i figure i should catalog this blog post because he talks about a pet peeve i have towards motorola’s Razr phone. It was in the beginning the turning point or the great design influence about perfect design. Personally, I don’t believe the product should demonstrate perfect design. This product demonstrated great project management from a global perspective. And the worst human traits destroy the intent of this design. That is to move onward even when you are on top. Motorola did not move on to a new design architecture, they started their hole when they did sister models of the same phone, and personally that hurt their industry. Design is great but it is also trendy too, For the Americans a phone is a piece of fashion clothing. Our taste for color, cut, style changes too often.
I recently did a Q+A for a publication that’s going to be included at this year’s IIT Institute of Design Conference you should go. The question got me thinking about Motorola and the RAZR. It used to be my de-facto story to communicate the power of design. But as I began answering the question—I quickly realized how the story highlights both the power and limitations of design. Anyway—thought you might enjoy a preview. And definitely consider going to the conference which will include esteemed individuals such as Bill Buxton, A.G. Lafley, Claudia Kotchcka, Roger Martin, and Bruce Nussbaum to name a few.
Q: Give me your favorite example of a company or project that used design to figure out “where to play” or “how to win”.
A: Interesting timing on this question. I used to reference the Motorola RAZR as a textbook example of the power of design. The story had all of the right ingredients: A brand that needed a breakthrough product, a prototype that pushed the idea forward, an end product that had reflective emotional appeal and influenced the design of other products. But it’s worth taking a look at Motorola today which is currently having difficulties finding a buyer for their handset division. Somehow along the way, they could not disseminate the success of the RAZR and the story ironically becomes a case study for the limitations of design. I still believe design can be transformational, but it cannot be divorced from the corporate culture or values that a company believes in.
My favorite current examples tend to highlight the ecosystem of experience a brand or company can provide. I like to talk about examples such as Trader Joe’s, SouthWest Airlines and even digital cousins such as Flickr and YouTube as examples of not only design—but the total experience. What once started out as the poster child for design—the RAZR may actually become the poster child which demonstrates that form and function is simply not enough. It was good design which ultimately became a low-priced commodity. Sustainability is a hot topic in the design world right now and the RAZR illustrates that we need to think about sustainability beyond the “green” sense—Motorola was simply not able to sustain the momentum of the RAZR. I recently read an article where the author said that the Apple Air is the “RAZR for notebooks”. With hindsight being 20/20, this may not be the compliment it was intended to be.
This is one of the best presentation by a start up design consultant i have seen. Literally they are just starting… you can see their website saying that. link is below. I love their design business model which case a consult that uses students to give “ideo, smart, frog, and continuum” mind set. but think for a moment. those companies can only hire X amount of people and there are tons of people out there that can do what they do. THIS IS AWESOME!
via smallFISH.
Take the time to go through the slides. i know there are a lot, but most of the slides are just pictures. This is one of those slides that makes you look at your own work at a different light considering how we express contents to our viewers. And how we should communicate that content with various resources.
The idea of looking at trends in our profession speak directly to the idea of content strategy. It’s a “beyond the document” look at how we create and deliver content to various audiences. It’s about content re-use and single-sourcing, about content management, about filtering content, about creating better ways to serve content consumers. It’s also about how social media has raised the bar, and how consumers will take matters into their own hands if we don’t step up to the plate.
looks to me they had productivity….post it…capture it… visual it…
One of the main changes I made to the workshop structure was a new focus for the break-out sessions. I gave the immersion into client issues much more space. The workshop had two “client immersion sessions” before actually thinking of drafting an innovative business model around the clients. The ultimate task was to re-invent the consulting business model. Instead of getting them to start with business model innovation immediately I made them think about how consulting clients really feel and start innovating from there. This worked out really well, notably because JAM made the outcomes more tangible through images.
Business Model Design and Innovation: The Power of Immersion and Visual Thinking.
Restaurants | Kogi Korean BBQ sells their signature tacos primarily through two trucks in the Los Angeles area. In order to know where to find them, customers follow Kogi on Twitter, and it’s not unusual to find hundreds of the company’s 19,000+ Twitter friends lined up and socializing while awaiting their turn at the Kogi truck. More »
Automotive & parking | In the greater New York area, Central Parking System and other parking companies offer half-price parking for Smart fortwo owners. The service, which is a partnership with Smart USA, is based on the notion that drivers shouldn’t have to pay full price if their car only takes up half a parking spot. More »
Q & A | Led in part by Flickr cofounder Caterina Fake, Hunch is an online decision-making tool that gets to know a user through his or her answers to seemingly random questions. Based on those answers, Hunch aligns users with other people that are like them—their twinsumers—and can offer personalized answers to complex questions like: “Should I go to medical school?” More »
Mobile telephony | New Jersey-based Rentobile provides a wide selection of the latest cell phones for rent on a monthly basis so that consumers can try out various devices without being limited by a long term contract. A Netflix for phones, indeed. More »
via trendwatching.com’s May 2009 Trend Briefing covering INNOVATION JUBILATION.
love it… global it… increase the larger market… increase innovation… bettering the world… lets contribute and share!
via iA
This is just the beginning of the blog post, click on the link to understand his whole meaning to the value of interface design within products in relationship to their branding…
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All things have an interface. Shaping interfaces is shaping the character of things. The brand is what transports the character of things. When looking at McDonalds, iPod, Nintendo DS it becomes quite obvious that the interface is the brand.
