Over at Berg, Tom has written about the patina and wear of products (referencing previous thoughts by Matts W and J along the way):

“I’m not sure patina can be designed. After all, it’s a product of the relationship between product and owner.

“The form it takes can be shaped – by the materials used in a product, by the nature and frequency of operations that an owner might perform. I suppose that a product can be designed to age gracefully, to wear attractively; it’s just the exact nature of that wear that’s out of a designer’s hands.”

I haven’t written about this for a few years, but it’s something that fascinates me. Is it possible to design products (physical and virtual) that degrade gracefully? Can you have information patina? Certainly, whenever I write, I try to think “will this still mean something in several years?”. That doesn’t mean I achieve it, but it’s something that comes into my mind.

What about digital products? Is it possible to make something that get better with age (and not just because of scale)?

While I don’t think you can design patina, you can certainly design for patina — graceful degradation that makes something more comfortable, more enjoyable and more interesting to use.