My project looked at exploring possibilities of opening mechanisms in clamshell (flip) phones. It was aimed to create a different experience, expression or mechanism for clamshell phone, rather than a mere problem solving exercise.
The project called for innovation. It delved into the future as it was a very proactive act to cater to the design-oriented market. It was an attempt to gain a competitive edge in the clamshell phone US Market where this form factor is quite popular. Focus was on user delight; hence, it demanded looking in the horizontal direction for something else, something more rather than moving vertically.
The process was carried out in two major parts: innovation and design. The innovation part included generation of as many ideas for a “breakthrough hinge,” then to select the most suitable option and detail it further. The design aspect started after an in-depth study of the existing market, user requirements, user preferences, etc.
Targeted for Indian urban youth, the out-coming design tried to cater to issues related to clamshell phones with the user segment. Brainstorming brought up a couple of innovative opening mechanisms for the phone. The end product was a culmination of innovative hinge, ingenious interaction model and industrial design based on an experimental user preference qualitative analysis. After the concept proof was done, manufacturing and mechanical design was taken up by the research and the development wing of the company for incorporating it into the future roadmap.
Working in a company was a learning experience on how business effects design, how important a multi disciplined team to work on innovation is and, most important, how a step-by-step design intervention can attend to all the diversions in a situation demanding out-of-the-box outputs.
