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My locale is not nearly as exotic as the locations where my co-workers have been posting from, but I’ve spent the last couple of days in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with my brilliant colleague, Stef Norvaisas. We were helping STARLIMS – a leading laboratory software information systems company – by facilitating some customer brainstorming sessions at their national sale conference. We wanted to help STARLIMS use their customers to help envision the future of mobile computing and how it would change their industries. It ended up being a very fun and provocative couple of sessions!

Anyway, I took a few moments between sessions to wander among the mega yachts tied up on the piers by the hotel. The name of this one caught my eye. “Outta Touch”.. Really? Really?? In today’s “Occupy Wall Street” age do you really want to name your luxury yacht “Outta Touch?” Don’t these people have “people” that keep them from making these types of mistakes? Do you think they don’t get the irony or perhaps they just don’t care?

Clearly we’re in rarified water here.

Later on in the evening our waiter pointed out Steven Spielberg’s Mega Yacht – the Seven Seas – (apparently it’s the most expensive private yacht on the planet) moored across from the restaurant. I wouldn’t have believed it had it not been for the magic of Google. Yep. In Ft. Lauderdale of all places. Here it is (pictures from Google – it was dark but, yes, it is as freakishly huge as it appears in these pictures).

http://spielbergfanclub.com/2011/07/check-out-spielbergs-200-million-yacht-seven-seas/

But it was really this yacht (below) that caught my eye!

Believe it or not, so far as the REALLY big yachts go around here, in terms of size this one is sort of.. umm, uh… pedestrian. It looks like this would fit on the back of the Seven Seas. Sideways. Ok, maybe not.

I liked the lines of this boat, but what really stood out though was the color – flat, gunmetal gray. The picture’s not the best, but the effect was pretty impressive and attention grabbing. Now, flat colors are all the rage on custom cars but on your zillion dollar luxury yacht? That takes some guts. I’m not really a big powerboat aficionado but in a sea (literally) of white with the occasional blue, this boat looked particularly noticeable – in a good way.

My hat’s off the to the designer with the courage to propose taking a different approach and perhaps even the owner for taking a bit of a risk on his or her multi-million dollar toy. Good for you. Not that I can relate, mind you. You’re still outta touch!

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.