This week, we had the first in-class exercises. It was good, as it somewhat enabled us to better break away from the monotony of morning classes. We were told to come out with an RMA profile, and it was indeed a hilarious session! Was absolutely flabbergasted with the creativity and humor of some of our peers, especially Swee Leng’s narration of his ‘Tai Tai’. It was also a useful session though, going through the entire process of identifying a target user for that particular product, developing a profile for that user, and eventually producing the product benefits specs for him (our homework). From here, the profile and user needs allowed us to better understand what a particular profile’s user would entail certain needs and it also exhibited how focused a RMA could be to discover user needs.

Moving on to the assignment presentation, its easy to notice see that many of our peers focused on the common markets – the corporate workers/social gadgets, while mine profile focus on the elites, the rich, for I spoofed BUTCHI to mimic the glamorous GUCCI for the profile of pricey VERTU mobile phones. However, I realized that the little or none were focusing on the rarer profiles – what about the poor/handicapped? I’m not sure if I’m just hypothesizing but I felt, from this, it’s easily identifiable that visceral and reflectivity, rather than behavioral products, stood high up in or peer’s liking and rankings. Browsing thru other past-yr assignments, it’s also interesting to note that trends do affect the way products are going. The RMA profile for Sony Ericsson K800i, a popular hit last year, featured highly in many peer’s blogs. Yet its hardly visible in this years’ presentation, whereas VERTU mobile phones have always been mentioned. Its not behaviorally remarkable but it seems to feature as a popular hit. As such, another conclusion that I draw, from observing the trends of markets in both year’s presentations is that Niche markets probably still last longer and much more prestigious.

As for four pleasure analysis, I realized that in pleasure analysis, while socio and ideo seems to be much easily understood, phsysio and psycho pleasures seems to be harder to make a distinction, with our points often mistakably intertwined. Mr. Reddy then pointed out one point that we overlooked, in that physio-pleasure deals more with the senses, the touches, the textures, while psycho-pleasure are typically drawn to the cognitive and emotional reactions. I personally that the reason why we’re adopting four pleasure analysis to RMA is that the fact that it tries to understand people and the role products play in their lives in a holistic way, helps in establishing a relation between aspects of the product and the benefits each provides., as per RMA’s analysis. Besides, the theory develops methods and metrics to measure and certify the pleasure brought about by products, which would be helpful in justifying the needs and appreciation attributes.

Lastly, I would just like to re-iterate another pointer that Mr. Reddy mentioned in class – about the focus on aiming a specific majority – a specific target – to design something that is adopted for a targeted user rather than come up with generic products for a wide diversity of target users. Consumers are seeking products that are interesting and unique, hence through RMA – designing, or rather customizing that product for that profile – is something that consumer would better appreciate and be better enticed.

It all boils down to the hidden benefits that RMA offers -having customers look for you, instead of you looking for the customers. It seems that a great deal of marketing has to do with seeking out customers to give you business, so imagine what it would be like if customers came to you instead. This is what reverse marketing is all about, and why it has the potential to be such a hot commodity. It is about providing them with a useful product or service so that they can have some respect for you and your business and may even (hopefully) look up to you as an expert in that field. That is the best way to attract a good, solid customer base of people who believe in you and what you have to offer without having to be convinced.

I personally feel that RMA, though applying to just a narrow market, if conducted correctly and effectively, chances are that you will be able to reap more benefits from this marketing stratagem than you ever thought possible.

RMA ARTEFACT: MERCEDES S-CLASS

THE ASSOCIATION: ‘ABC’s OF OUR IMAGINERY SUBJECT

Claudio BUTCHI, 53 years old, is the illustrious designer from Italy who founded the colossal fashion design company – BUTCHI.

COMPANY
BUTCHI has evolved to be a stronghold in the fashion industry in the 21st century and is highly regarded as one of, if not, the top leading luxury brands worldwide. Authentic BUTCHI hand bags and leather goods are well-liked for their unique extravagance designs, brilliantly stitched to perfection, even to the minutest details. They are huge favorites of famed personalities from Hollywood, London and New York, which eventually fostered BUTCHI’s products as symbols of elegance, especially renowned for their high quality and wonderful style and specialized for the expert craftsmen.

