Flexible Technologies: Warwick Ultra Thin Speakers

With rapid advancements in ultra thin technologies arena such as smart textiles, OLEDs, touchscreen OLEDs, Electronic Ink technology, soft flexible keyboards, flexible PCBs, and flexible hardware....there is finally an ultra thin high quality speaker material, coined FFL (Flat, Flexible LoudSpeaker) developed by UK-based Warwick Audio Technologies that supposedly produces better sound quality than conventional speakers. Ain't that wild?

Text from the Discovery Innovation Blog article is pasted below

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Speakers that Bend, Stretch, and Fit in a Folder

Scientists in the flexible electronic industry have long promised us products like rubbery circuits that will make portable devices truly unbreakable. So when UK researchers announced they had developed flexible speakers, the latest flexible electronic product to hit headlines, we listened. The ultra thin speakers—appropriately named the Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker (FFL) (pictured above)—is only 0.25mm thick.

The speakers are made of a flexible laminate material that can bend like paper and stick to uneven surfaces—a huge upgrade from the earliest model made primarily of tin foil.

Warwick Audio Technologies, the company commercializing the speakers, claims the newly minted FFLs can produce sounds at 80-105 decibels. The flat design allows sound to travel through the material differently than it does typical boom boxes. When an electrical signal goes through the FFL speakers, it vibrates and sends a rush of air through the whole sound system. So in technical speak, when the air moves through the sheets in bulk mass, planar directional sound waves are created. The resulting sounds are “clearer, crisper, and easier to hear” than traditional speakers.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait a year to see if the speakers actually reach stores—or if they join the other flexible electronic technologies like flexible laptops that have yet to make it into the market. Ahem, E-paper, where are you?

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And another lengthier article on Warwick FFL Speakers from Science Daily pasted below

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New Flat Flexible Speakers Might Even Help You Catch Planes And Trains

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2009) — A groundbreaking new loudspeaker -- less than 0.25mm thick -- has been developed by University of Warwick engineers. It's flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear.

Lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, the speakers are slim and flexible: they could be concealed inside ceiling tiles or car interiors, or printed with a design and hung on the wall like a picture.

Pioneered by University of Warwick spin-out company, Warwick Audio Technologies' the 'Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker' (FFL) is ideal for public spaces where it delivers planar directional sound waves, which project further than sound from conventional speakers.

Steve Couchman, CEO of Warwick Audio Technologies, believes it could entirely replace the speakers currently used in homes and in cars, as well as in public address systems used in passenger terminals and shopping centres.

He says: "We believe this is a truly innovative technology. Its size and flexibility means it can be used in all sorts of areas where space is at a premium. Audio visual companies are investigating its use as point of sale posters for smart audio messaging and car manufacturers are particularly interested in it for its light weight and thinness, which means it can be incorporated into the headlining of cars, rather than lower down in the interior."

All speakers work by converting an electric signal into sound. Usually, the signal is used to generate a varying magnetic field, which in turn vibrates a mechanical cone, so producing the sound.

Warwick Audio Technology's FFL technology is a carefully designed assembly of thin, conducting and insulating, materials resulting in the development of a flexible laminate, which when excited by an electrical signal will vibrate and produce sound.

The speaker laminate operates as a perfect piston resonator. The entire diaphragm therefore radiates in phase, forming an area source. The wave front emitted by the vibrating surface is phase coherent, producing a plane wave with very high directivity and very accurate sound imaging.

"Another great application would be in PA systems for public spaces," says Steve. "The sound produced by FFLs can be directed straight at its intended audience. The sound volume and quality does not deteriorate as it does in conventional speakers, which means that public announcements in passenger terminals, for example, could be clearer, crisper, and easier to hear."

The FFL was first developed by Dr Duncan Billson and Professor David Hutchins, both from the University of Warwick, with early trials using just two sheets of tinfoil and an insulating layer of baking paper to produce sound. Since then its design has significantly evolved and the technology is now ready for commercial exploitation

The company is currently in negotiations with a number of commercial partners and continues to welcome fresh approaches. It expects to launch its first commercial product later this year.

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*Some* Vendor Client relationships - in real world situations

Hah, so true! :P

NRA Show 2009

This year, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show held in Chicago which showcased products and services geared towards the restaurant/hospitality industry. While there were many intriguing and interesting product/service offerings, what intrigued me was how little attention was given to efficient use and conservation of space within a restaurant environment where oftentimes, every inch matters. Some of them also surprisingly did not take into account the matter of maintenance, waste, nor the emerging technologies that are increasingly being integrated within the restaurant/hospitality environment.

