Of Mice & Men

picture this..

you see an ad. in the newspaper.. or get a coupon from a reputed sports brand with a "flat 40% discount" only to later discover the fine print (with half a dozen terms & conditions which makes the original bargain ineffective). you feel cheated even before you walk into the store... the marketer is happy that he designed a clever mouse trap. the prospect is just hoping he can still salvage a deal and try not to get screwed.

The problem begins when, as a marketer, you stretch the truth.. when you break the rules of the game. its not that complex from a customers POV.. all the while s/he is thinking..

"ok, you got my attention,
you promised me its going to be a good deal,
im curious.. i want this!
what? i thought you said...
hell.. that's just cheating.
i've had enough of you!"

as marketers, we over complicate the simple stuff.. we over analyze the facts, we're infatuated with what the competition is doing and are misguided by short term traffic drivers/volume builders.. once this happens, we start taking liberties with our customers. that's where the cracks begin to show up.. there is no trust. price & discounts become the only currency.. brand loyalty is an illusion in the marketer's head. its hard to figure out why most brands still opt for well crafted (read deceitful) copy when honesty is such an under-leveraged principal.

the problem with mouse traps is that even when successful they're meant for mice, not men.

the truth is - honesty always works*

*conditions apply

The World's Biggest Fan

Financial Meltdown. War in Gaza. Terror strikes in Mumbai. Poisoned babies in China. Fraudsters and Ponzi schemes. Some lost fortunes.. some families.

and then this..



what a context to build your story around..

gracebatmonkey said:
"I wish it were longer.
What a weird thing to want in an ad."

or as ForsakenSoul14 wonders:
"Is there a way to replay this song over and over again for the rest of my life?"

there are 10137 total comments on the youtube video so far.. wow!

simplicity weaved into beauty... it never gets old huh?

The hope-and-change index

via Economist.com - "BARACK OBAMA is fond of hope and change. By one tally, he said “hope” nearly 450 times in speeches delivered on the campaign trail. (By contrast, his rival John McCain only used the word 175 times.)"

wonder if co-relation was causation in this case.. hmmm.

also, see the graph above, for most election years hope seems to do the trick but Clinton seems to have used change quite effectively. ;)

she can't draw... so she doodles

How to take an consumer product idea to a prototype phase?

a question on linkedin by Stacy Zhao -

"How to take an consumer product idea to a prototype phase?
- I have an idea for a consumer product that I am looking to create a prototype of, but I do not have any experience in this space nor do I have any immediate connections who can help me. What steps can I take to find a professional to help me refine my idea and/or create a model or prototype of the product? How much of the process should I try to tackle myself? Thanks for any insights."

my answer:

"Stacy,

there are several professional design firms / individuals that can help you transform your idea into a complete product. best in class are one's like Ideo / Frog Design / Yves Bahar but they choose their clients. i'd try and answer the second part of your question - "how much of the process should i try and tackle myself"

the problem with most consumer products is that everyone has an opinion of what it should be like. specially at the early stages. most new ideas are not born out of high technology but are more of a subtle reconfiguration of the elements that make the product unique. this uniqueness is already well articulated, crisp and crystallized in your head. you know why it will matter to the user and this is your biggest contribution.

hence, before going to a professional it is important to articulate your product - some aspects of the product may be absolutely critical to you (e.g. it should fit into your pocket, or it should be lighter than a notebook) and you should stand by them no matter what.

your original idea will definitely evolve as you go through the phases of prototyping through manufacturing for large volume and it is good to be open and aware of how the slightest change in product configuration will have an overall market impact. sometimes overzealous designers try and "innovate" and you're often left with a diluted version of your original idea. on the other hand good designers will try to re-work the entire process, materials, manufacturing partners and everything if s/he is sold on your vision. i'd recommend you to be closely involved with the process of translating your product vision into a finished product and stay as hands on as possible."

high art.. low tech.