RELATIONSHIPS
Highly esteemed by many, Claudio is spontaneously earmarked as a Man of Significance in the design industry. Claudio’s excellent communication skills and tactfulness, coupled with his charismatic approach in handling public relations, brought him good relationships with media and business partners alike. Highly networked, he is often found in the glamour limelight, and in the companionship of others. Happily married with Monica, they are blessed with two lovely daughters, Venise and Valerie in their twenties. The entire family adores stylish motifs and appreciates Italian modernism. Their family established domestic values that as celebrities and fashion icons, they should appear virtuous, untainted, prestigious and glamorous.

PERSONALITY
Nonchalant by nature, Claudio enjoys relaxation in tranquility. He has an Inclination toward self-indulgence, purchasing only the best quality watches, best quality apparels and the best quality fashion devices. He pays particular attention to visual details; seeks flawlessness. He has an eye for extremely rare commodities, and enjoys romancing with the finest materials. Claudio is not technology savvy; often going for aesthetics rather than functionalities in technology devices. He strongly oppose the infamous quote ‘nobody is perfect”; held strong beliefs that things can be perfect and fervently pursues perfection. Claudio desires to be different, unique, to be a class above all. He believes customization and personalization is necessary in order to reveal one’s true class.

WORK
Still actively involved in the highest management within the company, Claudio leads a celebrity designer working lifestyle of high mobility; often traveling around to innumerable conferences, media events, design exhibition and fashion shows, as well as endorsements of famed celebrities/superstars to endorse his renowned brands. He passionately ventured into other channels of jewelry design, particularly investments in the gems industry. Claudio held imperative values and principles that led to his success in the luxury goods industry. He seeks to conceptualize his ideals of prestige and luxury by in innovating his products to epitomize items of desire and social badges for class, personality and community. He has affection for unique and pleasant textures and feel, hence demanding only the utmost top-grade materials for his products in order to portray the class and weightiness of his illustrious brand. Claudio emphasize on first-rate customer service, requiring his staff to provide the best possible dedicated and immediate attention to customer’s problems.

LEISURE
Claudio leads a typical ‘high-asset delegator splurging millionaires’ lavish lifestyle; money is not an issue in his opulent lifestyle. His lifestyle is what many would term as, a ‘High-life’: With possession of the finest property/numerous yachts/horses/privileged members of high-class resorts, fine dining at the most glamorous and luxurious restaurants. He enjoys soothing classical music, often paying for the best seats in musical concerts. He plays sports just like typical affluent executives, playing tennis and golf to keep him healthy and vibrant for events and shows. Most notably, Claudio marvels at fast and furious lustrous cars, hence elucidating his passion for and identity as an avid racing-sports fanatic, particularly a Ferrari enthusiast. Claudio’s passion is driven by his heavy fascination of the power, energy, and sheer precision of a striking car. He has a bunch of swanky acquaintances who shares similar fervent passion for racing. They had even booked an entire row of the Premier Pit Grandstand, the best strategic locations where they would enjoy unrivaled views right into the pit lane in the exclusive street circuit 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, slated to debut on 28 September 2008 on a street circuit of public roads around the Marina Bay area.

REQUISITES
Claudio prefers gadgets to be light-weight always carries his mobile phone conveniently in his hand. As he is not technically inclined, he utilizes only simple mobile phone features: sms, mms/email, calls and organizer (advanced agenda) and he wants clear feedback from keypads. However, being highly networked personnel, he has a calorific roll of contacts. Hence, he would have need of a huge capacity for contact list storage as well as information-synchronization. He does not see the need to capture images. Firstly, he is not into, and do not have time for photography, secondly, ultimately he would be photographed by the media. Though not technology savvy, Claudio do have high expectation in the design aspects of his technological needs. Despite having numerous handsets, what he desperately sought after is an aesthetical workhorse; a symbol of his supremacy.