Some of my favorite products that were encountered included a very well-designed tower dish rack that used minimal form to hold dishes securely - in fact, they demonstrated just how well the dishes were held by mounting their tower dishrack on a rocking mechanism (similar to an earthquake), a beautiful sugar crystal stirring stick, an antimicrobial mat which would kill bacteria the moment it lands on it (used within bathrooms), advancements in biopolymers along with sustainable green materials, simple looking minimal packaging with an amazing array of features (like a thin piece of clear plastic that could withstand high oven temperatures along with layers of alternating perforations to act as insulators to keep contents like bread crispier on the outside/softer on the inside), ceramic oven racks and cutlery, and last but not least, a very elegant outdoor umbrella that was collapsible, back lit, and had a funnel to collect/drain water. Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of being able to take pictures to share here, however, I will write more entries in the future about individual products and service offerings I'd encountered at the NRA show this year.

It also struck to me that there seemed to be a general lack of enthusiasm and even attendance compared to say - the CES show in Vegas - where the energy and enthusiasm was incredibly intoxicating and electric. In fact, even my friend had remarked on the crowd and how attendance seemed to be 'thinned out' compared to the NRA events he had attended before. It certainly begs the question of whether the days of tradeshows are fast becoming numbered and obsolete. In any case - it was a great show to attend to gain a general sense of both current and emerging trends within the industry.

MomSourcing

What? Too busy to wish your mom a Happy Mother's Day? At long last, the days of receiving completely undeserving guilt trips from hard-to-please moms is now a problem of the past - thanks to MomSourcing.

On a sidenote - why do people on social networking sites seem to continue wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day when they themselves do not have their mothers within their own networks - and even cringe at the thought of having their mom on there?

Monsanto & The Vicious Cycle

With so much going on in the world today, you hear certain seemingly 'usual' stories being repeated time and again. Like the one about how Indian Farmers commit suicide when their crops fail.

But why am I including this on my design blog?

Because of its connection to Monsanto along with how it exemplifies bad 'innovation' that claims to be safe, biodegradable, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly. However, reality is that it is none of these. Infact, its lack of foresight leads to extinction of crops along with its farmer in some instances - and creates even larger issues in the long run.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Monsanto, it is a giant American-based biotechnology corporation with a global outreach. Monsanto is the leading producer of Genetically Engineered (GE) and Genetically Modified (GM) seeds. Their website claims that Monsanto's goal is to "meet farmer demand by offering seeds with the best possible germplasm, or improved genetics, for a higher yield" and how they "are working to meet the needs of farmers in two ways. First, through our work in breeding, we are delivering superior genetics that allow farmers to get more out of each seed, resulting in the potential for higher yield. In addition, by inserting one or more genes in the seed — a biotechnology trait — we're able to provide farmers with a novel way to combat insects and control weeds, so yield is preserved throughout the growing season." They also claim that their GMOs are safe.

Sounds like quite the miracle, so where is the controversy?

The issue is not only does the promised not happen with these hybrid seeds, but their deliberately short-life span creates a vicious cycle leading to debt, extinction of local plant biodiversity, and for some people - suicide. Click here to watch a short video explaining the dilemma.

More videos from youtube:







Below is a recap of some of the problems which despite being few, describe the severity and enormity of the problems that come with Monsanto seeds. The scary part is that this is just a partial list.

• Seeds that contain pesticides
  A trait within Monsanto seeds is inherent pesticides. These, of course, are not that effective in killing off the targeted pests and actually risk killing the helpful species of insects, creating more trouble for nearby plants which become increasingly infested. Moreover, if you continue onward with the natural food chain cycle that take place from thereon (the bird that eats the insect, the snake that eats the bird, etc. or even when the decomposed remains enter the soil), the situation becomes very ugly very quickly with a problem that magnifies severity and difficult of being resolved.

• Seeds that lack natural resilience acquired over a period of time
  A noticeable trait with Monsanto seeds was their inability to withstand water shortages, heat, and even the very pests it claims to be resilient against- something that native seeds were able to withstand better. With India being right on the equator line coupled with water shortages along with water contamination, the Monsanto seeds cannot match the natural resilience acquired by native plants that develop the means to withstand environmental challenges over a period of time - and pass this on to the next generation. In short, Monsanto seeds require more water than native seeds do to produce "optimal results" and risk spreading these shortcomings to other native plants.
  