i've always believed that great products are not necessarily born out of high technology. they're a factor of creative thought. it's a frame of mind which allows you to obsess as much on the color of the product as on the choice of processor.(i know a lot of people think this is stupid, but i can't explain it any other way - it comes with the package).

some of the most notable consumer tech. products in the last 3 years were - the iphone, the olpc-XO, the nintendo wii and none of them broke new ground in terms of technology. In the crudest terms, all these products were configured with the right features based on existing technologies. of course, the trick is to figure out what constitutes "right".

i was just reading through a post in ars technica on the Wii - "Even though the Wii is the most advanced motion-controlled gaming console ever released, the technology inside the remote is surprisingly basic and already dated." Of course, the Wii blew away the PS3 and the XBox360 and is a cultural phenomenon that an entire generation of kids and their grannys' are growing up on..

reminds me of Alan Kay's - "Appreciate mundanity: after all, a pencil is high technology".

Heatmaps

This is a heatmap based on wifi signal strength.. "the tool allocates a 2D grid that overlaps the geographical sample area, working out the average signal strength based on nearby sample points."

the beauty about heat maps is that they hold a lot of information in a single frame. Hemang's been creating a heat map for mapping shopper movement, dwell times etc. for retail stores. instead of going through heaps of analytical data in the form of excel sheets, a heat map is a simple visual tool which can be used across a retail organization - right from category managers to operations, marketing and even store employees to understand the impact of store layout and merchandising.

of course, when one starts co-relating the hot and cold zones in a store with the shopper demographics (through a loyalty card) and their buying preferences (through purchase history databases) the heat map can turn into a retail gold mine..

discovered kafka while waiting for a friend at a bookstore..
- "a cage went in search of a bird" - caustic, strange, thought provoking, idealistic, biased, and totally addictive.

and it was the cover which caught my eye..
that's Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

What makes a happy product?

A great question on linkedin by Karen Vu
One simple happy question: How do you make a 'happy' product ?

my answer: maybe it's fuzziness.. quirkiness.. asymmetry.. simplicity.?. an unexpected response to a stimuli.. fragrance.. color.. taste.. sound. temperature? lack there of?music? a clean slate? dark chocolate? vermillion? white? stars? fading light? is it R2D2? i dont know? deviant is a prerequisite.. triggers of memory.. metaphors that take you to another world. that make you fall in love. that bring inanimate objects to life.

humanity in unexpected places/things.. makes a happy product.

fun@proto

Last week was crazy.. we presented our first product to a large audience at IIT Delhi..were blown away by the response. here are a few views:

twittering away
mayankgupta Blink! founder says he'll change the way we shop!!!! Holy crap another
ecommerce site!!! BOO!!! 01:00 PM July 19, 2008 from TweetDeck

mayankgupta my god! I was wrong! it's something physical! 01:01 PM July 19, 2008 from TweetDeck

mayankgupta HOLY! CRAP THIS LOOKS HOT!!! Blink will really change the shopping experience....very very unlike india! 01:02 PM July 19, 2008 from TweetDeck

mayankgupta #proto4 - Blink has got touch screen like iPhone..the same scroll effect ! Awesome stuff 01:04 PM July 19, 2008 from TweetDeck

mayankgupta @aDeSe Blink is too hot...the best thing Ive seen at proto...what say ?? 01:06 PM July 19, 2008 from TweetDeck in reply to aDeSe

;)

a few links..

A Slideshare Presentation
Top 5 Presentations - AurusIT Blog
HT Mint on Proto
VC Circle - Rahul Khanna's view on Startups
Siddharth's blog
delhi was fun.. looks like a crazy month ahead..

few more pics from flickr

the presentation..


questions from the audience..


one for the poster..

blink@proto

yes. we missed it last time due to conflicting dates, but we'll be there later this week at Proto'08 at IIT Delhi.. Accompanying me will be my team mates Sawan & Hemang and our very first product - the intelligent shopping cart.

See you at Proto.

ProjectOffguard is.. well.. off guard.

