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Ann Zimmerman of The Wall Street Journal wrote a fascinating article earlier this week on Target’s efforts to help thwart “Showrooming” when shoppers come into the store to see a product in person only to buy it from a rival later on-line, frequently at a lower price. 

According to the article “Last week, in an urgent letter to vendors, the Minneapolis-based chain suggested that suppliers create special products that would set it apart from competitors and shield it from the price comparisons that have become so easy for shoppers to perform on their computers and smartphones”.  

Hmmm.. As a product developer, I find some special significance and perhaps just a twinge of schadenfreude here – not specifically at Target but over my perception that the big-box retailers were a key enabler and driver of the rush to undifferentiated, unimaginative products in the retail segment.  We consumers were certainly to blame but the increased clout of big-box retailers and their relentless squeeze on margins and unwillingness to take risk or allocate space for niche products contributed to this reality. 

Manufacturers often responded by slashing internal innovation and turning into glorified branding/sourcing firms where generic, undifferentiated products from offshore manufacturers were rebadged, reskinned, repackaged and cost reduced to the point of total homogeneity and mediocrity.  When “true innovation” is defined as having 32 speeds on my blender instead of 24 I think I can predict where this is headed.  Ironically, of all the big-box retailers, it is Target that arguably puts the biggest premium on innovation and design.  Never the less, the squeeze is evident, widespread and apparently painful. 

Of course nothing illegal, immoral or even deplorable here – just the natural churn of a business cycle.  The big-box retailers did a great job of steering us to what we want in a way that left them uniquely positioned to provide it.   And now technology has turned that cycle again but this time the big-box retailer are the ones being left in the lurch. 

 I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing the future doesn’t bode well for Target’s strategy here. Smart phones and tablets are the latest extension to the limitless pool of internet knowledge and frictionless commerce, giving us unprecedented and seamless access to both information and channels of distribution.  That particular genie is out of that particular bottle.  Asking suppliers to gen up “special products” to help Target differentiate themselves from Amazon might have them wondering “what have you done for me lately?.”  Or at least “why”? 

As a further irony, I might envision a future where brick-and-mortar retailers survive and indeed thrive by refocusing on a boutique approach to niche products and elevating the shopping “experience” – ironic because these were exactly the retail traits crushed by the big box revolution.  If there’s any doubt how we think things are headed, a quick comparison of the stock prices of Amazon and Target is pretty telling.  Might be time for a little innovation around the business model. 

I snagged this monstrosity from one of our designers who was referencing it on a recent project – If ever there were a package in desperate search of a “Horrible Graphic Design” contest… well this is it.

Starting with the use of no less than a dozen fonts – several of which are illegible –  is only the first insult.  The generally crummy choice of contrasting colors, weird background gradient and beginner’s Photoshop halo effect around the model  layer on additional and profound pain.  The text density is positively excruciating and the multiple language execution??? Quelle dommage!  And finally, there’s the photograph itself.  Simply freakishly spooky . From the cake frosting mud pack to the shocking ruby red lips to that odd, smug tilt of the head.   And what in the hell is going on with the stuff piled on her eyes???  What exactly is that?  Rocks?  Meal loaf?  Decomposing mouse remains?  Dog feces?   

Ok… I know.   I get it.  Or rather they get it and I don’t.  I know this is a big, smart company selling bazillions of these things at major retail establishments.  I’m sure this is package design is really their “thing” and I simply lack … oh I don’t know.. the intellect? – design sensitivity? – sense of irony? – whatever-  necessary to fully appreciate their genius.  All I know is that for my money that’s one seriously ugly packaging job.  For crying out loud people.   

Sometimes I think we’re regressing as a species. 

Dave Franchino, president and principal of Design Concepts, spoke at the national Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Conference Tuesday, April 12, 2011, Madison, WI. Franchino presented Leveraging Innovation: How to Partner with a Product Development Firm to introduce the risks and rewards of innovaton partnerships.

For those who were there, or those who couldn’t attend, the presentation notes are here for your reference. SBIR Conference presentation notes

I don’t know exactly why, but I guess I find this sort of depressing.

A wonderful article in the Wall Street Journal either heralds or laments – depending on your perspective –the end of the “age of speed”.

The basic premise is thus: Up to the 18th century, mankind was pretty much speed limited. Preumably short of a precious plunge off a cliff (world speed record holder – posthumous), we were going to top out in the (very) low double digits for miles per hour. A horse or two might add a bit of upward range but in general that had pretty much been the state of the art since – well – forever.

