I love that darn thing!
Founder and CEO of Altitude Inc., Brian Matt, says “emotion is the true essence of a product.” Some of Matt’s favorites include his Apple iPhone, BMW X5, and a cocktail no doubt formulated in a Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker.
Why do I sleep with my Apple iPhone eight inches from my face on the nightstand, put it on the table at every meeting, use it to surf the Web while at Starbucks, or check the weather in Tokyo, Sydney, and Boston while I ride in a taxi? I can’t stop and I don’t want to. I love that darn thing! Why does every social event grow into an opportunity to pull out my Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker? Have you ever tasted a blueberry-mango frozen curveball? No? Probably because I made it up. I love that darn thing!
Why do I use any excuse to drive my BMW X5?
“A meeting in Connecticut? Sure, I’ll drive the whole team. Honey, you need a new bottle of ‘Liquid Smoke?’ I’m on it. … Be back in 20. Maybe we should stock up on Empire Amber Microbrew. I’ll pop upstate to my sister’s house on Saturday and bring home a few cases.”
Crazy? I think not. It is the sanest thing I do. The whole family loves that darn thing!
Emotion is the true essence of a product. Without it, what is a product? A physio-mechanical representation that is just the same as everyone else’s. What are you compelled to purchase, use, love, and recommend to others? A nondescript blob of plastic wrapped around some circuit boards? Not in my world. I don’t love that stuff!
Let’s face it: being an innovator can be tough. Many forces are working against you. Corporate barriers pop up, the “guy upstairs” changes policy, budgets get tight, market forces change, and consumer values shift. It is a wonder that any breakthrough products happen at all. An idea is vulnerable, connected to the enormity of infrastructure, accurate risk assessment, availability of resources, technology compliance, and global acceptance of something new. Most public companies base their decisions on keeping quarterly stock prices up. For a stock analyst, a long-term window is about six months.
Every executive subscribes to the virtue of managing for the long term, but it can be difficult to discern “urgent” from “important.” Program leaders take their direction from these executives, and do not feel that they can look up long enough to see what is coming or where they are going. The focus on TODAY, with low risk and minimal investment, defines corporate America. Yet CEOs also expect revolutionary ideas that create “gotta-have” goods and services. I am reminded of Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.”
The one thing that exceptionally successful goods and services share is the emotional connection that consumers feel for them. I personally work hard to fall in love with at least four products per year. It is tough, but I’ve come up with two years’ worth (see Brian Matt’s Favorites). My choices are narrowing as the differences between consumer offerings blur, distinction being the casualty of over-emphasis on price competition. Corporate thinking needs to change. The insanity cycle needs to be broken. Important issues should be addressed, not just urgent ones.
|
Brian Matt’s favorites drive emotion through design
|
We live in a time and place where information can be accessed as fast as our fingers can type (or as fast as we can whip out an iPhone … I love that darn thing). The real key is knowing how to make this information relevant. As bestselling author Daniel Pink states, “We are truly in the Creative Age whereby right-brain thinkers have the best power to solve our most complex problems. They will be the most sought after in the corporate world.”
Traditional problem solvers often fall back on what they already know — the “tried and true” — making innovation only a happy accident. By contrast, designers are creative problem solvers. They are trained to think outside the normal thought paths, bringing together their own thoughts, broad thinking from others, observed behaviors, diverse trends, and design rationale. The best designers orchestrate complex issues into compelling, well-told stories. The end result: products that solve unmet needs with a high degree of relevancy. Consumers fall in love with these products. In the words of my colleague, Gregor Mittersinker, “Why spend so much energy solving problems if the consumers aren’t going to embrace it?”
OK, let’s assume that design thinking prevails. How does emotion enter the picture? How do market leaders keep producing products that consumers adore and covet? The process begins with two primary drivers:
1) A deep understanding of target consumers acquired through emersion, observation, and dialogue to uncover true unmet needs; and
2) Cracking the secret code of the emotional construct that connects a product to a specific brand for a believable and engaging proposition. Will the market eagerly accept an Apple chainsaw? Will the world really embrace a FedEx cupcake? Ha!
Just like the development team at Altitude, the process should frame all relevant and actionable equities stemming from these two drivers in design briefs — scenario-based concepts that are depicted verbally, visually, and emotionally using any number of tools such as annotated sketching, mock videos, visual mapping, and sock puppets. They should lack specific details such as component configuration, material finishes, and appearance, but illustrate uniqueness, consumer relevance, desired features, and manifestation of the brand. In short, they have identified critical opportunities for reaching the consumer. Exploring these opportunities alongside the usual constraints like choosing practical technologies, cost of goods, manufacturing expertise, environmental responsibility, channel conditions, prevailing market forces, and functional utility can make for some difficult navigation.
Getting the balance right is the difference between good design and great design. It’s what we strive for at Altitude, and I think we often achieve it. In the words of one of our long-time clients, Augie Picozza, director of product development at Jarden Consumer Solutions (mother company of brands like Sunbeam, Oster, Mr. Coffee, and Bionaire), “Altitude-designed products create business successes … they are must-haves that prove to be sell-throughs.”
Purchasing “must-have” products is 90% emotionally driven. If the pricing field is level, technologies are basically similar, and the brands are perceived equal, what is left to compete with? It is design value. I say it is design driven through emotion.
*Note: Entirely written on my Apple iPhone while sitting in my BMW X5, sipping a fresh blueberry-mango-frozen-curveball … not in motion of course. I love those darn things!
Want more information? Click below.
Altitude Inc.
|
Makin’ Mr. Coffee cool all over again Altitude designs 35th anniversary java brewer  Created in 1972, Mr. Coffee was the first-ever automatic drip coffeemaker. Today, the brand is one of the most highly recognized in the home. Altitude Inc., a leading product innovation firm, was recently commissioned to design the Mr. Coffee MRX35 Classic Edition Automatic Drip Coffeemaker to celebrate 35 years of the Mr. Coffee brand. The new 12-cup special edition was developed by Altitude to modernize the classic icon by featuring better functionality, improved ergonomics, and updated finishes. Coffeemakers have become a de facto appliance on any kitchen countertop. Brew stations increasingly reflect the personas of their users. Altitude conducted extensive research to determine the most appropriate design elements for its update. Form factor, gesture, character, and material finish drive the emotion toward this everyday product. “This will become the New Classic and be cool for another generation,” says Altitude founder & CEO Brian Matt To date, most coffeemaker platforms are deeper than they are wide. By altering this format, Altitude developed this Classic Edition to reflect the original Mr. Coffee units. Additionally, the bold use of metal trim pieces and backsplash harkens back to the Mr. Coffee units of the Joe DiMaggio era. But reinterpreted forms and finishes are distinctly modern. Altitude incorporated such details as the perforated backsplash, textured silicone mats, stainless steel wraps, wood logo inlays, and ambient backlighting, adding both textured layers and deep differentiation. Other unique features include programmable start, brew strength, cleaning cycle, and water temperature control. And all for a retail price of $79.99. “Basically, Altitude took a sedate, ordinary product that was indistinguishable from its competitors and turned it into an exciting, endearing item that is literally flying off the shelves. It’s quite a following,” says Mr. Coffee’s Augusto Picozza, director of industrial design at Jarden Consumer Solutions. |
© Nelson Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved