James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFCFe38EIfE

by open-source-ux • 5 years ago

92 127 5 years ago

youtube.com

open-source-ux• 5 years ago

Summary:

He talks about:

- His favourite products

- The worst designed product he owns

- His design heroes (and why)

- On the lack of experience when creating a product and turning that to an advantage (see below)

- On creating a prototype and patenting your physical product

- Speed of execution when creating a product

- Why hand dryers are not quiet

- Why he believes design and engineering is inseparable

An interesting opinion from Dyson on the lack of experience:

"I think a lack of experience is a great help. An expert thinks he knows it all but he's also rather inhibited by his experience, his knowledge. He finds it difficult to steer off the well-known path.
Whereas if you have a lack of experience, but huge curiosity, and you approach your new challenge with naivety, I think it's easier for you as inexperienced designer to come up with something different and to follow a different path."

elil172• 5 years ago

“I think a lack of experience is a great help.”

A great quote from someone whose vacuums don’t work very well.

He’s an expert in product user interfaces and marketing. His vacuums and air purifiers are great at that and not so much at doing the job they’re meant to do (the old air multiplier fans before they added filters and the original air blade designs are, of course excellent).

verisimi3• 5 years ago

Does he talk about the design of the legal structure for his tax avoidance vehicle that holds the land he has bought up in the UK? lol

https://whoownsengland.org/2017/09/19/why-is-james-dyson-hoo... "By July 2017, Farmers Weekly was reporting that Dyson’s empire had grown to 13,355 hectares, or 33,000 acres."

brink• 5 years ago

Bill Gates is doing the same thing. It's annoying.

https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-i...

verisimi3• 5 years ago

"Despite sustainable agricultural development being one of the key focus areas for his nonprofit Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder claims that his farmland investments are not tied to climate. But while Gates might be solely focused on returns, one should not overlook farmland investing’s potential to drive sustainability on a massive scale."

how is a non-profit able to make farmland investments at all? What exactly is the difference between an investment vehicle and a non-profit?

But... these guys care for us!

dillondoyle• 5 years ago

I think in the US there are also a good tax breaks for creating 'farms' on your land. Since we give so much subsidy to the industry. IIRC lot of billionaires will get sheep grazing or something like that to claim their mega mansions as farms. I thought I remember Marc Cuban is an example but can't find a quick source. So maybe my memory is wrong on this one.

jimnotgym4• 5 years ago

I really dislike Dyson.

1) Move to Singapore, citing that Britain won't join the euro as a factor. 2) EU energy efficiency test goes against his product 3) Campaigns for Brexit

I had one of his vacuum cleaners and it was under powered and always needed cleaning inside. I got a Meile with a bag afterwards. Much more powerful for less money.

jimnotgym4• 5 years ago

Then the ventilators thing happened. "Don't give resources to medical firms that know how to build ventilators...give it to Dyson who will build it faster, better...unapproved and a complete failure

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/22/covid-lan...

rootusrootus5• 5 years ago

It's hit or miss. For a plug-in vacuum, there are others I would choose first. But for a cordless stick vacuum, nobody else is comparable.

Isthatablackgsd2• 5 years ago

I got a Meile with a bag afterwards.

Hiyo neighbor! I love my Miele bagged vacuum (Powerline C2), my partner hate it because it is lumpy to move around. So we have a second vacuum, the Shark one, for "less lumpy". I always use my Miele when I want to vacuum because I need powerful suction and brush to remove my dog stubborn fur which Shark one failed to do so.

MonaroVXR2• 5 years ago

Completely different vacuum cleaners, there's a dedicated reddit for it.

Check it out.

pkulak• 5 years ago

He's really good at building things that sound like they're better but aren't. Collecting dust and filth in a bag is just _better_ than putting it in a bin that you now have to empty and clean out. Large blades are better at moving air than tiny blades.

I've got myself a Miele vacuum and a Winix air filter. They are simple, and work great.

scoot• 5 years ago

Don't even get me started on the worst designed hand dryers ever. Who wants to put their hands into two thin streams of air and move them up and down while avoiding the sides, and not being able to rub them together to distribute the moisture? Give ma an XLERATOR any day.

(And I hear the hair products aren't all that.)

