This chapter addresses the following questions:

• What happens to the design once the product has been released?
• In a world of constant and rapid change, how do companies and designers balance the significant investment in the just-released design, with continuous market pressure for new experiences?
• If the new design is very good and effective, what is the point of changing it?

The answers, in a nutshell, are primarily within the domain of design management and design governance. However, first, let's consider the paradox of tradition and trend, and the contrasting properties inherent in the continuous evolution of experience design. Once design X becomes trendy because it is fresh and new, it has often also reached the peak of its social impact, and its decline is imminent because the next fashionable experience--delivered by competing design Y--begins its journey along the same path.

Design Y may enjoy a brief moment of glowing fame and high demand, and then disappear without a trace, giving in to design Z, and the cycle repeats. However, sometimes, thanks to its experience quality, design X holds on to its success and enjoys persistent demand and deep loyalty even when it is no longer all the rage. Loyalty and longevity is the aim of great design--to emerge from the trendy phase and persist as a proven solution to new problems. 

Before a particular design matures into a tradition, it needs to break the rules set by established design traditions, and take over as a new trend. That is the paradox of design evolution.

In the past, the rate of change was relatively slow, and design traditions were highly regarded. In a variety of areas, be it the construction of temples and palaces or the manufacturing of household furniture, utensils, and personal artifacts, patrons asked the designers they hired to apply traditional design patterns to new projects. Traditional patterns pronounced respectability. They legitimized the owners' status through association with sacred things or with the lives of the noble classes, who for centuries had the financial means to commission designs.

Design evolved gradually, over thousands of years, expanding from the institutional to the personal, from the ceremonial to the ordinary, and from the exclusive to the common. With expanding demand came the need to train more designers. At the same time, growing demand also created pressures to bring the cost of products down. These interrelated development required adjustments to the designs of products and the experience they deliver.

Elaborate, time-consuming, hand-made ornamentation gave way to simpler, templated patterns. The extensive use of marble, silk, gold, silver, precious stones, and other high-quality ingredients, the staples of design systems associated with aristocracy and sacred objects, gave way to economical, commonplace substitutes, such as wood, iron, bricks, and plastics.

Several developments had a significant impact on experience design. Widening markets, new artisans, new materials, new technologies, fresh ideas, competition, and international commerce have led to the following:

• The establishment of large design studios led by the prominent artists of their time, design trade groups (guilds), design schools, and eventually formalization of various design specializations as academic disciplines.
• Popularization and expansion of the vocabulary of experience design and its reach into the daily lives of ordinary people. With it faster rate of changes to traditional design patters has become acceptable and, eventually, expected. 

Most people need simultaneously to feel unique and have a sense of belonging to a social group. The boundaries between individualized existence and social association are sometimes expressed through the separation of the ordinary from the ceremonial, as it is expressed in the traditions of social or religious groups. For some, the need for individuation is more pronounced than the need for social belonging, for others it is the other way around.

Nonetheless, the tension between unique expression and tradition has been the driving force that maintained a healthy demand for experience design throughout the ages. Uniqueness and individuality drive new experience patterns, whereas the need for belonging and tradition maintains continuous refinement of the existing design patterns.

The image above shows examples of military artifacts used centuries ago by warriors and knights, a professional social class in many cultures since antiquity, who found it important to own highly ornamented armor, swords, shields, and other battle-field accessories.

These highly prized items were used as battle gear and also served for ceremonial purposes. Consequently, the highest level of masterful craftsmanship was required. Design and engineering fused to deliver products that could serve as effective weapons but also communicate personal bravery and the social status that separated knights from common thugs.

The elevation of weaponry into a highly symbolic, desirable artifacts worthy of high-end manufacturing and design, is an early example for the transformation of a product from a plain, utilitarian object into a unique meaningful experience. This process has helped designers occupy a special place in society.

The acknowledgment of the unique role of the designer is evident in ancient Greek mythology. One of the Olympian Gods, Hephaestus, served as the God of fire, forges, and blacksmiths and also as the God of metalworking, stone masonry, and the art of sculpture. Indeed Hephaestus was the ultimate designer, the embodiment of the fusion of engineering, craftsmanship, and art.

Until recently, all artifacts were, of course, handmade. Over the millennia, generations of craftsmen evolved the technology and esthetics of the artifacts used by their societies. A specialized class of artisanship has emerged wherever there was a demand for armor and weapons, which was almost everywhere. With this demand also came fame and recognition for these artisans-designers, whose products gained the appreciation and admiration of their powerful and influential patrons.

Similar trends emerged in all aspect of daily life. Highly decorative, beautiful, fully functional and usable items evolved in response to the needs and desires of the elites--the nobility and religious classes. These patrons--as important clients were called in pre industrial times--could afford to order and pay for such luxuries. For the most part, they paid for the expensive materials, from which their desired artifacts were produced--refined gold, silver, and precious stones. These were rare and expensive then, as they are now. The cost of labor and craftsmanship, on the other hand, was marginal then, as it is often today.

While luxury artifacts were unattainable for the majority of people, their existence and high-visibility had a significant social impact. These luxury designs underscored the contrast between the common and the amazing and generated massive aspirational drive. Ambition, desire, envy, and emulation are some of the emotional byproducts that still underline many design approaches and marketing campaigns. The inherent desire to stand out from the crowd through an association with exclusive social groups or organizations, can be expressed by owning a product that communicates that unique experience.