• Seeds designed to fail
  In 2007, Monsanto acquired Delta & Pine Land Company, a company that had patented a seed technology nicknamed "Terminator." This technology had not been used commercially before Monsanto, and it basically produces plants with sterile seeds that won't flower or grow fruit after their initial planting. This designed 'failure' forces farmers to repurchase seeds to ensure business for Monsanto along with a sort of 'patent protection' because it renders the farmers helpless and dependent on the Monsanto seed supplier. As mentioned in the Seeds of Suicide video, these sterile seeds will then attract rodents to their crops and suddenly they have to purchase something to repel the rats. Sadly the expenditure does not end there because then they have to repurchase more seeds. Though Monsanto pledged in 1999 to not commercialize terminator technology, the results are proving to be otherwise. God forbid if cross pollination occurs, because then normal seeds could potentially inherit the "Terminator" gene that could render them useless, too, which could spell out a huge famine problem for the world in the near future. Like the point mentioned before, even if generations of native plants develop the means to overcome environmental challenges, they would be unable to pass it on to the next generation if the begin to produce sterile seeds. Moreover, imagine the impact this would have on the natural food chain cycle.
  

• Failure Scapegoat: The Farmer
  With an increasing pressure to supply growing demands despite water shortage, water toxicity, climatic changes, population demand, and lack of government support along with adequate unbiased awareness, the farmers are persuaded to invest in Monsanto 'Miracle Seeds' with hopes of higher yields which in reality lead to a downward spiral of profit-loss, debt-increase, societal humiliation, leaving farmers at the mercy of the money-lenders. Eventually this leads the farmer and their family members being hired by neighboring farmers - and eventually, a complete annihilation of their own crops because aside from their financial problems, they now lack the manpower to continue maintaining their fields. As the Seeds of Suicide video mentioned, though the blame should realistically be shared by multiple parties including the Government, Seed Dealer, and Seed Manufacturer, sadly it is the farmer who shoulders the risk, consequences, and then holds the sole blame as the primary scapegoat when crops fail. In fact, many times - they are not even aware that because Monsanto seeds are patented, that they cannot grow their own seeds produced from Monanto seeds (but the 'Terminator' gene prevents that as it is). Even now, the guilty parties fall short in addressing this issue.
  

Though this blogpost along with many related articles do largely mention Indian Farmers, the issue is not confined to India alone - in fact, it ought to be noted that farmers across the world, including America, are facing similar problems. For detailed information, please watch the video link for 'The World According to Monsanto' provided in the related links below.

Other Related Links:

Video Intro: PBS Frontline Roughcut: Seeds of Suicide

Article: Could Monsato Be Responsible for One Indian Farmers' Death Every 30 Minutes

Article: Monsanto History and Information on Wikipedia

Article: Deadly Gift from Monsato to India

Monsanto Files Patent for New Invention- The Pig

Documentary: The World According to Monsanto
a riveting, incredibly informative and troubling documentary produced in March 2008 by Filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin

Failures, Hardships, and Success

It's a sad fact that while we are ready to speak about our points of success, most of us do not acknowledge nor really mention the failures and hardships that were endured to take us from a certain point in our lives to another. These points in our lives not only define, but evolve our strength of character by learning fortitude, patience, perseverance, realize our determination, and ultimately reinforce our passion which compels us to move forward and manifest our goals.

Then why are we so afraid to speak about them when mentioning these doesn't make us any less. In fact, on the contrary, haven't they taught us more than first-time success ever could? Relating these experiences offers valuable kernels of insight to another who may be enduring similar trials and tribulations along their own journey. So cheers to the failures and hardships that push us to become more - May we fail often enough to remain humble, grow wiser, and may these always be remembered fondly! :) And thank you to Edison for not only giving us the electric light bulb, but for teaching us that even failing holds its own seeds of success!

"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working"

Genius? Nothing! Sticking to it is the genius! ... I've failed my way to success."
--Thomas Edison


On that note, here are some articles regarding mistakes, hardships, and failures...along with the explanation as to why they are wonderful. Enjoy!

I Hope You Fail: Why Failure is Good

The Greatest Mistake of All Time

Fail Your Way To Success! Why Failure Is So Wonderful!

How Have You Failed Your Way to Success Lately?

Why Failure is Good for You

Reasons for Why Failure is Good

Gates vs. Jobs

Continuing on that note - also humorous (Elvis reference was icing on the cake)

The Artistic Point of View

R.I.P. Innovation?

I came across a very interesting short BCG article (thanks to a friend) which mentioned some very interesting statistics about satisfaction regarding the end results of R&D led products - but does that mean that these "innovative" products sell better or make the people involved (executives, share holders, etc) happier? Does it significantly increase margins along with sales?

