branding has been an important aspect, i have created a brand that is consistent throughout my project; project proposal,probes, slides, experience prototype advertising etc. using a typewriter whenever possible
and creating a 'parcel' like effect introduding writing paper and brown parcel paper as materials.
i do believe that facts often remove emotion however some communication facts:
7% what you say
38% how you say it
55% body language
some details from the Information from the Office of Communications Report 2007
"communication is proven to be the constant factor in determining any successful relationship."
"each person now spends more than seven hours cumulatively every day watching, listening, making phone calls and web-browsing. This reflects both the growing importance of communications services in our work and leisure lives and a growing desire, particularly among the young, to use multiple services simultaneously."
"the alarm is the mobile handset feature which has the highest substitutional impact on stand-alone devices, followed by the camera. A significant minority of people also say their mobile is substituting for their stand-alone portable music player or games console."
"At the end of 2006 there were nearly 70 million active mobile phone subscriptions in the UK, with further growth being driven by multiple handset or SIM ownership. Of these, 35% were contract connections (1% higher than a year previously)."
some interesting facts from the Keynote of millenium youth:
"over 72% of adultsand 85% of teenagers have mobile phones." "over 125 million text messages were sent on new years eve." "youth market is going to get smaller as populations are changing." "over 76% of households have their own pc." "family and friendships are valued above jobs etc in the youth category of society." "SMS went from a non-exsistent market to 45 million messages a day over a 4 year period." "we are amidst the information age, which involved intense media choice, rapid changes in technology and unstable family life."
" there are 118,000 post boxes in the UK"
lets think about desire.
people have the desire to communicate. most importantly, to communicate more romantically, poetically, physically and ultimately more meaningfully.
why is this? because text messages are dull, unimaginative and intangible. there is no room for expression, creativity or individuality. which contradicts what people are all about.
this opportunity has presented itself to me by analysing the past and the dissatisfaction expressed and noticeable with regards to the current methods used; text, email etc
and the delight expressed towards the more traditional methods of communication such as letter writing and postcards.
people have needs that are unconscious and often unknown by the individual; my product will also appeal to these needs. for instance, improvement of vocabulary, people being able to articulate themselves more clearly, encouragement for people to put their thoughts down on paper, friendships drawing closer...
motivation: i intend for my product to delight people, to motivate them emotionally. what really delights people is when you give them something nice they never expected. and this may be something that they didn't expect simply they had never thought of it; or if they had thought of it, they never believed it would be possible.
who will my customers be? i do not like the notion of defining people by age and gender etc. i am much more drawn towards the idea of defining my customer by behaviour and traits. i believe this will lead to a much richer project.
such as people who write letters, send texts, use email, cannot use email because of disability or confusion, who blog, who write books, who write poems, who write love letters, who use a typewriter, who send postcards and keep a diary.
opportunity for a product presents itself in the unique and one-off products such as the text my door project
similarly the non useless design studio
have designed pieces of furniture which fit the niche douceurs is directed towards. although, i have not focused on furniture design for a final outcome these designs are very interesting and relate to the interests and aims of my project.
this is used to store newspaper cut outs.
this piece is designed to store mail.
this piece is designed to store secrets which directly relates to my cultural probes, particularly the individuals who store their secrets in a safe.
this design is very simply and does not have a particular function. but as the designer suggests. you all want one don't you? i know i do.
in terms of competitors, companies are continually churning out new methods of communicating such as the i phone, voice recognition email etc. although these work very well technologically, they are not capturing the romance and history of physical meaningful communication noted in the past.
i intend to talk to people and customers to broaden my horizons as to where my product could potentially be marketed. companies such as borders, waterstones, mobile phone network, post office and short bread.
i hope to gain potential sponsorship by the mr brandeth who formulated the documentary on the 'dying art of letter writing'.
the space where my product will live is very important. i am deliberating between a conceptual and speculative approach. to explain a little further i envision my product being an object of novelty that would have an appropriate place amidst a community to which users would go to the object to use and then their message would be physically left behind. this in turn creates a new slant of creating communities etc.
the other approach would involve my product being part of the family home and being part of everyones daily life. for example, the house phone has its own 'place' within the home...my product would to.
to conclude my business chat i am defining my customer on behaviour rather than demographics. i am going to define what the customer values and in terms of competition what other objects would this user buy?
customer variable graphs to follow shortly....
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