A conversation on TED.com: What is the most efficient design?

Chad Souke
Portage, MI
United States

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What is the most efficient design?

After watching Hans Rosling lecture (Hans Rosling and the magic washing machine), I was left to contemplate, what is the most efficient human design or what is the best human designed innovation? Reduced to a mathematical simplicity (which I am not sure it can be) I think of it as:

[Benefit it to All] / [(Cost to Innovate) + (Cost to All)]

On this scale, I would think that innovations like the bicycle, soap, nail clippers, and the internet would be high, but for different reasons. I would likewise be inclined to think of other human creations such as the Edsel, a Tomahawk missile, or the lava lamp on the other end of the spectrum.

Clearly, there can be disagreement on this issue and a case could be made for some of the innovations I have put at the low end of the spectrum, being put on higher footing.

As a final illustration of this thread, is the washing machine or the drier the more innovative product?

Related Talks:

Hans Rosling and the magic washing machine

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Peter Lowney
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Mar 31 2011: It is an infinitely debatable point but I would try to think of an invention or design that did the job radically better than what went before, while using less energy. For that reason, I would take out the drier, as it's a little high in energy consumption vs. a clothes line, and include the dishwasher, washing machine (vs. washing by hand) and the shower (vs. the bath). I am sure someone will point out much better options but those three always appealed to me.
Harald Jezek 50+
- 0
Associate

Mar 23 2011: "Cost to innovate" and "cost to all" is ok, but how do you define "benefit to all" ?
I think no service or product has a unique benefit that's identical to everybody. For example: using your example of a Tomahawk. This might have a high benefit to the military, but not much so to the regular guy on the street.
A drier might be of more benefit to people who live in Seattle where it is raining all the time than to somebody living in the desert with 360 sunny days/yr. If you live in a Seattle apartment, the drier might gain even more value compared to somebody living in a Seattle house with garden, where he/she can just sun dry the stuff (at least the view days there is sun).
I don't know if there are absolute values defining "efficient design". For men, I think a nail clipper is a very efficient design. It's simple, hardly if ever breaks, is cheap, fits in every pocket and does exactly what it is supposed to do. Women, although might disagree. I don't know many women using nail clippers.