Click here to read article (and as always, I'll include some of it on here)

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BCG-Businessweek Innovation Practice

For most companies, innovation is the key to driving growth, shareholder value, and competitive advantage in today's global economy. But even at the best companies, up to a third of all innovation initiatives are draining valuable resources.

According to the most recent BCG-BusinessWeek innovation survey only 46 percent of senior management are satisfied with their return on innovation spending while 63 percent of chief financial officers are still unhappy with their innovation results. Innovation remains a top priority for 66 percent of respondents, and 67 percent are planning to increase their investment in innovation.

The problem these companies face isn't a lack of ideas—most of them have more than enough. It's that companies don't have a disciplined process for turning those ideas into cash. An effective innovation-to-cash process (ITC) is the foundation of successful innovation, which we define as profitable innovation.

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I can't deny that the numbers reported were a little surprising to me but then again, not really so much as I would expect. Infact, it actually reminded me of Nussbaum's "Innovation is Dead" post back from the last day of 2008 - something which I did partially see myself agreeing with but accepting such a statement proclaiming the death of innovation is also going a little too far). In any case, I think all of this presents something that us glossy-eyed idealistic developers (designers, technical professionals, etc.) may need to take a few steps back and reconsider how to optimize for better results because balancing the two (profits and R&D-based innovation) can be quite the juggling act.

There is often an all-too familiar battle between the execs and the creative development teams when it comes to decisions regarding how a product ought to be executed. It is one where the decision is ultimately made by the execs with creatives to rethink, defend the necessity, and articulate their points better in terms of business but of course, it still provides no assurance it will be fruitful.

So is there a better way to adapt the innovation-to-cash process so it promotes revenue, increases margins, and won't crush the creative, innovative spirit? Or has true innovation died as Nussbaum suggested, and been replaced by minute cosmetic modifications to a product/service?

Design is the Problem - and the Solution?

With so many books on my list that I wanted to read, finding the time along with a steady concentration is no easy feat. However, I recently came to learn about how a former design college professor's book - Design is the Problem was released. I was extremely excited to purchase it and pour through its pages right away because I remember thinking that Nathan was a different sort of designer (and design instructor) altogether with what seemed like a more expansive train of thought of how design could be applied in a more profound manner. He challenged the thought of limiting the application of our design techniques to products or even services alone - but to rethink and apply them to entire systems instead with special thought to its life cycle along with its collective impact.

It was this class taught by Nathan along with another great design professor, Ian MacColl, that we as a class researched and addressed the issues of modern day air travel. By the end of the semester, it resulted in the inception of a fictitious airline brand: Ascend, our perception of what an ideal modern-day airline should be. Following our research, we students proceeded to individually design products/services that fit into specific parts of an air travel experience. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this course and it resulted in what today is one of my favorite pieces from my student career - Ascend Enlightenment. (For more information about my Ascend Enlightenment project, you can visit my portfolio here - and for more information about Ascend airlines along with the other student projects, you can visit our college website here)

Anyway, back to his book - so I am only 40 pages in so far, but am already excited about reading ahead. Nathan is once again challenging the 'designer' within all of us to rethink and reapply our creative, problem-solving potential towards entire experiences and systems - even older established systems such as the economy. Though he is not the only one to ask this question (find another compelling example here), it is an interesting, refreshing notion to say the least. One that pushes the boundaries of how and where design is applied.

Actually, this specific design philosophy deeply resonates with my own thoughts about design which has been a struggle because as a designer, I do question myself at times about where my efforts lead to: simply to contribute yet another product to the sea of commodities that are deemed obsolete the moment they hit the shelves? To promote a lifestyle where consumers are persuaded to believe that they need to buy something and replace an older one which could be working just as well? And all for what? To 'keep up with the trends' or be considered 'out of touch?' Therein lies the challenge of rethinking everything and do more than simply creating something superficial and short-lived.
[/rant]

By the way, if any of you are interested, you can find more about his book here and if you do happen to read it, I would certainly like to know what your afterthoughts were. I will come back to update once I myself have finished the book.

"Wow, People are Stupid"

How many times have you heard of people (ie: designers, marketers, developers, etc.) condescendingly utter "Wow, people are stupid" or other remarks to a similar effect when something that they've helped develop with all of its bells and whistles goes awry....and is lost upon the end users?