THE 4 PLEASURES!

PHYSIO-PLEASURE

1. Touch of great quality surfaces soothes Claudio, who has an unspoken affection for unique and pleasant textures and feel. [Appreciation]
2. Feels at ease should gadgets warrant good responsiveness and gratifyingly solid depression of keypads. [Needs]
3. Claudio relishes classical music, an implicit connotation with an appreciation for top-notched, pristine sound composition. [Appreciation]
4. Being a highly-engaged celebrity designer, Claudio unwinds himself by immersing in his favorite past-time watching racing sports and posh cars, a complete relaxation and breakaway from the incessant buzz work. [Appreciation]
5. Plays slow-pace like casual tennis and golf keeps him mental state fresh, feeling hale and hearty and effervescent for media events and public appearances. [Needs]

SOCIO-PLEASURE

1. Claudio loves the glamour of his glittering lifestyle. He does not deter the publicity surrounding him, and instead takes pride and pleasure in the prestigious. eminence associated with such hype. Loves the attention and admiration in his stature as a celebrity designer. [Appreciation]
2. Enjoys being in the company of social elites and racing acquaintances, beautiful things and posh cars. [Appreciation]
3. Graciously-cultured and forthcoming outlook makes him an effective yet amicable communicator. Akin to being a successfully businessman, he is a devoted family man who cherishes kinship and enjoys a blissful relationship with his family.

PSYCHO-PLEASURE

1. Gets excited by aesthetically eye-catching commodities. Immense satisfaction comes when he uses products that could complement his superiority. [Appreciation]
2. Adornment in the media limelight and opulent lifestyle brings out his charismatic and virtuous persona, which instinctively gives him a sense of pride. [Needs]
3. Claudio feels feels comfortable with gadgets that are ‘not a hassle’ to carry around. In parallel, simple executions of phone functions that runs smoothly makes him feel a sense of fulfilment and security. [Needs]
4. 4. Claudio takes pride in his brand as an excellent brand which provides for superior customer service, and he appreciates other brands with such quality. [Appreciation]

IDEO-PLEASURE

1. He believes that uniqueness is a direct consequence of personalization. And only through such uniqueness, could elegance and stylishness emerge. [Needs]
2. Perceptions that aesthetics is a key dynamic aspect that surpasses functionality in the conceptualization of luxury designs. [Needs]
3. His discernment for aesthetic details reinforces his ideology that perfection is realizable, and in the process of doing so, standards should never be compromised.
4. Aspire to uphold and proliferate the lavish aura of his brand.
5. Philosophy that prestige and luxury naturally subsists through the concoction of the finest materials and followed up by delicate and superior craftsmanship.
6. Adores stylish motifs and appreciates Italian modernism. Their family established domestic values that as celebrities and fashion icons, they should appear virtuous, untainted, prestigious and glamorous. [Appreciation]
7. Handpicks only the premium finest masterworks, flawless to the minutest details, for he deem those as indispensable in preserving the extravagance self-image of an accomplished capitalist of a thriving business. [Needs]

PRODUCT BENEFIT SPECIFICATIONS

1. Should convincingly characterize ’select’ groups of people such as businessmen, artists, and politicians, to enable them to establish themselves within the domain of the aristocracy.
2. The phone design should accentuate an epitome of luxury; a super-luxurious line of mobile communications, to connote affluence, charisma, elegance and prestige.
3. More emphasis on the brand and embodiment, less significance on phone capabilities. Brand should not simply describe their products as phones, but as ‘the world’s finest Luxury Personal Communication Instruments’.
4. Phone should extrinsically exhibit superior watch-making craftmenship.
5. Phone should intrinsically parade enchantment of racing vogue and gratification.
6. As such, it should be fashioned from high-grade materials, delicate design detail, technical superiority and unsurpassed performance associated with the luxury sports car, preferably that of a Ferrari.
7. It should be a highly crafted handset of precision, balance and strength, adorned with exquisite design and craftsmanship; elegance and excellence.
8. Divulge highly-flavored Italian modernism; Marriage of tradition of craft with the technology to reinforce the image of luxury.
   9. Image-consciousness of abstemious businessmen, that embodies a character that is both flowing and elegant and slightly on the aggressive side.
9. Exemplify ultimate telecommunication sound quality.
10. The phone should be unique and in a league of its own.
11. It should be a rare commodity that is not widely available. The phone should entail customization; personalization and upgradability while yet be able to embrace communications to mature into an exquisite piece of art masterpiece.
12. Assurance of personalized sales attention and excellence in customer service.

