'I'm not the sort of person to just shrug my shoulders when something doesn't work properly,' says James Dyson. His refusal to accept shoddiness underpins the success of his classic product, the Dyson vacuum cleaner, which is part of permanent collections in museums around the world, including New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Pompidou in Paris.
Other vacuum cleaners rely on a bag or filter to store dust, which means they clog and leave particles behind. With the Dyson, there's no fall-off because of its patented bagless system.
Although other manufacturers have imitated his technology, Dyson's vacuum cleaners remain popular. More than 12 million are used around the world - US sales soared when one featured on the TV series Friends - and when a new model is launched, he receives the sort of applause typically accorded fashion designers parading a new season's collection.
'Good design is about how something works, not just how it looks,' says Dyson, who'll be a keynote speaker at Business of Design Week, which starts tomorrow. 'You can easily fall out of love with something if it doesn't work properly - but you stay in love with something that performs and works.'
Dyson's work ethic prompted him to resign from chairing the Design Museum in London last year because he said it was focusing too much on styling.
It's also pushed him to improve his vacuum cleaners. His latest invention - The Ball - replaces the wheels on regular machines, making it easier to manoeuvre by allowing more than simply back-and- forth movement.
Dyson isn't a one-hit wonder capable only of tinkering with his original product. He's also responsible for a series of gadgets marked by their simplicity and orbital mobility. They range from the Ballbarrow (a wheel-barrow with a roller ball) to the Trolleyball, a boat launcher with ball wheels.