I mentioned in the T400s sneak peek video that we had tightened up the tolerances between the keys to improve the overall system appearance and reduce the likelyhood of crumbs, or other debris, from slipping into the keyboard scissor mechanisms. We did not do this at the expense of changing the key pitch or altering  the contoured portion of the key that you feel. It was of paramount importance that we did not change the typing feel with this enhancement.

What we did was to increase the size of the skirt at the base of the key in order to make the gaps between the keys tighter. We also made the corner radii smaller for the same reason. The skirt is a technical term for the sidewall of the key that flares out towards the bottom of the key.  The name makes a lot of sense when you think about the key cap shape. The previous ThinkPad keyboards had a nominal key gap dimension of  .7mm. The T400s has a nominal gap of .4mm. A difference of .3mm may not sound like much but it makes a big  difference.

Before moving forward with this change our Yamato engineering team did an extensive tolerance analysis and accelerated wear test to ensure we were on track with the change. We wanted to make certain the keys did not rub each other out of the box, or over time as the keyboard wears in. Yes, all keyboards wear in over time.  People usually don’t notice it since it happens so gradually.

You can immediately see the overall visual impression that the tighter gaps make.  Small design changes can have a big impact to the user experience. You won’t feel this one, but you will be able to see it, and hopefully be less bothered  by stray crumbs. Now back to eating my lunch while typing on my ThinkPad.

David Hill

 T400s control design with  microphone mute indicator illuminated

Over the last 17 years we have continued to evolve the method of controlling  important functions such as speaker volume and mute.  Historically, these controls have been delicate sliders, embedded in the keyboard as a Fn fucntion,  domed shiny black buttons,  domed matte silver buttons, and most recently a black segmented bar as found on the X300 series. I’m sure everyone has favorites from their stable of outdated ThinkPads.

With the proposed introduction of  new ThinkPad platforms comes the opportunity to once again revisit these controls. This time things were a bit different. There was a desire within the  team to further optimize the  T400s for voice over IP use.  VOIP,  as it in known within the industry,  continues to grow in popularity. I find myself on more and more late night conference calls using applications that transmit sound and video to a broad audience of participants. With this increased focus on VOIP came the requirement to add a mute microphone control.  What telephone doesn’t have this feature anymore?

One of the design problems created by adding a mute microphone button was that now we had to deal with even more  controls in a very constrained space. Increasing the overall size of the product to add a single button is just not done. Without a new idea we would end up with a row of 6 buttons,  when you include the ThinkVantage button and the power button. The “Wurlitzer Syndrome”  was starting to creep in. Sure organs sound cool, but not everyone can play them. We did a broad study of alternatives trying to squeeze in the 6th button, but none of them really were appealing to me. They all seemed to have spacing or graphic issues. Fortunately one morning while driving to work I happened to pay particular attention to the volume control on the steering wheel of my car. It was a nice simple rocker rather than two buttons. Why not do this for ThinkPad? Not only did it remove a button, but it made the graphic labelling simpler. A single speaker graphic symbol and a nice clear + and - sign. Thanks for the idea BMW.

Steering wheel volume controls on my car

 Adding a mute control for microphone added a nice convenient  feature, but could also add confusion. Can you imagine how bad it would be to push the mute speaker button when you thought you had muted the microphone. I’ve personally been on a few calls when someone thought they were on mute but weren’t. This can be very embarassing.  A similar issue exists for cameras. We also have a means of linking mute microphone with camera if you like, but thats a different blog topic.  The typical approach would be to rely on graphical symbols to  label the controls, but that is not a guarantee for success.  Symbols, unfortunately, are not always universally understood. We  talked about using a set of  multimedia symbols such as the one below, but the idea never really gained traction beyond the joke of the day . 

Multimedia control graphical symbols?

