Designing for change in today’s market

Designing for change in today’s market

Chatting with the author of The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to the iPhone

Electronic Products recently spoke with Damon Brown, author of the recently published book The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to the iPhone , to find out what his thoughts were on how designers and consumers are dealing with ever-changing technology for devices like the iPhone.

Electronic Products: Are consumer devices, such as the iPhone, getting overly complicated for the end users? Why?

Damon Brown: Consumer devices are definitely more complicated than, say, ten years ago, or even five years ago, but products don’t become hits until mainstream consumers can easily use them. For instance, portable digital music players have been around for about a decade, but the six-year-old iPod had an easy system and, most importantly, consumers had become sophisticated enough to understand the value and to easily use a portable digital music player. Products that are too complicated for consumers don’t fly.

Electronic Products: Are end users getting the most out of the technology they purchase?

Damon Brown: I would say no. The average cell phone comes with a 100-page manual, but I know no one who reads through the book before powering up the phone and definitely no one who refers to the book after they get the hang of the phone. The irony, of course, is that the one phone that doesn’t come with a manual is the $400 iPhone.

Unfortunately, I do not think manufacturers will ever be able to get the mainstream consumer to read about all the bells and whistles they worked so hard to incorporate. The iPod series, TiVo, and even Google are successful because they are intuitive, even though there are more affordable, more powerful and more sensible solutions that consumers just aren’t as comfortable with. Techies like myself love playing around with systems or reading through complicated manuals, but technology is increasingly not about us anymore – it’s about the average American.

Electronic Products: Are electronic design engineers designing products that supersede necessity or are they looking to the future of devices due to rapidly changing technology?

Damon Brown: The design curve has gotten shorter, not longer. This is for financial reasons. For instance, when the PlayStation 2 came out, Sony gaming head Ken Kutaragi said it would have a ten-year lifecycle. Last year, when the PlayStation 3 arrived, Sony shared its plans for the PlayStation 4, a system that could be out as early as 2010. Apple’s original iPod was on the shelves for nine months. The company retired its 4-Gbyte iPhone weeks after its release. HDTVs, PCs, iPods and other fast-moving technology has taught mainstream consumers that, like a car, products become obsolete as soon as you drive them off the lot. Now the market supports increasingly smaller gaps between upgrades, and designing a well-constructed device for the future is considered more of a luxury, not a necessity.

Electronic Products: Whose job is it to educate end users about devices?

Damon Brown: I believe it is a collective effort. Myself and other people write pocket-sized tech books geared toward consumers without a lot of time or patience. Tech magazines and blogs give great up-to-date assistance. Television, radio and other media expose consumers to new products. Aside from obvious errors, like the iPhone lacking an instruction booklet, the producer’s job is to make the device as intuitive as possible. After that, its work pretty much ends.

Electronic Products: Why do you think Apple dropped the price of the iPhone after such a short time in the marketplace?

Damon Brown: The modern-day Apple Company is built on customer satisfaction and permanent buzz, and the latter is the most important right now. The iPhone had been virtually a permanent fixture in the news from January through June, but then, after a few “What do iPhone customers think of their purchase now” follow-up spots, its been on the quiet side. (Ironically, this is why the recent unlocking of the iPhone may have been to Apple’s short-term advantage.) Apple’s September press conference was well timed since, as it probably realized, the buzz would be dying down right now. The dramatic price drop is a great way to keep the buzz going, the $100 credit was a risky, but overall smart way to keep consumers happy (since they would spend the money on more Apple products), and the new $400 price point will make it easier for Apple to make its first year goal of 10 million sold. ■