16 columns submenu horizontal, I think, standing at the counter at McDonald’s. I scroll left and right and put a simple cheeseburger in my mental shopping basket. 16 columns, yet so usable. “Cheezubaagaa kudasai” I hear myself say, and glancing at the cashier display and the French fry machine interface, I hold my breath: Wow. Why did I never realize? Being a foreigner in Japan, I decide to go to McDonald’s because at McDonald’s I don’t need to deal with language. I could get much better food in a similar price range if I were ready to think, read Kanji and explain myself. But I’m not, as I’m hungry.
McDonald’s is very easy to use, I then think, and then the McDonald’s interface looks the same all over the world. Yes, that is why it is so successful. A simple interface. I don’t need to think when entering, ordering, paying, eating at McDonald’s. McDonald’s doesn’t make me think. That’s what the McDonald’s brand promises the hungry stomach: We’re sweet and we’ll fill you without any brain stress.
While checking out (paying), I decide to go through with this thought, and look closely at the cheeseburger, and yes, indeed. The cheeseburger as has the easiest food interface one could think of. No forks, no knives, no spoons, no plates, no chopsticks. Like a sandwich, but softer and sweeter and above all: Standardized. No alarms and no surprises when eating a cheeseburger. Almost as simple as “the only intuitive interface” – the nipple. Sandwiches can be complicated at times.
The standardization makes the cheeseburger’s interface a branded one. Only a McDonald’s cheeseburger looks like a McDonald’s cheeseburger. I unwrap it and look at the bread and the meat and the ketchup mustard color pattern: McDonald’s cheeseburger it is.
produkter05_300dpi, blogged to AHT from Flickr of eatmydesign 
In general I am passing along a list someone composed on the internet for others to see. I view this information two ways; it is a reminder of what I am for other people within a team. I believe in this list but there are differences I feel towards the list. As well as, what I wish to add on to the list. Secondly, this is a list to remind me and others unfamiliar to IDer ways….what to look for when hiring potentially great designers. Showing me flashy renderings will never get my vote…
1. Not understanding the design brief or composing it.
2. Fail to check the concepts meet the requirements of the given brief.
3. Not paying attention to improve sketching and communication skills.
4. Fail to understand Industrial design is multi facet, multi disciplinary field.
5. No plan to a 3D construction process before doing 3D modeling.
6. Avoiding documenting the work properly.
7. Obsessed with first design or initial sketches.
8. Not understanding the form- styling clues or inspirations incubated in the design are appropriate.
9. Failing to understand the brand philosophy of the company, which is not cited in the product.
10. Not sharing the knowledge and work with fellow designers, which fails to build a good relationship between them.
11. Avoiding critics, which are important to understand and improve the current design and other product features.
Add ons -
*12 – Never be narrow-minded within a brainstorm.
What I have notice is the type of brainstorming that happens in the real world vs. RISD world. At RISD we are to think of an idea and MOVE ON to a totally different idea that is no way connected to the first idea. Within our design firms and corporations we think of ideas in 10 minutes then those ideas are recycled for the last 4 hours in brainstorms! THAT IS NOT INNOVATION! THAT IS DEVELOPMENT!
Innovation is about the diversity and sharing of ideas. Once you get these ideas the following stage is the development of the idea’s insight to reality and ranging their potential as a successful product.
*13 – Great design is about great process.
What is a great process? This is another episode of my frustration within the real world. Everything is on a budget time. But innovation is not a “time-based” entity. Clients want to “see” success and never care for the “how” innovation occurs. Innovation happens at the oddest hours and during our weirdest moments. But to do this is to get away from powerpoints-outlook-AIM-computer-desk-cubical-office building. For RISD approach we innovate by “building” it is like sketch models but IDer’s idea of a sketch model is form development. What RISDers way are “thinking models” – (to be honest – it needs a better name give me some time to “think” on the matter)
RISD way of modeling is by making constant errors in their building and creating, which is documented along the way. When the project or series of products are done, we don’t care for our end result. In final presentations we rather tell our story of how we got to the idea-innovation that is the innovation secret, it is not about the end result. When people start to know “how we got there” it is like the express of “teach them how to fish, than giving them fish”.
We rather teach our clients what they need to notice or understand about innovation than giving them the results. Why? It helps them to better understand what we do and how we do it. This develops trust and support between people so they can understand the next round of products can be pushed further in exploration, risk taking and, more critical thinking to produce successful ideas.
*14 – being genuinely honest and passionate about your work.
I don’t need to go into details about this. in short answer you were up for two days straight working on an idea you have and still with no sleep you are full of energy about it… to other people that shows commitment towards development.