Mithun's been working at creating a content platform for sometime now and it promises to be "a place where you can get your mix of content-media-whatchamacallit with minimal effort and watch it morph as per your reading-viewing-listening habits. It works like easy magic."

sound's fun.. look forward to the beta. :)

Alan Kay Talk - 1982

omg! these are actual notes written by Andy Hertzfeld (don't bother if you don't know) from a Alan Kay talk he attended in 1982. it's a gold mine..

Alan Kay's talk at Creative Think seminar, July 20, 1982

Outline of talk: Metaphors, Magnetic Fields, Snobbery and Slogans

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Humans like fantasy and sharing:
Fantasy fulfills a need for a simpler, more controllable world.

Sharing is important - we're all communication junkies. We have an incredible bandwidth disparity (easy to take in, hard to give out); our devices have the reciprocal disparity (hard to take in, easy to give out)

Metaphors:
Computer as medium (like clay or paint)
Computer as vehicle
Computer as musical instrument

Magnetic Fields:
Find a central metaphor that's so good that everything aligns to it. Design meetings are no longer necessary, it designs itself. The metaphor should be crisp and fun.

Smalltalk is object-oriented, but it should have been message oriented.

Snobbery:
Turn up your nose at good ideas. You must work on great ideas, not good ones.

Appreciate mundanity: after all, a pencil is high technology

One goal: the computer disappears into the environment

The computer shouldn't act like it knows everything.

The whole notion of 'programming language' is wrong.

Slogans:
Better is the enemy of best
Relative judgements have no place in art
Systems programmers are high priests of a low cult
Point of view is worth 80 IQ points
Good ideas don't often scale

Remember, it's all software, it just depends on when you crystallize it.

People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.

Final advice: content over form, go for fun."

American Inflation Graphic

interesting to see prices of apparel, computers, phones, tv, toys, sports equipment, new cars & fresh vegetables not rising..
via nytimes

The Perfect Fit - Interactive Store Concept

above: the Adidas Mi Innovation Center

"This 70-square-meter "multisensory" installation-cum-retail-store allows consumers to test Adidas' (ADSG.DE) high-end products and services. A user's foot can be scanned while walking an LED-filled catwalk. Data is then transferred via infrared light to a PC, and an appropriate shoe can be instantly configured using an online interface. This in-store concept, which combines modern technology and ergonomics with customers' individual requirements, won in the interactive media category."

discovered via businessweek

Just around the corner - Retail Innovations

Just scanned through the TNS RetailForward report on retail tech. a few thoughts..

As we go about exploring different applications I believe that the right application will be a customer interface which allows the customer to make a better/quicker decision that ultimately lead to up-selling / cross-selling opportunities for brands & retailers.

More importantly, it is imperative for us to understand these interfaces are currently "nice to have" and will become "must haves" only after putting it to actual use. Once people get a taste of such seductive interfaces they'd be hooked. This approach to user experience along with results based on data-mining will make it hard for brands to ignore the medium.

I belong to the school of thought which believes that people don't know what they want unless you show it to them. I think the timing is just right for the entire space to take off in a big way in about 2-3 years time.

Anyhow.. here's the list:

1. Biometric Fingerprint Payment
A shopper can pay for purchases by placing his/her finger on a sensor that reads the fingerprint, linking it to the shopper’s bank account or credit card to record the purchase.

2. Interactive Dressing Room Help
Using a digital touch screen, a shopper in the dressing room can communicate with sales personnel—without having to return to the sales fl oor to search for help.

3. Smart Carts
A smart cart incorporates interactive technology via a video screen on the front of the shopping cart, enabling customers to locate products, access shopping lists, check prices, receive promotions and coupons, and scan purchases. The technology also can provide retailers and suppliers with rich data on the shopping trip.

4. 3D Body Scanning
A scan of a shopper’s body will be used to make recommendations about the brands and specific clothes most likely to fit well, or to help fit custom-made clothes.

5. Collaborative Product Development Websites
Product developers will encourage consumers to post ideas and answer surveys online
about new products and how existing products can be improved.

