At SXSW Michael Lopp explains how Apple consistently churns out serious bad ass design.

Here is a summary of the summary I read:

Pixel Perfect Mockups
This, Lopp says, “removes all ambiguity.”
Of course this takes tons and tons of time, but it is totally a case of measure twice cut once.

10 to 3 to 1
Every feature has ten TOTALLY serious mockups. Not, "I am pretending this is a different mockup but it is really just a copy with a different look" - 10 completely compelling and good mockups. It is typical to throw some designs in there just to make your favorite one look good - but apple doesn't do that, he said. Afterwards they whittle it down to three and then find the one that works best from there.

Paired Design Meetings
Every week there are two meetings. One in which to as Lopp put it: to "go crazy" free from constraint and full of "I wishes." Then they also hold a production meeting, separately, which is all about whens and hows and logistics. Even enar the end of a project, when you would think all the "i wishes" were irrelvant, this seems a compelling way to think about potential features and ideas even while the current project has solidified.

Pony Meeting
This is where everyone gets to show ALL their ideas to managers. The managers always want to see lots of ideas and this is an opportunity for a Manager to identify something in someone's idea they hadn't been able to express previously.

As one commentor said (I paraphrase) "The secret here is probably that this process is so simple."

It is simple, but it is hard to do and even harder to do well.

Learn more here:
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/next/archives/2008/03/apples_design_p.html?link_position=link1

Labels: Apple, Design

I think it was pretty much a consensus that Apple's recent introduction of the MacBook Air was amazing and certainly generated the Christmas-like buzz we've come to expect from MacWorld Expo.

On a different note, Adobe just released their own AIR in much quieter fashion. AIR is a development tool for creating RIA's (rich Internet applications) that exploit existing technologies and run across operating systems.

I'm no developer by any means, let alone a coder. I have however been designing for the web since the mid-nineties, and every time I turn around, there is a brand new challenge to design to. When I saw a few examples of how this tool is being put to use already, I know I would simply love an opportunity to design for it.

Between the MacBook Air and Adobe AIR, I think this a fast forward glimpse at what the future holds for us in terms of hardware, software, and increasingly rich user experiences.

Labels: Adobe, Air, Apple

Fast Company has an intriguing look at the bottomline benefits of companies that focus on design. (The design dividend) According to this study, 65 design-focused British firms substantially outperformed the index over a period of 13 years.

Focused design throughout the enterprise clearly brings differentiation and customer-pleasing products to the forefront, but the articles about design in this issue of fast company also got me thinking about some other worthwhile areas of study:

• Design oriented firms are also research oriented - is there a correlation between the amount of research a firm does and its design savvy?
• We know that Design driven marketing agendas couple wonderfully with innovation driven companies such as IBM and Hewlett Packard - but is there an inverse correlation, where it would be possible to say (not causally) that where there are low design standards there are also low innovation standards?
• We know that corporate Design efforts fail if they are not holistic, menaing that every touchpoint for the consumer should be consistantly designed, honest and effective. But what does this mean for skunkworks, such as the Blackbird computer from HP, is it possible for compelling design to come from one division of a design-less company?
• "The simplest definition of design is how you treat your customer." -Yves Behar, founder, fuseproject. Customer Retention improves when design improves. Apple has proven it, now it is time for the rest of the corporate world to learn it. But what happens when a marketing strategy, in this case the price drop on the iphone, is such a slap in the face of a company's best customers? If design is how you treat your customers, then this Apple Iphone isn't designed very well.
  
  
  

Labels: Apple, Design, design dividend

As it turns out, according to Donald Gunn, the creative director at Leo Burnett advertising agency, there are 12 types of ads.

1. Demo. Example: Apple iPhone commercials
2. Show Need or Problem. Example: Those annoying Cingular ads where the voice drops out making what would have been a normal conversation terribly awkward.
3. Symbol, Analogy, Exaggeration. The product solves a problem. Example: Theraflu ogre ad.
4. Comparison. Example: Charles Schwab posterized ads.
5. Exemplary Story. Example: The VW commercials where the people in the car are just chatting it up and, then out of nowhere, boom! Crash.
6. Benefit Causes Story. Example: the Lynx ad. Probably the funnies ad of the lot, both for men and women – it's so far fetched. It's amazing what one can get away with in the name of comedy. Watch this one if nothing else.
7. Tell it. Example: UPS ad with man who needs a haircut drawing on a whiteboard.
8. On Going Characters and Celebrities. Example: Subway, Mercury, Geico, Energizer Bunny, etc.
9. Symbol, Analogy, Exaggeration. This time, instead of showing how the product solves a problem, the technique demonstrates a benefit of the product. Example: Starbucks, Metamucil, etc.
10. Associated User Imagery. This is all about connecting the product to the type of person the advertiser thinks would be using the product. Hoping for identification. Example: Nike.
11. Unique Personality Property. Example: Dyson Vacuums.
12. Parody of Borrowed Format. I love this format. Basically, make fun of something popular and then stick your logo at the end. Brilliant. Example: Reality TV – Geico.

