Last time we discussed the squishy fruitiness of our remote controls and how we might pursue that .  so for later in the meeting I've done a a spreadsheet of production costs so we'll take a look at that . This is a button , serves as the power button if you hold it down , and if you just tap on it I think it brings up the menu . And  the base of the remote control , which has a squishy spongy rubbery feel , is interchangeable . project manager: Oh is that broccoli ? industrial designer: This one's broccoli . project manager: industrial designer: The it's trendy fruit , it's not just ordinary fruits .  I guess strawberry's not as trendy , but project manager: 'S a very bright strawberry . industrial designer: So we'll come up with a variety of trendy and exciting fruit designs for the remote control . And then people will be encouraged to buy three or five of them , because they'll need to switch 'em out . user interface: It's been a l project manager: user interface: It's been a little bit difficult to  make sure that it's hand-holdable , and that the user can use it , you know , it's not too big .  but we think that this you know , this size will be okay and we will have to fit the battery case in there somehow . user interface: And I guess the only other thing that we really didn't talk about was or design yet actually , would be the  thing the locator . user interface: Okay so that's just industrial designer: And the beeper's also inside there too somewhere user interface: So you have to have a button on your on your you have to attach the button to the industrial designer: Yeah we didn't design that . But if I missed anything that we've gone over , or if you see something that has changed industrial designer: project manager: we decided on batteries , and the regular chip would be necessary for the more advanced iPod-like button . I think that's what you have there , is that right ? For the for the plastic part would be industrial designer: My impression was that flat meant like like one of those square remotes . industrial designer: But it's really not very clear , because you got single curve and double curve and d I dunno what that means . industrial designer: marketing: project manager:  so what else ? There's plastic for that area around the button . Do you see anything that I've missed ? industrial designer: No I think that's alright . project manager: Okay so that would make our total of eleven point nine , which is even less than twelve point five , which means we'd be making even more of a profit . I think that's marketing: So I need where's the cable ? Right what happens is we have to  decide whether this this whole this whole project we've been working on actually  meets the standards we were set at the start .  the method is we well I've analysed the user requirements and integrated them to the trends found in marketing reports and in our company strategy marketing . And  the findings were that we need it to look in a certain way , feel in a certain way , and this is everything's listed down .  , look in a certain way , feel in a certain way , it has to be technologically innovative and it has to be easy to use . We have to use a table , I'll show you that later , together to decide whether it meets the standards . And we we have therefore in total  We have five we have eleven points according to which this should be evaluated . marketing:  so the que the questions I've given you c could you write that down ? True is one and and false is seven . Is it possible that we can bring this up on our own marketing: Yeah it's in the  it's in the project documents . marketing: Do you want us to discuss this together or do you want us to do it singly ? project manager:  we can do it separately and then discuss it marketing: Yeah okay . project manager: Wait , one is true and marketing: project manager: so these are the questions we're answering . And one is marketing: yes it's if it's fancy you put one , project manager: One , right okay . Should be more like Are the batteries easy to insert ? industrial designer: I'm gonna say yes . project manager: Are we just about ready ? marketing: Apparently I'm supposed to use the whiteboard . It's marketing: We'll just do  project manager: yeah the the marker thing kinda stopped working last time we industrial designer: marketing: user interface: Yeah . project manager: Un unless you feel you need it t to marketing: I don't feel any project manager: okay okay . industrial designer: project manager: We'll user interface: marketing: right  Right so one point one ? We'll just go in a circle . Okay so do we just add it up and divide it by four ? Is that what the company does ? project manager: I I think we should industrial designer: It's four if you wanna do that . One point three is user interface: So it's a one was true and seven was false ? project manager:  . industrial designer: Huh ? user interface: Okay , so you guys really didn't like it ? marketing: Yeah . project manager: So we do have about the same thing , we just have it the other way marketing: Well  industrial designer: Sh Yeah I I was thinking one means no points , you know , all the way up to the top . user interface: I was like , why did you guys design it that way if you hated it ? marketing: Yeah . Wait , is that two point one ? industrial designer: Yeah I put it down as one point four for some reason . industrial designer: marketing: Okay I'll  I'll just do the calculations now if you want to continue .  marketing: Or is it tedious ? I'm I'm sorry this was so tedious for everyone . project manager: No no that's  I think we should look at the ones that like where s where people said four , where  it looks like we might wanna discuss changing an aspect of the remote . marketing: do you want to change it ? What are the suggestions ? I don't know , anyone ? project manager:  user interface: Which one is that again sorry ? Three point one ? project manager: user interface: I think marketing: Four point two ? project manager: See I'm having I'm having trouble imagining the is it  gonna be the size , like the the controller ? It or bigger ? industrial designer: I think the wheel would probably be  . project manager: Because user interface: What if we just smash all the vegetables down flat ? project manager: industrial designer: marketing: user interface: And like then it you could hold it in your hand better . industrial designer: I think the base would definitely be larger , 'cause some of these are not as easy to hold . No but I imagine even if it was bigger , like if it's round and it's big then you you can't get that's why remote controls are long because you have that thumb kind of user interface: Yeah . project manager:  but I don't s I I personally don't think this is comfortable to to sit there , like it's an awkward position . But like if if you just squash them flat like and you made it flat industrial designer: Well if they're that s  stress ball stuff they would be pretty squishable . And would it even resemble fruit that way ? industrial designer: project manager:  user interface: Yeah like certain ones you'd have to limit the fruit selection , project manager: Yeah . project manager: industrial designer: marketing: user interface: You could do , although the broccoli is quite comfortable , I have to say , like sorta like a joystick . So industrial designer: marketing: Are there any fruits that look like broccoli , no ? user interface:  . marketing:  despite the user interface: I think we needn't project manager: What if  the it was just patterns on like we we chose the shape or the sh shape could be whatever we wanted and then it would just be like a design on the rubber . project manager: But if we if we need marketing: Yeah and just have the colour match or something . And if we wanna incorporate the fruit thing somehow , there might be user interface: project manager:  if it if it in if it  conflicts with the comfort of actually holdi holding the industrial designer: marketing: user interface: Yeah . user interface: Or like I dunno , some of 'em you can kind of think see as like marketing: user interface: like you could if it was only this you know , if it was shaped like that , and it just had that . But you see the problem is you have to attach that , and this has to be detachable . user interface: So like maybe that's just too big project manager: Well see th the reason the broccoli works is you can kinda hold it like that , user interface: because project manager: which is a nice kind of user interface: Yeah it's sorta like a joystick . project manager:  is there some way we could make it this kind of shape ? user interface: I guess project manager: 'Cause like kind of industrial designer: We could make it that shape but just have different colours , and call 'em the different fruits . project manager: Or like even user interface: Dif industrial designer: We went with shape because we were having fun with the play-dough . project manager: And you could like if it's like this , you could put fruit designs and stuff on that part . project manager: But  it do we have any other ideas about that ? marketing:  user interface: We could tr I don't know . Batteries easy to insert for some reason , industrial designer: marketing: which can be easily I think that's not a problem any more . project manager: The batteries are going in the back ? industrial designer: That everyone gave that a one or a two . project manager: The reason I I ga I didn't give it a one I think I gave it a three because I thought you'd have to like unc clip industrial designer: No I imagine there'd be sort of a hatch door , project manager: no you could Just like any other one . industrial designer: So it would probably either in the f no it can't be in the front 'cause the I_R_'s right there , but it'd be on one of the sides probably . marketing: industrial designer: user interface:  so  I can't think of any So we'll have to like  . You could make the touch pad in th in different shapes , but then that kind of re-designs the whole project like , industrial designer: It might also sort of annoy people if we get used to having the buttons in one shape . project manager: I guess we're supposed to discuss  the prod the process of the project and how satisfied oh , oh it's alright . marketing: It's alright yeah ? project manager:  Did you feel there was a lot of room for creativity in the sort of industrial designer: Sure . marketing: user interface: The prototype making was very creatively stimulating industrial designer: user interface: and I think we've come up with a product that's fun and meets all the criteria . project manager: And how was our leadership and teamwork ? industrial designer: I think it was good . industrial designer: Well you told us when to start and when to end , and that's all that matters . project manager: Yeah , well I'm never gonna do a management position , I know that now . industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager:  yeah , I thought we all worked very well together . user interface: Yeah I think it more than anything we didn't really have our set roles so much , as we just would be like I don't know , all had ideas about it but project manager: Yeah . marketing: project manager:  and the means for like the materials we used , how convenient were they ? Like the the pens , the whiteboard , industrial designer: project manager:  we used industrial designer: Well I'm not a big fan of any Microsoft , PowerPoint or any of this stuff . project manager: Are you a Mac person ? industrial designer: No no I never touch Macs either . marketing: industrial designer: I just use the Unix or the off market , sort of WordPerfect and all these other things . Well the problem is if you don't like my new computer never has WordPerfect so I have to go track someone down who has an old disk and then I have to reinstall it . user interface: I felt like my I dunno if it was just my role , but l but  I di I thought that my the information that was available to me was kind of just like or maybe it was just the idea that we had . But there's kinda it was kinda like okay , I don't really think I dunno what I'm doing here . So I kind of just made up my own stuff and I didn't really like the PowerPoint presentations , project manager: Yeah . user interface: But yeah I d I don't really like PowerPoint personally , think it's kinda stupid . project manager: It industrial designer: My first bit of information was like this child's drawn picture of how a remote works . marketing: I though it was brilliant no ? project manager: Really ? user interface: marketing: No mine was really helpful as in my stuff was quite helpful I think . user interface: So like a f marketing: I think it depends on the role project manager: yeah , yeah . marketing: no ? project manager: 'Cause my problem was , you guys had access to like they'd put send you to sites and stuff right ? industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: See I couldn't do that , so I didn't really know what you guys were doing . And when you were talking about it I was just like industrial designer: project manager: you know that's wh that's why I seemed so ignorant when when you were j explaining things , marketing: project manager: 'cause I industrial designer: Yeah well mine was mostly made up except when they told me like you know titanium costs more than wood to make a remote control . marketing: a whole system , industrial designer: marketing: 'cause of course they can't give you   anything comparable to the internet for the project manager: Yeah . user interface: Yeah  , it industrial designer: Well I think it's interesting how it all went together , like I had the stuff about how me how rubber's cheap , and you have how people want it to be spongy , and marketing: Yeah , yeah . user interface: Yeah I kinda thought that  I felt like I would go and like try to use my information , or like I'd make this stupid little presentation and then like I just would end up talking about something completely unrelated industrial designer: user interface: because project manager: Yeah . But  project manager: Well  we really got into talking about like personal practicalit like it wasn't necessarily what was like we would never have thought of fruit or sponginess you know ? industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: So it's industrial designer: If I hadn't been told that fruit was marketing: But I think that it it might be to see whether people actually all come up with the same thing . given certain information or Just marketing: Yeah , like if everyone's given the same input project manager: yeah . marketing:  what's next ? Looks like oh no that's not  project manager: What do you guys think of the pens ? marketing: It's quite project manager: It asks about that . industrial designer: user interface: I I'd like to see what what it looks like on the industrial designer: They're nicer than the pen that I'm using , because like your stuff actually shows up here , rather than having to look at the screen and write . project manager: And new ideas found ? industrial designer: marketing: Yeah it's all very new , project manager: Yeah . user interface: I think the microphones are okay when you're sitting down , but like they're kinda clumsy I guess when you're like when you're s going up to the whiteboard like . user interface:  I think , and I think that  all this technology like I guess some people must be interested in using it but I can't imagine finding it any more useful than like looking at someone's notes , project manager: Yeah . industrial designer: Well the thing is , like I actually worked in a company , user interface: or like I dunno . And like the last thing I would have wanted would be to have to watch a video 'cause I missed a meeting . project manager: industrial designer: There's just there's really not that much information that actually goes through a real meeting , like when you're actually at a real meeting in a real company . industrial designer: And you're sort of going over general stuff that anybody who's sort of on task should already know . industrial designer: It's like the there's just really not a lot of information that goes through . industrial designer: Like if I missed a meeting I could probably get it summed up in like one sentence . industrial designer: I wouldn't need to have to watch like a t two hour video with the sound and the transcript and project manager: Yeah . user interface: I guess it would be it's gotta be worth it to I 'cause I'm just mostly curious about like what kind of person or like company would would really find it useful , 'cause can't really imagine , dunno . How about a p a ? project manager: industrial designer: marketing: user interface:  I dunno . project manager: Well does anyone wanna talk about fruit more while we still have time ? industrial designer: project manager: Any other ideas for marketing: What what's the end ? Are we are we supposed to  you supposed to write a report ? Or we ending ? project manager:  we still have time if there's any other input . marketing: Is that the end ? industrial designer: project manager:  the I think we did really well personally , which is why we've you know , gone through this so quickly . 'Cause  we've all we all kind of agreed our product is satisfactory , it fits the budget , and it's trendy


project manager: Right w welcome to the the first meeting of  Real Reaction's   development meetings for our our new television remote control .  this follows our very successful entry into the the consumer market over the last year or so  which we want to to build on , taking advantage of the  the the latest developments in in technology and the  the latest   feelings in in consumer design and and demand and  we want to make this the the very best product th that's possible for everybody ,  one that everybody wants ,  at a good price for the consumer and at a good price for the company . project manager:  I'll just go round th the table , Andrew , marketing ,  m Kendra with the   designing the the the User Interface   and Kate with the the industrial design . What's  the the th th project is is here to do , is is to to get this this project up and moving , ev everybody is is free to  say wh whatever they want ,  everybody has a contribution to make and  everybody feel free to interrupt me at any time to to say what you want to say .  in in terms of the immediate meeting the   everybody knows everybody else , everybody's worked for the the company for a while , if if an anybody feels that they need to say more about themselves please do , if if if anybody wants to b briefly give their their background so that everybody's quite clear what everybody   everybody's experience is please do so .  in fact I'd I'd I'd welcome anybody to  say something briefly about themselves , in fact we will do that by by going round the table quickly and and saying what what contribution you you're looking to make . marketing: Oh my name's Andrew I'm a I'm the Market Research person for this  for this meeting and this  project for creating this new remote control and  yeah I'll be  presenting information statistics on what people want to want to  get from this new design , what people want to like and from a fashion point of view and the practicality point of view . user interface: I'm Kendra and I'm the Us User Interface Designer and  I haven't had a whole lot of experience in this kind of thing before but I'm m so I'll be working on the design . project manager: Right at least means you haven't got any preconceived ideas so . industrial designer: I'm the Industrial Designer and I'll just be I guess presenting about the the inter workings of our little remote control and  yeah . project manager: Okay , very very quickly ,  this I don't want to make this meeting too structured because the the whole idea is that it's a  you know a think tank . Everybody says what they what they want to say ,  and we don't want to be constrained by  kind of convention or   slides on screens or or anything else  but  briefly  th th this is what we want to do . The the remote control needs to be original , there has to be something about it that  other remote controls don't have so that as soon as people see it they think  yes that's different ,  I want one ,  and that goes along with being trendy ,   you know the I want it  scenario . User-friendly as as we all know , remote controls can be   very user-unfriendly so we want to make ours one that people can pick up marketing: project manager: and think oh yes that's it's obvious how that works ,  and they also want to look at the price and think oh yeah that's something that I may not need another remote control but  it's such a nice one I'm gonna have one . And last but not least , or indeed first of all , it it must make the company money , and we make the company money by producing what the consumer wants . The  the further work to be done is i the  the functional design ,  what it  what it must actually do , the  conceptual design ,  how we actually present that to the consumer and th the the detailed design i is  how we get that into production .  now th the main design tool that we have available to us at the moment is is the white board and   let us very quickly do what i what it says in the in the in the prompt slide here ,  In fact I suggest to avoid everybody untangling themselves from the  the the wires , that we don't do that ,  So I I everybody knows what whiteboard is so we'll   we'll do a virtual drawing on the on on the whiteboard of of your your own   favourite animal , but le let's go round the table , your favourite animal . project manager:  and why ? marketing:  it's it's got nice contrast with black and white and  project manager: -huh . marketing: I feel they're underdog kind of status project manager: Oh right marketing: and they're , the project manager:  my my wife says my beard looks like a badger's arse 'cause of the the white streaks in it . user interface: I just I li I like the way they look and they're just nice animals and I like how they can fly or swim or walk around or whatever . user interface: project manager: I'm not sure that I've got any favourite animal to be quite honest , I think homo sapien industrial designer: project manager: because of their their  overall ability to   user interface: marketing: Make mobile phones and T_V_ remotes project manager: Sorry ? industrial designer: marketing: to make T_V_ remotes . project manager: Indeed absolutely yes , industrial designer: project manager: tha that's  Okay and  w we need to keep in mind here that the  we want to sell this for for twenty five Euro  , we want to m make an overall profit for the the company of fifty million Euros so we're we're looking at selling a lot of these  ag across the the entire planet and and we're looking at a gross profit of fifty percent .  so we're not only looking at a a very trendy original product , we're looking at making it at a very good price .  , okay ,  would anybody like t like to to start by giving their o  sort of quick views of of current remote controls . user interface: Well I think I find a lot of them really complicated to use with all the different buttons and  it's handiest when you have one that works both the D_V_D_ player or whatever and the T_V_ as well .  , but that it's easy to if you can switch back and forth instead of having to press a bunch of different buttons project manager: No . user interface: and so I think it's is best when they're clearly labelled and you can see which buttons you're supposed to use , you know . project manager: Any any thoughts about buttons or any oth other way of approaching the p the  the problem ? Or anybody else , strong feelings about remote controls ? Are there you know , bad ones they've used or good ones they've used or ones that they've lost and never found again ? industrial designer:  I think it's important that you should be able to when you when you press the buttons it'll actually pick up the signals from kind of anywhere and you shouldn't have to like contort yourself and twist your remote control to get it the T_V_ to actually pick up the signal . marketing: Think a lot of the time , remotes that come with T_V_ players and T_V_s and D_V_ players , like they aren't industrial designer:  . marketing: like an area that's put a lot of effort into , they're very boring , very plain . marketing: Like it's very a very like  making a a stylish remote control would be a very like Easily put us one step ahead of the current competition . project manager:  what so wh what's in in what particular style features are you thinking about ? marketing:  . industrial designer: marketing: So if you want , something that looks like  something that makes you think oh what's this ? Like this pen doesn't really look like a pen , project manager: -huh . project manager: d no  do you think there's a risk if it doesn't look like remote control , people won't see it as a remote control  and  marketing:  I suppose suppose that's up to the marketing to to make make people aware of the product . Any other thoughts about  th the physical appearance of a of remote controls ? user interface: I think something that's comfortable to hold because sometimes you get the remote controls that are just those big , rectangular things industrial designer:  . user interface: and  they're kind of awkward to hold onto , marketing: user interface: so something that's more comfortable that fits in a person's hand better . project manager:  th the thing that i immediately comes to mind is computer mouses which   y you get all sorts of shapes in the shops industrial designer:  . project manager: some from personal experience which look nice industrial designer: project manager: but aren't particularly comfortable . marketing: Well from the mouse idea you could , remote is a piece of plastic with the big rubber buttons sticking out of it which you press , whereas if you want could all be flat and the buttons are very kind of almost subtle that instead of being raised out of the device  you push into device you see , like a mouse button . project manager: Yes ,  the only thing is if if you're watching television in a in a a darkened room  you need to be able to  industrial designer:  . user interface: But maybe they could be concave instead of sticking up to have them be kind of down so you could feel them industrial designer:  . project manager: Yeah , that's  must admit I don't think I've ever seen one with concave buttons , that's  certainly be different .  do we need it to  I can't think of any re remote controls that I know of that actually light up at all . So , Andrew have you had any thoughts yet about how we might market something which there are already millions out there and that we want to    t take over the entire  the planet with ? industrial designer: user interface: marketing: - ,  especially if we try to sell , what two million of them . Oh sorry , four million of 'em , but  I think if w if we market it as as not as not well this you c you could either market it as the point of view we could have the two we could have parallel marketing s schemes where you've got one where it appeals to people that want to have the new device that looks cool , is fashionable industrial designer:  . marketing: and like you just it's it's like  it's one that rather than ra I wan I want rather than a kind of a need relationship with the device , project manager: marketing: but that might considering the act what the device is for and the nature of some people might not like respond to having a device that they just looks nice , therefore they want it so make it practical at the same time . I think it's this is gonna have to appeal to people that want device that can enhance their living room project manager: Okay , yeah , yeah , well marketing: So  , I dunno we'll have to decide which which angle we're gonna go to or both . project manager: I d I think an any  any facets that we identify w we aim need to aim for for all of . industrial designer: Oh I think it's it's remote controls are kind of a unique object 'cause it's you depend on them so much , but you don't i i it's you sort of just assume they're always gonna work , you don't think of them as a comp like a computer can break down and you're kinda like oh well fair enough there's all these complex things going on , it's gonna something's gonna get messed up eventually . They they just need to be very very dependable because people sort of take them for granted and then if your remote control breaks it's God forbid you actually get up and manually change the channel project manager: Indeed . user interface: marketing: industrial designer: it just it needs to be very effective , very always dependable .  I don't think we should make it too small I 'cause I think it needs to it can't be too big like you were saying big an and huge and  awkward , but also if you make it too small kinda like you know how mobile phones are getting smaller and smaller  , it's just gonna end up under a couch cushion somewhere and  yeah . project manager: Okay , and  colours , materials ? Kendra , anyone ? user interface: Well , most I think most of the remote controls now are either just black or grey , project manager: . user interface: so maybe we should go with something different or be able to I was just thinking of  what they're doing with mobile phones now how you can get the different  what are they called ? Like the face-plates project manager: Yeah . user interface: that you change so we could have maybe I don't know if it would be feasible to do something with that , where you can change the face-plates or have kind of a variety project manager: -huh . Have it kind of look how they want to , different colours , things like that , project manager: Right . Okay that's  Again I don't think that's ever been done before , user interface: project manager: it's  the sort of the sort of thing that would get people  thinking yes that's something that I haven't got and  might need so .  Andrew , any thoughts about  how we might market interchangeable fronts on on the remote control ? marketing: well we could either market it together by getting control in a set colour or with like you buy it with several  like you ge you get the f  the face-plates with it when you buy or as a separate thing , but  maybe thinking of that , it's considering the nature of the device , maybe a second thing like a second campaign to market new facials for your to your might go a bit astray industrial designer:  . marketing: since it is the kind of thing where y you generally get one and then forget about it . marketing: Unless you were trying to project manager: I think industrial designer: Well you could come up with like novelty ones , like they've done with the the mobile phones , you can get like different you know scenes from different movies and stuff on the remote control marketing:  . marketing: Oh industrial designer: and sorta stagger the release of them marketing: it's that's a that's a good idea . industrial designer: and get people like oh I want that cover on it now and that'll keep them spending money .  then we'll we will reconvene in in thirty minutes and try to get some of these ideas   more formalised


I'll briefly go through the  notes of the of the last meeting  just done in in note form and I haven't attributed anything to individuals , because we're working strictly as a team here and  n nobody's working equally , user interface: Sorry .  we we s we saw that the the problems with existing remote controls were the  b a boring shape and boring colour .  and and we s we saw that the  what we needed to do was to to make sure the device  controls several items , that switching was easy , that you shouldn't need to point the thing at  anything in particular ,  that it need to be contoured to make it interesting , that the keys might be concave , simply because that hasn't been done before that we know of .  should have interchangeable fascias so people can personalise it ,  illuminated so that people can see it in dark rooms .  before I do that , however , I will go through some new project requirements that  the the management have placed on us and  will be challenging in terms of what we discussed at the first meeting .  the  the ma the management has had it's own thoughts on this and  the they don't necessarily agree with with what we  we thought .  and and then we'll as a result of that we will then talk through the the functions that we see the the device  actually b carrying out , and we have  forty minutes to do this in and I  Anyway . Now , the n the new requirements are  the the management team see that  teletext is no longer of any importance given the  the rise of the internet .  now , what is not q quite clear from their directive is whether they mean th they don't want it to cover teletext or whether they don't want it to cover , you know , videos , D_V_D_s ,  satellite boxes , which   we saw as being fundamental to the  to the exercise .  and on that basis  I I think we we need to bear that in mind ,  but possibly  keep at the backs of our minds that the reality that people even when they  no longer they don't look at teletext anymore , they certainly do look at other things .  the the logo  being at b the bottom of the screen there , the the the two R_s in grey against  a yellow background .  now this doesn't necessarily mean that we have to give up some of our ideas about making it attractive to the t to the market .  it also has to be simple , which to some extent goes along w with the first one , and that we've already said that it must be simple 'cause that's what people want anyway .  but they also want it to be simple to get it to the market quickly , which    is is is their choice , but   we we need to talk that through .  okay , so  after the meeting it'll be summarised and  industrial designer: user interface: project manager:  notes sent out and  etcetera .  again I there is no order of precedence here  so I I I'll leave it up to you to who who who thinks they would like to go go first ? marketing:  I don't mind . project manager: marketing: I got a how do I start there ? project manager: Oh , if you click on the   the one that that looks like a projection screen , no the one to the right of that . Took hundred people and covered all the aspects of what  is needed by people and what they want to see .  everything kinda from functionality and how individual functions are how mu how how often they're used and how much their necessary and stuff .  along with  looking less ugly , if it looks better , eighty percent of people said they'd spend more money on it . Which is a a plus for us , if we can make it look better , it'd be  more cost effective and we can put the price up . I can empl I kinda take that to mean as  they they don't  they , yeah , they only use they only work for the television or yeah like as in in my flat I've got six remote controls for a stereo system , a digital box , a D_V_D_ player , a video player and T_V_ . If it was   th my behaviour is to use multiple things at the same time and multiple remotes aren't really matched well to my behaviour . I took to mean that they just they use it a lot , they use it regularly rather than standing up and manually change channels or volume . And  yeah ,  I think the big issue is fifty percent users only use ten percent of the buttons , 'cause  wh if we got a remote that like well we'll have some buttons taken off by the lack of teletext , but  oh and we're going to see  on the  that some of the functions like audio settings aren't h hardly ever used and used very aren't considered relevant by the user . marketing: I dunno maybe some kind of system of you press a button on the T_V_ or maybe that's b it would have to incorporate , but like some kind of system where you can f use something else to find the remote control . And  , yep , the  time taken to learn new remote controls is  don't want to make it too complicated , easy to use for  new like first time users and stuff . And  repetitive strain injury , I suppose we should make it more comfortable and make ma possibly even use have to make it , yeah , fewer buttons , like I was saying about the whole mice the mouse idea of it feels more comfortable . project manager: Gosh , must be some telly addicts out there if they get R_S_I_ from their television remote , is all I can say . It also asked  if we would if people would pay more for speech recognition project manager: marketing: and younger people say they would . And  there was another section on our on the report for  L_C_D_ displays , but the data wasn't there , so . project manager: Yeah , I must say that  the  I c can't remember what  f you know phone service I was using the other day , but that had sorta speech recognition which worked  remarkably well , so that is indeed a   a thought marketing: And  it would cut out the R_S_I_ as well if you project manager: and it it cuts out  I was was gonna say , you can't get a lot of R_S_I_ , industrial designer: project manager: j just get jaw ache . marketing: Yeah ,  oh yeah , so possibly the speech recognition is possibly something could add into the design .  