THE IDEAL CHOICE

VERTU, Ascent Ferrari 1947
(Limited Edition, in Commemoration of Ferrari’s 60th anniversary)

ONLY 1947 HANDMADE PIECES made and sold worldwide @ a hefty sum of $25,000.

• Burnished marketing image: sold in boutiques, not in shops; trademark of prestige.
• Targets audiences of ‘elite’ statures: invited for private viewing at the company’s client suites located in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong. Certainly Claudio is one of their target audience.
• Tagged as the top of the line platinum model, Vertu declares itself ‘The World’s First Luxury mobile phone’.
• The phone is encased in metals from stainless steel to platinum and faced with sapphire. Expensive, exclusive and uniquely beautiful that is tailored for the aristocracy.
• The phone has a character that is both flowing and elegant and slightly on the aggressive side. A great fusion, one that a great designer like Claudio would certainly appreciate.

• Aesthetically mouth-watering, in a uniquely F1 flavor, it boasts an engraftment of Ferrari’s iconic logo, the famed Ferrari Prancing Horse; an extravagantly yet distinctively characteristic of its class.

• It fuses a scaled down version of a brake pedal from a Ferrari F1 car, It grants an emotional gratification of wearing something that was exceptionally crafted with grace, which would subtly mean that you’re ‘driving’ the Italian stallion in a uniquely F1 flavor, definitely capable of exciting Claudio.
• The phone encompasses the philosophy of craftsmanship: painstaking detailed and splendid. Obsessively focused to a category defined by Vertu’s tradition of excellence, but strategically visionary that is truly exciting; the ideal aesthetic workhorse that Claudio yearns for.
• In terms of music and sound, Vertu phones boast the vein of fine cutting-edge n telecommunication sound quality that is especially pleasant to the ears.
• Encased in symbolic red and black Ferrari leather with black lacquer stripes running at the sides, it promises the touch and feel of a typical F1 workhorse that would certainly please Claudio’s touches.

• It presents no risk of technical obsolescence. Beneath its modish exterior, its internal technology can be upgraded without replacing its valuable outer shell. Such personalizable feature would be an appealing factor in enticing Claudio.
• There’s a size-to-proportion balance that has a calming effect, fitting perfectly in the hand, matching Claudio’s needs for a lightweight yet comfortable handset. It wears well. Its surface builds character. It can literally becomes a friend for Claudio.

• Vertu is offering the exclusive services of a personal concierge to all Vertu owners round-the-clock. Prospective owners are ferried to their first Vertu appointment in a limousine, in is quest to attend to the owner’s burgeoning desires and needs, an exact complement to Claudio’s call for excellent customer service.

A blend of Mercedes Benz ‘S Class’ with Vertu Ferrari 1947.

equates to:

World’s Finest Luxury Instruments +

A DELIGHTED TARGET AUDIENCE.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation towards Norman’s Emotional Framework. Was rather intrigued by this assignment, as I did some research on the web and was really enriched by the extensive materials acquired on Norman’s ideology. Why the sudden urge of emotions? You might have asked. I personally appreciate very much this framework, as it somewhat expressed extensively and concretely what I’d always previously sensed and/or experienced about design and aesthetics, but always can’t seem to really visualize and pin it down to words, with my ideas often floating around haphazardly. Norman’s framework somehow gave me a sense of guidance and enlightened me, and it was really inspiring.

