Wissou
Design should be an invitation to use tech, letting it shine through its functionality.
If you have the most advanced tech product with a baffling design, I believe the average consumer will feel repelled, not exploring the product and, therefore, making the technological advances go to waste in the long run.
But it is a fascinating debate, because if you have a well-designed product that doesn’t do much, it won’t take long for some people to see it as a hollow product. A “just for show” creation or even a lazy one.
Speaking of design and tech, take Dieter Rams’ example. Check the HLD 4 from 1970 or the iconic ET 66 from 1987. Granted, the tech inside those products didn’t revolutionize the world, however, we are still talking about them to this day, decades after reaching the market.
So, I do think that for the average consumer, your question will forever be associated with a variable you didn’t mention: marketing, the driving force that can change the initial global perception of a product.
“Design vs Tech” or “Form vs Function” should not be on two different sides of the equation, they should work as one, integrated to the core of any given product.
For me, design is so much more than esthetics; it’s the initial invitation to interact and one of the pillars that can and will make a piece stand the test of time.