The Limits of Multifunctional Design

The Moxie by Kohler is a showerhead featuring a detachable Bluetooth speaker that magnetically pops into the center of the head. The head is available in water saving versions; either 2 or 2.5 GPM. The speaker features a built-in, lithium ion battery that recharges via a USB cable; charges last up to seven hours. The Bluetooth signal works on devices as far away as 32 ft. The speaker can be used out of the shower as well–making it the perfect portable speaker for monsoonal regions.

We love listening to music in the bathroom. The LifeEdited Apartment features an Amina Invisible speaker in the bathroom, which makes taking a shower and other personal hygienic tasks a truly luxurious experience.

We love multifunctional design. We love couches that double-duty as beds, sport pants that work for formal affairs, phones that act as scanners and flashlights, sporks.

But we wonder…can multifunctional design go a bit too far?

A showerhead is a terribly simple device. It is a metal fixture (hopefully) that distributes and regulates water coming from your pipes. A good one, with regular cleaning, could presumably last millennia (or at least several decades).

A Bluetooth speaker is a complex device. There is circuitry, antennae and batteries. It is also technology au currant. As great as it is, there will probably be something greater in a few years.

When a complex device is an integral part of a simple one, their lives and usefulness become intertwined. It’s like a cast iron skillet that has an 8-track player embedded in its handle. The ageless skillet would be dealt a mortal blow by its Bachman Turner Overdrive playing handle that seemed so innovative when you bought it.

Of course, you can use the showerhead or your eight-track skillet without its high-tech buddy, but might some things be better designed to do one thing well rather than screw up two things at once?

What do you think? What are the limitations of multifunctional design? What are products you know where multifunction design works? Where does it go too far? Let us know in our comments section.

http://mauishopgirl.com/ Tania Ginoza

I believe you’ve hit the nail on the head on why certain products from places like Sharper Image never took off with the masses. Although the ideas were cool, it was difficult to execute in a reliable way because of the technical reasons you’ve discussed above. I live in an 800 sq foot space and although I agree with making areas of the home and certain pieces of furniture multi-functional, I hesitate to buy multi-functional appliances (except for my microwave which also serves as my oven). In my experience, for example, frothers break more frequently than expresso brewers in the moderately priced versions so I always buy an expresso machine with a narrow countertop footprint and a separate frother that can be put away when not in use or easily replaced. Otherwise, I inevitably end up with a huge coffee gizmo on my counter that is only operational for one purpose. As far as music in the bathroom? It’s a nice to have but not a necessity and in a small space with one or two adults in a relationship, you can just as easily shower with the bathroom door open and hear your music streaming from a source outside the bathroom. In general I’ve gotten away from having multiple pieces in different rooms as I’m basically in one large room anyway as I designed it to be like a studio space. Anything can be easily accessed or moved around the space.
Q

I always though the iMac was an example of this. Seems like a computer monitor should outlast at least 2 or 3 lives of computers.
- @
  
  The iMac can be used as a monitor.
  - Black Knight Rebel
    
    The iMac is kind of bunk since it is all built as one thing. Great
    for old folks or people who don’t do a lot with computers but for anyone
    one else it is much more economical to spend the money on a good
    display and computer separately.
    
    The iMac doesn’t support the industry standard HDMI but instead requires a video card with MiniDisplay which pretty much only Macs support.
    
    You can’t use an iMac to display a PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, Apple TV, Roku, Cable Box, most windows computers or anything else really. The iMac is damn near useless as an external monitor.
http://www.facebook.com/david.bush.988926 David Bush

Does anyone else remember the shower radio? It hung on a rope from your shower head. I got one as a gift and it lasted about a year. It seems a bit silly to incorporate an electronic device into something that sprays water, but at least it doesn’t hang from a rope.
If the folks at Kohler really wanted to develop a useful electronic shower head, the should have designed one with a built in sensor that saves water by giving you a heavy flow when you are directly under it, and a light flow when you step back to soap up.
http://twitter.com/Dualiti_Blog Ali T.

I think many multi-functional products can enhance your life by minimizing space and time. However, to be fully effective in all of its uses, it must be well-engineered and well-executed, not to mention made with high-quality materials. This means more expensive in the short-term, and often users need to educate themselves as to the ways to properly care for their products. Oftentimes, the complexity of design requires some ‘manual reading’, and skipping this step can lead to frustration, breakage, and perhaps in the above examples, electrocution…Yikes…