Back to assignment proper. In the presentations, we can notice consumer’s diversity: which stretches from just seeking operational effectiveness, to aesthetical magnetism, and prestige. What I really wanted to imply is that, I felt that designers in these fields really did their homework, applying design frameworks such as Norman’s in their product design, and that is the appreciation I personally endorsed, having seen these design theories at work. Emotional framework doesn’t seem that hard to apply, it’s actually something that seems just so intuitive, based on individual’s desires.

In this assignment, what I have noticed pretty obviously is the terms that were used. They are often distinguishable, often used to fit into one of the 3 emotional attributes. For instance, ‘Sleek’ and ‘vibrant’ are often used in visceral, ‘effective’, ‘workhorses’ and ‘long-lasting’ are for behavioral aspect, and ‘opulent’, ’symbolic’, ‘prestige’ are for reflectivity appraisals. I’ve also realized that its pretty hard, but possible to discover product that’s visceral, behavioral AND reflective. For instance, Apple, whose products are undoubtedly viscerally pleasing, operational, and symbolic of trendiness. It also demonstrates that if your design is really all-encompassingly good, that exhibits all 3 attributes, it would be a really huge potential money tree.

Other sentiments observed is that branding & affordability often comes hand-in-hand with visceral & relectivity but not necessarily behavioural. For instance, small and handy, at the expense of visibility, does not necessary equates to a good design. Some victims of this are miniature MP3 players and radio, as well as swiss knives (hard to aim, hard to see and press).

Also, different people are attracted to different attributes. Spendthrifts focus on behavioral. Fashion chics have preferences for visceral, while high-class and opulent individuals seeks reflectiveness. Generally, visceral-level people are more focused on aesthetical outlook, while behavioral-level people are more inclined towards functionality, usability, and how much control they could possess during use. Lastly, reflective-level people (who would seldom admit to be one – unless they are really rich and not-so-humble), are heavily biased by brand name, by prestige, and by the value a product brings to their self-image.

I was not really convinced with some peer’s elucidation in their evaluations. Some of the products are not really reflective but more of visceral. However, Mr. Reddy cited out a pointer that made sense: UX itself is not defined, still rather a grey area. As such, there’s no apparent right or wrong to design and evaluation appropriateness. Moreover, people have different sense of aesthetics, opinions and perspectives, as such, its always going to be personal, disparaging and subjective.

What I personally FEEL is that: outlook (visceral aspect) ultimately gets ‘numb’ over time, I do feel that reflective and behavioural aspect are the real traits that could retain a product’s standing. Not sure about how true it might be, just my personal thoughts though.

Why We Love or Hate Everyday Things?

You’d gotta ask Donald Norman and his Emotional Design!

Norman says: there are Three levels of perception:

1. Visceral | (reactive): Literally the gut reaction – this is biological, hard-wired and automatic. This will, for example, perceive beauty and cause flinching, ultimately the base emotions; instinctive attractiveness.
2. Behavioural | (logical): The advanced brain level, reasoning, cognition, language and expert skills. total experience of using a product, effectiveness of product’s running.
3. Reflective | (evaluation): Your self image, the part where you seem to exist. The bit that says “I didn’t mean to say it like that!” two seconds after (probably) you’ve inadvertently insulted your girlfriend. This most closely compares to consciousness.

TODAY’S THEME: MEN’S SHAVER

DESIGN #1

VISCERAL DESIGN: Gillette Fusion Power

VISCERAL ASPECT:

• Old-school design of razor blade, with a tad of contemporary sense stylized. modern.
• Appealing; choice of colours exhibits hippy, trendy exciting, vibrant and youthful impression.

BEHAVIOURAL ASPECT:

• Jerky, unstable when maneuveuring.
• Not a great performer for tough beards like me.
• Exposed blades tend to get rusty; not very safe.

REFLECTIVE ASPECT:

• Psuedo-Electric Shaver.
• Not a show-off at all.
• Average, not outstanding.

DESIGN #2

BEHAVIORAL DESIGN: Braun Contour Series 5895

VISCERAL ASPECT:

• Boxy, safe, comfortable.
• Common but sturdy, trustable feel.