functionality ,  like people's opinions on functionality , the relevance to the remote and how often they're used . Using the using the d swi the power switch to switch on T_V_ is a high relevance of nine , but it's not frequently used . So m we can maybe even start to cut down on or I was possibly even thinking of a design that maybe some of the buttons are hidden from everyday use . And keep the v volume selection and channel selection very easily user interface: It could be oh  I was just gonna say  maybe like the flip phones that they use ? industrial designer:  . user interface: that flip out and they have the like texting , and then the numbers on one side , marketing: Oh yeah . project manager: If people really don't use those buttons to any extent at all  remove them altogether . marketing: Just remove them completely ? project manager: We we could actually have we could actually have a remote control with  user interface: That might be the project manager: I wonder whether we could get the remote control with no buttons at all if we went for voice recognition , given that  the  now the the age structure we were looking at   w we had usage by age structure , what we didn't have was what proportion of people using remotes were in those particular age groups . project manager: Forty no sorry for forty five to fifty five age group ,  to put myself right in the middle of it ,  u use remote controls to a great extent . marketing: industrial designer: project manager: Yes we marketing:  no this is for pay more for speech recognition . So , we're looking at  well again , we don't know the relative proportion the relative numbers in the age groups . project manager: If we wanted something different , truly different , then the buttonless remote control w would be it . industrial designer: P Well the only problem I can think of with that is if you've got a lot of people that don't wanna be bothered learning how to use new rem remote controls . If you just kind of take away everything that they're used to knowing , that's gonna be quite a change . project manager: But if you just lift it up and say , channel one or B_B_C_ industrial designer: It might marketing: Or even  you could even just have it left on . user interface: Maybe i marketing: You could just put it down once on top your T_V_ and never have to user interface: Yeah , have a big kind of like the satellite box or the cable box project manager: user interface: and have it just go on the T_V_ and then it doesn't matter where in the room you are , industrial designer:  . project manager: It c well it I can I can see technical problems with that in terms of the , you know , the sound from the television , industrial designer:  . project manager: because if somebody actually on the television says   , you know , I_T_V_ and you're watching B_B_C_ then then it might  change itself , marketing: B_B_C_ one . marketing: project manager: so it probably needs to be  possibly actually need a button on it user interface: Yeah , that's true . project manager: Or or something just to identify that you've lifted it up and it's use . And and then just say , oh I don't know , a thought and and then user interface: Yeah . project manager: marketing: Relevance of two out of ten , project manager: Vol volume , marketing: yeah . project manager: yes  industrial designer: They're not used often project manager: th industrial designer: but they are quite important when they're used . And  I would say ignoring ig ignoring power for the moment ,  the channel and volume industrial designer:  . project manager: and th w w given given that we've been told to ignore teletext . So if we can design something that that looks interesting , know , or looks different ,  incorporates the the logo and and the colours and  we can still have our interchangeable fascias even if it's the yellow and grey ,  and  I dunno , buttons or or buttons as an option . marketing:  you were saying about  it could technical problems of like  someone on the television saying a channel number and it changed project manager: marketing: 'Cause I've seen I've seen this used on computers before , where you just you address the remote , project manager: Depe  i depends whether  industrial designer:  . project manager: if we want to make this so simple that anybody can walk into the room and lift it up and say marketing: Oh I see . marketing:  I'm just thinking of the point of view of peop you could still like lose this remote . project manager:  and I I I s so I suppose one  could make it so desirable that if people lose it they immediately go out and buy another one . Do you want to just carry on with marketing: Oh no project manager: or marketing: I I interrupted you , project manager: no no , no  b I was in the middle of in the middle of your report there . We could make things much more f I think the the eighty percent of people would spend more on  a remote  that looks better , combined with  decrease the or take out the limited functio functions that we don't really use much . alright take out teletext , but as for channel settings and stuff it might it might  turn people somewhe peop some people that want the whole functionality away . But , since if we're marketing a more kind of fashionable approach then it'd it would be fashion and fashion over practicality . S s we could we could make it dual function voice recognition and still have buttons on it  marketing: Oh , we could , yeah . We c yeah , project manager: 'cause we're marketing: we could even have it as like a yeah the buttons control this and the voice functions control the f things that you would do all the time , so . marketing: So  yeah , if we could  power on and channel selection and and volume selection , wouldn't have to really project manager: The  the the advantage of doing away the buttons altogether is it makes the thing cheaper . project manager: No , it cou certainly opens up the possibility for making it  , you know , visually very distinctive . Okay , who sorry , have you have you finished there Andy ? marketing:  yeah , yeah , that's everything . marketing: Do you want the cable ? user interface: Yeah , let's see if I can make this work . user interface: So the method , I looked online for examples of other similar products and then just kind of was trying to brainstorm some possible design ideas and  identify what the necessary things are , what people are what you really wanna have a remote control do . There's a user centred one and an engineering centred one which I will have pictures of and then we kinda have to decide which one this should be . This one  this is the user centred , it has  quite a few    fewer buttons marketing: user interface: and then this is the engineering centred , which has a lot more buttons , project manager: user interface: and probably this is one that people complain about , about having too many buttons that you don't use . So basically , what a remote control is is you it's to send messages to the television set , you know , turn on , off , switch the channels and the volume and things such as that . And so for this product it's gonna be television only , and then it has to have the  logos for the company and the colours . And so , for my personal preferences , I think this one is easier to use and has quite a you know , fewer buttons .  we want something that sends messages easily to the television and I was kind of wondering about this example that they have . It looks kind of narrow at the top , and I was thinking maybe if it were wider at the top , project manager: yeah . E the unique style , maybe have it light up so it's visible in the dark ,  the changeable face-plates , and the lighting up and visible I was when we were talking about havi losing it , maybe to have a button on the television that you press and it maybe if it makes a noise or lights up or something like that , so it's easier to find if someone has hidden under the couch or something like that . project manager: Okay , can I  I'm actually gonna use the  it's gonna cause great technical problems over here . industrial designer: Oh yeah , they're all they're not connected to anything on the table , you just leave 'em on and walk around with 'em . project manager: Yes , rather than the  the the traditional in fact ,  I won't even go that far .  something like this shape , you know , sort of something that you can that's sort of a more vertical shape ,  that you you sort of hold in your hand , well I'm trying to think    l  l such as   something you hold up like that , possibly with a couple of buttons like that , but with the the entire top with the , you know , the  the infrared or whatever source . project manager:  so that you know , it's flying off in all directions , industrial designer:  . project manager: so that    again the n need to look at the the the technicalities of  actually achieving that in terms of whether the , you know , the power requirements of the  such a source ,  you know , compromise the our our need for  you know , it it being   permanently  you know , available . industrial designer: project manager:  whether whether different technology   th all all these remotes are presumably infrared , and like they have been for a long time .  we we possibly need to be looking at at at something different ,  you know , short range , not like the old  radio remote controls where you'd change next door's telly when you change yours .  industrial designer: user interface: project manager: but   I think basically i if we're going for i if minimum number of buttons is our priority , then we should , as I say , r know , really bite the bullets and and reduce the buttons to absolute minimum , you know , possibly with backup channel and volume buttons and on off .  so that it can al it could  almost end up like that , but again , except that  you know the risk of losing it .  anyway okay  so Kate , wh what are your  your thoughts on this ? industrial designer: Yes ,  . industrial designer: Which one does this plug into ? user interface:  I think it's all there . user interface: H industrial designer: I can't did you could you see it on you screen when it user interface: Oh yeah .  the basic function of the remote control is to send messages to another sh system , the the T_V_ or the D_V_D_ player or whatever . marketing: industrial designer:  and it does this  by well , you need to start off you need an energy source and this energy source will feed into an integrated circuit chip and the circuit chip is the part that actually composes the different messages  within the remote  which will then be sent to the  the television , the D_V_D_ to tell that what to do .  and you need a user interface , which controls the chip and thus the messages and  the user interface is that's basically just you kn the s sorta design of the actual remote which you hold in your hands and what buttons will be on it .  what we need  technically speaking for the remote control is some sort of energy source ,  some sort of user interface , which I think we've mostly been talking about the user interface and the design of that . industrial designer: which feeds into the circuit chip  which maybe then we could have that feed into a switch which would send signals f to  a subcomponent and on to a light bulb between so it'll light up once we start once you start pressing buttons .  also send signals to the  infrared bulb , which will be the part that actually what ? Sends signals to the the television . user interface: industrial designer: And so my personal preferences I I just think we need sorta big  energy source that won't die out ,  perhaps some sort of rechargeable battery or a battery dock you could place it in , so it'd constantly be charged , so you wouldn't have to  be worrying about it running out of batteries and not changing channels for you .  a wide range  sender-receiver , so that you can hit the buttons from basically anywhere in the room , and the channel'll still be changed .  also definitely a user-friendly interface  and I think we've all sort of mentioned adding a a locating device on it , so when it does get stuck under the couch cushions , as they inevitably do , you can find them easily . project manager:  I don't suppose we've got any statistics on the the life expectancy of  remote controls , particularly sort of independent ones .  given you know , the number of things you buy these days , which you know , have a a a lithium whatever battery in , that's  , you know never needs replacing . industrial designer: project manager:  perhaps we should have the the disposable remote control ,   you know , one some sort of typical usage . By which time  when all's said and done , the digital television will be taking over in that time scale . project manager:   p perhaps we should , know , reduce the  , you know , the sort of moving parts even more by not even having a battery compartment and  industrial designer: Just having one that's guaranteed to last five to ten years ? project manager: Yeah , and if if anybody manages to run it down , we'll we'll give 'em a new one . user interface: project manager:  it's , you know , it's what it saves in cost and you know there there's a well , it's actually a marketing gimmick .  so I th think you know the idea of a rechargeable one is   unless you're really high tech and it sort of just recharges itself if it's n by , you know , magnetic waves or whatever , if if it marketing: It could have like  know like a cordless phone in your house it s got like a base that sits there all the time . industrial designer:  yeah user interface: I would think that people might forget project manager: I I th I think user interface:  people forget to put their cordless phones back on there , marketing: industrial designer: project manager:   I know that somei times my my wife goes out in the morning and says oh I should have put the phone on to charge industrial designer:  . project manager: and then then she's had those for so long that if she hasn't worked that out by now . Yeah , when it turns itself off , that's when I plug it in , project manager: Yeah , yeah , yeah , so   industrial designer: yeah . user interface: project manager: what so wh what what do we think about the  the the permanent  battery ? industrial designer: Yeah , think that's a good idea . project manager: Is the  you know , we we we are really going for the ultimate in ex  external simplicity here . project manager:  you know , cut cost within the manufacturing and  you know , if we have a high tech interior , then then that that sh may well be cost effective .  I can't think of anything off the s top of my head , industrial designer: They usually have the little light  source , project manager: but there are certainly things that you buy . industrial designer: I dunno what the heck they're called , user interface: Yeah , they have that little solar industrial designer: the but project manager: Som well some do , industrial designer: yeah , the little cells that project manager:  th th but there are battery ones industrial designer: Yeah . industrial designer: Most of them , don't they have sort of a combination of the two , like when there is light , they'll work off the light , project manager: Yeah , industrial designer: and if there isn't , they'll kick into this battery , project manager:   industrial designer: so we can maybe do something like that whereas there is a battery , but if there's enough light , then it's using the light , so that it's not actually draining the battery all the time , but you will have the battery there for when you need it . project manager: I would think is i is is probably , you know , no more than minutes in its entire life . industrial designer: Oh , it depend if it's  depends who who's using it , who's just sitting there clicking clicking clicking clicking , user interface: Yeah , some people are project manager: If , but I say if if people are getting R_S_I_ from it then  then  then then perhaps we're looking at the wrong market industrial designer: yeah . marketing: W project manager: n marketing: like like this  this  market research thing says number of times per hour that it's used , channel selection a hundred and sixty eight user interface: Per hour ? project manager: Right . project manager: Oh , I must admit I hadn't  I'd I'd missed that . user interface: marketing: But then again , if you think it of the amount of , you know amount of use it's like project manager: Yeah . project manager: Well that's right , and and I I don't I don't even know whether the I don't even know whether the s the signal lasts as long as you actually keep the button pressed , industrial designer:  . project manager: sorta tenth of a second , no matter how long you press it for , I don't know I don't actually know . user interface: Though I think with digital T_V_ , like I know on my cable box , you're not supposed to do that because the channel can't keep up with it if you just press it like that , project manager: Yeah . user interface: so you're supposed to use the menu and go through the different project manager: industrial designer: project manager: Right , so I've got a message to say five minutes , I dunno how long ago that appeared . Possibly no buttons at all  , but if you can incorporate  channel change and volume buttons  in into the design , then then that's fine .  in the  the the role of the of the  the user interface des designer becomes b you know more important here , because , you know , shape is no longer an a   a serious constraint .  I don't see why we shouldn't go for voice recognition  and the the only buttons that I think we need are channel control , volume control and on off .  it needs to incorporate the corporate logo ,  the the grey and yellow colour scheme and there's no reason why we can't introduce  interchangeable  covers . So are we doing just the television or are we doing so not D_V_D_ players , project manager: No . project manager: I think that's quite clear from the the information that we've been given , industrial designer:  . marketing: Didn't you mention the teletext , just television only ? project manager: Oh yeah well th that's one I s that's one I sent you , industrial designer:  . industrial designer: project manager: Okay , so  we can all give some thought to that  for for the next meeting , thank you very much indeed


I think we  made some definite progress at the last one  and come up with some interesting   w suggestions for our our new remote control .  the the the problem with existing remote controls , we felt , was that they're ugly  and that people are prepared to pay a premium for something better .  they've got lots of buttons on them that  people don't use and find difficult to learn . And We we thought that f for our our new   remote control that everybody will want to rush out and buy ,  that we're we should look at speech recognition rather than r rather than buttons , and that if we have any buttons they should be very few of them and only for those functions that are actually identified that that people use . That  we want to go for  a long lasting battery that we gua we guarantee for the life of the   the product and a shape that will be instantly recognisable , A_  as  a trendy remote control , and and B_ as  a Real Reaction product . So that w  when people are  happy with that , they will they will want to buy  everything else from us . So again  , I'll we'll have the three three presentations from the the the three of you and then  we'll we'll make a a final a final  decision .  and the the decisions that we need to to make today , finally , are  what energy source we want to use , whether i it is practical to use   a a a long lasting one . And  I I think our discussion was around the fact that  if we're gonna go for  a long lasting power supply , then basically it's  sealed for life and  if anybody does manage to run one down , we'll we'll give them another one . And  it it'll be  , you know , prominently displayed as part of the th the advertising literature that it's   , you know , for life , guaranteed for life .  now the the the internal chip  and  this is where I need   Kate's expert advice industrial designer: project manager: and given that th this has to to go to market as quickly as possible  d d do we go for a custom designed chip ? Or or do we buy one off the shelf and and programme it ourselves ?   I'm I'm I'm n not an expert on these things , but presumably , there must be loads of 'em already on the market that we can modify . And then the  , you know , the the overall design of the case  is is is Kendra's field and  user interface: industrial designer: project manager: we we had some discussions last time as as to  how we might go forward and we'll we'll finalise those  da today .  and thi this is all linked in with the the the user interface , whether we p  go for voice , buttons , or or a bit of both .  and then  , you know , f for the next meeting Kate will be looking at the the the s the look , feel and design , Kendra the  ho how the the user actually uses it and and Andrew of course the the product evaluation . industrial designer: user interface: project manager:  so , if if we can have the the three presentations again please , and   p perhaps you'd like to start  k .  basically they wait for you to press a key or give a voice command and then this is translated  into  light signals which are then seen by the T_V_ .  the materials we're gonna need to look at  the two big ones are the integrated circuit chip and the battery and the in integrated circuit chip  works in conjunction with a a diode transistor or resonator ,  two more resistors and a capacitor and the battery works in conjunction with a resistor and a capacitor .  basically what happens is you'll press a number or give a voice command and this creates a a connection within the the remote that allows the chip the chip then senses this connection and produces a signal in a Morse code format . This signal's sent to the transistor which amplifies it and then sends it on to the light emitting diode and  which is then trai changed into a infrared light which is sent to the T_V_ and sort of seen by the T_V_ and which  changes the channels .  so as for how we should end up  using this in our remote  t couple of main questions are the buttons .  y the fewer buttons you have , I guess the fewer internal connections and internal codes you're gonna need .  however  to n not have buttons or to use a voice commands instead of buttons might make these connections more difficult and  raise the production cost . Also we have to work within the company constraints , and the company has informed me via email that  they're experts at pushbuttons and that seems to be the most  cost-effective way of producing it .  also with battery connections the company has some limits on the batteries we can use , so I was thinking perhaps a combination of solar cells with a back-up basic battery and somehow between the combination of that two we might be able to come up with something that  will last the the lifetime or the five to ten years and we could still keep that original idea .  we also need to look at the chips ,  v custom-designed versus off the shelf , and the custom-designed will give us much more flexibility and enable us to incorporate the voice function that we all  seem to have agreed upon .  , however that's gonna cost more , but  the off the shelf is gonna be  cheaper and it's gonna be allow us to produce it quicker and get out there faster , but it's going to be less flexible with the features , especially things like  voice activation , which haven't really been used much on remotes , so there's not really chips out there that would be easy to  to convert , project manager: Okay , industrial designer: so if we were  definitely gonna go with the the voice option we'd probably have to design  our own chip . project manager:  d d d okay ,   inevitably a b a custom design chip is gonna be more expensive . project manager: And and do we know how long it'll take to  develop a a custom chip . Oh w yeah , we did the the problem is the the the voice technology is not really highly developed , project manager: Right , industrial designer: it's sort of still still in an ex experimental form , project manager: okay . project manager: that would appear to  effectively constrain us to an existing chip and thus therefore conventional button technology .   now before we go round everybody else , does anybody  h have any have anyti ha anything to say about that ? user interface: I I just have a question about that .  does it make a difference if there are just a few commands , for example if you  can pre-programme in like numbers one through ten and pre-programme say , you know , nine channels and then just use the voice recognition to say channel one and then you've programmed in say B_B_C_ four as your channel one , as your favourite , it's like to have a certain number of favourites  industrial designer: W just to to incorporate the voice activation in it is is sorta the trick . user interface: and that w industrial designer: Once you've got the whole voice chip in there , then it's pretty much the the world the the sky is your limit , user interface: Okay . industrial designer: but to actually the the big step is to actually get the voice activation chips in there and working . project manager: Cause  I must say I find it slightly surprising given that , you know , mobile phones incorporate voice activated dialling . project manager: I d d for slightly different well no , it's if you you speak somebody's name and it'll dial the number for you , so  bu  the this this information is from is this is the internal company information , is it ? industrial designer:  bits of it , yeah . project manager: So  user interface: Of course mobile phones do tend to be more expensive , industrial designer: Yes , as well . project manager: Yeah ,  true , again but if it's without any without any  p price informations that's  difficult to  industrial designer: project manager:  decide . marketing: Also lots of mobile phones have got a lot of technology in them , not just that , so . It's like it's it's you can't 'cause mobile phones are expensive , you can't say it's the voice recognition bit that is .   I su i  if given that the  the technology is not well developed and and given that it's it's never been done before ,  th th the double risk ,  perhaps we ought to  stick to  to buttons , since the last thing we want to do is present a product that doesn't work . Thoughts ? user interface: Well , another thought I marketing: Would user interface: oh , sorry , go ahead . marketing: Oh I was just gonna say mayb maybe it sh like  maybe we can like cut corners somewhere else to bring in over cost . project manager:  do w do we think that the voice technology is fundamental to the project ? industrial designer:  it's fundament well  I guess it it's something we've discussed  since the the sort of the beginning , so I th I think in in our in our minds it's it's fundamental , but I don't know that the  the upper echelons of the company would necessarily agree with that , so I think you have to project manager:  I think we user interface: Oh yeah . industrial designer: user interface: Well , I kinda think if we're gonna have the voice recognition for part of it , then maybe we should have it for the whole thing . user interface: Anyway , I'm I'm incli kinda inclined to say that we should just go for it . marketing:  yeah , it's the second most important aspect to users that the device should be technologically innovative . project manager: if if that means  if that means we can't afford buttons but  b b industrial designer:  project manager: second question , do we need the five buttons for channel change , up down , volume up down and on off , just as a a backup or just so that people can  j j just sit there pressing buttons ? user interface: Yeah . Sorry , d did you want to say anything ? No ? industrial designer:  nope , project manager: Okay . Is it gonna work ? project manager:  yeah , industrial designer: Yeah , it's thinking about it . user interface: so I did some research on the internet and  what you know , the interf user interface are just aspects that are seen by users ,  commands and mechanisms for the operation , and there're just kind of a variety of choices . user interface: and these were just a couple examples of  different kinds that are a little bit more unusual . user interface: There're some special ones available , like this one right here , project manager: -huh . user interface: and one of the things that n we need to watch out for is a V_ in volume because people some Bring a little picture of what I thought ours could look like . industrial designer: user interface: So just kind of minimise the clutter , project manager: user interface: avoid too many buttons and also  one of the things that people have used is a slide button , like you have on a mouse , that possibly we could use that on the sides for volume , for example , have the slide button on the side , marketing:  . user interface: and then you can pre-programme the channels , the voice recognition and then the voice response sample locator . project manager:  I think the reason everybody uses pushbuttons is that they're they're si simple , cheap and reliable . I  , I think it's just sort of the the there's a lot of slide buttons out there . user interface: Just because I n for example if I'm using a mouse I like to be able to slide it up and down industrial designer:  . user interface: so I thought it might be good for volume to just be able to kind of roll it and then have the up and down project manager: Yeah . industrial designer: project manager: Three buttons , channel up channel up down and user interface: Y yes , yes . marketing: Well , if you g if you if you got a channel up down , we can have a slider in that as well . Because if it if you no user interface: marketing: if you notice on the thing it it kind of like has got kind of if you you know it s kind of like sticks , if you know what  , up like one unit , if you see what  . marketing: So it kinda goes up one , then y like you can keep rolling it up , but it's like like like like a cog or something .  user interface: The only advantage I was thinking of to having the buttons , like the buttons on one side for the channel , and then the slider is that if you're just holding in your hand , and you pick it up , it's easy to n s know , okay , this is just the volume and this is the channel . project manager: This one on the one side and one marketing:  you could you could as l as like a mouse you could project manager: yeah . industrial designer: Ye yeah , 'cause I've definitely picked up remotes and like meant to change the channel and turn the volume , or vice versa , project manager: Yeah . project manager: or yeah  th th the  thi this is what the user interface: That was marketing: Yeah , like the shape of it almost like a mouse , with a project manager: we have to come up with is the the actual shape that people can ins instantly pick it up and and know know  know what it's going to do . project manager: Okay , so we we're looking at sliders for both a  volume and channel change user interface:  well project manager: of one sort . user interface: I was thinking kind of just for the volume , project manager: Just for the volume ,  . user interface: but what what do you guys think ? marketing: Dep I dunno if it user interface: We could marketing: depending on the final shape of it , 'cause you could have like , I dunno , it looks like you can c control the volume with your thumb , user interface: Yeah , yeah . industrial designer: 'cause if yeah , in that kinda position the fingers would be better for pressing and the that for rolling , project manager: It yeah ,  it it it seems to me that  it  it al also has the advantage that it it the two are clearly different , user interface: B industrial designer: just the way it would user interface: Yeah . project manager: that's sorry is that that all you want to say at the mo user interface: Yes . marketing: The data's come off internet  from executive summary for us on the top three things wanted by the consumer . industrial designer: marketing: And  the most important aspect is the l the look it has to look fancy , look and feel project manager: This is a st well I was gonna say yeah twice as important as the second aspect , project manager:  . So  and the third being easy to use is probably a given , we have to try and incorporate , so  project manager: Well I  I th I think that what we're suggesting ought to address all three of those .  yeah , and  from the fashion watchers from Milan and Paris have said fruit and vegetables are an important theme for clothes and furniture and shoes , et cetera . industrial designer: project manager:  I hadn't thought of that , that's different , certainly . But  I was gonna say  yeah , project manager: What ? marketing: fruit and vegetables ,  important to this year  important to furniture , I'm just gonna say  f like it's in if if fashion if we're going for the it looks fancy , then fashion is obviously the line we gotta be going through . industrial designer: Well that can kinda tie into our changing  face things , like we could have the fruit and vegetable theme this year marketing:  . project manager: industrial designer: and  whatever happens next year , we can have the face plates , user interface: Yeah . industrial designer: Yeah , marketing: and then we can just whip that off and industrial designer: yeah . You know , that kind of spongy industrial designer: yeah , that weird I dunno what that is , project manager:  .  you have we could if we could save depending on the cost of the product itself , you know , could we have  a cheaper b cheaper power source and then just have it annually renewed ? Instead of having a ten year guarantee ? With interchangeable covers , could just buy a new one every year , a new one when new fashions come out . user interface: project manager: I  it its  I that's an interesting idea , it's like the old Swatch watch where   on only batteries ever got changed in those , 'cause people just bought a new one when it went out of fashion , industrial designer:  . user interface: Wh project manager: yes if if if they're made in sufficient quantity industrial designer: I I think it's easier sometimes to have them buy changeable covers for it than to buy a whole new one , because you don't feel like you're investing in a whole new product . project manager: W  we we can   b but  my feeling is that current power sources are such that for relatively little cost you can make it last , you know , a long time . project manager:  but if we also make it cheap enough that people either change the cover every year or even buy a new one every year then it it's it's even better . user interface: So  industrial designer: That all c also kind of encourages 'em to buy new covers user interface: like industrial designer: and yeah . project manager: I n I know the only p  the the the the immediate thing that comes to mind with that is that it it it y you've then got the connection user interface: So f project manager: and you've immediately got a sort of unreliability , whereas the advantage of having it plumbed in is that that the whole thing is all , you know , completely soldered together industrial designer:  yeah . project manager: but  I d I I  I know what you're saying and  understand where you're coming from . marketing: Or well , but like  like more than just the battery , like a complete different like you've only got like , you know like th  this bit's the bit you keep , and this is the expensive bit , this is like the chip industrial designer: And then project manager: I th I s I think if we're gonna go down that route , then we're talking about  even if it costs slightly more than that ,  just building the whole thing in one , then having getting cheaper production costs marketing: Yeah , you probably are right . project manager:  and , you know giving people the option of buying a new  a a complete new thing , the advantage of a replaceable cover is that even if they don't it doesn't have a cover on at all , it will still work  totally . project manager:  then if , you know , if people lose the cover ,  they they might be well inclined to go out and spend however many Euros on a on a new one  rather than a a complete new re remote . industrial designer: Well that that's just it with the covers , you're sort of tricking 'em into continuing to spend their money on our products without making 'em feel like they're being ripped off having to buy a new product . project manager: Yeah ,  it is it's up to it's up to industrial designer: So , user interface: Yeah , just another five Euro to get industrial designer: yeah . project manager: it's it's up to our marketing people to to ma to ma turn it into a a fashion item . project manager:  and , you know , as as external fashions change , then we get new new covers on the market and , you know , readily available . project manager: And  industrial designer: And that's the sort of thing , once you get the mould set , you can just whip out different colours , different pictures very very quickly . user interface: Yeah , like they have for mobile phones industrial designer: Yeah , yeah , exactly , exactly .  