GekkePrutser2• 5 years ago

And his hand dryers in public bathrooms are so noisy I wouldn't be surprised if they cause hearing damage in the long term. Those things are awful.

turtlebits• 5 years ago

I don't get why people hate him so much. I already do the most that I can to reduce my tax basis, is that immoral? I know several people who have moved to Nevada/Texas to avoid paying estate taxes.

klyrs• 5 years ago

With great power comes great responsibility. If you're not a billionaire, the so-called* hatred isn't directed at you and you shouldn't be taking it personally.

* not hatred, actually, just greater expectations of those with greater power

8note2• 5 years ago

Yep, it's immoral, and it gets more immoral the richer you get.

adwww4• 5 years ago

You're not a super influential figure with the prime minister in your WhatsApp.

Nor did you lobby an entire country to do something stupid to enrich yourself.

thecleaner• 5 years ago

Curious. Do you have referance to the legal text here ?

tim333• 5 years ago

It's an oddity of UK tax law that farms are exempt from inheritance tax and so a sensible investment for old rich people who want to pass stuff on. Clarkson's farm was bought for the similar reasons some years before they decided to do a TV show. You don't need odd legal structures - just buy a farm.

blitzar17• 5 years ago

The real oddity is that the government takes 40% of your stuff if you die.

LeoPanthera2• 5 years ago

Here are the subtitles from the video, if you don't want to watch a video: https://pastebin.com/zwapbcy0

chrisseaton7• 5 years ago

When he says printers are the worst designed things, would be great to see a Dyson-engineered printer that was solid and reliable. Shame there probably isn't the market for them anymore.

estsauver• 5 years ago

Brother printers are consistently reliable and high quality, particularly the laser jet ones. I highly recommend getting one that doesn't have a scanner also, they just do one thing, really really well.

rcdemski• 5 years ago

I second this. I bought a brother multifunction laser printer several years ago and it consistently works without fail, works with built in drivers on Windows and Mac so there’s no funky packages installed, and their toner lasts forever.

chrisseaton7• 5 years ago

I've got a higher-end Brother laser printer with no other functions integrated and it still frequently gets confused. Just doesn't feel robust or solid.

aaronax• 5 years ago

Eh, the multifunction one I bought a year ago told me the toner was out and wouldn't print until I reset the counter using some obscure menu process. I have printed hundreds of pages since then, so they apparently are into scamming just like the rest.

Jolter• 5 years ago

I’ve been using a Canon MFP 4270 since 2008 and it’s been consistently reliable and great.

The only issue is Windows no longer recognizes it by default, so you have to manually install drivers off their website. And of course, Windows Update regularly breaks the install so I have to reinstall them. I don’t blame Canon for that though.

Getting new toner cartridges has been no problem as of yet, but I suspect the market is drying up by now because there were mostly off-brand ones available last time I had to get one.

gorgoiler• 5 years ago

…and for scanning get a Fujitsu ScanSnap ix1500 (or sibling.)

An amazing product. The UI is a touchscreen but it makes up for it by 70% of it being a giant blue button with “SCAN” on it :)

And so fast too.

reedf1• 5 years ago

Maybe he should explain his Brexit position? As far as I know this man is not an expert in anything but shirking expensive gimmicky fans and being a huge hypocrite, why he should be considered a authority in design I don't know.

I've ways wondered what clout James Dyson gets for being confused with Freeman Dyson, an actual genius.

blamazon2• 5 years ago

Also, Dyson products feel incredibly cheap in the hand to me for the price paid. You can just feel how many cycles of cost reduction each one went through.

Expensive products are one thing, but products that are upmarketed primarily because a big name wants more money, rub me the wrong way. It shows a disdain for your customer.

I feel holding him up as some guru perpetuates this annoyance.

kmlx• 5 years ago

depends on the dyson product. i've got the dyson supersonic hairdrier. rock solid, feels super expensive (and it is). best hairdrier i've had, and i went thru them all.

krona2• 5 years ago

Maybe he should explain his Brexit position?

Do you also think Freeman Dyson should explain his position on climate change to your satisfaction?

blitzar17• 5 years ago

Thats gonna be tricky, you thinking dig up the corpse and ask him or break out the Ouija board?

karaterobot• 5 years ago

Maybe he should explain his Brexit position?