BEHAVIOURAL ASPECT:

• Excellent performer, price conceals it amazing capability to shave cleanly.
• Surprisingly easy to shave in any position and location.
• Its auto clean technology makes maintenance effortless.
• Affordable and practical.
• LED Indicators provides adequate and necessary informative feedbacks.

REFLECTIVE ASPECT:

• Not very exquisite.
• Slightly bulky.
• Value for money.

DESIGN #3

REFLECTIVE DESIGN: Philips Norelco Arcitec 1050CC

VISCERAL ASPECT:

• Sleek, Stylish, elegant, executive, ’sumptuous’, prestigious impression.
• Curvaceous and shapely.
• Unique, “out of the norm” classy feel.

BEHAVIOURAL ASPECT:

• Rather ‘fearsome’ rotary blades make you rethink and guarded on how to maneuever.
• Not a good performer when good in the vicinity of neck beneath.
• Nonethless, fits snugly in your hand, comfortable to hold.
• Digital numeric display of battery life and time gives convenience and immediate feedback.

REFLEXIVE ASPECT:

• Lavish/luxurious.
• Self-image, and I would also consider it as a form of show-off/trying to impress.
• Shaver afterall is a simple tool, not necessary for such professional suite.

PERSONAL OPINIONS:

I actually have had experiences with all the forementioned shavers, having used Gillette’s Fusion Power in my earliest experiences, as I was drawn to its vibrant choice of colours and it’s stylized approach to a traditional design. Nevertheless, following exposure to Philips Norelco Arcitec shaver, I was deeply drawn by its shaver design as it looked so sleek, that is vivdly matched to an imprint of stature as a classy executive toy. Yet, I wasn’t impressed with its performance. Sure it looked prestigious and classy, but its performance could easily be matched by Braun’s Contour Series, which I presently owned.

Through the process of evaluating these 3 products, I came to realize that it is not easy to to distinguish whether which product falls nicely into which category of emotional design. While behavioural might be less of a subjective issue (everyone would realize which performed/underperformed by using it), I felt that perception is rather much more diverse in the aspects of visceral/reflective. A simple shaver such as Fusion Power would not be deemed as a reflective design for most of us (first-world civilians), but it would definitely be a reflective design of stature and class for poorer third-world civilians, should one out of the many possess it amongst their peers.

However, generally visceral-level people are more biased toward appearance, while behavioral-level people are more inclined towards functionality, usability, and how much control they could possess during use. Lastly, reflective-level people (who would seldom admit to be one – unless they are really rich and not-so-humble), are heavily biased by brand name, by prestige, and by the value a product brings to their self-image.

All in all, my perspective as a behavioural-level person, is that shavers are afterall just shavers. My user experience instills me: I wouldn’t go for visceral designs for I would prefer functional and ‘hardworking’ to be the core principles for tools of necessity. And in terms of such aspects, for the same level of performance of, I would go for a behavioural design rather than reflective design. Afterall, reflective designs tends to be much more pricely, for ’self-image’ reasons which I can’t really be bothered with. My user experience would probably speak for that of many practical users. BUT, as what Donald Norman had pointed out:

“Design is COMPLEX,
not only because the products themselves are complex
but because of the complexity of people and their needs.”

Wow… What a session, it certainly took pretty long for this first lecture to conclude, as there’s really too many peers in today’s class. As such, being the last few to present, I had to cut my presentation really quick and short, but still being concise enough to get my points across, this is probably one of the first pointers I’d learnt in this module already! Anyways, being the first session of UX in this semester, it was a fresh, interesting but shaky prelude into what was expected for this UX module. A great warm-up and overture to the subsequent assignments: the theme of Bad Design, in which you have to make your product sound really bad, and I felt that I myself, and everyone else really made the products sound bad!