We ultimately decided to use control location to our advantage by creating a very deliberate separation between the two mute buttons. The two mute buttons cleverly straddle  the volume rocker to achieve that goal. This  improves your  ability to remember that one mute function is on the left and the other is on the right. Our belief was that this would not have been as clear if they were directly side by side. A similar confusion is often made with light switches that share a single swtitch plate. Each mute button also has a unique graphic and a convenient red LED centered within the button to aid in status communication. If the LED is illuminated, the function is muted.

 Hopefully we have helped to minimize those  embarassing moments and have made controlling basic functions easier.

David Hill

 Detail of the T400s tactile cue feature

Touchpad texture has gone relatively unnoticed in the world of ThinkPad design, and perhaps the industry in general.  TrackPoint fans still wonder why we include a pad at all, and would not likely contemplate the advantage a texture could create for those who use them. If you are a pad user, and there are a lot out there, you know that the feel of the pad and the boundries of the pad are both important considerations.  No pad user wants to look to find the pad, they want to feel it while looking at the screen. The desire to thin down the T400s required us to use a totally flush pad. That means no raised borders to define the active area. We were literally on the hunt for fractions of a millimeter. Even the X300 pad was allowed to be recessed by a fraction of a millimeter. This flush requirement neccesitated that we needed to create a new tactile means of locating the pad and its boundries.

The  texture we introduced on the T400s was inspired by several things. One of them was the innovative yellow paving blocks used in Japanese train stations and sidewalks to guide or warn visually impaired pedestrians.  Every time I visit Japan I am intrigued by these blocks. The square Tenji block  system was invented in Japan by Seiichi Miyake in 1965 and first used in Okayama City in 1967. The oblong raised pattern indicate places, and in what direction, it is safe to walk confidently. The “warning”  blocks with the round raised dots indicate edges, corners or other places where greater care or caution is required. The tactile cues developed for these unique blocks help everyone stay clear of train platform edges, crosswalk dropoffs, and other related hazzards. Sighted or not,  it’s really quite amazing how well these blocks work. You can easily discern the difference without looking.

Tenji paving blocks in a Tokyo train station

We studied a tremendous number of seemingly identical design variants of the dotted texture before we decided on the final version. Bumps varied by diameter, height, spacing, gloss, and even hardness.  Every sample was evaluated  by appearance and feel criteria. One test was to compare the surrounding palmrest texture to the pad samples to ensure that you could detect when your fingers moved beyond the pad boundries. We always did this with our eyes closed and then open. We also wanted to make certain the texture was pleasing to touch and look at. Many alternatives were rejected because they were too flashy looking, felt like sandpaper, or just made people giggle. In case you are wondering, we never considered making the pad yellow.

Sampling of prototype tactile samples 

As the product got closer to release we were also able to test the texture with multiple users for extended periods of time. The feedback we gathered was very positive. They were able to detect the border easily and often commented that the subtle texture gave them a sense of precision as they moved their finger across the pad. The bumps provide indication of  distance travelled and speed of movement. We found this effect to be of particular interest with multitouch gesture input.

It’s always rewarding to see our efforts noticed in the media and product reviews. Even more fun if the comments are positive. Nilay Patel at Engadget recently reviewed the T400s and loved the product and the touchpad design.  This is my favorite quote from the review.

“a new texturized multitouch trackpad that’s one of the best we’ve ever used. Seriously. In contrast to the hyper-smooth glass pads found on the MacBook Pro, the T400s’s pad is covered in tiny nubs, which feel amazing under your fingers and make gestures like pinch-to-zoom feel more precise, even if they actually contribute nothing. It’s pretty great — we wish all trackpads were like this.”

I hope you liked reading about how we developed the new touchpad texture, and that you like the resulting design. I intend to keep sharing  stories like this one about how we created the T400s design updates. Keep watching Design Matters for updates over the next few weeks.