Why would he do that in a design Q&A session? Wouldn't people who tuned in to hear him talk about design feel like their time had been wasted to benefit people who wanted him to discuss his unrelated and thematically irrelevant political opinions instead?

teawrecks2• 5 years ago

OP didn't say he should talk about it in this video.

tigerlily2• 5 years ago

Well, the worst product I own is one of his bagless vacuum cleaners. The crummy look and feel, the unbelievably loud and high-pitched whine and the accompanying tinnitus-inducing higher order acoustic harmonics, and just the overall plasticky shittiness of it after about an hour of dragging it around is simply vomit-inducing.

My pet hate is the 100x added friction between the retractable bristles and my plush carpet. It's costing me extra in time and energy to push this thing around.

My next vacuum cleaner will instead be a janitor-grade Nilfisk.

mas-ev• 5 years ago

I love my Dyson SV10. Bought it 3 years ago and it's still working like a champ. I don't use it to vacuum a whole room but more for rugs or clean up jobs. I've got a Roomba S9+ for whole floor jobs. Swiffer wet jet for mopping/dust/hard floor.

blitzar17• 5 years ago

just the overall plasticky shittiness of it after about an hour of dragging it around is simply vomit-inducing

Get the battery one. No more hour of dragging it around - you only get 5-7 minutes before it is dead, then back on the wall. The downside is I think they found an even lower bidder for the plastic when they made them, so that 5 minutes feels like a lifetime.

freshpots• 5 years ago

Really 5 minutes? That has not been my experience, not even close.

123pie123• 5 years ago

My pet hate is the 100x added friction between the retractable bristles and my plush carpet. It's costing me extra in time and energy to push this thing around.

we had the same issue, there should be a slider on the front to turn down the vacuum power. We turn it to about 50% on the deep pile carpets

xahrepap• 5 years ago

I don't have a Dyson vacuum. But when I got new carpet the company I bought it from gave us a "How to care for your new carpet" brochure. And one of the first things was "do not use a Dyson".

I asked about it and they said that they can ruin your carpet. Too much suction, I think is what they said. It's been a few years.

LeoPanthera2• 5 years ago

It's funny how polarizing they are. I have one of the handheld battery powered ones with the long stick so you can clean the floor, and it honestly works better than any vacuum cleaner I've ever owned before, and pulling the lever to dump out the contents into the trash is immensely satisfying. I love it.

I definitely think that people hate more things, in the past few years. It's no longer enough just to dislike something, you have to really despise it, tell all your friends, and advertise that online.

I don't think I like this trend.

tigerlily2• 5 years ago

You know, you're right, and I mislike the trend too. Yet, my battle with the vacuum cleaner in question is one I face each week, and of all the things I'm faced with, I do so loathe it. It's just a feeling, maybe of being nauseated. So I hate the vacuum. It's ok to hate a thing right? I mean, I don't hate people. I don't even hate James Dyson.

But then hate doesn't describe a feeling, in the same way that yuck is not a taste descriptor. Hate's become an individual reflex, that when aggregated seems to boil over online like an orchestra of diet coke and mentos.

To be fair to the vacuum cleaner, it probably has saved its worth in bags :)

belval• 5 years ago

It's one of the weirdly polarizing HN topic, depending on who comments first you will have threads full of praise or threads full of straight hate for their product.

FWIW: I like my Dyson handheld and it works well. We had one at my parents as well and it could do the two floors without any issue.

mattbee• 5 years ago

For me, the battery-powered vacuums do what they say, but you need to fuss them a lot.

The lever to dump the contents broke after a year, so it works but doesn't stay attached to the handle. I have to be careful opening it to avoid dumping the small bin in the big bin. It doesn't click back on without some force, so you can be pushing it around looking like it's working while there isn't actually a seal, so it pushes the dirt around the floor.

The filter clogs at the slightest provocation, so if you don't wash (and dry) it daily, it will start pulsing uselessly until you do. It doesn't work unless the filter is bone dry.

The high-powered speed busts your eardrums; my children scarper when I use it for even a few seconds and I find it painful. It burns the battery up in under 3 minutes.

So it is fine but there are a lot of trade-offs that you have to learn about.