That was fun, I am sure many of you enjoyed it as much as the next person. I can think of a couple of other types that were missed. Such as the ones that leave you hanging and puzzled with out a concrete message or a call to action. What are those called?

Anyway, what's the overlap between these formats and online advertising?

While we all know that there are many forms of online advertising, such as pay-per-lead, email, search engine keywords, adwords, etc – this next part only includes banner advertising.

Banner Advertising Classification:

1. Irritate the Hell Out of People by Making the Screen Shake. You’ve seen it. Mortgage companies love this tactic. Think right-hand column empire ads in Hotmail.
2. Whack-a-mole. Enough said. The point is to get people to click, right?
3. TV ad on the web. Very popular on sites like Yahoo! and Collegehumor.com. Literally, the ad space looks like a mini made-for-television ad.
4. Background Branding. Where the entire background of the website is leased out to an advertiser. If you want to check this out, go to Pandora.com and keep refreshing the screen until you see it.
5. Traditional. Simple typography, imagery, message, and call to action. An all time classic.
6. "Whoa, did you see that?" rich media. Very amazing, high impact ads that stay contained in their space until the user mousse over them – at which point, the ad "unfolds" on the page overtop the page's content, and a rich media experience is delivered. They are expensive to produce and expensive to run. But effective as hell.
7. Chameleon. The ads that look like content on the site. Trickery!
8. Buttons. These I don’t understand. The space is sold, and people click on them, otherwise they wouldn’t exist, right? Come on!

Ok, that’s all I have time for. I know I am missing some obvious ones, so please help me complete this list.

Labels: advertising, Apple, banner ads, iPhone, Online Advertising, Pandora, search engine optimization

The most compelling attribute about the iPhone is the touch screen and gestures that control it. Why? Because interfacing with this device is different, and some argue, more natural than other devises.

User experience and usability will continue to only see marginal improvements until onscreen interfaces can receive a different and more engaging form of input, as demonstrated by the iPhone.

As it turns out, the touch screen taping, dragging and gesturing are not all that unique or new. It’s known as “Surface Computing” which uses multi-touch and multi-users input and has been around since the 80’s.

This technology and interface is good for photos, videos, maps, etc… basically, anything that requires a simple command in order to do something, such as “play” or “pause”. More complex applications are sure to follow, especially in the military.

Microsoft has been working on something similar since 2001. However, their approach is more encompassing and integrated – it is its own software/hardware platform.

Microsoft Surface is a “me too” technology – for the most part, until you take into consideration the multi-device interface. Imagine putting your digital camera on the Microsoft Surface tabletop, and immediately seeing your pictures display on the screen. And then imagine dragging some pictures to your mobile phone – which you had also placed on the Microsoft Surface tabletop. No wires. Phones and cameras are just two of the devises that the Microsoft Surface tabletop will recognize… it will also recognize credit cards, music players, PDAs, etc.

I am really excited about all this because it allows for people to work together and simultaneously on the same computer, use fingers and gestures and all is done around a table – which has many positive socio-psychological attributes.

As with anything, it’s worth keeping an eye on any potential “gothas,” especially for the really young, really old, and those with low hand-eye coordination. Also, the gestures might be hard to learn – and maybe even frustrating.

Regardless, Microsoft Surface releases this winter. I want one.

Labels: Apple, iPhone, Microsoft, usability, user experience

In acknowledgment of the iPhone's release to the frenzied public, and since I am waiting until I can afford one the bugs get worked out, I decided to fire up my good old Newton before hooking up with Mario Armstrong for lunch the other day. I got some fresh AAA batteries and a new 2032 coin cell battery and resurrected the thing.

When we met up, I could tell he had that iPhone owner glow about him with his white earbuds cascading from his ears with pride. I said "Alright, let me see the thing." Then I reached into my backpack and unsheathed my relic of retro technology, and exclaimed "I can't get any calls on this thing at all!"

The funny thing is that I don't know which one of us was more impressed. As I toyed around with Google Maps, pinched photos, flipped through album art, and practiced the new art of typing on glass, Mario ooohhhed and ahhhhed over my Newton's grayscale display, rainbow logo, silly adding machine sound effects, and complete and total lack of connectivity ability to "beam" to another device.

While his little 8 gigabyte chunk of technolust was dwarfed by my circa 1992 8 megabyte behemoth, I couldn't help but wonder what the iPhone will look like 15 years from now, even if it is 5 years ahead of the rest of the phone industry.

Next up, I think I'm going to go searching for accessories for my first generation iPod at the Apple Store. Should be fun.

Labels: Apple, iPhone, Newton

I got a call last night from my buddy Mario Armstrong advising me that he was first in line and camping out for his iPhone at the AT&T/Cingular store in White Marsh, Maryland. I asked him... why not the Apple Store in Towson? Turns out, you can't "camp" in the mall. They're closing the store at 2:30 and reopening at 6:00pm sharp, so there was no way for him to guarantee pole position, and there's definitely going to be some element of crowd control needed there.

I was headed to the Apple Store anyway with a tech question, so I thought I'd check out the scene. There clearly was a buzz in the air. I could feel it. It was like all the people working there were bracing themselves, and the customers seemed like it was Christmas Eve.

So I got my question answered, talked to the manager for a couple minutes and got permission to shoot a couple photos outside the store. Once I got my camera out, another employee came out and started asking me if i was with "the press." Of course my answer was a definitive "yes" and I told him it was all cool with the manager, so I was in the clear.

When I got home, my wife informed me that Mario had been on the local news all day long. Story in the Baltimore Sun, WMAR, etc. I'm looking forward to hearing from him "first hand" how it really shapes up, and if it compares to all the hype that's surrounded its introduction. I'm just glad I'm not waiting in line in the rain right now.

(Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)
Jun 26, 2007

Labels: Apple, iPhone

There is no recipe for originality or authenticity, but there are some pointers on how to find it.

Bill Breen's great article for Fast Company hits on a number of smart points that are worth further commentary.

The essence of authenticity, he claims, are in the following points:

• A sense of place
• A strong point of view
• Serving a larger purpose
• Integrity
  

There is a unifying theme here: an authentic brand is not a brand that manufactures something that you didn't have before and then sells it to you. Instead a brand is authentic because it encourages the creation of authentic moments in its customers, it is the backdrop for your authentic experiences. Apple doesn't give you authentic injection molded plastic music players, it gives you a music player you can enjoy your favorite music on, a backdrop to the authentic enjoyment you receive.

This final quote helps explain this further:

"Sometimes even the most homogenized of places can evoke a flicker of authenticity. The morning after last fall's congressional elections, the newly elected senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, breakfasted at his usual spot, the International House of Pancakes in Union City. Menendez, formerly mayor of Union City, sat in his regular booth, ordered the same breakfast he always orders, and spent an hour catching up with longtime friends.

Few restaurants are more prefab than IHOP, yet there Menendez was, paying homage to a staff that knew his breakfast by heart and to patrons who've watched his kids grow up. On the surface, the Union City franchise is hardly authentic--it's similar to the IHOP in, say, Muncie, Indiana. But the friendships that Menendez has made there are certainly genuine. It's not that Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, BMW, Nike, or any other brand is really, really real. What's real are the experiences and the connections that the brands allow us to make--if they give us an honest chance."

A quick look at some authenticity plays from fast company.

Labels: Apple, authenticity, Branding, IHOP, marketing

It's been a long long time since I have seen this much hype surrounding an unknown announcement and this much expectation placed on rumor and speculation. With such a legacy of innovation to live up to, I personally was moved by yesterday's introductions of AppleTV and the iPhone. Keep in mind that this "legacy" is not to just a consumer group, but a cult-like following that has a personal connection to the tools they use, to the point of putting Apple stickers on the backs of their cars as if they (we) are highschool kids projecting and defining personality through association with a band, a surf/skate/snow brand, or a sports team.

I haven't even watched the keynote address yet, but I will. I read a play by play though and found that I too, was sitting on the edge of my seat.

In prepping to write this, I considered including a quote regarding "expectations".

I found the following...

Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

I read it and thought "That'll work." Then I looked at the attribution. Steve Jobs. I don't know if it was just ironic or a sign.

With so much buzz and technews coverage, the excitement heard in consumer response is widespread. However, there were more than a few responses that left me scratching my head...

"I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed with the iPhone. While it does seem crammed with features and is certainly visually attractive, I don't think that the smart phone aspect of it will take off."

He's probably right. Remind me to not include that guy on my team.

And...

"Aside from the somewhat excessive cost (though Jobs does have a point in that we seem to gladly pay as much for two to three separate devices), it does seem like the iPhone is everything hoped for, featurewise."

Excessive cost? I guess this guy doesn't remember the $800 Newton that although first of its kind, was widely panned for just not working. Or dropping $2500 on a Centris with a 500mb hard drive and "speech recognition."

