When people hear the term “renewable design” they may immediately think of a Priius. (Oops, that’s Prius – the whole “ii” thing is just a Priio foible.) Or if it’s not a Prius that comes to mind right way, it’s probably something eco-centric like entire buildings powered by a hamster wheel or the artful reconstruction of strip miines (oops – there ii go again).

Truthfully those are definitely renewable design areas, but the concept is applicable on everything from city power grids to a single light bulb.

Take that light bulb for example – more and more of the new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are making their ways into the lamps and wall sockets of our homes and businesses. We all feel good about saving energy and what better way to start than with a low-wattage light source? Well, it may feel good to save pennies on the front end, but there’s a hidden cost that makes it packs an ugly punch at the end. Those same light bulbs are toxic to the environment if improperly disposed.

According to an ENERGY STAR^® report, CFLs contain a small amount (an average of four milligrams) of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. While this is not released if the bulbs are not broken, it becomes problematic if they are (as in a landfill). The EPA estimates about 14 percent of this mercury is released into the water and air when it is sent to the island of misfit trash.

Does this mean CFLs are bad? Relatively speaking – no. The same report claims if every U.S. home would replace one incandescent bulb with a CFL, in one year the energy saved would be enough to light more than three million homes, and prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of 800,000 cars.

But – is there a better way to build that lightbulb? Can it be made virtually unbreakable? Is it possible to utilize some other source of power?

Good design makes a good product a highly useable one. And good renewable design makes something… renewable. Keeping the end in mind from the beginning is simply good stewardship of resources – regardless of whether you’re making the next LEED-approved home design breakthrough or a humble bulb of …liight.

Good design eases pain – covers a gap for the user. Terrific design not only eases pain, but looks and feels good while doing it.

Take the humble spatula. It has a simple task – to flip things. And yet, many times the flip is imperfect. Why? Well, in the case of the outdoor grill spatula, the handles are long and unwieldy – primarily to keep the operator from barbequing his/her face in the process, but nonetheless unwieldy those handles are.

Problem: Tightly packed grill space, a hot surface and limited range of motion for operator.

Priio staff sat down to brainstorm ideas for building a better spatula – and the result was the “ergonomic automatic mechanical food flipping spatula.” (For the record, the marketing department has not yet got its hands on that title – so don’t judge, ha!)

The first thing to tackle was the awkward design of current models. “I wanted to infuse a more ‘indoor’ feel with a nice curvature to it,” says industrial designer Adam Minniear. He first designed some foam models which made the spatula more ergonomic – that is, held at the correct angle so as to be easy on the wrist.

These foam models were taken to the test area (the company grill out back) and he literally stood and went through the motions of using it to get some idea of a shape he liked. Then he did some ideation sketches for style and esthetic value.

Next to tackle was the issue of a good mechanism that would get the desired flip, or rotation of the spatula head so Adam did some on-line and “hands-on” research at various home improvement and hardware stores, He considered the old school ice cream scoop and the melon baller. The mechanism of the latter seemed a better fit, although there was an issue with the middle bar which was straight. “The drive shaft needed to be curved,” says Minniear.

To get the necessary curvature, Minniear and Bob Hoiseth (a mechanical engineer at Priio) brainstormed some methods and came up with a mini u-joint that would provide the desired mechanical ability. Then it was back to the sketch pad to infuse the mechanical acumen into the groovy shape.

“After that I simply modeled it up,” says Minniear. “Using our 3-D modeling software I was able to test the movements and makes sure there is no interference in movement. Then I pulled that file, took the 3-D assembly and rendered it with hypershot.”

Solution: A spatula which slides under the burger, raises it vertically from the grill, and with a squeeze of the handle flips it without collision, placing the burger back where it started.

With characteristic 360° consideration, Priio designers and engineers came up with a product which eased a specific pain (the difficulty of achieving the perfect burger flip) with user comfort and an elegant design – that is, a pretty spatula with a good personality.

And now, because there’s an ergonomic automatic mechanical food flipping spatula (which shall hence be know as Miracle Flip or something equally brilliant), the world has one less pain to endure. (ii)

Thanks to Ryan Wolfinbarger of Catalyst PDG and Larry O’Cull of Priio for the chocolate chip cookies and for presenting “I Want A Prototype!” during the January 2010 INpact meeting.