I can't remember how many times I've had this conversation within my own circle of friends - especially with one of my good friends who apart from being a proficient programmer, has related his own share of insightful encounters with his clients. Clients who take the liberty of presuming, overestimating the effectiveness of what they choose to deliver to their users without any solid backing, and completely discount considering any suggestions made by anyone else - even if they happen come from the very professional programmer they've hired, who should be noted as having extensive experience in developing interactive platforms. In many circumstances, the same self-assured clients come back shortly thereafter to request revisions once they receive frustration-filled feedback from their end users - the very ones which could have been avoided had they paused to consider the suggestions made earlier.

While this is not uncommon and there is not too much that is wrong apart from the presumptuous attitude that clients may project, the problem is that it doesn't end there. The problem is when they come back with revisions and pin the entire blame on the end users being incompetent. That is is where it really makes one raise an eyebrow - and with all due respect for clients along with client satisfaction- it begs the question:
"Honestly, is it really entirely the end user's fault?"

At what point does one ask themselves "If so many users are having a hard time using this - are they all stupid? Should I pause for a few moments and take a few steps back to re-evaluate what's going on to discover what elements are causing that disconnect to take place at all?"

Essentially what it boils down to is the client clearly has a "vision" in mind along with the presumption that their vision is what their end users will want, will use, and behave a certain way with. But then those end users do something unexpected which the client had not accounted for - leading to frustration on the end user's part along with the client who must now consider a revision. However, by no means does it make the end user stupid. Only that perhaps alternatives ought to be considered which will permit the client to assess and anticipate their end users better, and figure out how this information can be leveraged with their own vision.

Now say a developer sees this problem occurring, however, the authority to make those decisions lie with someone else. How does the developer then go about persuading their client to reconsider that approach in view of the potential consequences later down the line, especially if that client is not willing to acknowledge the developer's experience, potential consequences, or any of the case studies they've presented? Is 'let them learn the hard way' the only option left at that point? Does that not risk making it harder for the client to recapture that market share because the end user's perception of the client's product has now become tainted as being one that is frustrating to use?

Anyway, on a similar note, below are some interesting articles I recently visited that relate to the topic of clients, under/overestimating the user, and so forth. Some of them are old, but the message they carry was still relevant:

Call them Clients? No, They are Business Partners! by Design Sojourn

End Users Are Not Stupid... by Lee Drake

The Gnome Journal on End Users (old, but not only are the points still completely relevant, they bring up an exceptional point of why satisfying customers is a priority because a satisfied end user becomes a good advocate for the product/service. In other words, more $$$)

An older thread regarding Kodak, software downloads, and frustrated users which I found to be an interesting read

And as always, if there are any additional examples you think are relevant, please send them on over! :)

Optimizing Experience: How much is too much?

This much?

Products Without Social/Cultural Context = Epic Fail(ures)

I have been going back and forth about writing on this subject for the past few months but I couldn’t put it off anymore. Especially not after seeing examples where well-established, respectable companies wanting to capitalize on emerging markets by globalizing their products have made seemingly naive assumptions about users elsewhere in the world. The result? Products failed to sell in these different consumer markets due to the fact that the company's presumptions were sorely misplaced. The products were essentially out of context at a social and/or cultural level, therefore, inappropriately for the user markets they aimed to capture.

Sure, many of us would assume that larger corporations, with their vast experience and resources, would have sophisticated research techniques in place. R&D facilities within their subsidiaries would understand the local user's needs, translate them into areas of opportunities, and introduce products that not only address those needs but could easily be incorporated into their lifestyles. We would expect that someone may already have asked questions like "Is this product going to meet the needs of the consumers in Asia the same as it will meet the needs of the consumers in America? Yes? No? What are the differences and similarities?”

But just like in our assuming so, these companies too made a grave mistake in presuming that their products would sell just as well in new emerging markets just as they may have elsewhere. They assumed their products would sell like pancakes – but unfortunately, forgot to ask the simple question “Do my users even eat pancakes? More importantly – do they top them with maple syrup and whipped butter, and eat them using the same fork/knife utensils like users elsewhere do?”

While given the the fact that trying to "please everyone" can be suicidal, it should not be taken as a convenient excuse in failing to have a deeper understanding of the consumer market one is going to be introducing products to. Wouldn't a wiser approach then consist of sending out 'cultural probes' before deciding which features can be realistically incorporated, even if it is at an incremental level? At least then, instead of looking like a company that had been gravely misinformed or clueless, they can at least be able to state with conviction that they made an informed decision: "We were aware of X and Y, but due to Z, we deliberately chose to go this specific route and only incorporate features D and F into the product for the time being."

I'm interested in hearing thoughts that others would like to share regarding this matter. Below, there's a list of some examples along with their referenced articles and article highlights which may provide some ammo in jumpstarting the discussion.

