Design + Technology

THINK ABOUT WHY you personally use the products that you use—the car you drive, the bike you ride, the razor you use to get that perfect 5 o’clock shadow. The likely answer is that these well-designed products make your life easier and they get the job done well and quickly.

- Katrina Rivere-diga

The role of design is to create a product that won’t keep consumers waiting or confused. An innovative product is likely to tank if it’s not marketable because of poor design. Design is the first impression a customer has about a particular product, and it’s often the deciding factor in the success of a product.

Multiple award-winning studio Pensa is one such tour de force in product design. This Brooklyn-based firm, who holds over 100 design awards and works with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, works at the intersection of design and technology to bring creative and compelling solutions that make consumers’ lives better.

One Drop

Most glucometers look like stopwatches with a lancing device. In short, they’re designed in a way that reminds people that they are sick. But health startup One Drop’s kit is a gorgeous— yes, gorgeous—functional Bluetooth-enabled, blood glucose-monitoring system that looks empowering and encouraging rather than scary.