Soccer Ball for the Third World

How do you take a mature and standardized first-world product - a soccer ball - and adapt it for the third world?  The One World Futbol Project found that it takes a little rethinking: instead of a standard inflated ball that would quickly pop on a rocky makeshift soccer field, they designed a "virtually indestructible" solid foam ball that never needs a pump. The effort has all the other hallmarks of a good-for-everyone design: sustainability (the ball far outlasts normal ones, reducing waste), a buy-one-give-one program for first-world patrons, no child labor; heck, even Sting was involved. It's good to see that not all the design effort is being put into the newest state-of-the-art World Cup championship ball - good design can make more of a difference here than there.
[via Core77]

Parental Product Design #1: Diaper Genie

It's been a while since the last new post here on Unpressable Buttons, but there's a good reason: I'm a new father! That also means a lot more coverage of parenting products, so let's start with a doozie: the Diaper Genie. This strikes me as a design that's fairly mature, seeming to have been refined over many iterations in a few short years. It's ended up packing some impressive features (and from the drawing above, heavily-patented features) into a pretty low-cost product: the continuous "tube" of bagging to simplify liner-changing; the well-located and obviously-childproof cutter to shear the bagging when removing a load; the two-stage sealing doors that work like an air lock to keep poopy smells in; and of course, the foot pedal, because you don't have any extra hands when changing a diaper. It's satisfyingly efficient, functional, no-nonsense - and unlike many baby products, non-cutesy. That's fine, though - the baby herself is plenty cute for me!

Design Jiu-Jitsu and the Change-Stealing Chair

I'm always fascinated by the design jiu-jitsu performed when a product takes an old negative and turns it into a new positive.  (Previously I covered Stain Stamp Mugs, where coffee stains shape themselves into attractive designs on the table.)  Here's something a little sneakier, but no less clever: the Artful Dodger rocking chair is designed to steal all the change that falls from your pockets when you're sitting.  No need to dig around in the cushions either, because the change is conveniently collected in a dispenser area in the back.  And if the owner of the chair is a nice guy, he'll even give you your change back!
[via Gizmodo]

An Overdue Umbrella Upgrade

The recent winner of a Red Dot Design Award, the Rain Shield by Lin Min-Wei and Liu Li-Hsiang seems to offer a couple of real improvements over the centuries-old standard design.  That generous side panel protects against wind-blown rain or splashes from cars hitting puddles, or could help protect something else you're carrying.  The structure seems more robust than a normal umbrella, using bent flexible tubes instead of flimsy hinged metal ribs - a stiff wind might twist this around, but you sense that it would just bend right back.  And they didn't ignore practicality when it comes to storage, either - it wraps up into a slim disc that would fit better in a work bag than a stocky cylinder.  Sure, there are probably a couple of catches that won't be found until this hits the market - but I'd give it a shot!
[via Gizmodo]

Technology Meets The Other Kind of Button

With all the attention paid to interface buttons (especially by this blog, and even in its title), the good ol' clothing button must feel a bit neglected!  But there's room for innovation even in the latter, as shown by Shapeways designer Egant and the clever-but-generically-named Button 2.0.  A simple clip holds your headphone cord, keeping it in place during use and letting it hang close by otherwise.  Admittedly, one could ask if it's worth it to sew one of these on every shirt you own, whether it'd match the other buttons well enough, and whether this feature should instead be designed into the headphone cord itself.  But shhh, don't let the shirt button hear you - it deserves its day in the sun, for once in a long while!
[via Gizmodo]

It's Just a Shrunken iPad

Yesterday Apple introduced the new iPad Mini - and with their typical fanfare, repeatedly insisted that it's "not just a shrunken iPad."  Well, a bit of wisdom I've often found to be true is that whenever a product is hyped as "not just a" or "more than a," it's almost always just that thing.  There can be exceptions, like when a feature is hidden from obvious sight, or when a specific combination of features makes it a fundamentally new product - but usually, those things are self-evident and don't need to be hyped.  If you have to say it, that's usually because it's not true - and sorry, Apple, but the iPad Mini is just a shrunken down iPad!

Hey, Dish: Zero is not Ten!

I feel sorry for the Dish technician who is getting totally screwed by bad design in this satisfaction survey.  Check it out: you call a phone number to rate the technician on his service on a scale of 1 to 10.  But to rate him a 10, you have to press zero; if you press 1-0 (sometimes also known as "ten"), it will only register the 1.  That means that if you're trying to give him the best score possible, but don't pay attention to the special rules of the Dish universe, you'll inadvertently give him the worst score possible.  The poor guy!  To solve this problem, why not have the ratings go from 1 to 5?  Or even 1 to 9?  Or 1 to any number but 10?  And in the meantime, where can I find a survey for my (dis-)satisfaction about the design of this survey?