Pandora’s box is a story about a tremendous power contained in an innocuous-looking vessel. In one version of the tale, set in Ancient China, a careless spirit misplaces the relic, where it spends hundreds of years hidden in a cave. During this time, the box’s appearance becomes battered, and its decorations grow worn. People walk by, thinking nothing of the plain-looking box, but a peasant, unaware of the chaos within, decides to open it up and in so doing, releases pandemonium.
This ancient story is set in an age of magic, yet the idea of the plain yet powerful object pervades our society today. Old magic is replaced by modern machinery, a metaphor for design & technology. In today’s world, technology is a pandemonium of complex computations & design is the façade that masks it. It is no wonder that the myth shares names with a powerful music player with a deceivingly simple design.
Simplicity +
Pandora Radio is a music player whose simple appearance does not reveal the fact that it unleashes a journey through sound. Its interface is no more than a text box and a few buttons. It is a central example of good design, taking complex information (libraries of music) and simplifying it (into categories & associations). Pandora changes an involved process (choosing new music you like) into one that is easy and enjoyable (provide familiar inputs and receive novel outputs). While our music selection gains variety and becomes more complicated, Pandora makes the process of exploring music easier than ever, requiring less than a click every half hour to make the thing do its magic.
Complexity =
Behind the scenes, it’s driven by a powerful database of audio associations, The Music Genome Project, the power hidden in Pandora’s box. Harnessing the Genome, marketers have caught on to the idea of custom playlists. On Pandora today, a listener can create a Nike running playlist, or a Bacardi dancehall list. Branding professionals have a history of seizing typography, color, logo & shape, buying up areas of our perception like a gold- miner laying down claims. With Pandora we see a new form of brand identity emerging, which will be based on a sound, intensity, pitch, wavelength.
Instead of offering branded playlists, I’d rather see Pandora offer personal playlists created from their genome. Their interface could be supplemented by some means of adjusting the musical qualities of a playlist. This would, for example enable a guitar enthusiast to take a Jimi Hendrix playlist and max it out on the “bleeding guitar solo” quality. Advanced users would mix & match these qualities to create custom channels, based on their mood & preference.
Design that changes our lives
This would allow the plain-looking box to gain notice not only from marketers, but also from music enthusiasts. More than a marketing tool, Pandora is a navigation tool that helps us meander the complex audio landscape. Listeners can passively building musical repertoire, becoming “educated enthusiasts” while maintaining their busy lives. The experience can be more instructive than a few hours of digging through a record store, without all the digging. With a few improvements, Pandora will enhance the way listeners interact with music, leaving an imprint on the way we browse, discover, and catalog the sounds we love.
I’m thinking about buying the yearly plan. Not because I intend to exceed their monthly limit, or even to get the cool desktop app. I am on the verge of paying for this free service because I now understand the importance of supporting good design. If I’m hoping to garner wages and make a living for creating design, I have to support those that are doing the same thing.
Cheers pandora!