所有的盒子们

maybe there's a way to remove one or combine them

也许就有移除或者结合它们的方法

so that you can make that process much simpler.

于是你可以让过程变得更简单

So that's my first tip: look broader.

这是我的第一个建议：看得更广些

For my second tip, it's to look closer.

我的第二个建议是，看得更近些

One of my greatest teachers was my grandfather.

我的爷爷是我伟大的导师们之一

He taught me all about the world.

他教会了我这个世界的全部

He taught me how things were built and how they were repaired,

他教会我东西是如何建起来的、如何修理的

the tools and techniques necessary to make a successful project.

以及可以让你成功地完成 一个项目的必要的工具和技术

I remember one story he told me about screws,

我记得他告诉过我 一个关于螺丝钉的故事

and about how you need to have the right screw for the right job.

一个关于怎么用正确的螺丝钉 用在正确的地方的故事

There are many different screws:

螺丝钉有很多不同的种类：

wood screws, metal screws, anchors, concrete screws,

木头钉、金属钉、船锚钉、水泥钉

the list went on and on.

还有很多很多种类

Our job is to make products that are easy to install

我们的工作是让产品变得更容易安装

for all of our customs themselves without professionals.

让所有客户可以不需要专业技能就能安装

So what did we do?

那么我们做了什么？

I remembered that story that my grandfather told me,

于是我想起了爷爷告诉我的故事

and so we thought,

我们想

"How many different screws can we put in the box?

“我们可以放多少种螺丝钉 在这个盒子里？

Was it going to be two, three, four, five?

两种、三种、四种或是五种？

Because there's so many different wall types."

因为有那么多种墙壁

So we thought about it, we optimized it,

所以我们不断地思考并优化它，

and we came up with three different screws to put in the box.

最后我们决定放三种螺丝钉在盒子里

We thought that was going to solve the problem.

我们以为这会解决问题

But it turned out, it didn't.

但事实上并没有

So we shipped the product,

我们送出了这个产品

and people weren't having a great experience.

但人们并没有很好的用户体验

So what did we do?

于是我们做了什么？

We went back to the drawing board

当我们发现它没有被设计好后

just instantly after we figured out we didn't get it right.

我们马上回到了设计板上

And we designed a special screw, a custom screw,

然后我们设计了一个特别的螺丝钉 一个定制的螺丝钉

much to the chagrin of our investors.

我们的投资者却非常地生气

They were like, "Why are you spending so much time on a little screw?

他们觉得，“你们为什么要 花这么多时间在研究一个小螺丝钉上？

Get out there and sell more!"

出去多卖一点！”

And we said, "We will sell more if we get this right."

我们说：“我们把这个弄好了，就会卖更多。”

And it turned out, we did.

事实是，我们成功了

With that custom little screw, there was just one screw in the box,

就这么一个定制的小螺丝钉

that was easy to mount and put on the wall.

便可以让客户轻松地 将产品安装到墙上

So if we focus on those tiny details, the ones we may not see

所以如果我们能更关注那些小细节 那些人们所不关注的地方

and we look at them as we say,

我们看着它们说

"Are those important

“这是重要的吗

or is that the way we've always done it?

或者这只能是我们已经做过的方式了吗？

Maybe there's a way to get rid of those."

也许还有别的方法能够避开这个问题。”

So my last piece of advice is to think younger.

我的最后一个建议是： 像年轻人一样思考

Every day, I'm confronted with interesting questions from my three young kids.

每天我都要面对我三个年幼孩子的 各种有趣的问题

They come up with questions like,

他们随意就能够问很多问题，例如

"Why can't cars fly around traffic?"

“为什么汽车不能飞起来，绕过堵车？”

Or, "Why don't my shoelaces have Velcro instead?"

或者，“为什么我的鞋带没有魔术贴？”

Sometimes, those questions are smart.

有时候他们的问题很聪明

My son came to me the other day and I asked him,

有一天我儿子走过来找我 我跟他说

"Go run out to the mailbox and check it."

“跑过去查一下邮箱里有没有信件。”

He looked at me, puzzled, and said,

他疑惑地看着我，说

"Why doesn't the mailbox just check itself and tell us when it has mail?" (Laughter)

“为什么邮箱不能自己检查， 然后告诉我们它有邮件了呢？”（笑声）

I was like, "That's a pretty good question."

我就觉得，这是个很好的问题

So, they can ask tons of questions

他们就像这样问成千上百个问题

and sometimes we find out we just don't have the right answers.

然后有时候我们发现我们甚至没有正确的答案

We say, "Son, that's just the way the world works."

我们只好说：“儿子，这个世界就是这样的。”

So the more we're exposed to something,

于是，一些事情越经常出现在我们面前

the more we get used to it.

我们便越觉得习以为常

But kids haven't been around long enough

但孩子们还没有足够长的时间

to get used to those things.

去习惯那些东西

And so when they run into problems,

于是当他们一发现问题

they immediately try to solve them,

他们立马尝试去解决

and sometimes they find a better way,

有时候他们能发现更好的方式

and that way really is better.

而且那真的是更好的解决问题的方式

So my advice that we take to heart is to have young people on your team,

所以我建议你们记在心里： 让更多年轻人参加到你们的团队里

or people with young minds.

或者拥有年轻的心的人们

Because if you have those young minds,

因为如果你有那些年轻的心

they cause everyone in the room to think younger.

他们便会让整个房间里的人们 都更像年轻人一样思考

Picasso once said, "Every child is an artist.

毕加索曾经说过： “每个孩子都是一个艺术家

The problem is when he or she grows up, is how to remain an artist."

问题在于在他长大的过程中 如何依然保持为一个艺术家”

We all saw the world more clearly when we saw it for the first time,

我们第一次看这个世界的时候 我们都会看得更清晰

before a lifetime of habits got in the way.

那之后，无数的习惯会贯穿一生

Our challenge is to get back there,

我们的挑战就是回到最原始的地方

to feel that frustration,

去感受那种疑惑

to see those little details,

去关注那些小细节

to look broader,

去看得更广

look closer,

看得更近

and to think younger

像年轻人一样思考

so we can stay beginners.

于是我们仍能保持归零心态

It's not easy.

这并不容易

It requires us pushing back

这要求我们把自己往回推

against one of the most basic ways we make sense of the world.

并不是我们所理解的世界的基本进行方式

But if we do,

但如果我们能做到

we could do some pretty amazing things.

我们就能做出一些真的很惊艳的产品

For me, hopefully, that's better product design.

我希望那对于我，是更好的产品设计

For you, that could mean something else, something powerful.

而对于你，那可能意味着 别的、有力量的东西

Our challenge is to wake up each day and say,

我们的挑战是，每天起床时对自己说

"How can I experience the world better?"

“我要如何才能更好地体验这个世界？”

And if we do, maybe, just maybe,

如果我们做到了，也许

we can get rid of these dumb little stickers.

我们就能避开那些愚蠢的小标签带来的烦恼

Thank you very much.

谢谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）