I rearranged the furniture at my home on the weekend.  The exercise highlighted for me the critical distinction between form and function.

The rooms in my home generally have a function, for example sleeping (bedroom) cooking (kitchen), entertaining (living room), relaxing (recreation room) study (den) or reading (library).

The room is defined by the activity or purpose intended by the design or form of the room.  That is the things in the room (e.g. sink/stove, TV, fireplace and so on)

Optimization

When the form/design matches the intended function the use of something (in this case my rooms but this can be generic to anything) is natural and provides the best results.

This, of course, is one of the key product concepts that is promoted by Apple and believed to be a key to the companies success.  The products form matches function leading to enhanced overall usability.

My weekend exercise in furniture rearranging highlighted this for me.  By moving things like the TV and painting easel to different rooms, while changing the location of other items, the entire functionality of several rooms was altered, for the better.

Ah-Ha Moment

For me, this represented somewhat of a revelation.  Simply by considering alternate possibilities and ideas on how to combine and integrate the various aspects of form and function I was able to achieve a great enhancement.

The obvious or default situation is not necessarily best and the through a little brainstorming can lead to the germ of an idea.   This can ultimately result in significant improvement.

The chance to change “for the better” is often there waiting you just have to take it.