Everybody presented what a design that they chose and felt that was a bad design. However, was really surprised to see some of the products being listed, or rather, the factors that causes it to be a bad design was something that we’d never thought of. Particularly, the showerhead one for the exchange student (really hilarious), mobile phone’s time indicator (which is really not the emphasis of the phone but it somewhat affected individual’s UX), the barbeque pits, as well as MacBooks batteries (which I never used before).

My bad design presentation was pretty understood by many, as not much questions was raised and you can actually see people nodding in consent, hence I guess I did a fairly effective job in bring across the critic to convey my bad design overview. More importantly, I felt that somehow, the peers ultimately appreciate the usefulness of auto mirrors, which is definitely an iterative process of refining mirrors UX in driving. I’d learnt pretty much in this session, both in presentation (convincing the audience its a bad design), as well as learning from peer’s presentation on bad designs, why they felt its bad.

My eventual reflections for this warm-up assignment are that user experience is not something that’s so profound to notice, it’s actually foresee-able, or rather instinctively noticeable. A vague illustration is the very first feel that you experience when you encounter the product. One look at it and it already tells something about your likings to it. What I also learnt is that for a more substantial instance, a good UX would entail something that people would use more often (but pleasantly). That would usually denote that they are satisfied with the UX that the product offers. Putting it in another way, plainly, it really means that users wouldn’t even bother to touch it, if they don’t like it.

Also, I realized that for designs, human nature still plays a part. You would have noticed that for good or better designs, it is really rare that they are being praised, unless they are exceptionally good or extremely visually enticing. Yet, we can almost effortlessly spot and complain ceaselessly and willfully at bad designs. This is clearly evidently aplenty in many of the presentations today, such as the aluminum seating installed at MRT platforms, MP3 players that are too small to grasp and read (the status panel). What really surprised me is that even our local government, who should have some aesthetic/design departments at their disposal, can overlook and handle poorly design issues, such as the shelters, whose initial installation were appalling, only to be rebuilt, wasting time and money, worse still, given the residents a bad initial impression, resulting in a bad UX.

However, it also goes to show that designs don’t get better at first implementation, its incremental just like what the Chinese saying goes: only through failure that success would eventually transpire. I guess product design isn’t just a day’s effort to be flawless, it requires careful and extensive refinements. Moreover, its hard to please everyone, but we should really try to please the majority (especially the shower head one, tall guys in Singapore are really rare!). Hence, there’s always the need to weigh and balance pros and cons of designs and user insights are really indispensable.

The Unfortunate Nominee:

HYUNDAI GETZ 1.4 SIDE MIRRORS (MANUAL)

1. WHY MANUAL SIDE MIRRORS?

In the last month, I was actively involved in my brother’s hunt for a new car. As such, I had the opportunity to witness “first-hand” countless car interior/exterior designs at one shot. Of all designs, a particular feature especially caught my attention: the “near-obsolete” manual adjusted side mirror in the Hyundai Getz 1.4.

Automated side mirrors have already installed in a good number of cars, with remote configurations in cars, that people had already taken that feature for granted. Yet, we are still seeing good-old manually adjustable side mirrors features in modern cars today.

With such peculiarity, I enquired my brother on such a design, and my brother remarked “this is ‘RETRO’ stuff!” While such ‘retro-ness’ might be an exquisite highlight, I really wondered if such retro-ness can really work out in our contemporary society, whether in terms of user’s expectation or whether it affects the level of safety in driving.

Curiosity on user’s experience and expectation on manual mirrors begun encircling my mind. In this respect, several ‘intimate trials’ was conducted (don’t get the wrong idea: its just more ‘in-depth’).

2. CAPTURING USER REACTIONS

THE PEOPLE:
4 Right-Hand-Drive local certified drivers.
(2 with experience with manual mirrors, and 2 with only automated mirror experience).

Older “Manual” Experienced: My brother and, sister- in-law.

• Will look for the mirror surrounding to see any lever to bring the mirror to required view, instead of searching for auto-configurations.
• Doesn’t look frantic after realizing auto-configurations are not viable.
• Fidgetting around with adjustment knob for a while.
  Frustrated when multiple slight adjustments attempts are needed.
• At times, tend to forget re-adjusting left mirror after having buckled up the seat belt already.