Here is some of the information they presented: I Want A Prototype!

What do you think when you read the word “pre-eminent?” Or more specifically, when you read company literature which claims the company is pre-eminent in its field, etc. etc. etc.?

If you’re like me, you think, “What does that mean?”

On first blush, pre-eminent is one of those words which don’t say much. It’s an unspecific adjective, for starters, and without context it means next to nothing to the reader. It’s akin to saying, “We’re the best!” That begs the immediate question, Why are you the best? What makes you the best? It does say you think highly of yourself, but it doesn’t qualitatively tell you anything else.

The second thought I might have is, not only have you told me nothing I can use, but you’ve also come across as a bit of a diva. Now there are those who will say marketing and advertising is all about “tooting your own horn,” so to speak – trumpeting your wares. However, what I’ve been hearing when it comes to branding is: it’s all about the end user.

Does the end user care if you’re pre-eminent? Maybe. But only after they’ve found out if you can do something useful for them.

Arrogance is a stumbling block to good marketing, and more often than not, product- and/or service-providers are so busy telling the world how good they are they forget to address the consumer’s pain.

A huge component of successful marketing is useful communication. What am I telling customers that will be useful to them? If I’m a product development firm I can tell them until the cows come home that I am pre-eminent in my field, but I’m guessing they’re going to be a lot more interested if I tell them I can take their sow’s ear and make it into a silk purse.

Take for example:

Is your meter running on outdated software and awkward to control? Acme Design can design an upgrade that will equip you with cutting edge readers inside ergonomic handles.

That identifies and solves a customer’s pain a whole lot better than:

Acme Design is a pre-eminent product development firm, serving customers across the globe.

Is it just me? Or did that first copy section say something a lot more useful than the second?

Using descriptors like ‘pre-eminent’ is like a having a trophy wife. She may look really pretty, but does she know anything about your Zepplin catalog? (For that matter, has she even heard of Led Zepplin?)

Good marketing copy always delivers something productive – and that doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater. That is, just because you want your copy to be smart and have a good personality, you still want it to be attractive and appealing.

The thing to remember is… the customer. In marketing as well as life, being oriented toward the needs of others is a key to success. (ii)

Taking an idea from cocktail napkin to production line is often more about innovation than invention. The inventor may the ‘whiz bang’ idea, but the process of making it real is often more about the reapplication of something in a ‘whiz bang’ way.

This is often the case with developing rapid prototypes. Case in point, Adam Minniear, an industrial designer at Priio, was haunting craft stores looking for a light, easily shaped substance with which to form the casing for a product prototype. He experimented with various types of Styrofoam, but these turned out to be problematic due to a porous nature. The product being designed required a waterproof casing, and many forms of Styrofoam became easily waterlogged when immersed.

Minniear finally found his solution in an unlikely place: the thin foam sheets used for scrapbook die cuts. This material had a closed cell structure and was water resistant. So with a spark of inspiration, he took several dozen of the sheets and glued them together to form a solid block. From this he began carving out various shapes to experiment with his new modeling material.

“I didn’t need to invent a new type of Styrofoam,” said Minniear. “I just need a new way to utilize product that was already on the shelves so I could fashion my prototype.”

Also, the colors are pretty cool. (ii)

Here’s a brief explanation of “The Priio Path”…

There is a difference between having a good idea, and having a marketable idea. Often the former can grow into the latter, but it takes intention – and good technology. The right recipe often comes in the form of strategic partnering.  A strategic partnership may mean alignment with companies that offer core competencies your business may not carry. 

1. You have a marketable idea but not design, engineering or manufacturing experience – so you align your business with a product developer and a contract manufacturer. Sometimes this is a networking endeavor – meaning it may take an experienced product developer to lead you to a good contract manufacturer. The overall formation of this skill group is paramount if the product is to make it from idea to store shelf.
2. You may have what seems to be a good product idea, but no good evidence of market value or acceptance. Market research is critical to the development and manufacturing process, as well as your overall success with the product. Developing a good relationship with a branding and marketing company is essential.

