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The Zen of the PSP

Nikkei Business reported that, to date, 0.6 percent of the 800,000 shipped units have been returned to Sony for repair. Kutaragi was unapologetic about the issue: "This is the design that we came up with. There may be people that complain about its usability, but that's something which users and game software developers will have to adapt to. I didn't want the PSP's LCD screen to become any smaller than this, nor did I want its machine body to become any larger.

"The button's location is [architectured] on purpose," Kutaragi added. "It's according to specifications. This is something that we've created, and this is our specification. There was a clear purpose to it, and it wasn't a mistake."

Offering additional testimony praising the handheld, Kutaragi said, "I believe we made the most beautiful thing in the world. Nobody would criticize a renowned architect's blueprint that the position of a gate is wrong. It's the same as that."

(Gamespot)

No one would criticize the position of a gate, but someone might question a gate that due to it's position be difficult to use reliably. If the PSP was a building, and the square button was a gate, you would have:
  • A gate that sometimes got stuck and would just open and close until you pushed it again.
  • A gate that no matter how hard you pushed wouldn't open sometimes.
  • A gate that when pushed might open after a slight delay.
My point is, the position of the button is not the point of discussion, but rather the usability of the button/gate that is. Of course, Sony has already manufactured millions of these units. To recall them or replace them would be costly for the company. Rather than admit a massive mistake they'd rather claim it was by design. In truth, this is accurate. It was by design that the buttons were placed where they were. It was by design that a consequence of the layout of the buttons, the square is less responsive than the others. However, I'm not buying the fact that the square button was intentionally designed and placed where it would be unresponsive. This was an afterthought. If you could have a perfect response if you moved it over 2cm, why wouldn't you? It's because someone was short sighted and didn't make the connection that if that button was placed there, it'd be slow and unresponsive. They went straight from prototype into production, without taking the time to test the prototype. Design is not a zero sum game.

I wrote some haiku as a ode to this well-designed feature:

pressed the square button
slow, repeating or nothing
digital roulette

Kutaragi says
"No apology, it's by design"
In mail back to Sony

square, square, why so slow?
x, circle, square, why no show?
beauty over function.

Posted by Michael Huang on February 15, 2005 04:27 PM |

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