When the funding runs out... design t-shirts!

My PhD was fully funded by the EPSRC's Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (IMRC) scheme for 3 years. However, as is often the case, writing up the thesis has extended beyond that time period - and 2 months later there is still a lot of work to do on it! I assumed that being in the Cambridge bubble my supervisor would move some money around and help me out. Unfortunately I chose the wrong economic climate to be making such assumptions, and as the last paycheck went into my account in September, I realised I had to man up and fix this situation myself.

I began to frantically contact companies with business proposals, I wrote to funding bodies, colleges, university boards and my faculty, with a small amount of success*. I also speculatively wrote to the printing company that I've worked with in the past on t-shirt printing, offering my services as a kit designer and salesman at my university. My theory was that students are constantly let down by their sports or society kit: boring designs, poor quality printing, high costs, delivery delays etc. My print designs were bold, often American college inspired, and usually used the colour of the t-shirt or hoody to add depth to the design, while only printing in one colour to keep the cost down.

The company liked the idea and took me on. We worked together to develop the customer experience, with face-to-face service, intermediate sketch previews of all garments and a transparent pricing structure. Over the last 2 months we have worked with sports clubs, societies and colleges producing some really nice kit. It's not a perfect service, but we are learning a lot on the job, and it's provided me with a healthy wage. Students are always going to need affiliated kit, and it helps to have a student in situ to promote the service, and to understand the needs of customer. When I leave in the next couple of months, we will need to find a replacement student/designer/salesperson, and also think about branching out to other universities.

*A very helpful cheque from the Board of Graduate Studies in Cambridge

I met the inventor of the mobile!!

Mobile Phones for the Senior Market

Yesterday I was at this conference, organised by Simon Rockman. It was an interesting day of talks by business and academic experts, and a compelling argument to focus more attention on developing mobile devices for the aging population. Opening talks came from wireless legend Arlene Harris of Jitterbug and Dyna LLC, and Chris Cowpe from Age Concern Enterprises (formerly Chief Exec of DDB advertisers). Arlene's husband, Martin Cooper (the dude in the picture), inventor of the mobile phone, was also in attendance, but not speaking.

I'm proud to say that the best slide presentations came from the Cambridge lads. Prof John Clarkson explained the astonishing demographic shift that has been occurring over the last few decades, the number of seniors just keeps on growing, yet this wealthy segment is constantly failed by poor design. Ian Hosking then later explained how designing for older consumers is so much more than "big buttons" - they are a sophisticated, multi-segmented, proud, intelligent group of individuals, yet specialist mobile product offerings often miss the point - stigmatising or patronising instead of simplifying and including.

The other presentations were interesting, but badly delivered, with presenters reading out bullet points from slides that looked like they were from 1996. I got tired of squinting at badly labeled graphs or tables and cringing at lo-res stock photos, clip-art and slide transitions. In order to be taken seriously, this domain is in dire need of a bit of graphic design and/or public speaking classes. That seems superficial, but a modern, professional standard is really necessary if this opportunity is to be convincingly pitched to the networks.

There are a number of other obstacles to overcome before networks and retailers will commit to taking on the senior segment. In the UK with the abundance of subsidised phones (e.g. free on contract) and the narrow margins available in talk and text, it is a challenge to convince consumers to pay extra for a specialist device. Furthermore, the networks will be reluctant to fork out on extra support services for what is typically a low-usage category.

If somebody can nail this market, then they will not only make a lot of money, but also enable older people to connect with their families and friends - everyone wins! The answer lies in designing the complete user experience, from initial awareness of the product through to purchase, usage and support, to disposal or replacement - every aspect should be simple, intuitive, even enjoyable. The beauty of inclusive design is that learning from older or impaired people can lead to solutions that benefit all users. I personally think that a great solution might inadvertently appear sideways from another usage category - perhaps an outdoors or youth product - or perhaps it will happen the other way round.

Vodafone and mobile evolution

Last Thursday I gave a little interactive presentation to a couple of user experience guys at Vodafone in Paddington. It was so interactive that we only got halfway through my slides before the hour was up and they both had to head off to other meetings. However, I got loads of great insight and feedback in that time - these interviews and presentations are helping me to build a very rich picture of the evolution of the mobile phone from a diverse range of perspectives.

Of particular interest was a discussion on whether on an abstract level, the evolution of the mobile product category could be compared to that of the bicycle, and if so, what is the equivalent stage or product in the bike category that could be compared to the current maturity of the mobile. The answer was not clear cut - depending of the level of abstraction, different parallels could be drawn. One problem is that mobiles don't stand alone, there are so many external factors acting on them from networks, subsidisation, operating systems and their homogenisation with other products and functionalities. This is an area that I will need to explore in more detail in my thesis (which I'd better get back to).

Orange Design Group

Last Thursday I presented my mobile research to Orange's Group Design and User Experience team in Paddington. It was a great experience - really good to share my ideas with some experts in the industry, learn from their insight/heckling, and get some feedback on where I might take it next. It was particularly interesting to hear from the perspective of a mobile service provider, a different view from the designers, user experience experts, technology strategists and journalists I've spoken to so far.

This Friday I will be presenting to Samsung's European design group in Farringdon, I'm looking forward to meeting the group and hearing what they have to say about my work. The feedback from this presentation will hopefully move me closer to having a complete picture of form evolution in the mobile product category, which takes care of a couple of chapters of the thesis!

D&AD New Blood

Last night I went down to Kensington Olympia to meet up with Jonny and the ShellsuitZombie crew at the private viewing for D&AD's annual New Blood event. It was a great opportunity to catch up with what they've been doing, and to find out about the organisation beyond the blog. They have done an amazing job hooking up with the D&AD, and from what I could see, they were attracting a lot of attention from design professionals, students and recent graduates with hands-on design tasks, sexy posters and vintage rock music in a lo-fi, cardboard covered booth.

I've enjoyed contributing to the blog, and I look forward to seeing where the project goes next.

New lacrosse t-shirt

I've just done a new t-shirt design for the Cambridge University lacrosse club.

I'm going to be speaking at MEX User Experience Conference in May - you should come!!

The 5th annual MEX Mobile User Experience Conference & Awards
19th - 20th May 2009, WallaceSpace, London
www.pmn.co.uk/mex/

MEX is the two day strategy forum for the leading minds in mobile telecoms. At the heart of the conference is our 8 point manifesto for enhancing the mobile user experience. This is a blueprint for delivering better mobile products through a deeper understanding of customer requirements. You'll hear from the industry's most inspiring and provocative speakers and then work side-by-side with talented and creative individuals to define the user experience agenda for the next 12 months.

Delegate places are priced at GBP 1499. For further information and to book, please contact Marek Pawlowski at marekpawlowski@pmn.co.uk / +44 (0)7767 622957 or visit www.pmn.co.uk/mex/.