Apple's iPhone, an Indian Flop, Prepares for China
by Mehul Srivastava in Businessweek
Apple, often considered a shining advocate for design and how it brings value in delivering a cool, edgy product that users love, too is guilty of having made the presumption that users elsewhere in the world would share the same enthusiasm – only to be proven wrong despite two years after its launch of iPhone in the Indian market and possibly again in China. Let's briefly go over a few points as to why this happened:

• Price Point: Three iPhones equals one car.
  "The iPhone is also priced far beyond the reach of even many middle-class Indian consumers. Even though iSuppli, the El Segundo (Calif.) market research company, estimates iPhones cost less than $175 to build, both Apple and Airtel stuck to the approximately $700 price for the phone in India, vs. $199 with a two-year AT&T (T) contract in the U.S. In India, then, three iPhones equal one Nano, the $2,000 car that Tata Motors (TTM) launched in India just two weeks ago. An Apple spokesperson in London, Bethan Lloyd, said in an e-mail that pricing and tariff issues are decided by local partners, not Apple. Apple declined to make executives available for an interview."
  


• Phone Plan: Prepaid/Pay as you Go vs. Contract.
  "For Airtel and Vodafone, subsidizing the phone has not been an option. The vast majority of Indian users have prepaid accounts, and even with the few regular contracts out there, high-end users generate just about $30 a month in call and data charges. Add to that the fact that the iPhone is easily unlocked and used on rival networks, and the carriers decided the AT&T model in the U.S. just wouldn't work in India. (In Europe, where iPhone sales have been lukewarm, many carriers reached the same conclusion.) "
  


• Competition & Pricing are simply the beginning. Indians just use their phones differently.
  "According to Sanjay Gupta, the chief marketing officer of Airtel's mobile business, Indians just use their phones differently. With spotty data coverage and slow download speeds on non-3G networks, the iPhone just doesn't dazzle the way it does in the U.S. Also, Indian customers like to forward text messages; Nearly 70% of them do that at least once a day, says Gupta. Until recently, the iPhone didn't allow users to do that. "It's a big functionality issue," says Gupta. 'The device is being judged as a phone, not as a data device.' "


• Local partners have different goals.
  "Another difficulty for Apple in India: Local partners don't necessarily have the same goal of selling lots of iPhones. Airtel, for instance, doesn't seem to mind that Indian consumers haven't embraced the gadget, since associating with Apple has helped the carrier in other ways, says Gupta. "For us, it allowed an association with iPhone as a brand," he says. 'And that's definitely made us happy.' "

With the points mentioned above, it is difficult to fathom whether Apple had asked themselves these questions before launching the iPhone and gone ahead with the launch anyway despite the consequences. Perhaps Apple wasn't arrogant in assuming that the momentum of hype the iPhone had gathered would be enough to push it into these emerging markets. Perhaps Apple deliberately took a more Microsoftesque approach where the product is released despite its shortcomings, feedback is gathered from users - both pleased and disappointed, lessons are learned, and then relevant modifications are integrated within future product generations as opposed to allotting money/time/resources beforehand and missing out on on capitalizing with the current version of the product altogether.


The Washing Machine that ate my Sari/Lungi
by Apala Chavan, Douglas Gorney, Beena Prabhu, Sarit Arora in Interactions Magazine
Whirlpool Corporation designed a single, stripped-down washing-machine platform for emerging markets. Dubbed the “World Washer,” it was launched in countries like Brazil, Mexico, China, and India with slight feature and cosmetic styling modifications to reflect local tastes of each market. Whirlpool was able to understand a few cultural elements such as in China, for instance, washing machines sat in the living room and were like a status symbol. Then despite having these cultural insights, why did the washing machine end up doing so well everywhere else but in India, especially South India? Only after noticing how abysmal the sales were in South India, Whirlpool dispatched a team to figure out what went wrong and here is what they learned:

• Re-labeling the “Delicate” cycle as “Sari Cycle” was not enough.
  "They finally realized what was going into the machines-traditional South Indian clothing such as lungis, dupattas, mundus, angavestrams… and, of course, saris. Little more than sheets of very fine cotton or silk, six to nine yards long, the garments were getting caught, entangled, and shredded in the millimeter-wide gap between the machine’s agitator and drum."


