Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

We now have an Air at home, multiple iPods and one iPhone (so far... I'm still holding out hope for a Verizon iPhone before I switch, although it seems I'll be waiting a bit longer for that). My three-year-old has more apps on my iPod than I do - and she knows how to use them.

I say all of this for one reason: Apple has been a part of my technology life since I was in middle school.

So I found it interesting that Steve Jobs no longer considers Apple a technology company. Read this excerpt from the Financial Times:

"We're a mobile company. That's what we do," he said.

In our work, Capstrat is often engaged to develop positioning for companies and organizations. It's more than a mission, vision or tagline - it's how our clients define who they're for, what they're about and what sets them apart.

When I got that first Macintosh in 1985, Apple's position was to build a good looking, easy-to-use computer. It had a built-in floppy drive, a keyboard, mouse and printer. It looked a lot different than the big desktops at my parents' office, that's for sure.

What Apple has done well over the years (with some exceptions) is adapt that position. But perhaps more importantly, they aren't afraid to tell people that they're changing.

Often I preach about how amazing Apple's OSX was when it was released (OSX is Apple's operating system, first released back in 2001). Back then I was used to working on a PC based Media 100 844X and boy did I have some headaches. I also like to talk about how Final Cut Pro effectively destroyed Media 100 and took a huge bite out of the Avid post-production market (Final Cut Pro is Apple's $1000 video editing powerhouse). I am traditionally a strong advocate for the company, because they have improved my quality of life.

However, I found the error message below so hilarious that I felt it must be shared with the world. I was working in Final Cut one day when it appeared seemingly for no reason. To this day I wonder, "What happened?"

I am not a basketball fan. I am not a football fan. I have friends that are complaining about increase in chatter related to Apple products that is bound to continue over the next three days.

There are plenty of things I like to Tweet or write about on Facebook that I am sure no one else cares about.

I am glad I can hide certain things on Facebook - like Farmville updates or updates from certain people BUT I wish I could be a little more specific with what I want to hide. And that my hide/mute button could happen across multiple platforms.

I don't want to hide all activity from someone or unfollow them, I just want to hide the 30-40 tweets that happen during a game I care nothing about. For the Super Bowl, I want to hear the chatter about the commercials but don't care about the football insight.

Is there a service that handles this that I don't know about? You cannot rely on #hashtags. Brizzly allows you to mute all tweets from a user. I believe I can also accomplish this in TweetDeck, by creating creating a "Group" but that is not exactly what I want to do, either. If they are multitasking they might Tweet about something I care about during that time.

(For those of you reading this, I am fully aware that some people may want to mute me from time to time - or even permanently).

Any thoughts?

It’s a sweltering Sunday afternoon at the mall. Inside The Apple Store it’s clean, cool and buzzing with hipsters that resemble that “Hi, I’m a Mac” guy. As a Mac user, I stop in occasionally to give props to Jobs and Co. for a brand well done. Sometimes I give mad props if I’m feeling like parting with money.

One of these hipsters glides past me on his cell phone. His conversation caught my ear. At first it sounded idiotic, then I realized prophetic.

“Yeah, I’m here” he says to his friend. “I’m at the iPod store.”

Wow! In a brief second, this yahoo reduced The Revolution of Zen Cool that Apple had been building to a single product.

Was this odd? Do others understand Apple’s greatness? Can you be an Apple user without being an enthusiast, or are we creative folks blinded by pretty stainless steel?

Why do users form relationships with some products over others? What makes people develop feelings for software (good and bad)? We'll show practical ways to make your application more appealing to your users avoid creating abusive relationships, and discuss what it means to practice responsible design, including:

• Recognizing your audience's emotional attachment.
  
• Understanding how (and when) to think about the emotional elements of your product/design.
  
• Ways to improve your process so you can avoid creating "abusive" products.

Dan Rubin Black Seagull /Sidebar Creative
Eris Stassi Interaction Designer, Apple
Didier Hilhorst Interaction Designer, IDEO

Aichaku - Word that is an attachment to a product - word in Japan. Love you feel towards a product, not a person. Many products evoke an emotional response, but we are not always aware of it. First impressions are key in this arena. They work with products and people. You have to think about the experience from the very first second people interact with it. 10 hour installs are not good. Communicate with your consumers.

We think about emotional attachments with people all the time. Communication is key. Good communication starts a great relationship. We can't go to therapy with our products. Good products will be a step ahead, just like a person. People and products predicting experiences in a good way.

8 emotions

1. Trust
   
2. Commitment
   
3. Forgiveness
4. Respect
5. Jealousy
6. Deception
7. Blame
8. Stubborn

The intial reaction is always, is it hot or not. Trust and commitment come later. Jewelry is about commitment. Driving a Prius is a commitment to the environment because the car is butt ugly. Your best friend pisses you off a lot, but they are still your best friend. So you can make mistakes in the product experience, but you have to get most of it right. If it doesn't you have a bad relationship. Big difference between forgiveness and allowing for stupidity.

"A product (person) that can correct our mistakes as they happens gains our trust." -Maeda

This quote is about the person or product that has your back. The person that is not waiting for you to make a mistake, they are helping you prevent the mistake from happening.

If we create bad products, the fault is human, but there is redemption.

---I am not sure how this supports the argument - but her points were interesting. --- There are products that have redfined themselves. The Prius issues early on. Netflix put control in our hands and redeemed the postal industry. Flexcar - urban cities thinking about ownership and how you can use a car. Method's house cleaning products prove you don't have to use harsh products to get things clean.

Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don't want to use a product, why would anyone else?

4 things to consider Experience of Flow - feeling in control, clear goal of what you are going and how you are doing it. Map the story out and tell it to someone. Start role-playing.

Memory Recall - Memories are strong emotional attachments. Photographs remind you of something. In applications this happens as well. Tastes, smells, audio, visuals - things that take you back to a time and place.

Symbolic Meaning - The ability to feel better, it encourages our sense of self. Products that we think help define who we are.

Tactile Experience - Product and indistrial design people think about this on a regular basis.