I have said many times that I was born to be a Program Manager (the title of the job I did in Microsoft) -- someone who organized, communicated and above all designed! No surprise there in some ways -- I was born to two architects. I was surrounded by concepts of good design. All the toys I owned had good purpose and were well-designed. I let my father pick out my clothes until I turned 18 because he has good design sense and even today, he is the only one I will allow to buy clothes for me. I learnt early on to appreciate utility and not just looks. Our home in Bombay has gone through endless renovations and I was part of all of them (except the recent one). What I am saying in so many words is that I grew up on food, water, sleep and design! 
So, when the students asked for a class on Design -- how could I ever resist? You mean, I get to be at PSCS and do the part of my Microsoft job that I loved the most? No way!
We have completed a week of the class and talked about bad design and good designs. This made the critique in me pause and think about my favorite designs. In some ways the choices were obvious -- i love my iPod and above all, i love the bug. Interestingly, they are both icons of excellent design and I happen to own both of them. Leaving aside what others have to say about them -- I think they have the best balance of utility, looks and the ability to evoke positive emotion. I am particularly affected by how they 'move' me -- I am happy to own both these products and I have noticed that it makes other people happy when they see them. I am yet to see a person frown at me when I am in the bug -- despite of my driving -- which is a lot to say. It always evokes warm, fuzzy feelings and looks of awe from onlookers. Now, that's the kind of product I think is well-designed. Many have said that there is a categorization for people like me that are drawn to products like the iPod and the Beetle. I wonder what that is .... people with good taste, anyone ;-)?
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