David Hill

I thought it would be useful to follow up on the sneak peek blog I published earlier in the week  with more information . Now that the product has officially announced, I can share a lot more of the research methodology and creative thinking that drove the changes to the keyboard. The video is  just too short and a bit vague, by design, to  share all the details. After all it was a bit of a teaser. Much of  the footage ended up on the cutting room floor due to pre-announce concerns from legal and others.

My team felt there was a great opportunity to take the ThinkPad keyboard design and user experience to the next level with the introduction of the T400s. It only made sense, this was to be the best T series ever made. Achieving such a goal was not easy, however,  it required a lot of hard work, creative thinking , and most importantly information about how people used their exisiting keyboards.

We thought that taking an updated look at key frequency of use would be a good place to start in order to uncover innovation opportunity. Things do change over the years. Who would ever have predicted the increased use of the @ and tab keys prior to the internet. To gather this kind of critical information we solicited agreement from several dozen internal users to install a special keyboard tracker on their ThinkPad.  The request to install a keyboard tracker on peoples’  laptops sounded a bit odd at first,  but eventually volunteers lined up once they understood exactly what we were trying to accomplish. We really didn’t want to peer into their lives, we just wanted frequency of use data. After an extended period of time the data was translated into what we call a “heat map”. The more frequently used the key, the more red we used to color it. This visual mapping technique quickly revealed patterns that suggested design changes.

Portion of the heat map based on collected data

The QWERTY section of the keyboard is highly controlled for obvious touch typing reasons. Outside of the QWERTY section,  some frequently used keys have larger than normal key tops. Enter, backspace, tab, caps lock, shift, control, and of course the space bar fall into this category. Surprisingly enough this idea has never made it past the 5th row. Frequency of use is not the only driver of increased key size. The style of gesture or stroke used for the function also comes into play. Enter falls into the category of a clear and deliberate action, a sort of salute to completion. There is a certain fervor of emotion connected to it’s use. Sounds very similar to the delete key. Who doesn’t enjoy hammering that one home when the boss sends you some ridiculous note that requires no action. When looking at frequency of use and gesture the delete key became an obvious candidate for increased size.  The upward trajectory of  movement towards the delete and escape keys also suggested making them taller rather than wider.  For example, the enter key is wider for a similar reason,  but with a more lateral trajectory.

We didn’t just rely on the frequency of use data collection technique. We also cross checked the data regarding  frequency of key use against the occurance of letters in language. For instance e is the most frequently occuring letter in language and it is the  most commonly used alphanumeric key. For those of you who are curious, space bar is the overall frequency of use winner by a wide margin. We also did visual inspections of numerous used ThinkPad keyboards to determine wear patterns. If you want  to check your own system the glossier the key the more frequently it has been used. The tilde key on my system has no visible wear.  Additionally we analyzed responses to a survey  that I posted on this topic that allowed us to get even richer data, including respondant comments. Thanks to all who participated.

In the end we decided to change the keyboard for what believe is the better. We increased the size of the delete and escape keys to make them more comfortable to use and mapped the shape to the vertical trajectory of the stroke. Okay we had to move the insert key to make way for a larger delete key, but our data indicated it was far less frequently used. We tested early hardware with real people  and have used prototype machines with the keyboard modifications for over a year. As a side benefit we also think that we improved  accidental striking of the F1 key by moving it to the right. Nice fix to a known reported issue. 

This has been quite a journey for my team, but I think it was worth it. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading  about the detailed thinking that went into these changes, and more importantly,  like the resulting experience we created.

David Hill

It’s not often that we give the public a sneak peek at a forthcoming ThinkPad. Typically we’ve kept our cards pretty close to the vest on this topic. I personally like the updates we have made so much I just can’t resist breaking the rules. Here is a short video we made that shows a few of my favorite design features and the thinking that went into creating them.

