When looking every year at each new wave of consumer electronics products I can’t help but wonder about the design process and the decisions behind each device, about the road it must have undertaken, from concept to final product.  Is the final product I am looking at stylish? Does it follow the latest design trends, is it jumping to set a trend of its own, or is it dated? Is it desirable? Will it move people to buy it?

I chose the two examples pictured above to illustrate a particular trend I believe was born with the iPod and has since been a leading trend in some portable consumer electronics categories. This trend has since become a good starting point for well-received aesthetics in portable devices, and a good indicator as to the possible success as an appealing consumer electronics device. I am talking about symmetry.

In the case above we have two devices, one very succesful, one not so much. One is symmetrycal, the other is not. The Rio Karma, a hard drive based digital audio player from 2003 was a device praised for its technical abilities. It received very positive reviews, and yet hardly any of them failed to comment on the player’s shape. Why did the Rio Karma have this shape? Ergonomics. This was not a gratuitous or capricious arrangement of elements, this device was designed to be comfortable when held by a right hand.  More comfortable than the iPod? Probably. The Karma’s design takes into account the unit’s weight distribution, the hand’s shape, and the position of the screen relevant to the movement of the thumb on the joystick. But if it really was so decidedly better, why wasn’t it a bigger success? Why haven’t ergonomics caught on as an ubiquitous trend in consumer electronics design? In some categories, such as digital cameras, ergonomics still have a leading role. Yet in others, such as portable audio players, most manufacturers seem to be driving away from them.

Of course, a lot of other factors come in when judging one device over another. But considering the critiques the Rio Karma’s shape received (and these were not due to handling of the device, but to its looks) there is something to be said for this unit’s appearance. Is symmetry the sole factor responsible for success or failure in portable consumer electronics devices? Hardly. I am not advocating symmetry as the be-all end-all of product design. But I do believe there is a trend, which was started by the iPod, and which has since become a very desirable trait. It therefore amuses me how many companies each year seem to ignore this fact.

In terms of symmetry, a device can fall under one of two options, symmetrical or asymmetrical. As you can see in the image at the top of this post, I have selected an iconic representative of each tendency within the digital audio player category. On one side, we have the iPod, one of the most successful consumer electronics devices of all time and the product responsible for establishing symmetry as a desirable trait. On the other side there is the Karma, a device which did everything right – except the shape. What does the iPod’s form have over the Karma’s? What does it gain by being symmetrical? It is simpler. It is cleaner. You could call it stylized. And ultimately, prägnant.

Ever noticed how Apple’s products tend towards symmetry? The iPod is a rectangle with rounded corners with a smaller rectangle and a circle aligned at its center. The iPhone is a rectangle with rounded corners and a border around it. Macbooks keep their layout symmetrical, their touchpad centered. These simple shapes, possible only through symmetry, are easy to remember. And this ease in coming to the consumer’s mind is an invaluable characteristic.

But what of the myriad other symmetrical digital audio players out there? Several manufacturers took the cue from Apple and have produced symmetrical devices. There are the various Toshiba Gigabeat series, most Sandisk Sansas, and countless others from Cowon, iRiver, Samsung, Philips, etc. It is worth noting that Creative and Sony are particularly contrary to symmetry. Of those that are, of course not all were successful or well received.  Symmetry doesn’t make other flaws forgivable. But in most of these cases at least the reviews reflected the acceptance of what has become, if not a standard, at least a strong expectation.

All this is not to say that symmetry is the holy grail of successful product design. Not by a long shot. However, in recent consumer electronics, it is not as easy to come up with a list of symmetrical devices criticized for their appearance. Even when this comes at the expense of other desirable considerations such as ergonomics. Symmetry has established itself as a tendency, as a fashionable trend. Apple knows it and makes the most out of it.  

What determines how desirable a product is? What qualities must a product strive to posses to move a potential adopter to buy it? Nowadays, symmetry is one of them.