Sephora + Pantone = Cool?

Billed as a "breakthrough partnership" between two giants in the world of color trends, Sephora and Pantone have launched an exclusive color of the year campaign. Pantone's marketing of color trends is undeniably sexy, down to the name for the color of the year: Tangerine Tango.

Are average consumers familiar enough with Pantone's brand for the collaboration to matter? It may not matter, because so far the marketing strategies and visuals are compelling and cool. Passerby may wonder what the heck a "pantone" is, but in the end all they made need is the juicy colors and assurance that these colors are exclusive to buy in.

 Promotion for the collaboration includes an undeniably cool pop-up shop(featuring pantone's trademark color palettes in super scale), which was just in Chelsea in March, and can be viewed at The Grove in LA from April 18-22.

Steve Jobs, Product Design,and Me

Yesterday's news was a bummer. I can't help feeling that with the loss of Steve Jobs presence, Product Design is changing irrevocably - our leader has left the building. For years now, much of traditional product design in the US has been slipping away, small parcels sneaking off to China, India, and beyond until what remains is a shadow of the former glory. Manufacturing exited the building first, quickly, soon taking engineering with it. Now, overseas factories provide modeling and tooling, promoting their own products to clients who used to pay for American design.

Nearly every client I've ever worked with has expressed their desire to emulate Apple, to be a leader in their industry, to be like Steve. Honestly, few have had the dedication and guts to risk long-term research and investments the way Steve Jobs did. But his standard still pushed everyone to do a little more. He made me more diligent. He made us all feel like everything is possible.

I hope that Steve Jobs pulls off another miracle, hits yet another grand slam, and surprises us all by debuting another astounding, design-minded company in a few years. I still hope to meet the man some day. But for now, take a listen to his Commencement speech at Stanford, it's classic Steve Jobs.

The Things Users Won't Tell You

Let's cut right to the chase - companies want to know what you want to buy. They really, really want to know. They email you surveys, they print feedback sweepstakes on your receipts, and they pay market researchers a LOTTA money to tell them what you want. And you tell them! You're genuinely thrilled to let them know what you're thinking! You want them to know what you want to buy too!

So what's the problem with all of that? Why does it seem so hard to find exactly what you want on the shelf? Because, honestly, you can't tell them what you want. And they're pretty silly to keep asking! For the average user the majority of any experience doesn't register in the conscious mind. The subconscious processes much of what we see, hear, touch and smell - and only the highlights are big enough to catch our full attention.
What companies could really use is insight into unarticulated needs. These are the things you won't tell them, but you'll recognize instantly when your attention is drawn to it. Take the photo above for example. When surveyed, the owner of this refrigerator was asked "can you store wine in your refrigerator" and responded "yes" with no qualifications. Upon direct observation of the user's fridge, it was obvious that wine bottle storage was not being adequately addressed.

The user isn't going to tell you what they need, but it's right there waiting to be observed through ethnographic documentation. Traditionally, ethnography demands a rigorous period of immersion into a culture for observation. The same principles can be applied to observation research on a smaller scale. Forget the focus groups. Forget the surveys. Take the plunge and get right inside the user's world - the answers are there waiting for you.

How do you Start from Scratch?

The conversation tends to go like this:

Me: I'm in product development
You: Really? I have this great idea I always wanted to make, let me tell you about it.
I listen to the idea, then you ask: So how much would it cost? You know, to make it?
I describe many caveats and exceptions, but eventually I have to name a number, and your face falls.

The reality is that making something new isn't easy, and it sure isn't cheap. So how do you start from scratch? How do you know if it's worth the risk? This is an area where research meets design to generate a strategic plan. The development process relies on identifying a quantifiable market opportunity - there must be money to be made in the first place. The process equally relies on understanding your users to the degree that you can spot these opportunities, harvest sufficient insights, and produce a desirable solution to a user need.

I recently embarked on this journey for the first time with a true start-up entrepreneur. Over the years I've heard a thousand great ideas, but this was the first one that had the opportunity, insight, and solution to potentially make it. Visit Goat Gear to learn more about the product you're seeing below.

Heinz + Chick-Fil-A = Smart Ketchup

When touring North Carolina I have certain items on my must-eat-list: pork bbq, Bojangles, Cook Out shakes, and Chick-Fil-A. Acquired the Chick-Fil-A yesterday, and it was delicious as usual - and accompanied by a truly nifty ketchup packet from Heinz. Practical, intuitive - the only complaint I have is that I missed the free waffle fry day at Chick-Fil-A that accompanied the product launch in March.

