luxury and necessity

design thinking - luxury and necessity

or, how we engage with …stuff!

Before we start to consider ideas and solutions, it is good to consider the cultural context in which we are to design. Design is a people process, making our lives easier by better communication and understanding, or easier use of a product or service. If we are going to put emphasis people, it is important to consider how we all react and buy products and use services. Different organisations can learn a lot about their audiences and their interaction, then apply this information as part of their design brief or marketing strategy.

We purchase products based on our own needs, wants and desires. Many companies have tried to understand what fulfils these urges to choose, by interpreting demographics, sales forecasting and other science-based methods to assist the guesswork. DiVanna uses his interpretation of a ‘new value proposition’ as something specific to the internet and a way of eliminating the guesswork in sales forecasting and other marketing activities. However, this understanding has many applications and is ideal to learn and use for many day to day design based activities. The twentieth century has given us behavioural patterns as a result of various sales and marketing efforts. These efforts were very simple, and that was to create product awareness and then convince individuals that it was necessary to purchase these products.

DiVanna argues that necessity and luxury go hand in hand with the definition of one leading to the other. He uses a quote from Werner Sombart to put the issue into context;

Luxury is an expenditure in excess of the necessary. Obviously, this is a relative definition which becomes intelligible only when we know what constitutes ‘the necessary.’ This again may be determined in either of two ways. We may view ‘the necessary’ subjectively, with reference to some judgement of value (for example ethical or aesthetic), or we may attempt to establish an objective standard to serve as the measure of ‘the necessary’. Such a yard stick is found either in man’s physiological needs or in what may be called his cultural wants. The former vary according to climate; the later, according to historical period. As regards cultural wants, or cultural needs, the line may be drawn at will; however, this arbitrary act should not be confused with the above-mentioned subjective evaluation of ‘the necessary’.

In this case, luxury has two aspects: qualitative and quantitative.

See diagram below which highlights the combination of necessary and luxury with implications of cultural differentiation as discussed by DiVanna.