Someone has to have vision. Someone has to be first. Someone has to have the nerve to innovate. There will also always be someone to doubt, find fault, or criticize and then take pleasure in failure. I'd bet too that if those same people read Steve's quote, they just really couldn't relate.

p.s. Just to be fair, upon additional reading and review during the day after, the New York Time's David Pogue did ask relevant and insightful questions while still giving it up to "the class, the looks and the effortlessness of [the] iPod"

"Note, too, that the software is still unfinished, and many questions are still unanswered. Will you be able to turn your own songs into ring tones? Will there be a voice recorder? Will the camera record video? Can you use Skype to make free Internet calls? Will the battery really last for five hours of talking, video and Web browsing (or 16 hours of audio playback)? Will you someday be able to buy songs and videos from the iTunes Store right on the phone?"

Labels: Apple, David Pogue, iPhone, New York Times, Steve Jobs

We were chatting today about Apple's amazing (and amazingly beautiful) new phone, and someone mentioned that it takes serious cojones to remake yourself from a computer company into an electronics company.

But it isn't as difficult a decision for Apple as some may think.

Sure you can look at it from the perspective of declining margins in the computer business, and you should also probably consider Job's eternal focus on hardware design as a main selling point for Apple, but there is a stronger argument for why Apple might shift its focus towards electronics.

Because the electronics out there on the shelves SUCKS. This is a total opportunity for Apple, every single Sony Sanyo Panasonic Motorola Palm Rim Casio Canon company out there should realize that Apple can really screw up their gravy-train with a release like the iphone in their market segment.

I can just see Rim and Palm shaking in their boots (as I write this at 5:00 on the 9th apple's stock has climbed 8% and RIM and PALM have plummeted an equal amount). We are looking at an array of electronics out there that is truly so horrible, that people will spend any amount for a device that just does what they want and isn't embarrassing when they pull it out of their pocket. The iPod has proven that.

So I though that while everyone is "ooohhhing" and "aaahhhing" over the iphone, I would show you the REAL reason why the iphone will do so well: because it has no competition. Because if you walk around best buy it is just depressing: nothing is exciting and nothing makes you WANT to have it.

Here are some electronics devices that are ugly and sick.


The new skype phone. Some have made fun of it, calling it the iClunk.




Designed by Boucheron, the Signature Cobra is made from a pear-cut diamond, a round white diamond, two emerald eyes and all of 439 horrifying rubies. Count 'em yourself if you are a glutton. The price tag is about what you would expect for class-A prime insanity: US $310,000. Well they do have a discounted diamond-only version running for $115,000, if you are trying to cut down on flamboyant frivolity.



Venmill industries has a cd dvd repair unit worth mentioning. It is by all accounts a terrifically useful wondrous device that restores scratched dvds and make life grand again. It should win the "totally spewingly ugly" award. It comes in other ugly colors too: http://www.venmill.com/products/skipaway.asp




Bushnell and XM radio team up to make this radio/gps/portable weather-center combo which is ugly as sin. Part of what I am reacting to here is the gaudy icons, but I am also in a state of deep existential WHY. Why was this built? Who is it for? What am I missing?


From industrial designer Jacob Jenson, a new smoke detector that isn't completely ugly and grimly functional like every other white plastic-grilled model out there - but it is TERRIFYING and reminds me of a Cylon from Battlestar Gallactica. Imagine this in the hallway outside of my little girl's room - I could tell her if she isn't good the smoke alarm will get her. Couldn't Apple release some sort of iHub that is WiFi AND checks the air for pollutants?




Citizen has released the uniquely stupid i:VIRT, a watch equipped with Bluetooth that DOES NOTHING except enabling you to connect to your mobile phone and reject or accept calls, and see who called you. You can't actually talk to anyone a la Dick Tracy, you understand, but at least you can see who you're about to talk to! Wow, all this and unappealing too! Apple should have a field day with watches!



These noise-canceling headphones from Koss are vaguely industrial-Matrix chic, but just totally fails the "but will my girlfriend wear them" test. The wonderful "rko" look they have does have a place, don't get me wrong, but it isn't on my head.




Wii Classic Controller vs. classic SNES controller
We all love the Wii, but the normal controller sure hasn’t gotten much prettier over the years. Wouldn't you love to see a seriously beautiful gaming machine that evokes the object lust everyone felt for the first imacs?

Some additional reading:

Apple products over the years:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/01/30-years-in-apple-products-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Seemingly stupid apple moves that have since been validated: http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/2006/10/26/seemingly-stupid-apple-moves-that-were-actually-brilliant/

Labels: Apple, Design, Industrial Design