Apple Patents a Stylus for iPad

For those of us who love a pen on paper, the iPad is going to get a little more attractive. Apple has filed a patent for a stylus that includes an accelerometer, to pick up all the nuances of putting pen to pad. Interestingly, while Jobs has repeatedly dismissed the idea of a stylus in the past, Gates has advocated for the idea for some time:

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, made this observation last year when he said students needed a pen to be able to interact with a tablet in a school setting. Mr. Gates said the iPad was good for reading, but not necessarily for creating.

I have to say I agree with him. Looking forward to trying it out one day!

AT&Who? Verizon Hits the Ground Running with iPhone

What's the biggest reason most users report for not owning an iPhone? Having AT&T as their service provider. Well, that's all over. And for me, this is all happening in the family - my husband's responsible for the Verizon commercials currently barraging you with this info. My brother in law will be selling hundreds of the phones to you.

And already, yesterday the iPhone broke Verizon's 24hr sales record in 2 HOURS. That's just the presale folks!! There's nothing new about the phone - no new software, new hardware, in reality it's an 8 month old phone. There's nothing new about this iPhone - except the service. Just goes to show, it's not only what you make but how you sell it that counts! Strategic launch partners and distribution should be a page on your brainstorming wall from Day One.

ReUse? Yes, Please!

For awhile I was a recycling zealot. I really gave people a hard time when I couldn't find a recycling bin at their home. But the more I learned about recycling and it's limitations - only certain materials, only in certain amounts, and often while expending more energy than it takes to create new materials - I opened my eyes to the greater picture.

All of your stuff matters. Not just the stuff in the recycling bin. Think about owning something forever before you buy it - think about your trash can disappearing forever. If there's no trash, you have a lot more stuff than you thought! So, buy less, and what you do buy, plan to keep in your life.

ReUse is the more efficient, overachieving cousin of ReCycle. Think about objects as transitional tools - what holds your flatware one day may organize your garage tools a few years down the road, and end up housing seedlings or sorting sand in the sandbox. Check out MadLab, featured in this article, a local-to-me shop that produces beautiful examples of ReUse in MontClair, NJ.

After China, Where to?

This may not be news to companies already migrating out of China, but the momentum of change seems to be picking up...

Where once low-tech factories and scant wages were welcomed in a China eager to escape isolation and poverty, workers are now demanding a bigger share of the profits. The government, meanwhile, is pushing foreign companies to make investments in areas it believes will create greater wealth for China, like high technology.

Many companies are striving to stay profitable by shifting factories to cheaper areas farther inland or to other developing countries, and a few are even resuming production in the West.

"China is going to go through a very dramatic period. The big companies are starting to exit. We all see the writing on the wall," said Rick Goodwin, a China trade veteran of 22 years, whose company links foreign buyers with Chinese suppliers.

"I have 15 major clients. My job is to give the best advice I can give. I tell it like it is. I tell them, put your helmet on, it's going to get ugly," said Goodwin, who says dissatisfied workers and hard-to-predict exchange rates are his top worries.

Read the full article here, and consider that if the mainstream media is talking about the end of cheap China, the time was yesterday to look for newly affordable options Stateside.

Kenmore follows Chevy

Remember when Chevy said they'd launch 10 new cars in 20 months and everyone was amazed when they did it? They reaped the rewards too with double the web traffic, 98% dealer participation and a huge jump in sales. Kenmore is hoping to achieve the same thing - only they're launching 450 new products in 2010.

Granted, most corporations of their size can and do launch hundreds of new products each year, but Kenmore isn't just branching into new markets. They seem to be launching a top-to-bottom rebrand, with every product tweaked at least a little. Some products even seem to be new thinking - I'm super excited to start seeing some reviews on the Dishwashers, Clothes Washers and Dryers. They seem to offer some new features that required some new tools and assembly lines - a huge commitment on Kenmore's production scale.

Marketwatch covers the story in lots of detail, and though it does mentions "clean modern style" about a hundred times, there seems to be some good thinking here. Hopefully there are a bunch of American designers who finally got their hands on these products that have such a huge impact on day to day life - maybe they'll snatch the ball out everyone else's hands, much like Chevy did with the American Revolution, the 7th most recalled car campaign ever.

Dominos Fesses Up...

...and I LOVE it! They're admitting their old pizza was crap so that you'll give the new stuff a chance.

Check out the full article here, but this quote pretty much sums it all up:

"The old days of trying to spin things simply doesn't work anymore," President Patrick Doyle, who will become CEO in March, told The Associated Press in an interview. "Great brands going forward are going to have a level of honesty and transparency that hasn't been seen before."

