The Big Picture
Three guests of the Lex Fridman Podcast come at design and invention from very different workshops [1][2][3]. Tony Fadell, who recounts creating the iPod, iPhone and Nest, talks about who gets to call themselves a designer and what kind of people can build something new [1]. Neri Oxman, a designer and scientist, talks about growing products with silkworms, bees and bacteria and about designing with nature [2]. Simone Giertz, an inventor, talks about her shitty robots, her obsessive creative rabbit holes, and the step from making one of something to manufacturing thousands [3].
What the passages share is a wide view of the subject. Fadell does not see design as a single guru on the mountain: electrical engineers, AI designers and data scientists all design [1]. Oxman's conversation joins design, biology and engineering, and its dream is of growing everything, from shoes to cars [2]. Giertz's first build was a phone case with retractable guitar strings, and she kept going despite having no engineering background [3].
Where the Experts Agree
- Design is not one profession's property. Fadell says electrical engineers, AI designers and data scientists all design, and that his best engineers are artists at heart, often with backgrounds in music, rather than rigid experts [1]. Oxman is introduced as both designer and scientist, working where design, biology and engineering meet [2]. Giertz came to building without an engineering background [3].
- New things are built by people who are not yet experts in them. Fadell's reasoning is that when you are building something no one has built before, nobody is an expert, so he wants people with openness and humility [1]. Giertz's conversation covers why she kept going on a first project that, in the summary's words, should have been too hard [3].
- Imperfection has a place. Giertz discusses why flawed robots are endearing, and how self-deprecation became both a creative tool and a defense mechanism [3]. Oxman's conversation takes in the creative value of letting go, and love, vulnerability and imperfection [2].
- The work is driven by more than technique. Fadell's firm, Future Shape, surrounds scientist-founders with storytellers, and he recommends Story by Robert McKee as a guide to storytelling for designers and engineers [1]. Oxman speaks of beauty as agency [2]. Giertz's advice is about enthusiasm versus duty [3].
Where They Differ
The passages do not show the three arguing with each other; the differences are of emphasis and of material [1][2][3].
- What things are made from. Fadell's examples are electronic products, down to a hack that let the iPod hot-switch between acting as a hard drive and as an MP3 player [1]. Oxman works with what she calls hero organisms, such as silkworms, bees and bacteria, through experiments like the Silk Pavilion, bees sent to space and E. coli death masks, and she talks about designing on nature's timescales and products built from CO2 that end as fruit [2]. Giertz's builds run from a bubble wrap music box and a table that switches tabletops to Truckla, a Tesla turned into a truck [3].
- What the work answers to. Oxman defines nature, for design purposes, as everything that isn't anthropomass, meaning everything not made by humans, and credits Weizmann Institute professor Ron Milo with identifying 2020 as the crossover year when human-made mass exceeded biomass; a Zoom conversation with him was one of the few moments in life that made her course-correct [2]. Fadell's passage is about people and communication: openness, humility and storytelling [1]. Giertz's is about her own creative process and enthusiasm [3].
- How much knowledge helps. Fadell is wary of rigid experts [1]. Giertz says building has gotten more fun the more she knows, because early on you constantly bump into the limits of your skills [3].
- Scale. Giertz describes the leap from making one of something to manufacturing thousands, and why she started a product business [3]. Oxman's dream is growing everything [2].
Practical Takeaways
- When you are building something no one has built before, look for openness and humility, since nobody is an expert yet (Fadell) [1].
- Do not wait for one design guru: treat electrical engineers, AI designers and data scientists as designers too (Fadell) [1].
- Value engineers who are artists at heart; Fadell says his best often have backgrounds in music [1].
- Put storytellers beside scientists and engineers, and read Story by Robert McKee, which Fadell recommends as a guide to storytelling for designers and engineers [1].
- If you lead, remember Fadell's point that bold communications start with a bold leader, and that a conservative leader gets an even more conservative PR department [1].
- Do not let a missing engineering background stop you; Giertz kept going without one, and says building gets more fun the more you know [3].
- Expect a leap between making one of something and manufacturing thousands (Giertz) [3].
- Keep Oxman's measure in mind: 2020 was identified as the year human-made mass exceeded biomass, and her dream is to grow products instead [2].
Sources
- Tony Fadell on Building the iPod, iPhone and Nest: Painkillers, Opinions and the Why · Lex Fridman Podcast
- Neri Oxman on Growing Everything: Design, Biology and Engineering With Nature · Lex Fridman Podcast
- Simone Giertz on Shitty Robots, Surviving a Brain Tumor, Truckla and Building a Product Business · Lex Fridman Podcast
