The development of the mylo personal communicator provides an example of how a product has been taken through the Sony design process, with a particular emphasis on a multi-disciplinary design team working on its development
The mylo was designed by a team of four at the Tokyo Centre: Soichi Tanaka, Makoto Imamura, Yoshiyasu Kubota and Tetsuro Sano. The device is a new type of portable communicator specifically designed to use the many WiFi networks that are springing up in offices, university campuses and towns across the world.
The mylo is able to operate as a mobile telephone using the Skype Voice-over-Internet-protocol telephone system, but the designers were encouraged to consider what other functionality the system would be able to offer.
Starting with only an LCD screen and a keyboard as requirements, the designers worked on an extensive list of features for the product as they evolved ideas for form and behaviour. It was, says Tanaka, quite an unusual way for the design team to work. 'At the time, it was probably very rare for designers to collaborate this way in product development. I've been in design a while, and it was certainly the first time for me. But without this arrangement, the ideas behind the mylo would never have seen the light of day.'
One of the key innovations that the mylo exploits was the use of a range of internet technologies to give its users a richer communication experience. As Imamura explains, he wanted the mylo to exploit a concept he calls pre-communication, which 'takes place one step before you contact someone. When you might decide that someone is still awake, has a bit of free time, and wouldn't mind talking, for example. But that's not possible over the phone, is it? You can't guess if your friend is asleep, and you always have to keep their schedules in mind. With Instant Messaging technology, you know immediately if someone is online. And you can let your friends know what you're doing, what music you're listening to now, and so on. So they're awake and listening to that kind of music... "You're not asleep yet? How about the report due tomorrow? You like that music?" It can be a conversation starter, or users can just relax, feeling better knowing their friends are around. "Pre-communication" is appealing because of this flexibility.'
Another key tenet of design at Sony today is a focus on the user experience. For Sony, an optimum user experience goes beyond conventional measures of usability to assess the overall feeling of a product in use. This approach, says Kubota, led to an interface where the user interface is an additional level of abstraction away from the underlying technology.
The main way this manifests itself in the device, he explains is in its ‘What’s Up’ screen. 'It's an integrated interface for Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger and ad hoc apps. Unlike using a computer, you don't need to worry about starting different apps to communicate with different friends. Accessing this screen shows photo icons of registered friends. Those who are online are highlighted, regardless of their means of communication.'
With so much novel technology packed into it, the mylo had to look unusual too. According to product designer Tanaka the curved shape of the device was inspired by his experience using and testing hand held devices. 'I noticed when testing different product shapes, holding devices, and making calls that I was inevitably touching the edge of the product. So we relaxed the outline into two joined circles, rounding it in gentle curves students will appreciate. This is the distinctive mylo shape.'
To make the device appear fun and exciting from the outset, the design team decided to use light extensively in the operation of the mylo. The device has a glowing ring around its circumference that changes colour and flashes at different frequencies according to its mode of operation. That excitement was carried on when opening the device by colouring the keyboard a bright orange, so it dramatically contrasted with the outer shell, 'like cutting into a fruit.' The colour not only looks exciting says, Tanaka, it also met the contrast criteria of Sony’s usability engineers.
Finally, the design team ensured that the packaging and marketing of the product worked consistently with the mylo’s design, to reinforce its’ unique appearance and demonstrate its function. 'The shape of the mylo, two joined circles, also represents a unique design,' says Tetsuro Sano, the director of the mylo project. 'Of course, we couldn't resist the opportunity to use this shape as an icon or symbol as often as possible. The package window outlines its distinctive shape, revealing the mylo and presenting the shape as an icon. And naturally, the logo design is rounded.'
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