Younger “Auto” Experienced: My good friends, Elaine and James.

• Looks for right hand corner of steering wheel for auto-adjustments.
• Somewhat dismayed after realizing mirrors have to be manually adjusted.
• Eyes begin to hover around for other alternatives after realizing auto-remote control is missing.
• Elaine even thought of going out of the car to try adjust the mirror. Dumb!?!
• Somewhat incompetent and clueless on how to reach and adjust the left mirror.

3. THEIR FEELINGS TOWARDS PRODUCT

Older “Manual” Experienced:

• Adjustment not easy as compare to Auto mirror.
• Finding it somewhat cumbersome to use.
• Not as good as using Auto mirror as many restriction involved.
• Could not have full control on the left side of the mirror cause inconvenient.

Younger “Auto” Experienced:

• Unimpressed with manual mirrors.
• Unsightly. Mirror adjustment knob are not pleasing aesthetically.
• Inconvenient to adjust, too much effort for such a small task.
• Gives an impression that product is cheap and cost cutting.
• Seems to them as an out-of-date and backward design.

4. LESSONS THEY LEARNT FROM INTERACTION

Older “Manual” Experienced:

• Will go for Auto door mirrors if given a choice as it would allow quicker and more precise adjustments when necessary while driving. A slow and clumsy manual mirror may affect driving safety while trying to adjust the mirror.
• Need to worry about electronic breakdown when operating manual door mirror.
• Family-drivers would encounter issues with kids as a lot of adjustments when children play with the lever.

Younger “Auto” Experienced:

• First-time but unpleasant experience in using manual door mirrors.
• Took auto-mirrors for granted, too used to automatic mirrors and electronics to help us in our daily lifes. Finally appreciated the benefits of auto-mirrors.
• Would rather pay more for an auto mirror.

5. THEIR IMPRESSION ON THE BRAND

Older “Manual” Experienced:

• The design on manual door mirror is almost identical as compare to other brands.
• More of a model issue rather than brand issues. Hyundai do have auto mirrors for Getz 1.5 model. Hence, brand-wise, it shouldn’t have too much of an impact.

Younger “Auto” Experienced:

• Gives an impression that Hyundai is cheapskate and cut costs on their products.
• Wondered if Hyundai did adequate user experience research before finalizing their interior designs.
• Leads to unsmiling doubts such as: Are their cars safe and/or reliable?

6. MY REFLECTIONS ON PRODUCT & USER REACTIONS

Personally, I had never used or even noticed manual mirror’s existence in cars before this assignment. As such, the very first impression that came to mind was that manual mirrors are indeed ‘old-fashioned’. It might be an issue to many, but I myself do not find them unsightly. It could easily be camouflaged by using the exact color as the dashboard. The main issue was that it was really too inconvenient to adjust the left mirror in a right hand drive car. Further exploitation led me to think that it wasn’t user friendly at all. Switching drivers are a hassle; minor adjustments can be really wearisome. On a side note, I felt that manual mirrors do let us make a good appreciation on the evolution of car designs today.

My reflection following observation of users’ reaction was resolute. Apparently, the general public has really taken automated mirrors for granted. The physical ‘looking around’ for automated mirrors is evident in all of the user’s physical actions. Aesthetics wise, though its small, its noticeably unpleasant. The technical aspect might function healthily, but user’s predisposition upon observing the manual mirror, has somehow been stipulated to “unimpressive” (through their facial expressions – astonished, disappointment) after sighting the manual mirror adjustment knob, perhaps manual mirrors are really a backward move. New drivers are seen to move away from their seats halfheartedly, grudgingly and arduously to adjust the left mirrors while alone. Manual design can still prevail by bringing left mirror adjustments to a more centralized location.

Hence, as derived from our analogy, the 4 interviewees ultimately reached a unanimous conclusion. Not a surprising one, but an adequate one.

Hence… The tribe had spoken.

“BAD DESIGN!”