Then came the industrial revolution and it was speed-game-on.

For the last 200 or so years, mankind has been engaged in a game of velocity leapfrog. Until now. The last–fastest occupied vehicle was the single shot moon rockets at around 25,000mph. With the retiring of the space shuttle we’re basically to the 1960s… or as the article points out Today, jet-setters are back around 600 mph, the same speed their grandparents reached on early jetliners 60 years ago.

Sigh… almost enough to make you to jump off a cliff.

I spent some time this weekend screwing the glove box back into my car.  Odd.  I know.  The story of how a perfectly good glove box came to be outside of the car is interesting and left me contemplating the general degree of isolation and detachment we often have from the people who influence myriad aspects of our modern life. Of course that’s not universally the case.  We can see the actors who star in our favorite movies.  We know the authors who write our favorite books and the athletes that compete for our favorite teams.  I guess with the advent of the Internet and a more seamless flow of information I can often figure out who wrote my latest iPhone App. 

But with a few notable exceptions, we generally have little or no personal connection to—or awareness of—the people responsible for the products that shape, interact and influence our daily lives.  I have absolutely no idea who designed the building I work in, the bicycle I ride, the computer I’m typing on.  I put my eyeglasses on every morning and suspect John Varvatos (I had to look him up. He’s a famous designer ironically from Detroit – see below … shows what I know) lent little more than his name.  Mostly I never give much thought to who designed my possessions and, heck, I’m in the profession.  I suspect many of you give it even less.  Our forefathers might find this strange—but they lived in a world where a larger portion of their lives was contained within the sphere of their daily influence.  Such is no longer the case where today our detachment is so profound we often don’t know the person who grew our food or cooked our meal.  So maybe it’s not so odd that we don’t have a clue who designed our products. 

I guess one reason for this is that product design is much more a team sport than say, for example … team sports.  Really.  By the time any reasonably complex product or service winds its way to market it’s actually sort of rare that any one individual or small group of individuals can legitimately claim singularly meaningful credit. Likewise, if product design is the ultimate team sport, then who exactly lays claim to being the quarterback?  Unless you’re remarkably self-centered or egotistical, this probably isn’t the right profession if you’re into adulation and fame.   

I look at the brilliant product designers who work here at Design Concepts, and although it’s really cool to see a product you worked on in a store, in general they know they’re toiling away in some degree of anonymity.  I know they realize they’re a small but important part of the complicated tapestry of sweat and effort it takes to move a product from the spark of an idea to a place in our lives and – if they’re really good – our hearts.   

So back to my glove box.  Some time ago I bought a new Cadillac CTS 6-speed manual.For me the car is an absolute joy – one of those rare evocative products that can connect with me at a visceral level.   I can take a client out to dinner in it, but it has everything the 17-year-old boy in me relishes.  It’s all black, aggressively styled, brutally quick and the stereo goes really, really loud.  What in the world could be better?

And unlike the vast majority of products I alluded to above, I actually have a personal connection to the car.  Before joining Design Concepts I worked for General Motors and a friend of mine – Lee Visci – a brilliant engineer and superb manger – went on to become the assistant chief engineer on the CTS.  That was sort of beside the point – I’ve actually always liked the CTS and when I went looking for a new car the CTS was a great match.  But since I knew she worked on it I always joked with Lee that someday I’d have her autograph it.  When I ended up traveling to Detroit a couple of weeks ago on business, I lamented the fact that I was going to have to fly until it occurred to me that I could bring the mountain to Mohammad, so to speak.  So I (carefully) tore a perfectly functional glove box out of my beloved car and carefully packed it into my suitcase where I was able to wrangle it past a somewhat bemused TSA agent at the airport.  In Detroit, I delivered it to a probably likewise bemused Lee who, out of the kindness of her heart, arranged to have a few of the people responsible for the CTS autograph the inside of the glove box door. So I’ve now got a one-of-a-kind autographed CTS.  How freakin’ cool is that????  

The signatures inside include Lee; Dave Leone, Cadillac Global Vehicle Chief Engineer; Liz Pilibosian, the CTS Chief Engineer; and Eric Clough, Director of Interior Design, and responsible for the awesome CTS Interior.  Rock stars, the lot of you! 

So to Lee, Dave, Liz, Eric and all the rest of you out there who worked on my CTS – here’s a shout out.  I’ve been thinking of you.  Thanks.  You didn’t toil in anonymity.  Great job and it’s appreciated.