Strategic partnerships are important there is only one product to offer – as is often the case with a startup operation. For long-term company health, compatible (although not competitive) product offerings are key.  

1. A wedding planner may have good business relationships with a DJ and a caterer. These services complement but do not compete. By forming a qualified working alliance, the planner increases value by the element of convenience.

Why are iPods in the kitchen drawer, and iPhones in people’s hands? It is about value.

A Value Opportunity Assessment (VOA) determines how to keep a product in the users’ hands; it determines a product’s key emotional and use factors.

Ideally, a successful product needs to be high-tech and high style (the upper right quadrant of value), but also have perceived value. The VOA discovers and optimizes the perceived value, which encompasses emotion, aesthetics, product identity, impact, ergonomics, core technology and quality. Generally speaking, products that make their users feel empowered, free, safe will hold user-loyalty over product that don’t address these emotional factors.

So, how does this explain the difference in iPods and iPhones from a perceived value aspect? The iPod plays music or movies portably, but there’s no reason to carry it around when the user is not listening to music or watching a movie. The iPhone performs these tasks AND calls tow trucks, orders pizzas and surfs the web. The latter functions provide the perceived values of security and empowerment.

Moral of the story? Successful product design and development addresses emotion as well as style and function. The VOA is key to good ROI.

Priio was offered a tremendous opportunity to be part of something very
unique. Rich and Paige Udell, custom car enthusiasts, are
building another one-of-a-kind street rod called, “Timeless.”

The Udell’s took top honors as the 2006 ISCA International Champion with
their ‘34 Chevy, “Instigator.” We met the Udells at the Indianapolis Good Guys
car show in 2005, and have been honored with the task of designing and building
a one-off virtual gauge package that offers slick flat-panel touch-screens with,
rear-view camera, GPS, MP3, and more.

We are looking forward to seeing the reaction to this “wild thing” at the 2008
Detroit Autorama!    (November, Street Rod Builder Magazine)

What is pictured here is a GuideMatic “Eye” unit from the beautiful 1962 Cadillac of Dr. Cliff Fiscus of Zionsville, Indiana.

The aged and failed inner workings of the Eye are sitting to the right of the unit, which are two brilliantly arranged vacuum tubes. One is a photosensitive element, the other an amplifier.

Priio had the unique challenge of looking at a 45 year old vacuum tube circuit and coming up with as close to a drop-in solution as possible. We had a lot of fun with this opportunity to make the GuideMatic system function as it did when it was new. Our solution? A small printed circuit assembly, with a phototransistor light sensor, that fit neatly behind the amber lense. The new sensing system utilized the original control potentiometer and wiring and was nearly a plug-and-play solution for the car.

Priio and Insight2 teamed up to play paintball as part of a research project for a high-end paintball marker manufacturer. The study (referred to as “Smackdown-07″) involved several types of “renegade” or “woods ball” scenarios including; attack and defend, capture the flag, and a strategic scenario where 8 players are each given 10 balls for a version of last-man-standing. A great deal of fun was had by all (along with some bumps, bruises, scrapes, not to mention those welts left by the paintballs themselves), as well as some great insights uncovered.

There was a lot to be learned from this experience. Priio and Insight2 have been working together to better understand why people like to play paintball, as well as what might keep people from playing. Questions were asked like; “is the equipment designed to maximize the experience?”, “what other gear might make this game safer and more fun?”, and “what could be changed with the game-play or the gear to draw in a larger audience and keep them interested in playing?”

Sometimes great solutions require real “sweat-and-blood!” Priio and Insight2 are willing to provide both if that is what it takes to get great results.

At Priio we are always looking for pragmatic solutions. We recently did an internal study into the use of Linux for machine control applications. After some discussion amongst our team it was decided that there is no better way than to just dive in. So we committed our small milling machine to a Linux-based control upgrade.

The Windows® OS and control software was tossed, and Ubuntu 6.10 Linux and EMC2 was installed. Included in the cleanup was the elimination of a specialized ISA-card required for the Windows based control software to operate – so the machine can now be maintained more easily and for a longer term.

 The EMC2 software controls the machine over a standard LPT port with a simple signal conversion interface that was rapid-prototyped in our usual way. The machine has never functioned better! It is a full contouring dream come true.