Please, let this succeed and educate the other American companies who are still looking to squeeze margins and pull fast ones on customers in order to save their bottom lines.

"Momtrepreneurs" a Sign of the Times

Cottage industries are popping up all around us as the unemployment rate continues to increase. Many, many people are asking themselves that question we all face at one point or another, "what do I really want to do?"

The answer for many of us involves bringing something new into the world, rather than answering to someone else's beck and call. Putting something new into the world takes guts, determination, some financial risk and a lot of faith. But don't let that discourage you, because lots of people are doing it right now and finding tremendous success. Remember, if you have a need chances are many other people share it with you....and they're just waiting for you to solve their problems for them.

A great example, from a self-described "momtrepreneur" is the Bath Luve line of baby bath products - specifically the original Luve washcloths designed to cover and warm a baby while in the bath. A simple, intuitive and easy to produce item that connects with parents in an instant at retail - a great strategy for a startup. This mom took advantage of her experience as a consumer and it will most likely translate into success, unlike companies who enter markets with which they have no real connection. A lesson for the future of business = be true to your passions, for only then will you offer consumers a product that connects with theirs!

Christmas Time is Here Again!

Analysts are on the fence about predictions for this year's Christmas season. I'm going to hang with the optimists here and predict a small to moderate amount of growth over last year's numbers. We may even read the terms "surprisingly strong" in reference to Black Friday's numbers. Waiting with baited breath!!

What's hot this year? Check out Zhu Zhu pets, a toy line specifically designed for today's economic climate with every item under $20! Frankly, it's a great line. It's personal, economical, modifiable, and creates a self-contained play universe. Very well done. I apologize for the music, but check them out here:

Lesson 03: Sorting Ideas

You've done your research, and now you have a big pile of photos and notes to sort through. You've had a thousand ideas and done a good job documenting them - taking digital pics and jotting down notes as you went...now what?

Step 1: Physically represent each and every little idea INDIVIDUALLY. transfer notes to individual notecards or post-its. Print out all of your images, setting your printer to print 4-6 images to a page.Step 2: Put like with like. Group notecards and images that seem to go together. Staple duplicates into little bunches to consolidate. Use your sharpie like crazy, circling, noting and X-ing out anything you think of as you go.

Step 3: Use a labeling system as you go. My favorite way to do this is to circle my icons. A question mark in a circle is an item that needs to be answered or addressed. An exclamation point in a circle is a point of interest, or a consumer insight. A lightbulb in a circle is an idea for a solution. Create your hierarchy of easily spotted icons to help you visually organize your grouped findings.Step 4: Consolidate your groups as much as possible and organize them into columns of ideas. I like to put the most promising ideas at the top. Put these columns into a logical order, a sequence that it's easy to describe to someone conversationally. This order will most likely relate to the order of questions in your design brief, resulting in a roadmap to the perfect presentation of solutions for your client.

Lesson 02: How to Think of New Ideas

I know I'm promising an awful lot with that title, but idea creation is what I do. Even when I'm not working, my mind keeping chugging away, randomly spitting out ideas every time I bump into an opportunity. Friends and family don't love shopping with me. After a decade or so of training your brain leaps happen spontaneously, even when you're just trying to pick out a toothbrush. Here are some basic techniques that can help you make a few leaps right now:

Focus: No need to re-invent the wheel if it's not broken! Write down your problem. Draw it. Break it down into steps, parts, and sequences. Think about the minute details and elements creating the experience with the product. Pick the most important element of the problem. Now we're ready to attack it without the distraction of all the other parts.

Example: My toothbrush isn't comfortable. Toothbrush = bristles, head, neck, handle, rubber pads, cover/case, stand, batteries, switch....The toothbrush feels OK in my hand, it's my mouth that's most uncomfortable. The bristles are scratchy.

Shift Your Viewpoint: If you just stare straight at the wall you'll never see the path that goes around it. You have to look at it from another angle. Take out the dictionary. Flip to a random page and point at a word. Take that word and ask yourself, how could my solution be like this word?

Example: Scratchy toothbrush bristles + egg = eggs have layers, yolk inside white, maybe the bristle can be layered, a hard core with a softer outside, firm for pressure yet gentle on the gums!

Pair your Problems: Trying to kill two birds with one stone requires you to find a new kind of stone. Take two elements of your problem and see if one solution will fix them both.

Example: Scratchy toothbrush bristles + inflexible head = if the head were made out of a softer material it could flex more, the bristles could be part of the softer head, maybe the entire toothbrush is a hard core with a soft covering!