• Shooting one’s self in the foot with generalizations.
  "Because its designers did not broadly, deeply, and fundamentally understand specific target markets, the World Washer failed to live up to its name. The basic mistake Whirlpool made-in a variant of not understanding its target market-was to assume that needs are the same across emerging markets. The World Washer had been given a single, generalized, emerging-market reference point by designers with limited understanding and direct experience of the customs and modes of dress in South India. They did not ask the right questions of target users-if they talked to them at all. So critical details, like the thickness and dimensions of the clothes that would be washed, went unnoticed."
  


• A single millimeter changed an entire business model
  "That single millimeter forced Whirlpool to completely restructure their business model and abandon their joint venture, in addition to designing a new washing machine for India. It took the company years to recoup their losses and regain significant market share in the subcontinent."

Despite having region-specific cultural insights which were integrated into overall cosmetic styling and features, the actual effectiveness of those functions in context with what they would be washing clearly hadn’t been tested. The good news is that Whirlpool fared much better in the long run when it came to catering the needs of their region-specific consumers though it proved to be an uphill battle to recapture certain markets and for people to regain that trust within their brand. In fact, their incident prompted other multinational companies to literally go the distance in understanding their users at a deeper level for successful product-localization.


Additional Examples
A few additional examples of why culturally/socially-sound contexts are not just limited to product features, but permeates through to relevant price points that reflect the spending behaviors within emerging markets as opposed to mature developed markets.

• One India? No. Many Indias. (Markets & Submarkets)
  "While navigating the Scylla and Charybdis of design for more than one developing economy, designers also need to remember that segments within markets differ. Rama Bijapurkar, author of Winning in the Indian Market, has discussed that there are many Indias. “What confounds people about India is that everything you say about it, the opposite is also true. There are five-star hotels and abject poverty. That reality has forced corporations to reinvent their pricing-strategy formulas in emerging markets-and often to re-reinvent them. Newly affluent consumers in emerging markets are an attractive niche, but overall standards of living remain lower than in the West, gaps between the rich and the very poor notwithstanding. Even high-end shoppers have different spending behaviors than in developed markets. Marketers and product designers cannot ignore affordability.”


• Proctor & Gamble Diapers: Premium < Affordability.
  "When Procter & Gamble introduced disposable diapers into the Brazilian market, it went in with its top-end model, which failed to sell. Only after offering a less-sophisticated diaper, half the price of the top-end version, was the company able to grow the market."


• Good bye, Levi Strauss, we found cheaper jeans with similar/better quality.
  "With its booming economy and particularly price-sensitive market, India has taught some of the most prominent multinationals just how elusive the upper end of emerging markets can be. Levi Strauss brought its American jeans to India in 1995, not only designed but also priced as is-$65. They were considered exorbitant, especially compared with generic jeans that seemed to offer equivalent quality. After three miserable years of rampant counterfeiting and flat sales, Levi had to change its pricing and design strategy."


• Affordability without compromising on Product Quality or Performance Reliability.
  "Affordability is a double-edged sword, however. Lo barato sale caro, goes the saying in Latin America-”what is cheap ends up being expensive.” If not designed with sensitivity to the market, low-cost products may strike target users as low-quality compromises and detract from the company’s brand appeal. That appeal, regardless of price, is in the confidence it inspires. With limited incomes, “emerging consumers” are more cautious than their counterparts in the West; they would rather pay more for quality than risk product failure. The relative financial loss from an underperforming product would be far more serious."


• Tone down on the ‘Featuritis’
  "For users in emerging markets, streamlining or eliminating complex features, without reducing core quality, results in a more attractive and affordable product-particularly when features are added with careful consideration of the market context. ‘Getting the right product at the right price is the biggest challenge,’ says FutureBrands CEO Santosh Desai. ‘The usual approach is to strip the product of features until a semblance of affordability is attained. The trouble is that the emerging consumer, for whom every act of discretionary consumption is an act of sacrificing something essential, is looking to be seduced rather than patronized.’ For that reason, mobile phones loaded with games, music, and other extra features appealing to the U.S.A.’s youth-driven market have not succeeded in emerging markets. Feature creep, driven by the seemingly limitless appetite of developed markets for add-ons and customization, has no place in emerging market design."

Got any more examples that you think would be good to share? Please forward them on over!

'A Reason to Cry'-chief. (I crack myself up)

This was too awesome to not post. Taken from I New Idea.

Yes, these are actually sold for$28 a piece. $95 for custom stock cry-chiefs.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Kapow! :)

Market Research. So True.

Love is Blind

Well...now it literally can be thanks to the Anonymous Hugging Wall!

Sort of cute, in a hippy kinda way. All it is missing is the peace sign.

New Year, New Website, and a Recap on Lessons Learned

So I must say that the daunting task of having a website that I can be proud of has been finally accomplished!

