Where Meanings Escape Functions

KLAUS KRIPPENDORFF and Reinhart Butter explain why, in our high-tech era, the traditional dictum "form follows function" is no longer valid. In its place, they propose that "form follows meaning, not function," and suggest that designers accept the challenges of this new awareness in design by creating products that can afford the multiplicity of meanings users develop for them in practice. The authors delineate four likely consequences for design management in an era in which meaning matters, including a call for empirical inquiries that would expand the scope of traditional market research.