As a backpack user, even more than as a designer and way before making bags, one of the things I've always been firm about is organization.
Many people think that a good backpack should have a place for everything, looking for laptop compartments, passport pockets, phone pockets, power bank sleeves, several pen slots, cable pockets, fleece-lined sunglasses pockets, quick access pockets, small-items pockets and other extra pockets just in case.
The problem with this approach is that it can be totally understandable from a customer’s point of view, even if not necessarily agreeable, but it is commercially dangerous from a designer perspective: it assumes that everyone carries the same things in the same way and the more specific the organization becomes, the more the bag starts telling you how you're supposed to use it. You might end up with a perfect pocket for something you don't carry, while the thing you actually use every day doesn't fit anywhere particularly well.
In other words, a pack designed this way will be incredibly appreciated by the small number of users that, by chance, carry the things that fit in the pockets it features and could be disliked by those who don't.
Another issue is cost, together with weight. There are small sling bags with a half dozen pockets out there, or tech pouches with literally ten micro compartments: the lining and stretch fabric used to achieve that adds construction, weight and cost, in terms of both materials and craftsmanship.
There's another problem: pockets eat existing volume, and atomize the available space. Top access QAPs that hang in the main compartment are a typical example.
This becomes particularly noticeable in some travel backpacks, where 30l of useful space are divided into three or four different compartments, and you don’t really have 30l anymore, but a collection of smaller volumes that may or may not correspond to what you're carrying.
The ARB Tote secondary compartment
That's why the bags I've loved more, as well as the ones I worked on, tend to have fairly restrained organization and give frequently used things a predictable place, while leaving the main volume relatively free of internal limits.
I tend to prefer space being divided in:
1. A spacious main compartment, able to accommodate different kinds of loads.
2. A secondary compartment (top, front, you name it), generally with its own volume and often with a couple of pockets in it, to deal with smaller and more used things (those I carry in my jacket pockets when I don't have a bag).
3. A laptop area, if the bag needs it, secure and predictable but not over-specialized, able to accommodate something else when needed, like documents, a folded shirt, etc.
Beyond that, I'd rather decide, and let the user decide, how the space is used.
This is also why I prefer pouches and modular organization to internal organization: a dedicated pouch can be thrown in the bag when needed and removed, together with its content, when superfluous: my work pouch stores my chargers, a notebook, pens, and stays in my bag when I work, not on days off. In the same way, my outdoor IFAK pouch stays in my bag during hikes or motorcycle trips and at home when I walk to my local cafe.
I'm not saying fewer pockets are always better. If you work with a camera, tools, electronics or other specialized equipment, dedicated organization makes perfect sense for the job. But for a general travel/everyday backpack, I'm convinced that organization should support the way you carry, rather than dictate it, allowing you to store your most used items in two or three simple and accessible pockets, maybe organized in your own pouches. Plus, even when specialized gear steps in the discussion, using camera cubes or gear cases in an EDC or travel backpack, rather than a dedicated bag, is becoming more and more common.
I'm curious where other people fall on this: do you prefer a backpack with a place for almost everything, or a relatively open space that you can organize yourself?
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