Icon-o-Cast by Lunar

Evolutionary, but not revolutionary: T-Mobile's myTouch 3G

The myTouch 3G can't escape comparisons to the iPhone, but to be fair, it's not a bad evolution. For those who can't afford an iPhone, or those who are still seeking the "iPhone for Business" myTouch has some interesting characteristics.

• Android is starting to become real. Applications are not restricted like they are with Apple apps; this means offerings such as Google Voice are available on the myTouch. Using Google Voice instead of paying $20 for text messaging a month could recoup the $200 cost of the phone in 10 months.
  
• Customization is everywhere on the myTouch - designer cases, personal background images, home screen themes. This might be refreshing for users who feel limited by the iPhone's "two colors and a custom photo" approach to "make it mine."
  
• myTouch restricts users to three iPhone-like application pages, however, it does go one step further by allowing users to pin open widgets to the desktop. Widgets like a search bar, music player, or calendar can be used directly from the desktop without having to first open the application. They can also run in the background.
  
• Sherpa, an application commissioned by T-Mobile and designed by Geodelic, has a learning engine that understands what you like, making future suggestions as it learns about your preferences.  If you like Indian food, when you travel to a new city Sherpa should be able to show you where the best chicken tikka masala is.
  
• The myTouch uses the HTC Magic hardware, but there's quite a few out there hoping that Android gets ported to the HTC Hero. It seems that in a head-to-head comparison of Windows Mobile and Android, Android wins. Our take: Android was designed for touch, not stylus. And visually it's no contest.

There is still room in the cell phone industry for offerings like the myTouch, so the phone should do well. As more users become accustomed to touch screens and applications at their fingertips, it will be time to start aiming further. For now, we have to make do with seeing the future of phones like in this Will Ferrell skit.

-- Nick Hausman

Can user-centered design save the car industry?

The New York Times has a new article about how Ford used personas to drive the design of the Fiesta in Europe.

I especially like Ford's acknowledgment that personas are a way to "get a common focus for everyone from the clay modeler to the chief executive" and that part of that focus wasn't just about "rational" profiles. As one executive notes, "In buying a car, you have to fall in love."

I wonder how effective they are? As the article notes, "So far, sales of the Fiesta have been strong. It is Ford's best-selling car in Europe, and it was the No. 2 seller over all in that market for the first half of 2009."

--Gretchen Anderson

Photo by Any.colour.you.like / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Sustainable design workshop with Taiwan Design Center

After a very successful workshop with the Korean Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) a few weeks ago, we’re jumping right back in for a second round!

LUNAR will be hosting a sustainable design workshop for a group from the Taiwan Design Center next week. The workshop portion, consisting of presentations by LUNAR employees, as well as research and conceptualization exercises, will take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It will be focusing on creating sustainable products that relate to the challenges of child care. On Tuesday, Jeremy Faludi will be at Lunar to talk about prioritization in sustainable design and biomimicry, and Terry Swack will be here to give a presentation on design level life cycle analysis.

The group consists of several design students, two CEOs, two marketers, and various other professionals from Taiwan. They will be led through the design process and by the end of the week will have their own conceptual product based on what they have learned.

You can see some photos from the KIDP workshop on our Facebook page.

Why Ugly Sells

In today's Fast Company "Powers of Design" blog post by LUNAR's John Edson:

"Designing universally attractive products sometimes means eschewing beauty.  The real trick is to resist navigating consumer taste and understand the emotional sources for taste."

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Toothbrushes, TiVo, and Twitter (and more)

In today's Fast Company "Powers of Design" blog post by LUNAR's John Edson:

"Our modern era of mass production requires enormous organizations to replicate the relationship of a designer artisan with her customer.  If a company can't replicate the traditional exchange between maker and consumer, the relationship is destined to fail."

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Listen to John as he offers one more example:  his experience with his new Eames Lounge Chair (1:45)

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John Edson is this weeks expert design blogger on Fast Company.com

LUNAR’s John Edson is this week’s expert design blogger on FastCompany.com. You can follow his thoughts on design all this week. 

Today, John writes about Patterns of Emotional Connection.

Growing creativity with the Korean Institute of Design

Next week, June 15-19, LUNAR will play host to a group of designers from the Korean Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP).  Since the very first day of business, LUNAR has sought to make a difference with creativity - to use creativity to design distinctive products that are meaningful for individuals, society, and the environment.

It is in this sprit that we have built the foundations for this immersive design workshop.

Ten LUNAR designers will lead the fifteen Korean designers through a series of exercises that are built on our process and centered on our framework for sustainable design. Throughout the week, the designers will take their learnings to the streets of San Francisco to do real world research and design exploration.  After what is sure to be a full, challenging, and enlightening five days, the week will conclude with an exhibition for the group’s work. And perhaps a glass or wine or two…

Behold beauty

Expressions - May 28, 2009: How can design tap into our emotional wiring, stop us in our tracks and create responses in us? An exploration we did at Lunar, loosely based on Don Norman's Emotional Design, looked at how design can make us stop and think, stop and act, and stop and behold.

In this episode, Lunar's John Edson, Jeff Smith and Becky Brown talk about this last dimension -- the beauty dimension of "stop and behold" -- and how it turns out to be the most elusive power of design.

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Green Leader

Lunar’s Travis Lee was recently invited to be a part of AutoDesk’s Green Leaders series. In this video, he shares his passion for sustainable design and his vision for a more sustainable future.

Best products & experiences for new moms & their babies

Connections - May 6, 2009: In this episode, Icon-o-Cast mom-to-be Lisa Leckie, new mom Gretchen Anderson and experienced mom Sandrine Lebas talk about the decisions new moms make as they struggle with seemingly infinite product choices and apply their personal values to the experience of motherhood.

Happy Mother's Day!

Resources:

• Me Too Chair
  
• Boon Toddler Cup
  
• Brest Friend Pillow
  
• HABA toys
  
• Kids Love Design (design trends for kids)
  
• MiLK magazine (lifestyle paper and online mag for modern parents, nicely done in French)
  

And here's more about the Holistic Feeding at nightime concept work we did (pdf).

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