David Hill

Lately I have been seeing some competitive machines in the 15″ wide aspect ratio category adding a dedicated number pad. Not sure if they are doing this because they are trying to fill up the negative space, or if they think there is a true user benefit. Adding one increases cost, and adds some weight,  but it also changes the typing experience. The dedicated pad  moves the home row  further to the left than normal, perhaps as much as 50mm. We included one on the W700 because our research indicated the target users of this type of machine like them. We also had plenty of room for it  : )

Comparison of home row position relative to screen

I wrote a blog about our embeded number pad quite some time ago and even posted a poll on the topic. Seems like the time is right to ask similar questions about a dedicated number pad being added to  15″  or larger ThinkPads. Take the poll and lets see where people stand on this.  As always, thanks for the feedback.

David Hill

Vibratory plow circa 1980

I’ve said it often, but it’s worth repeating. Design is much more than a styling exercise. Design solves problems. Understanding what problems exist, however, can be a challenge for the designer. We’ve all read market research reports, peered through the two way mirror at a focus group, or talked directly to customers. These are all great tools, but in the world of design research, more is more. One of my favorite methods for gathering insight is good old fashioned field work. The power of direct observation is enormous.

Years ago I was working on the design of a underground trencher manufactured by a company in Perry Oklahoma. It was a curious walk behind device that sliced a narrow slit in the ground to bury television cables. It was powered by a gasoline engine that spun a large eccentric weight that caused a huge sharpened blade to vibrate wildly slicing through the Earth like butter. The designers involved, including myself, were invited to meet with the engineering team. They were a friendly bunch and quickly showed off their thinking about how to improve the efficiency of the mechanism while saving cost. Our challenge was to bend metal around the innards and make it look “presentable”. The customer for these machines is actually the cable television installers who lay the cable through your backyard. My immediate question was where can we see these machines in use or better yet use one? We were quickly offered to test drive one of the earlier generation machines in the field behind the plant, which we did. It was challenging to use but we certainly learned a lot. I wanted more.

I suggested that we meet with a real operator of the current machine. We called the local cable television company and  to our surprise were granted an audience with a experienced operator, Larry. We met Larry in the equipment yard near the end of the day and were prepared with pads and pencils to record the feedback we were expecting. During the interview he nearly immediately told us that the design of the machine was fine, in fact he liked it. We kept pushing on him for more insight, but got the same answer over and over again. It was fine. Finally I asked him if we could see the machine in question. Larry happily led us to a tin shed at the back of the yard and opened the sliding door to reveal a well worn mechanical marvel. Immediately I spotted three modifications that had been made to the machine by someone. Was it Larry? It really didn’t matter, this was exactly what we were looking for!

The most obvious modification was a  make-shift support structure that  had been welded to the outside of the machine to hold the battery. The machine as manufactured hides the battery inside a steel enclosure with a snarl of  hydraulic valves, hoses and assorted wiring. It was crude in execution, but appeared to substantially made. I immediately asked Larry why he moved the battery.  His response was that the machine is not used  in the winter because the ground is too hard to slice through. Every spring when they fire it up the battery is dead from sitting dormant. With the battery buried behind an access panel and 8 bolts it is a huge pain in the neck to attatch the jumper cables. “Much easier to jump the thing if the battery is on the outside” , quiped Larry.

We also found a hole cut into the side of a shroud to peek through and see hydraulic levels, and a  crudely  crafted cable spool holder that used a cast off broom stick as an axle. Without the spool holder they had to employ another operator to hold the spool on the broom stick above his head while walking backwards. I can only imagine what that must have been like. 

The lesson here is that asking questions only goes so far. Nothing can beat field observation when it comes to uncovering innovation opportunity. In case you’re curious,  we made battery access  far easier and built in a cable spool holder on the design concept we created.

David Hill

Recently selected poster design for 2009

Later this month is World Industrial Design day as sponsored by ICSID. This recognition was first established in 2007 as a way to draw attention to the importance of the profession at it’s contribution to society.

Here is an excerpt from the ICSID site describing the recognition:

World Industrial Design Day (WIDD) is an international day of observance in recognition of the profession of industrial design. First declared on June 29, 2007 on the occasion of Icsid’s 50th anniversary, World Industrial Design Day has been established as an occasion to mark the development and evolution of industrial design throughout the course of its history.

