Intuitivity, iPodability, fuzziability etc. etc.

Yesterday I saw the TED podcast of JeffHan's www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGAKUForhM intuitive computer interface. Today I came across a new free (so far) brainstorming tool www.bubbl.us real cool...intuitive..just like a person laden with thoughts would like to do...not to be bothered by 'dragging and droppings' but flowing ideas..just keep writing....This is in the aftermath/backdrop of launch of iPhone...moving two fingers over the screen to enlarge a picture. 'Click' is about to die, the way 'dialling' died after the invent of modern telephones...Key-board manufacturers need to worry?

I have some lingering doubts in my mind i.e. touching the object, that you see...the same screen where you see your photo or information...touching with fingers may have some cognitive mismatch....And isn;t it funny that western world prefers not to touch the food (use spoon) but when it comes to touch dead-materials i.e. monitors they want to use fingers...more and more products would join the bandwagon of using intuitive interface ....too much use of fingers over the life-less material would cause numbing sensation too soon...

Eternal Bard :)

Tere dar pe sanam hazaar baar aayenge,
tere dar pe sanam hazaar baar aayenge,
Ganti bajayenge aur bhaag jayenge.......

Equity advice for Design Entreprenuers

For fellow design entrepreneurs,

I have seen this thread some time back but could not reply. I think the time has come when designers running small companies need to let go of the 100% hold and expand the reach with someone else's money. It is easier said than done. We at Onio have had several rounds of discussions with 'VCs' and 'Angel Investers'. In this process I also met and got some guidance from my IIT classmates and collegues who have played the equity game several times till now. By the way, Onio also successfully managed some capital inflow last year through an angel investment.

There are thousands of books on how to write a buisness plan and how to judge a VC's offfer. But I am answering only some top-level inquiries in the minds of a design entrepreneur. But please remember that like in colour theory, there are thousand thumb rules....but when you are in the middle of it...and your gut feel says, it is a 'Go'...then dump all the rules and just go for it...

Here are my learnings-

1. How much is your business (services) worth?
In the DotCom times...people valued their business up to 10 times their total turnover (there are several parameters in terms of kind of accounts/brands being handled, age of the business etc...I am only touching upon some thumb rules...). You can also cut your pie at your 15-20 times your profit. If you are holding IPRs which would make tomorrow's iPods then it can be 100 times your profit as well :).

2.How much should you let go in terms of initial equity?
Expereinced people advice that lesser the better. Don't let the 'control' go to a stranger for few bucks. 10%-15% is good enough dilution. Take money from two people with smaller chunks of money rather than from single entity. But Investors would never settle for less than 25-30%. Figure of 26% has special legal angle as, it give 'vito' rights to the investor, against any decision taken by the board. So you should probably stop at 25%.

But underline is that all depends on the deal you are getting. If APPLE is buying you stake and offering you some money for 98% stake for you company, hmmm..may be that 2% is worth more than 100% of you company all your life :).

3. How to gauge the investor?
People say that this is like an arranged marriage. You have a gamble of you life...but you need to be informed. You need to be informed about the background of your investor, as much as he needs to be aware about your corporate health. You need to meet the people at the companies, he/they invested in earlier. You need to do some 'googling' etc. It is never about how big a company and how influential a person, is investing in your company, it is more about 'personal comfort' you have with your investor.

4. What about Debt funds?
Yes, if you can garner bank funds, loans etc. for your next leap, please go ahead. That is the esiest way to save equity dilution for next expansion. We at Onio also managed a Credit Line, from a PSU bank, which came handy for buying office etc. It rquired a good gentleman bank-manager and a lots of explaining on what we do...A credit line of few-lakhs is a first option every entreprenur should try for...you lose nothing, but you get a support-life-line for liquidity crunches.

For more info, write to me personally.

Manoj Kothari
Founder Director and Senior Design Strategist

Onio Design Pvt. Ltd.
NID-AEP-PD 1997, B. Tech. IIT Bombay 1992

www.oniodesign.com

Against Racism

A scene also took place on a BA (British Airway) flight betweenJohannesburg and London. A white woman, about 50 years old, was seatednext to a black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the airHostess. "Madam, what is the matter?" the hostess asked. "Youobviously do not see it then?" She responded. "You placed me next to ablack man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnantgroup. Give me an alternative seat." "Be calm please," the hostessreplied. "Almost all the places on this flight are taken. I will go tosee if another place is available." The hostess went away and thencame back a few minutes later."Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in theeconomy class. I spoke to the captain and he informed me that there isone seat in the business class. All the same, we also have one seat inthe first class." Before the woman could say anything, the hostesscontinued: "It is unusual for our company to permit someone from theeconomy class to sit in the first class. However, given thecircumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to makesomeone sit next to someone so disgusting."She then turned to the black guy, and said, "Therefore, sir, if youwould like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you infirst class."

Insight India 2007 at Copenhagen | Onio Design

Greeting from Onio Design!

Is your company/client involved/interested in Innovation for Indian market?

This is to invite you for an exclusive event ‘Insight India 2007’, March 15-16, 2007 at the Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark being organized by Onio Design and Style-Vision in collaboration with the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies (CIFS), Copenhagen.