we hadn't finished your marketing:  oh , don't worry it's all said , I was just gonna say  yeah , are we gonna make this as part of like like  a part of the f like it it the fashions apply to furniture , so are we gonna make this part of the furniture ? project manager: It's the sort of thing that we want people to have prominent dis displayed on their  coffee table to say this says something about me . marketing: with project manager: I , you know , I'm I'm I'm with it , I'm up to date . And you know , th the the design that I've got , and and it could be a a home-made design ,  you know this says this is not just a a television remote control , this is , you know , a fashion accessory .  , so  the the the basic shape i is is what we   given that we've got you know one one on off button presumably , two buttons for  channel change and one slider and basically nothing else , industrial designer:  . And , know whether we go down the fruit and veg route , and I don't suggest we make it look like a banana , but  know sort of the the organic , you know , curved look , industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager: you know , t to deliberately get away from the    you know , the the the the square look of most  current  remotes industrial designer:  . project manager: and , you know , whether whether the you know , the the fixed part of it is the corporate yellow .   or  'cause there's certainly you know , the the corporate logo needs to be prominently  displayed so that people s th looked at it and say right , that's a Real Reaction remote control , I want one of those . industrial designer: I dunno that we should make the whole thing yellow I kinda thought with a you'd have like a yellow circle with the R_R_ in it somewhere on it , project manager: Yeah  the the  or or b industrial designer: but I'd user interface: Yeah , industrial designer: yellow seems a bit of a strong colour user interface: like an . project manager: Yeah , I'd I'd  industrial designer: to make the ent like the thing user interface: Yeah .  no industrial designer: no , but  just like white or grey or black or some sort of blah colour . project manager: I d I I agree ,  we're we're we're simply it's simply required to incorporate the the the the corporate logo prominently  . user interface: Well n project manager: Well , th this is this is the whole point , yes , you know , I'm I've got a a Real Reaction  remote control to go with my Real Reaction coffee maker or or whatever . industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager: And  then people , you know , people demand more Real Reaction stuff . user interface: Well I was sort of  kinda picturing like maybe  a shape that's almost like a mouse . user interface: So that , you know , when they hold it it's because a mouse is pretty comfortable to hold in your hand  maybe we could make it a slightly different shape so they could hold on to it , but that way they can have the volume on the side and then the channel buttons and project manager: Yeah . project manager: Oh no that well there's the sim my my idea was something a b probably you know a bit fatter than this but sort of tha that sorta shape user interface: Yeah . industrial designer: Yeah , you'd want it narrower than a mouse though user interface: Kind of a c industrial designer: 'cause it a mouse you're kinda just resting on it , you want something you can definitely grip . project manager: W it  well it's sort of it's it's sort of  a a mouse , industrial designer: So maybe it'd be user interface: Yeah . project manager: but held , you know , so it's you sorta hold it in your hand like that , i with , you know , and fiddling with the buttons . user interface: Yeah so yeah , kind of maybe maybe a little wider than this , 'cause this is pretty comfortable to hold , and then if you had industrial designer: Maybe almost like a hairbrush , like you could get the about the width of that end of the pen and then it widens up top user interface: Yeah , industrial designer: and you can fiddle user interface: then wider up here . user interface: And then it would have a l  wider thing to  have the light , the infrared light at the T_V_ and just kinda change channels and adjust the volume industrial designer: Yeah , yeah . marketing: Yeah , that sounds  I'm just I'm suddenly realising that yeah we're discussing how much how good it's gonna be to change channels t we still can just tell it to .  are we are we starting to get away from the the voice functionality of it ? industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: I think we d I think we decided that w we're actually going down both routes . project manager: we need the the manual controls and that they should be of that form , but that  yeah . industrial designer: But do you know , this shape also kind of les lend itself to to voice 'cause if you're you're holding it and you're fiddling , but you can also bring it up like that project manager: Then you just bring it up to your mouth and just speak to it , industrial designer: and it's microphone-esque , user interface: Yeah , and just say project manager: yeah , yeah . marketing: Yeah , maybe we cou like w like we're leaving out the buttons for the the f less frequently used stuff , industrial designer:  . project manager: I th I th honest  my personal view is that if it's not there , people wouldn't use it anyway  . marketing:  I suppose , but t there is the off chance that , you know , th the brightness is wrong on your T_V_ or the contrast needs changing . project manager: It's cer it's certainly possible  , but they we we're going beyond w w industrial designer: Bu  . project manager: given the state of the technology we want something that we kno we know will will work  .   if the power button was also somehow like a menu button you could press that and or do voice commands , and either volume thing could also be to scroll through other options like y and you could scroll through brightness project manager:  marketing: Yeah , industrial designer: and and sc marketing: that's a good idea . industrial designer: and then you can you can minimise the buttons user interface: Yeah , I suppose I sup industrial designer: and still have those , you know , brightness and tint and stuff . project manager: If we we're  I'm getting a clear message that we think that we should have those facilities available . industrial designer: Yeah user interface: We could have the channels and the power and then a menu button and then the volume . project manager:    marketing: project manager: Okay , if we if we're going down that route , then we need some sort of display . Do we need some sort of display ? industrial designer: But the television would be the display project manager: We actually use the television , okay . industrial designer: that things like that usually c pop up on a televi like you hit menu user interface: Yeah , and then y industrial designer: and menu will come up on television and have like tint brightness , and you'd use the scroll , scroll through it yeah . marketing: on a onto like a mouse , the ru the scrolling button , is actually a button as well , you could press it , you could press that and have it as a menu button . user interface: Yeah , press that is t industrial designer: I never understood how that worked though , user interface: yeah , that might work . user interface: Yeah , it's like  yeah , it's like the mouse where you just kinda click it . user interface: Yeah , and you could just click that to so if you had like the menu then you could scroll through and then click it to select . project manager: so  I d I think we've actually very conveniently just  come to  a good point to s to sum up  . project manager: So  b b Kate and Kendra now go away and  pa play play with a bit of Plasticine or play-dough , industrial designer: Play with play-dough . industrial designer: project manager:  and actually put what we've discussed into something  I was gonna say concrete , marketing:  . project manager: but that's a slightly inappropriate word industrial designer: project manager:  to something that we can we can see and  Andrew n can go away and th th think about how we can  actually market this as a concept and not j not just a   a a simple remote control . marketing: Our energy source is gonna be project manager: I think I think we decided that we're gonna for marketing: long term . project manager: for simplicity of , you know , manufacturing and  maintenance that we will go for a a long term battery source  , industrial designer:  .  project manager: I you know , on the basis that  that , you know , if we're going for making it a fashion statement , then  people are more likely to change it anyway  before i it runs out and  make an assumption that we we can aim for a battery that will last most people for  we'll say at least five five ten years marketing: industrial designer: Yeah . marketing: And we're having a custom chip ? project manager: We're having a a custom chip , but given the the we've cut the functions down ,  that will hopefully not be too problematic , but given that  technol technological innovation is important , industrial designer: project manager: then we need to , I'll say it again , technologically innovate . marketing: project manager:  and  we we , know , we must resist any efforts to  to try and water that down  . marketing: And interchangeable case ? project manager: I i interchangeable case seems to be   important to the concept . project manager:  it it should be cheap , you know , if if we avoid any , you know , electrical connections . project manager: And  i you know , i if we can come up with some way of of allowing people to actually personalise it  to whatever they want , then     this is totally new . project manager: We d we don't know whether that to what extent people do it or not , but if they've at least got a a good selection of  covers that they can use anyway , and  and if if we can keep them , you know , rolling , then  you know , so they can get them in the supermarket when they go down to  a any of the famous supermarkets , I won't mention any mention any names , industrial designer: marketing: project manager:  it's  it's good for the supermarket user interface: project manager: and it's good for us and it hopefully makes them feel better . marketing: And  are we gonna have it il being illuminated from inside onto the buttons or project manager:  the that  that's no , because we've got so few buttons that it that actually makes that redundant . user interface: Yeah , and especially for making them so like different and industrial designer:  different to feel , project manager: Yeah , yeah . project manager: you know , that that solves one of the problems of b of battery life , 'cause that would well that would clobber the battery life , industrial designer: project manager: so no ,  given the nature of the buttons we're having , it's actually   unnecessary I think . marketing: Are we having it that it's any angle , or is it just project manager: As  as wide industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: so that if you're holding it , you know , anyway like you're likely to and  it's  you know , i i it will work most of the time  . project manager: Not like my my mum who points it at the ceiling and wonders why the th th the television doesn't work . industrial designer: user interface: project manager:  yeah ,  I d I th I sorta envisaged that if if this was the the thing , then sort of the the whole of the top would be the  the infrared  . project manager: Yeah , 'cause  the r reality is people are they're gonna be looking at the television whilst they're using it , the chances are , so if if they're holding it anyway , the they're reasonably likely to be holding it to use it , user interface: Yeah . project manager: Okay , so thank you very much indeed and I'll s see you all again in thirty minutes