World Industrial Design Day is a special project introduced by Icsid with the aim to promote solidarity and collaboration amongst designers through a collective appreciation and recognition of industrial design, its evolution over the years, as well as its progression into the future. Furthermore, World Industrial Design Day seeks to highlight the contribution designers and academics have made to the discipline of industrial design relative to the study of design theory, research, and practice, as well as providing a window of opportunity to address key issues such as the safeguarding and protection of intellectual property.

Through a series of international events on June 29, World Industrial Design Day provides designers and like-minded design enthusiasts from a wide spectrum of professions with a channel to engage with one another. This is an opportunity to accentuate industrial design’s role in improving the economic, social, cultural and environmental quality of life around the world. Consequently, it is an affirmative step towards fostering a global understanding of design and all that it encompasses.

As a professional designer, I am thrilled to see such continued recognition and support for design. Lets all make design matter.

David Hill

I’ve been out of the office for the last 10 days riding the Trans-America Trail with 3 other motorcyclists. Rick Plant and Matt Evans from Lenovo and David Rush, a long time friend of mine from Dallas, made the trek. We rode for 7 days and covered 1500 miles from Jellico Tennesse to Bartlesville Oklahoma. Bartlesville is the “cultural backwater” where I grew up.

For the most part the route was non-paved. We traversed dusty dirt roads, jagged gravel, swollen creek beds, flooded roads, raised levees, old power line trails, barren farm fields, closed bridges, and twisty asphalt connecting the whole thing together. I’ll give you a warning, the stream crossings are extraordinarly slippery. Two of our riders went down in the water, fortunately nobody got hurt. Our average speed was just over 30mph, certainly not your typical flight down the interstate. This was one of my favorite signs along the route. How did they know I was coming?  It was poetic finally ending up at Bartlesville Cycle Sports. We bought the bikes there from my old friend and racer Bob Derrick well over a year ago to make this ride a reality.

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Matt blasting through a flooded road in Mississippi

Contemplating the strength of a closed wooden bridge

I took my ThinkPad x300 on the trip for e mail communication and an emergency lifeline via broadband. It worked flawlessly.  Dirt,  dust, vibration, and water couldn’t stop it from performing as expected. This was certainly the most extreme torture test I have personally subjected any ThinkPad to. Fantastic trip, exceptional ThinkPad.

Bob welcomes us to Bartlesville

Final navigational rollchart

David Hill

Tornado near Anadarko Oklahoma 

Lenovo has just announced a partnership with the non-profit Center for Severe Weather Research to power advanced levels in tornado and severe weather research.  More than 50 Think branded PC’s including ThinkPad W700’s, W500’s and X200’s will be deployed to power the largest tornado field research project of its kind.  That’s right field research. Can you imagine a vehicle designed to chase tornadoes bristling with high tech doppler antennas and a fleet of onboard ThinkPad’s?  Well here it is.

Doppler on Wheels Fitted with ThinkPad

Having grown up in Oklahoma and Kansas, the heart of  “Tornado alley” I am very familiar with the power and wrath that can be dished out by a tornado. When I was in college,  a friend of mine rode out a massive tornado by seeking shelter within the “walk- in”  beer cooler at the local convenience store.  He crouched on the floor of the cooler while the dozen or so glass doors wildly slapped open and closed as the tornado passed.  Beer cans, gravel, and dust swirled through the air as the storm leveled the entire structure. The only thing left standing was the beer cooler and it’s contents. Fortunately, he was not without cold refreshment following the ordeal.

Notebooks.com has a really interesting article on this topic where you can learn even more about this pioneering partnership and the storm-defying hardware.  I can think of no other notebook computer that could better stand up to this kind of rugged field use. Here’s to ThinkPad and the Lenovo role in helping to better understand these devastating storms.

David Hill