I still keep their mains-powered vacuum too, which is a lot less stressful. Also because I like pain, their robot Heurist 360, which is generally awesome except for 5% of the time when it gives up in the middle of a run for no obvious reason.

ploxiln• 5 years ago

People hate things which they dislike and are popular. Nickleback, for example. If no one ever listened to Nickleback, nobody would hate them, there's lots of worse bands. But it's the popularity that really gets people riled up.

For cordless stick vacs, for a city apartment, I say Dyson is really pretty good. But they can get quite expensive, and they look high-end (while also goofy-futuristic) so wealthy people buy them, and they're not the best vacuum of any kind, so ... yeah they really rile up the haters.

verytrivial2• 5 years ago

How nice of him. I'd rather he paid his tax though.

AussieWog932• 5 years ago

So many angry people here using any excuse they can to shit-talk this guy. It's almost like I'm on Reddit and someone has made the mistaking of expressing a shred of admiration for Elon Musk.

chrisseaton7• 5 years ago

Yeah, had no idea there was this much bitterness and hatred for Dyson of all people!

PaulDavisThe1st• 5 years ago

You live, you learn.

For some people, the discovery that successful and reasonably charismatic entrepeneurs can be ... well, shall we say less than ideal human beings ... comes as quite a shock.

adwww4• 5 years ago

He's actually quite a bit like Musk. Only without the personality, and his only fans live in public toilets.

austinjp2• 5 years ago

"Of all people"? You seem surprised. I'm surprised you're surprised. His corporation has a track record of closing factories in the UK and moving manufacturing abroad, while actively avoiding tax.

Of all people? Really?

ascorbic2• 5 years ago

I'm guessing you don't live in a country whose politics he manipulates and whose tax he avoids.

ghostwriter• 5 years ago

Before going after individuals like Dyson in that regard, deal with institutions like the City of London Corporation and BoE first [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np_ylvc8Zj8

vladharbuz2• 5 years ago

I find it repulsive that his first recommendation to “inventors” is to file for a patent. Really, the most valuable piece of advice you have is “make sure you secure legal protection in case other people rip you off”? By all means, that's probably a thing you have to think about at some point, but surely there is more important advice for creatives than “lawyer up”.

blamazon2• 5 years ago

To quote Dyson from the same video:

“An expert thinks he knows it all but he's also rather inhibited by his experience, his knowledge. He finds it difficult to steer off the well-known path.”

One of Dyson’s well-known paths might be wielding patent laws against competitors.

krona2• 5 years ago

He speaks from experience.

wavesplash• 5 years ago

For patents on physical things/devices, he's giving very good advice. You need to file within the 1st year you've used the item in commerce.

The internet is littered with great products that weren't patented, then copied (sometimes by their overseas contract manufacturer itself just running a 2nd shift on the production line).

If you don't have global patent protection, you find yourself competing with your own product sold cheaper by someone else and no way to fight it. Super common problem for popular products.

vladharbuz2• 5 years ago

Fair enough, that makes sense, maybe it's just my being allergic to legal combativeness.

elil172• 5 years ago

If you’d like to hear people absolutely obsessed with vacuum cleaners talk about why Dysons are terrible and also the history of vacuuming: https://overcast.fm/+R7Mg3Gl98

NoPicklez• 5 years ago

I wonder if the people on this thread that complain about the battery life shortly after buying it use the vacuum in its "turbo" or "power" modes.

I purchased one of the LG stick vacuums and I've vacuumed almost the entire house with it. Whereas my housemate picked it up and vacuumed one large room and the battery was half flat, he complained about it, then I caught him vacuuming the entire room on the boost setting simply because he wanted the most suction possible. But it wasn't needed at all.

the_cat_kittles• 5 years ago

im thinking of starting a crusade to inform people that there is an actually cool billionaire inventor who is totally legit, and his name is dan gelbart. i challenge anyone to watch his prototyping series on youtube and then tell me elon musk is cool lol.

thot_experiment• 5 years ago

I didn't know too much about him, thought he was probably a chill engineer type. Holding him in somewhat lower esteem after this. He sets off my bullshit detector, too good at business and showmanship and not enough of that spark for the science.

I would have respected him if he had said "there's a fan in the bottom and we blow air up out the circle in a way that pulls a bunch more in with it" with a glint in his eye. The way he described it made me want to throw up in my mouth.

goldenchrome• 5 years ago

He's a designer, not an engineer. He seems like a designer to me.

James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

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