6. Group Buying by Consumers
Shoppers join online collaborative shopping communities to aggregate their buying power with other shoppers.

7. Networked Shopping
Networked devices in the home—such as refrigerators—will monitor what products
consumers use, create shopping lists and communicate with other devices to arrange
deliveries.

8. Interactive Dressing Room Mirror
It looks like any other mirror but is actually a high-resolution digital screen with a camera that can relay live video and project holographic images of clothing items so customers can see how they will look in an outfit without trying it on.

9. Shopping by Mobile Phone
Shoppers will use mobile devices to place orders and arrange delivery from remote locations.

10. Holographic Sales Assistant
Shoppers will interact with an in-store hologram that can answer questions and facilitate merchandise transactions.

11. Shopping ‘Social Network’ Websites
Shoppers share information about the hottest stores, designers, trends and must-have products—all online. Retailers and suppliers will be able to monitor social networking sites to find out what consumers want and take early action to develop and stock those products.

12. Sales and Product Information via Mobile Phone (Based on Location)
Shoppers will opt-in to networks that send them text messages about sales, products and retailers that are relevant to the shopper’s current location.

via TNS RetailForward

Coffee Cups & Information Architecture

Discovered via Infosthetics . It allows you to add just the right amount of cream by matching the color of the liquid mixture. :)

Negotiating with Wal-Mart - HBS Casestudy

"Sarah Talley was 19 in 1997, when she first began negotiations to supply Wal-Mart with her family farm's pumpkins and watermelons". That's a case study on how suppliers / vendors live in a wal-mart world. Sarah enlists some of her basic negotiating principles - my favorite takeaway - "Do not let Wal-Mart become more than 20 percent of your company's business. It's hard to negotiate with a company that controls yours."

That brings me to another interesting story about Vlasic's pickles - whose fortunes changed when they started shipping to wal-mart. to quote from the fastcompany article "The pickle maker had spent decades convincing customers that they should pay a premium for its brand. Now Wal-Mart was practically giving them away. And the fevered buying spree that resulted distorted every aspect of Vlasic's operations, from farm field to factory to financial statement."

Vlasic went bankrupt. This not to say that companies dealing with these big boys of retail are likely to that way.. but it's hard to stay on top of a deal when you are a commodity. after all "a pickle is a pickle is a pickle."

The extent of the large retailers' control over the process cannot be undermined.. "It also is not unheard of for Wal-Mart to demand to examine the private financial records of a supplier, and to insist that its margins are too high and must be cut."

I don't think bending over backwards to please a goliath is workable strategy. It is easy to convince oneself that the loss in margins will be made up in volume. You can't negotiate with them on their terms, you've got to have something thats not easily replacable, not easily commoditized to make a sustainable deal. either ways, it's a tough line to walk. i believe that if you treat your product like a commodity - you're treating you're customers like commodities - and that's always a race to the bottom. getting it cheaper has never been my play. i'd like to create things that people will fall in love with. where the retailer is mere broker between the creator and the user. that would be a different ball game altogether ;)

cartoon via gapingvoid.com

Insights on Product Design

I love the NYtimes.. they have this canny sense of picking up distant signals that point to a megatrend. a recent article
shows us the world view of a Nokia anthropologist, who scours the world for ideas and inspirations that drive product design at Nokia. It's an insightful piece on how the cell phone is tranforming lives and what really impressed me was the richness of the research that Jan Chipcase had gathered through his travels across continents. words, objects, pictures, places, people, faith, sounds, smells, nothing escapes Chipcase.

Here's a glimpse..

| View | Upload your own

More on adoption of new tech.

"The problem is that it's not particularly clear at what point a disruptive innovation becomes a utility. As innovators it's important that we recognize that this point will arrive and prepare for it. I believe that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the technologies we create, and to take responsibility for protecting people who come to rely on those technologies to live their daily lives. When we fail to do that, we may find ourselves being cast as either fools or villains who must be regulated and controlled."

from the O'Reilly blog