 Whether we know it or not, design is an integral part of our lives today. It's not a battle of form and function, it's a symbiotic relationship. While most of us are quite familiar with the products that we own, the design process behind them is still a bit of a mystery. New Deal Design's Gadi Ahmed is one such designer. He's the mind behind the look of the Fitbit activity tracker and the Lightro camera. A National Design Award recipient, Ahmed has extensive experience with how these very personal products are conceptualized, designed, and eventually end up in our hands. So for us, interesting topic about design, most people look about design as something that is exterior. What we're dealing with the interior, with the core functionality, like how you wear it, sizes of human body, ergonomics, arrangement of parts, and only then we get to the perfection of the exterior surface. Could you maybe take us through the process of how you got from conception of the Fitbit and then to an actual product that we wear today? It's actually an amazing story. So we started with the original Fitbit, and at that time we wanted to rethink everything that related to what was then called pedometers. And we wanted to create something that is very friendly to the human body. We actually thought a lot about women and how they carry things. And for instance, the fact that this was a clip was driven by that because women have much smaller pockets. So we ended up with this innovative design that actually had a unique architecture with two nodes of electronics. One has a battery, the other one has a wrist. And the latest generation is dealing with wrist-worn objects. You could imagine five years from now, each one of us will probably have about ten of these. And two or three will be customized to some physical or medical needs that we have. Two or three are basically recreational. And two or three are maybe data-oriented, identity, authentication, and so on. Now how much of the design is dictated by the electronics? It's a very interesting dialogue. There's obviously core functionality that we're trying to get into the product, but sometimes the human qualities are pushing back. For instance, discussion about user interface. Do you always need the biggest screen on the planet? Sometimes you just need to glance over and get a sense that you're more or less okay. You walked 5,000 steps. So let's talk about Lytro. Lytro is maybe another very recent and popular design that you guys did. How much of this design was dictated by the technology itself? The design of Lytro was driven by a constraint. And the constraint was actually the optics, the electro-optics. So we decided to build on these and created something that is more of an extension of the lens. So, what you see outside is very much what you have inside. It's two-thirds the lens and about a third the battery and the circuitry. It's remarkable how much it doesn't look like a camera in the traditional sense. You know, I mentioned earlier the contrarian view. We had alternatives that were much more camera-like. The thing is that we brought this idea, which basically is taken from a very simple gesture, which is the kaleidoscope, a very human gesture. And we had to prove a lot, and you see a lot of models here. The funny thing is that we still use these small mock-ups, and they're actually very informative in decision-making. So this one is made of just a block of foam? Just a block of foam with tape and a piece of cardboard. About as low-tech as you can get. Yeah, and next to it we jumped to 3D weighted and old CAD and all that. Both Fitbit and Lytro are ideas born of smaller companies. Working with large corporations can be difficult. Amit notes that these smaller teams have more of a passion for design and give designers more freedom to express themselves through their products. You know, the thing that I really respect both on Fitbit, on Lytro, or the new structure, these are companies that create products with a lot of integrity. When you feel the product, it feels like an Apple product. Doing things right and doing things with full intent to be perfect. Really, really important. How do you think Kickstarter and these crowdfunded, kind of indie projects have changed the look of design and products for consumers? So the one thing that they do, they democratize the entry level for developers. That allows people to bring ideas directly to the market. This is a structure by Ossipital. It's a three-dimensional imager. In this case, Ossipital is actually using it as more of a marketing and funding tool rather than just funding. Basically opening up for a community, but there are people who basically start funding the company at Kickstarter. With honesty, I'm a little skeptic. There's a limit to what you can do with this mode, and the limits are both on the level of integrity of the whole venture. You really need to deliver. These are really consumers who are waiting for the product and so on. But one thing it changed. It changed a very simple human problem. Somebody has a brilliant idea. He or she doesn't get money to fund it. He asks everyone to fund it, and it works. It's wonderful.
 Whether we know it or not, design is an integral part of our lives today.
 It's not a battle of form and function, it's a symbiotic relationship.
 While most of us are quite familiar with the products that we own, the design process behind
 them is still a bit of a mystery.
 New Deal Design's Gadi Ahmed is one such designer.
 He's the mind behind the look of the Fitbit activity tracker and the Lightro camera.
 A National Design Award recipient, Ahmed has extensive experience with how these very personal
 products are conceptualized, designed, and eventually end up in our hands.
 So for us, interesting topic about design, most people look about design as something
 that is exterior.
 What we're dealing with the interior, with the core functionality, like how you wear
 it, sizes of human body, ergonomics, arrangement of parts, and only then we get to the perfection
 of the exterior surface.
 Could you maybe take us through the process of how you got from conception of the Fitbit
 and then to an actual product that we wear today?
 It's actually an amazing story.
 So we started with the original Fitbit, and at that time we wanted to rethink everything
 that related to what was then called pedometers.
 And we wanted to create something that is very friendly to the human body.
 We actually thought a lot about women and how they carry things.
 And for instance, the fact that this was a clip was driven by that because women have
 much smaller pockets.
 So we ended up with this innovative design that actually had a unique architecture with
 two nodes of electronics.
 One has a battery, the other one has a wrist.
 And the latest generation is dealing with wrist-worn objects.
 You could imagine five years from now, each one of us will probably have about ten of
 these.
 And two or three will be customized to some physical or medical needs that we have.
 Two or three are basically recreational.
 And two or three are maybe data-oriented, identity, authentication, and so on.
 Now how much of the design is dictated by the electronics?
 It's a very interesting dialogue.
 There's obviously core functionality that we're trying to get into the product, but
 sometimes the human qualities are pushing back.
 For instance, discussion about user interface.
 Do you always need the biggest screen on the planet?
 Sometimes you just need to glance over and get a sense that you're more or less okay.
 You walked 5,000 steps.
 So let's talk about Lytro.
 Lytro is maybe another very recent and popular design that you guys did.
 How much of this design was dictated by the technology itself?
 The design of Lytro was driven by a constraint.
 And the constraint was actually the optics, the electro-optics.
 So we decided to build on these and created something that is more of an extension of
 the lens.
 So, what you see outside is very much what you have inside.
 It's two-thirds the lens and about a third the battery and the circuitry.
 It's remarkable how much it doesn't look like a camera in the traditional sense.
 You know, I mentioned earlier the contrarian view.
 We had alternatives that were much more camera-like.
 The thing is that we brought this idea, which basically is taken from a very simple gesture,
 which is the kaleidoscope, a very human gesture.
 And we had to prove a lot, and you see a lot of models here.
 The funny thing is that we still use these small mock-ups, and they're actually very
 informative in decision-making.
 So this one is made of just a block of foam?
 Just a block of foam with tape and a piece of cardboard.
 About as low-tech as you can get.
 Yeah, and next to it we jumped to 3D weighted and old CAD and all that.
 Both Fitbit and Lytro are ideas born of smaller companies.
 Working with large corporations can be difficult.
 Amit notes that these smaller teams have more of a passion for design and give designers
 more freedom to express themselves through their products.
 You know, the thing that I really respect both on Fitbit, on Lytro, or the new structure,
 these are companies that create products with a lot of integrity.
 When you feel the product, it feels like an Apple product.
 Doing things right and doing things with full intent to be perfect.
 Really, really important.
 How do you think Kickstarter and these crowdfunded, kind of indie projects have changed the look
 of design and products for consumers?
 So the one thing that they do, they democratize the entry level for developers.
 That allows people to bring ideas directly to the market.
 This is a structure by Ossipital.
 It's a three-dimensional imager.
 In this case, Ossipital is actually using it as more of a marketing and funding tool
 rather than just funding.
 Basically opening up for a community, but there are people who basically start funding
 the company at Kickstarter.
 With honesty, I'm a little skeptic.
 There's a limit to what you can do with this mode, and the limits are both on the level
 of integrity of the whole venture.
 You really need to deliver.
 These are really consumers who are waiting for the product and so on.
 But one thing it changed.
 It changed a very simple human problem.
 Somebody has a brilliant idea.
 He or she doesn't get money to fund it.
 He asks everyone to fund it, and it works.
 It's wonderful.