Robert H. Frank's economic = guidebook unlocks everyday design enigmas - Print Version

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Robert H. Frank's = economic=20 guidebook unlocks everyday design enigmas

By Alice Rawsthorn

Sunday, July 8, = 2007

LONDON: Have you ever wondered why some cars have = fuel=20 fillers on the left, and others on the right? Why your VCR is stuffed = with=20 functions that you'll never use? Why women button their clothes from the = left,=20 and men from the right? Or why CD cases are smaller than DVD cases when = the=20 discs are the same size?

We encounter puzzles like these every day. They're not = life-threatening or=20 planet-imperiling, but they don't make sense, not at first, anyway. The = American=20 economist, Robert H. Frank, has devoted a book, "The Economic = Naturalist," to=20 unraveling them. His explanations for what he calls "everyday enigmas" = are=20 rooted in economic theory, but many of them also illuminate anomalies in = the=20 design of the things that fill our lives.

The issues explored in the book were suggested by the students on the = introductory economics course Frank teaches at Cornell University. He = asked them=20 to find economic explanations for things that flummoxed them in daily = life.=20 Frank, who has flirted with design before, notably in his = self-explanatorily=20 entitled book, "Luxury Fever: Why money fails to satisfy in an era of = success,"=20 then devised his own answers to the most interesting questions. His = objective=20 was to show that, beneath the jargon and mathematical formalism, = economics is=20 grounded in common sense.

Some of the questions and answers in "The Economic Naturalist" are = purely=20 economic. Why are brown eggs more expensive than white ones? Because the = hens=20 that lay them are bigger and tend to eat more. Why is it so hard to find = taxis=20 in the rain? Because many drivers stop work after hitting their daily = fare=20 targets, which they do faster in wet weather when more people use cabs. = The=20 grist of Frank's argument is that most business decisions are determined = by the=20 cost-benefit principle, whereby you only do something if the benefit = gained is=20 greater than the cost incurred. And the application of this principle = exerts=20 considerable influence on design.

A simple example is the over-complicated VCR. Why do manufacturers = load them=20 up with so many functions - most of which we seldom, if ever, use - that = recording a television program is infuriatingly difficult? The answer is = because=20 it costs so little to add each function to a VCR that is cheaper to = install them=20 on every machine - just in case anyone wants them - than to "edit" = models for=20 different customers. Frank could have made an identical case against the = over-complicated cellphone.

The same argument explains why Braille keypads are fitted on drive-by = cash=20 machines, even though the people who use them are unlikely to be able to = see=20 clearly enough to drive. Again the cost-benefit principle means that=20 manufacturers can't justify the additional cost of producing one set of = machines=20 with Braille keypads, and another set without them.

Other anomalies are historic. Take the positioning of buttons on = clothes. Why=20 are they on the right for men, and the left for women, especially since, = for the=20 90 percent of the population who are right-handed, it's much easier to = do up=20 buttons from the right? It's because when buttons were introduced in the = 17th=20 century, they were affordable only by the wealthy. As rich men then = dressed=20 themselves, they did so from the right; whereas wealthy women were = dressed by=20 servants, who preferred to button them up from the left. The custom = continues=20 today, even though fewer women are dressed by servants, because there = has been=20 no incentive for the fashion industry to change it.

Or think of the seemingly illogical difference in size between the = packaging=20 of (identically sized) CDs and DVDs. This dates back to the 1980s, when=20 retailers were replacing 12-inch, or 302-millimeter, vinyl LPs with CDs, = and=20 realized that there would be enough space in each old LP rack for two = rows of=20 CDs, if the cases were just under 5 inches high. Yet when DVDs came out = in the=20 1990s, they were displayed alongside videocassettes, whose cases were = more than=20 7 inches high, so DVD packaging was made to the same height.

The explanations for other everyday enigmas are vested in the = present. Why,=20 for instance, is milk stored in rectangular cartons, and soft drinks in = round=20 cans? It's because it's easier to hold a round can when downing a cola, = whereas=20 comfort isn't as important to us when we're pouring milk from a carton, = as we=20 don't hold them for as long. That's why manufacturers use rectangular = milk=20 cartons, which can be packed more efficiently as they occupy less space = in=20 pallets, trucks and shop shelves. There's also a financial incentive. = Milk is=20 stored in refrigerated cabinets, so the space it occupies is more = expensive to=20 operate than the open shelves occupied by soft drinks.

Other apparent inconsistencies are equally pragmatic. Think of money. = Why do=20 portraits appear in profile on coins and full face on notes? Because the = print=20 quality on notes is higher than on coins, and the intricacy of a full = portrait=20 may deter counterfeiters, who are more likely to fake high value notes, = than=20 pennies or dimes.

And why do some cars have fuel fillers on the left and others on the = right?=20 Because gas station pumps work from both sides, and if every car had a = filler on=20 the same side, motorists would have to queue for twice as long.

"The Economic Naturalist" shows how things can make sense = economically, yet=20 also seem inconsistent and confusing. It will be fascinating to see how = Frank's=20 examples evolve in future as the cost-benefit balance changes.

Will the sudden outbreak of eco-conscientiousness kill off the = space-hogging=20 soft drink can, once people realize how many more gas-guzzling trucks = are needed=20 to ship round containers than rectangular ones? And will so many = cellphone users=20 be seduced by the easy-to-use software of Apple's iPhone that rival=20 manufacturers will have to simplify their phones too? We'll see.

"The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday = Enigmas," by=20 Robert H. Frank, is published by Basic Books.

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