Onio is an integrated design and innovation consulting company with clientele like LG, IKEA, Volkswagen, McKinsey, TATAs, Godrej, Siemens, HPCL and several small to mid-size companies to its credit. Rated as one of the top Design Companies in India (Business World, 2005), Onio is spearheading the design revolution in India. Our partner, Style-Vision, France is one of the World's leading Trend Research company with clients that include Sony, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Adidas, Burberry, Estée Lauder, Chanel, Peugeot etc. to name a few. Onio and Style-Vision co-edit MegaTrends (a quarterly trend report, authored by 15 creative thinkers across the World).

Onio Design and Style-Vision have earlier successfully organised ‘Trends workshop 06’ in Mumbai (Feb 06, Sponsored by Pantaloon and attended by likes of HLL, ITC, Philips, Titan, VIP, TI Cycles etc.) and ‘Insight India 2006’, in September, in London (with participants from P&G, Steelcase, PearlFisher, Hitachi, Symrise etc.).

This unique interactive two day event is for people who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Indian consumers, from a 'traditions, trends and design' perspective.

Who should participate- Those who play a key role in shaping the innovation strategies for Indian market (in products, services and communication front) i.e. country heads, head of strategy, brand managers, product heads, communication designers, product designers, R&D heads and marketing heads.

We invite your participation and hope to share useful insights that would shape the market in years to come. Networking with global managers is a promised return.



For participation, please fill in the registration form for the round table (open to 20 participants only). For more details, click-on to www.oniodesign.com/roundtable .

With warm regards,

Manoj Kothari

Onio Design Pvt. Ltd.
'Begin Differently' - Sense Strategize Design

Ph(O): +91 20 2729 2173 Ext- 202 (D)+91 20 3290 1392
Telefax- +91 20 2729 2174

USA(O) +1 -610-295-5179

Survey 1/3, Plot 15
Next to Amar Apex
Baner Road
Pune- 411 045

INDIA

www.oniodesign.com

Excellence in Design

What is Excellence in Design?

I am going to face this question this afternoon from Prof. Sethuraman from NID. He is on a sabbatical, posing this question to practicing designers.

Well, question is a tricky one. Just like asking what thirst is, to a fish in water….what is light, to a lamp…Somehow it is easy to say the measures of excellence in other fields. In engineering, it is optimum energy usage, material usage, minimum human interaction, longer span of uninterrupted working etc. could be easy parameter to home on. Design, as a profession is changing its ‘brand character’ since last few years. When cave-man first discovered usage of fire and used a wheel for various things is now called the beginning design. What Onio is doing to lot of SMEs to go global through innovation strategies and product overhauls, is also design. What NID does for Bamboo development, khadi development and crafts rejuvenation is design too. And what initiative Sam Pitroda and Rajiv Gandhi could do to India’s telecom scenario and make the telephone available to a remote village through innovative small-exchanges is also called design. Sustainability in industrial production is design, energy and architectural conservation is also design……well, is America’s attack on Iraq is design too? India’s emergence as a powerful economy is design too? I think and I live, is it design too? One needs to get real. Design needs to get real as far as the definition goes. Design thinking and Design skill are not to be confused with each other. Design thinking can pervade humanity, but design as a skill, can only be available to trained few. This skill of research, articulation and correlation of human needs, then visualization and prototyping of solutions is something that needs training. This skill is what is needed in the developing economies the most. Skill not only in the visual arts (we already have thousands of colleges and institutions teaching visual arts in the country), but the skill of creating innovative, usable, optimized and humane products for the new society. ….
…….
( I could not complete this …and meeting already took place…here the views are after the meeting synthesis)

It is important to understand the difference in the times we are living compared to classical origin of design profession. Speed, the new driving force of life around us today. Speed food, speed working, speed strategy, speed dating, speed marriage……life is hinging around speed. More output can only be achieve by speed….hence every science is pushed to increase the speed. But this speed is also causing visual blur…and psychological backlash. On one side the entire design (in fact every industry) industry is catering to this speed and consumption, on other side there is hue and cry in one lobby trying to discuss the separation in ‘sensation’ and ‘cognition’, the ‘touch’ and the ‘image’, the left and the right brain, the speed and the restive reflection, the blur and the synthesis. This speed has given rise to existential problems….loss of identity and anchors. Who am I , is the biggest question that faces the today’s sellers and consumers.

Result is that the design has become –
a) Integration at a highly complex level (‘Simplexity’ as a trend has been discussed in many forums). It is no more about singular exuberance i.e. good form, grear function, or great economics. It is no more design for a consumer or manufacturer, it is design for the value-chain.
b) Success is also collaborative process (individual excellence or intellect is subdued under the weight of consortium approach)
c) Sensation, skill, insight, experience….has got devalued under the weight of cognition, strategy, thought, words and images.
d) Technology, has emerged as an important differentiator that can bring cheers or tears, through the value-chain.

Excellence in such a scenario is highly fragmented phenomena. It is no more elemental success of aesthetics, or economics or usability. It is about integrated success. It is about collaborative win. It is about ownership that every contributing partner could bring to the table, where the rewards were kept. But caution, while it all seems every ‘extroverted’ phenomenon, excellence still remains at the core of individual. Sethu talked about ‘satisfysing’ (satisfying individual needs and aspirations).

Another thought occurred to me from ancient Indian philosophy….’Sarv jan hitay, sarv jan sukhaya’…(for benefit of all, for happiness of all). Could this be Onio’s philosophy?

Parting shot- Does Onio design strive for ‘excellence’ in design?