Welcome to the what should be the last of these meetings and  it looks like we've  done a good job here and  we'll just go through the the final  the final details .  okay , oh the  th the the minutes of the last meeting  I think we'll take those as read ,  Okay industrial designer: project manager: the  th the the next  thing we we we'll have a look at the  th have a look at the prototypes and  look at the  evaluation criteria and finance and then   just tidy up with production and  and then we can close . industrial designer:  okay we basically have the same kinda lay-out here it's just  you hold it like this and it gets kinda moulded to the to the shape of your hand , basically .  on the left we've got the scroll for the volume , on the right we have buttons for the channels up and down and that kinda so you can hold it and scroll , or you can hold it and and push . project manager: industrial designer:  this is the power key ,  it's kinda like the biggest so you know how to turn on . This is the infra-red section so you g it'll be sending rays and if you're you know pointing it like that it can send it , project manager: Yep , industrial designer: or if you hold it up like that it'll send it . industrial designer: so you can you know talk to it like that project manager: Yep , industrial designer: and it'll still understand . industrial designer: and has the cover on it user interface: S industrial designer: and you can see like it just kinda goes the red bit's the cover and it kinda goes over everything project manager: Yep , yep , industrial designer: and then there's holes for the buttons to come through . user interface: And so we figured it would be kind of you know a light weight plastic , project manager: -huh . user interface: and then the covers will be that sort of rubbery material like they make iPod covers , project manager: showing me age , user interface: so they kinda just stretch over . user interface: I I didn't know that but yeah they're kind of it's just kind of a rubbery project manager: -huh . user interface: and that way you know project manager: Okay , user interface: spongy like is something that people wanted project manager: yep , right . user interface: and that way I think probably helps protect it a little bit too as well project manager: Okay . industrial designer: But it's also e e easier to put on versus like mobile covers user interface: and industrial designer: you actually have to screw them on and stuff and you kinda sometimes have to get someone to do that for you . user interface: and then the buttons come through and so and then the each one of 'em on the very end will have the logo with the yellow circle and the R_R_ . project manager:  tha it's it's a detailed point , I just wondered  h how will people put these down I wonder ? user interface: Like that . Okay for some strange re reason I had it in my mind that they'd put them down vertically industrial designer: Yeah it could stand , yeah . industrial designer: Well we could broaden the broaden it out a bit project manager: Yeah ,  no industrial designer: so it would stand like that . project manager: because particularly if they've dif if they're gonna have it as a you know as a fashion item industrial designer: Yeah , standing . project manager:   it it's  it it's just  it's just a minor detailed point , but  as you say you can just make the base a little bit bigger and  industrial designer: Yeah , we could just widen it out  project manager: Yeah and  it just needs another  another logo somewhere is is is is all it gives gives people the option and if if say if they've got them  industrial designer:  . project manager: because actually have several upon the  marketing: Could have one for your stereo , one for your D_V_ player . industrial designer: Have to if we just lengthen it I guess project manager: Yeah industrial designer: so it comes down to the base of the hand user interface: Yeah , project manager: but that that's  but  user interface: just kind of industrial designer: and then flatten it out project manager: no industrial designer: and could sit there . user interface: Somewhere like that project manager: no no ,  that's these  user interface: so it just sort of industrial designer: We might have to lengthen it marketing: Yeah I kinda had a a kinda a natural kind of a idea industrial designer: so it kinda your hand still holds it and have it there , user interface: Yeah . marketing: where it's like more of a kind of like a kinda maybe slightly like thinner , user interface: Bu project manager: Yeah . marketing: yeah , kinda like that kinda like a flower or a plant project manager: But  yeah but no th but the yeah the the the industrial designer:  . project manager: Yeah , yeah , yeah , industrial designer: The final product would actually stand up , yeah . project manager: I think the  the basic concept i i is is absolutely bang on industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: and the i industrial designer: Wee project manager: it certainly meets our criteria of being  of you know looking different . industrial designer: project manager:  right let us  What's on the next one ? Oh right yes , let's have a look at the  f finance .  , now we're given a a clear design brief ,  if I get the  spreadsheet up . Good , this is why we need to make these things simple so that the  the the the boss can understand . industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager: Now I've  this is the company's   costing for for various   aspects of design and I I I've treated some of these slightly  liberally given the constraints placed on us ,  I wouldn't know for in for instance if if they require us to have it in the corporate colours , then that is not a special colour , that's a that's a standard colour .  , so we're just simply on batteries , the the one th the one decision I've had to make is that  we're we will have to find a s a regular standard chip to to do this with and I I  I'm I'm I'm certain that they they are around so ,  that I don't think is a a serious problem . The  the the voice sensor is is expensive but we we made a a basic decision that that was absolutely fundamental to the to the design so that that has to stay .  then again the the the the shape of the case means that it's it's expensive to   l to make 'cause of the the th the double curves but on the other hand because of our overall fashion concept  we we should exceed the the sales targets .  it's simply made of plastic so th that's  that's no problem and   just because the whole the colour of the the whole thing that's   there's some cost there .  and  we haven't actually got a scroll wheel we we we got push buttons and and a simple   slider so  and the and the the buttons are   well I do don't know that they're special colour . Anyway the the costings  come in at exactly on target at twelve point five  but I thi I think we have a a very strong case to argue that  what what we've got is is so in innovative and  and different that  any any slight compromise we have to make on on cost is is offset by the  you know the  you know the the the the concept of it being a a fashion accessory and and having the the interchangeable covers industrial designer:  . project manager: so   you know the if if if the management expect us to be techno again fail again technologically innovative  that they they have to accept that we we can't operate absolutely within  the constraints that they give , industrial designer:  . project manager: so  we we we present this as the  the company's  the the company's way forward and   I I think we can argue that we we have  come in on on budget . Does anybody want to   Andrew do you want what do you want to say about  the  yeah the evaluation marketing: Evaluation . project manager: where where you know well where where we're where where we're at ? marketing: The the product or the project ? project manager: The the the well the I meant the product . Method of evaluation testing the product was to just if it met all the criteria all the conditions that we set out to set out to solve , from the point of view of the the consumer and the management . So what I've been asked to do is , on the whiteboard project manager: marketing:  gauge our team response to these questions . And then at the end just take an average project manager: Tr On for true and seven for flase . marketing: Easy to use ? project manager: I don't see we could've made it any easier . And  , what else ? The R_S_I_ compares to the current standards , project manager: Less buttons so it must be . We we industrial designer: Yeah marketing:  yeah it was our it was a industrial designer: it is sorta the the handle more ergonomically correct as well . marketing:  will device appeal to all age groups ? project manager: I think it will because   old older people who can't manage the buttons anyway will actually probably like the like like the voice bit so industrial designer:  . Well we had the we had the data saying that old people will be less likely to pay extra money but the funct the increased functionality , the e ease of use of the device might make up for that . project manager: well I don't think we're actually charging a particular premium anyway , in the end , so industrial designer: I I I think it will tend to appeal more to younger aged groups marketing:  . industrial designer: and the younger people tend to would be more conscious of that aspect of it , but  I think it should still appeal on a certain level to everybody , yeah . project manager: It will appeal f for dif for different reasons but it's it's  industrial designer: Yeah , yeah . user interface: Yeah I think just the simplicity of it project manager: yeah yeah industrial designer: Yeah , yeah . user interface: and project manager: so I I yeah I user interface: not having to learn to programme industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: Yeah , so I think we can reasonably say it's another another one , industrial designer:  . marketing: project manager: why not ? industrial designer: user interface: marketing:  can you just click the my mouse to move onto next page ?  , yeah and what h did we make the management's project manager: in in in in my interpretation of management's instructions  is that yes it it meets the requirement industrial designer: project manager: is t it's television only , industrial designer: Yep . project manager:  it's it's it's within budget , user interface: Under the cost . project manager: coming up with what marketing: So  one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven . project manager: Before I  industrial designer: user interface: Ps I don't think so , project manager: No . user interface: and looked really at what the consumers wanted and what we were trying to make project manager: Yeah . user interface: and come to group consensus and project manager: Well that's right ,  th this this slide here  the satisfaction with  room for creativity ,  industrial designer:  . project manager: I think we've allowed ourselves  as much creativity as the  the the the product  allows . project manager:  I won't comment on leadership ,  teamwork I think we've  I think everybody's  worked pretty well together . project manager:  we've just about coped with the whiteboard and digital pens ,  I think the results speak for itself industrial designer:  . project manager: and new ideas found , again gi no given relatively everyday product , I think we've v very  very effectively come up with a a new  user interface: Yeah . Is the project evaluated ? We're we're all happy that it it meets all the criteria ,  industrial designer: Yep . project manager: Thank you very much indeed , I think that I think that's  industrial designer: Cool , thank you , user interface: Alright