Do You Really Need It? A Designer's Take on Everyday Problems

Have you ever had something annoying you and thought, 'You know what? If I just had this one thing, it would solve everything.' Sometimes you're right. However, at other times, when you really sit down and think it through, that product doesn't actually solve your problem.

About This Blog

This blog is about design. It will serve as a backdoor into the world of designing everyday things. The products, devices, and items that exist in our spaces serve a purpose. Whether that purpose is form or function, looking nice or serving a practical role in our lives.

Design is about identifying a problem, no matter how small or big, and creating something to help with it. That's what we'll explore here.

My name is Miren. I'm a founder at Four Peaks, involved in product design and development, and I love design. I love looking at everyday things, understanding how they work and how they solve our problems. I'm really into thinking about what is right and what is wrong about the things that surround us. How can I make this better? Are these things actually helpful?

In this post, I'll walk you through a recent project of mine that I've been thinking about and wanting for a long time.

The Problem: A Cluttered Desk

I typically like to keep my desk clean, and I know a lot of people do as well. It's part minimalist, part staying organised, and part nearing OCD. It gives you peace of mind to know that if your things are in order, you yourself will be in order.

So I looked at a lot of things around my desk. I have a PS5 with two controllers, which I use with my monitor for gaming. This desk is also my workstation, so I work here too. I need my big over-ear headphones for that, and I need my phone dock stand (I use a wireless phone stand that I designed for Four Peaks).

With all these things, I don't really have one place to put them, and they're also very much always on the move. I pick up my controllers to play and put them down all the time. Sometimes I need to charge them too. I often take my phone off the wireless dock. Sometimes I even take my dock to work or to other rooms. I pack my headphones in my work bag when I need to go to the office.

Things are moving all the time. Often, I don't have a singular place where I know these things go. They end up anywhere on the desk and move around. This gives me a feeling of disorder and clutter.

The Solution (Or So I Thought)

Initially, I thought, Great, I need some controller stands. Something to hold the controllers that would also save them from damaging the back buttons, and keep them raised and away from scratches from dragging on a table, shelf, or drawer. I need something to hold the headphones so that the ear muffs wouldn't have to touch the table, and they could remain clean. Obviously, these touch my face and the side of my head, so it's ideal to keep them as clean as possible. I also had this phone stand lying around.

My idea was to create a desk tower that could store all of these things. Something modular so that each item could exist on its own or together as a pack. Obviously, not everybody has all these things, so a singular piece wouldn't be ideal for everyone.

I had many ideas of how the controller stands should look, what the design style should be—minimalist, clean and simple—how the elements would clip into each other, and how I would manufacture them. I drew up some sketches of what it might look like, exploring different configurations and styles.

But something felt off.

The Realization

I kept considering: how do I make this fit in? How do I make it look like it belongs on my desk? How could I design this to make the whole flow of items on my desk as minimal as possible?

I checked online. I reorganised all the desks and tables around my home. And what I started to realise was that fundamentally, what I actually needed was not a desk tower to store everything together and look minimalist. Ideally, what I needed was somewhere to put my controllers, headphones, and phone stand. They just needed a spot.

I especially toyed with the idea of the controller stands, because you can get a lot of them online. You can get very cool-looking ones that are themed, basic, minimalist, or even functional—ones that have wireless charging, LED strips, and good cable management.

I began to question if there's something I need here? Or do I need a spot for each item?

The solution to my problem was simply having a sport for everything. I needed the patience and resolve to put things where they belonged. 

I couldn't settle on a design because I wanted something that would put everything out of sight. And if I really wanted that, I could just put things in a drawer or a box. What was actually causing me stress was my being lazy and not putting things where they belong.

Everything actually does kind of have a place. I just need to be vigilant about putting it where it belongs.

So if I designed and created a desk tower, I would be adding one more thing to store on my desk.  I would still need the responsibility to store everything on there. It's not very minimalist if I'm adding more clutter to my space.

So I actually took a step back and realised: wait. I'm not going to spend hours and days designing something to solve a problem, only to realise it doesn't actually solve the problem. The problem is with the person—the individual. It is up to me to decide where something belongs and to keep putting it there.

There was no need to solve this. There are many available solutions to this issue that I couldn't really fault. By following a good process of design, getting into the problem, and critically questioning every assumption and decision I made, I realised that this design is not what we need.

So I ultimately decided to stop the project. This was not something I needed, or that other people would necessarily need. It may not really contribute to a better way of life for minimalists or people who claim to like to keep things tidy.

I can gladly say I made good design decisions and abandoned the project. Sometimes you need to be strong enough to put your heart's ideas and fantasies to one side and let good design decisions prevail.

Why This Blog?

You can expect stories like this, and successful designs too, in this blog. Every project has life lessons and design lessons. This is something I want to start talking about, sharing, and hopefully learning from others, too, as we build a community.

I believe people in and around me have lots of capability to design and think in a structured way when it comes to doing anything, particularly product design. I would love to build a space where we can contribute to better design.

What's Next?

The next topics I will cover are some successful design stories for my phone stand and some multi-purpose vases (both products available on the Four Peaks site). My blog will come every few weeks, but I will only write when I feel I have something valuable to share. So I make it my promise not to write blogs for the sake of it or to keep up. Every blog has meaning, a purpose, a story, and a realisation.

Your Turn

Here's what I want you to try. When you're bored at home, doing nothing or waiting for something, instead of doom-scrolling on your phone, look around. Identify something interesting in the room. A couch, a table, a device—anything. Just look at it. How is it shaped? How big is it? What features does it have?

And then ask why. I wonder why they made it like this. What does it do?

This is the start of every good design process.