The new language of design

The difference between previous generations and Generation Y is anything but subtle. Their predisposition towards new technologies and their ability to understand them without much explanation is remarkable. Especially to those who are still simply trying to conquer basic computer facilities. Although with the younger generations ability to learn and adapt quickly comes their tendency for shorter attention spans. Gerrard Boclaire talks about teenages fast mids and even faster attention spans. These days people arn't limited to one technology at a time, it is extremely common for people to be using several devises at once. For instance watching television, listening to music and chatting on the internet. Hence it comes as no suprise that manufactures caught onto this and began producing multipurpose devises to accomodate for the every changing consumers desires. Although designs have become more user friendly and easier to access, for example the internet is only a click away on new mobile phones, the designs have alot more options these days. Reep, 2006 discusses the importance of visual aid in order to maintain the audiences attention. When looking at new i-phone it is clearly a visually based design. Each application has a visual representation and only requires a touch for instant access, which has proven to be a successful development as the i-phone is considered one of the most popular and luxurious mobile phones on the market today. When also considering touch screens have been implemented into ATMs and certain computer systems, including the new Apple i-pad, will this become the basis for new technologies and designs?


References
Reep, DC 2006, ‘Document design’, Technical writing: principles, strategies and readings, 6th edn, Pearson/Longman, New York.