The new current layout is contemporary, simple, intuitive, and best of all - functional and fast! That combined with the content management system up (thanks to an awesome programmer buddy who helped me out a TON by supporting the technical end), the framework has been laid to easily add and present my design work :) Yippee! Btw, comments and feedback are always appreciated so long as they are constructive!

This milestone forced me to look back on the progression from putting up my first design-related website in 2004/05 to now in early 2009, along with all the embarrassing yet essential mistakes made along the way and lessons learned which I will now narrate:

So my first design-related website was launched in 2004/2005 after our design instructors taught us the 'designer-who-is-clueless-about-how-to-launch-their-own-visually-appealling-design-website' friendly way of putting up our own website to feature our portfolios. That process they taught us consisted of starting out by making the visual layout of the website screens on Photoshop, placing guides over the areas which would separate the body and the buttons from one another, transferring it to ImageReady for splicing, followed by some Dreamweaver magic to layout and add links to the spliced image.

In all fairness, it was great as a crash course at the time that served its purpose. It was an easy way for a visual person to launch a website without having to undergo the complexities of understanding or writing code - and it certainly helped myself and many others grab our own domain names just in time, too.

A snapshot of my attempt back in 2004/05:


But over time, it became painfully obvious that:
a) The content would take a little while to load. Even at 72 DPI.
b) The loading process in of itself - image after image - wasn't pretty. At all.
c) Editing and maintaining the content was a hassle because the steps would have to be repeated each time. Yes. Imagine the tedious process of correcting a typo, should one have been overlooked - or even basic updating.
d) Chances were the website would not show up in search results because the content - even the text - was part of the image. This wasn't ideal because you would want yourself to be easily searchable and accessible unless you prefer to have your website be low-profile.

Shortly following my graduation in 2006, I again attempted to get my website up using this same technique. This is as far as I got:

A snapshot of my attempt back in 2006:


Unfortunately, after having landed my first post design schooll job a few months later, this project remained on the backburner until 2008 when I again had the opportunity to get my much neglected website back up. By now I had been involved on a few basic website-development related tasks but only to the extent of producing visual layouts and downloadable content (ie: PDFs). Moreover, being one who usually prefers to do their own dirty work, I wanted to learn how to get my website up myself so I could maintain it myself without having to rely on anyone else. After reviewing many tutorials, I realized that learning the languages is mandatory and picking up this necessary knowledge would require significantly more time - this meant that I would have to figure out a temporary solution, a shortcut so to speak simply to have something up in the meantime.

That solution ended up being a hybrid between the first technique taught in design school and what little tricks I had gathered to use Dreamweaver. I basically set the image as a background and overlaid it with a table filled with text content. For the more experienced programmer/web developer, this was "cute" but hey - it got something up for the meantime until I could teach myself more to optimize it! Given, I wasn't entirely satisfied with it for a few reasons - but it was one giant image that loaded at once and I allowed me to quickly edit/maintain the text content, too. The source code generated by Dreamweaver was nothing to be proud about, however, it sufficed for the time being and allowed it to come up in search results, too.


A snapshot of my website index in mid 2008:


A few lessons I learned here included:
a) The painful challenge of cross-browser compatibility. What looked great on Firefox didn't necessarily look all that great in Explorer and vice versa. Yes. THIS was a revelation to me. Surely an embarrassing indicator of my noob status.
b) The overall layout utilized a combination of colors and art deco-ish styles that I felt added a nice personal touch. Problem with this was that it didn't take very long for me to look at it with a more skeptical eye and realize a week later that it already began to seem obsolete to me. Oh the sorrow.
c) Due to my overall dissatisfaction - I could not spend that much time to upload too much content knowing that I wasn't going to be happy until I got something better, more lasting up where I quit worrying about the layout of the website itself and could finally focus on the content itself.

In Fall of 2008, I was listing the languages I needed and wanted to have under my belt so I could easily launch/maintain websites in the future but after a few insightful conversations from the more experienced programmers/web-developers, it became clear that it would not be wise for me to become a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none - which is what would end up happening if I was trying to learn things on the fly without devoting the appropriate time and focus required for it. With a growing and serious interest in UI for interactive media (ie: websites, applications, etc), I am sure that I will continue to work towards it. But for now, I should work with someone who knows what they're doing if I want something good. Following this realization, I worked in conjunction with my programmer buddy, resulting in a great website that looks awesome, functions great, is simple to maintain and I am extremely satisfied of.

What my website looks like currently in 09:


That and a handful of embarassing, yet insightful lessons along the way... :)