Think Backwards: It's often easier to find your way home than to go somewhere new. You know what your problem is. So imagine the ideal experience and trace a path back to the problem.

Example: If my toothbrush is comfortable then it fits my mouth, my gum line, my teeth...a piece of gum fits my mouth and teeth...maybe my toothbrush head can squish and conform to fit my mouth just like a piece of gum!

There are many other techniques for thinking "laterally," as opposed to linear thought, which tends to take us down existing paths. To find a great idea you need to jump off the side. Check out Edward DeBono's classic books for detailed info on lateral thinking techniques.

OXO + Staples = $?

It's been a few months since OXO and Staples announced their collaboration. Now products are on the shelf. Gotta say, "office" was a good choice for expansion into a new product category. It's a close periphery to kitchen...everyone knows what to expect in the junk drawer, and half of it belongs in the office. Very easy to switch loyal kitchenwares customers over to purchasing OXO office gadgets.

The question I have is, will they go to Staples to get them? Target would've been a no-brainer, but luckily many Staples are right next door to a Target, right?

Article in Business Week's Innovation section

The Death of Crocs?

According to this article on MSNBC, the much loved and equally derided Croc may be on its way out. The company swung from a profit of $168.2 million in fiscal year 2007 to a loss of $185.1 million last year. In its annual report, Crocs said that an independent auditor expressed concerns about "conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue." Its stock price has plummeted 76 percent.

Why? The market is saturated due to the product's longevity, footwear is trending in new directions, the company was ramping up when its product's potential was flattening...all good points that logically add up to the decline. But why hasn't this company re-applied itself? You can't tell me there are no more good ideas for this material. It's nearly indestructible, anti-microbial and infinitely moldable. Here are three good categories to explore off the top of my head:

1. personal accessories: belts, bags, bookbags (builds on existing category)
2. bath and water products: storage, toys, yard (utilizes brand's capital as a kids product)
3. eating on-the-go: transitional products for car, stroller, school and office to manage, cool and protect foods (explores an entirely new category with the same primary purchaser, moms)

Time to Get Back in the Game!

If you're wondering whether it's time to start getting your ducks in a row again, maybe spending a little money to develop something new for 2010....well, it's time! If you're waffling, be reassured by the quote below from AdNews:

If you identify an opportunity today, you'll be lucky to have it ready to place with retailers in fall or winter markets, which means on the shelf by next April/May at the earliest. I expect there will be a flurry of frantic calls for development towards the end of the 2009 year, but that will really be too late to avoid rush tooling, airfreight, and not to mention Chinese New Year...get moving!

Quirky: Social Product Development

Here's a guy who managed to answer the big question: I have a great product idea, how the heck do I get it made? His original company, Mophie, made a bunch of Ipod accessories and launched at MacWorld, thanks to his parent's re-mortgaging their home. Now, he has a company called Quirky that will maybe, possibly produce your idea if you submit it with a $99/fee.



Gotta say, I hate to see a guy who took a big risk and had some success turn around and try to rip off other people's ideas. His company will make way more money from your idea than you ever will. But then again, he is assuming your risk....but still, this rubs me the wrong way. Great ideas are valuable and marketable, salable, profitable ones are rare creatures that you shouldn't just give away. True social product development would streamline the development process for the benefit of society, not to make money.

What is interesting is the idea of garnering commitments from consumers before producing a product (see the homepage). This likens product development to on-demand printing, which could be very neat if it actually works. Producing low volumes will make it challenging to hit price points, but if everyone in a country were given the chance to "commit" - it's a whole new way to raise capital.

Everyone Needs a Design Office

When people pop by the office to meet me they always have the same response: wow, this is where you work? Yup. Design offices are different. We have desks and computers, but we also have open spaces, communal tables and walls covered in a stream of consciousness that is ever-changing. There's *room* to think. There's music playing and the windows are open. You can almost always catch us jumping around, dancing, singing, and working on our feet, at the wall, making it happen.

I really think everyone should work this way. I'm reading a book called Brain Rules by John Medina that leads me to believe that everyone would work this way if given the chance. Medina is a brain scientist, and his book crisply outlines the rules governing how our brains work and how to make them work better. He's absorbed more information about brains than the rest of us could hope to know, and this is what he's found:

"What do these studies show, viewed as a whole? Mostly this: If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom. If you wanted to create a business environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a cubicle. And if you wanted to change things, you might have to tear down both and start over. In many ways, starting over is what this book is all about."

Read more and see videos with the delightfully nerdy John Medina on the Brain Rules Website. Read the book and you'll be ready to go tear it down and start over yourself, creating the environment you require and deserve to get the best out of your brain.