While we were in Japan we got the opportunity to visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and tour the East Gardens. I love Japanese gardens and found this very inspirational from a design perspective. The Japanese attention to design detail and beauty is everywhere. Not so different from the ThinkPad design approach. While at the palace we were fortunate enough to get to observe a  team of gardeners delicately prunning the black pines perched 50-75 feet in the air. Working without ropes or safety nets, they prune individual bits of the tree with small specialized scissors. At ground level, assistants scurry around picking up the clippings. It’s really impressive to watch.

How high in the air are these people?

Japanese pruning scissors are a design treasure

Can you find the Imperial Palace?

Resting on the promontory

The trip to Japan was a great success. I got to visit my friends in Yamato, re-think next generation ThinkPad, and emerse myself in another design sensitive culture. I can’t wait to go again. Maybe I can squeeze in a trip to Kyoto, the cultural hub for all Japanese gardening. I can only hope.

David Hill

Is it possible to out shine Vegas?

Lenovo made a huge splash at CES with great new ThinkPads, IdeaPads, and award winning paradigm shifting products that turned heads. The IdeaPad U1 and SkyLight smartbook are wonderful examples where Lenovo invented new computing categories. But this wasn’t just a Lenovo technology prowess show, our design innovation was everywhere. 

Making such an impression at CES, however, is more than just announcing super products. The design of the venue, in our case the Aquaknox restaurant, was a critical component of setting the stage. Lenovo literally transformed the place into a product exhibition space/nightclub. We wanted to create a lasting and positive impression for everyone who attended. The design of our event was led by Rebecca Welles from our corporate identity team. It was demanding work for her and the others who chipped in, but it paid off with an event to remember. One of goals we established early in the project was to avoid the urge to “out-Vegas”  Vegas . There is just no point in throwing more flashing lights, spinning plates, fake gold leaf, dangling tinsel and glitzo patterns at the problem. Such an approach would only blend into the existing Vegas environment. We wanted to attract attention. The idea we chose was to design dramatic monolithic forms bathed in pure white to contrast the visual explosion around us. Colors would be minimal and restricted to the brand palettes. The architectural monoliths would stand above the crowd and draw attention to the featured products we wanted to showcase. We also created brand specific zones for more intimate demonstrations and hands-on use.

Bubble chair for conjuring up the next big idea

For the Idea products zone ,we used all white classic modernist furniture to suggest a futuristic home setting. Maybe everyone doesn’t own a bubble chair, but I bet they secretly wish they did. They look like they’re right off the set of a vintage James Bond film. Even the Corbusier lounge chair looked right at home in white leather. The space was accessorized with stark white objects such as chunks of coral, rhino sculptures, and an occasional, although somewhat disturbing, all white slice of pizza. It was hard to pry people out of the comfy white chairs. Wooden stumps served as end tables and conversation pieces.

Nice place to sit and think while at CES 

ThinkLand was all business, but rich and sophisticated in design. Smoked mirrors etched with the brand signature, regal red carpet, and modernist seating that reminds me of a giant TrackPoint cap adorned the environment . A few people said the chairs reminded them of molars, too funny. The red dots on the signatures illuminated in a show of respect for the Vegas heritage.  The products themselves were showcased on glowing white pedestals. An animated video wall showcased many of the design and technology features ThinkPad enjoys. It really looked impressive, and so “on brand”.

“Thing” from the Addams Family bought a Skylight?

The handheld products such as Skylight and the Lenovo smartphone were displayed using pure white 3D hands that were molded from real people’s extremities. Very interesting process with great end result. There seemed to be a strange magnetic attraction to them. By the end of the event, they had all mysteriously disappeared. How do you suppose they smuggled them out of the venue? I would love to know what people are going to do with them.

Scale paper model of the design concept

The design was conceived using pencil sketches, scale paper models, detailed computer renderings, and traditional sample boards. The scale model turned out to be very useful in visualizing the space and planning final graphic and product placement.The final renderings are very similar to the actual built space. Computers are wonderful tools for this sort of thing. Sadly,the days of magic marker renderings are all but over.

Can you tell which one is real?

The crowd loved it!

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the thinking that went into creating an event like this. Few people understand the magnitude of effort that goes into creating such a creative, but temporary, space. It was hard work, but also fun. 

David Hill

Back in November of 2008, I first learned of the Lenovo super secret project that would eventually become the Skylight smartbook . It sounded fascinating to me that we would attempt to create an entirely new offering category in the computer space. I could only imagine a device that would behave similar to a smart phone, but be of a size and scale that would make it more suitable for viewing or typing data. The design goal was also to create something that would turn heads. It could not look like just another miniature notebook computer.

I thought it would be a great project to get Richard Sapper, our long time design guru, involved with. After all, Richard has specialized in turning the ordinary into the extraordinary for decades. I’ve seen him do it over and over again with things as seemingly mundane as a desk lamp, cheese grater, tea kettle, kitchen timer, transistor radio, television set, and of course our own ThinkPad classic. When I first proposed the idea to the executive team I was asked by several if Sapper had ever designed a consumer product. Not such a surprising question if your view to Sapper and his work has been through the restricted lens of business computers, but I knew better. I quickly made a Powerpoint slide show of Sapper’s work, to make it clear what he was capable of. It worked. Everyone was intrigued enough to brief him on the project immediately.  

Sapper and team discussing design details

On November 12th of 2008 Sapper was in town for a design work session where we took the opportunity to brief him on the super secret project.  Sorry I can’t share the code name with you. He had many questions about user scenarios, screen sizes, technologies, and other such design-related details. Sapper was clearly interested in breaking the mold with us.  His enthusiasm dimmed, however, when he was informed of the deadline for completing the design concept. The design had to be locked before the Christmas holiday in order to maintain the very aggressive schedule. I think the words Sapper used were “you must be joking, I need time to design such a thing” . The worst part was that it had not been formally decided if Sapper would be retained to create the design. That wouldn’t happen for yet another two weeks at the next Lenovo senior leadership meeting.  The timeline issue would only become worse if he had to wait two additional weeks before he had the approval to start working.

The meeting adjourned as promises were passed around the room to speed the process and get more technical details. Of course, Sapper was asked to hang in there with Lenovo and wait for the next decision point. It was later in the day that Sapper, with a gleam in his eye, proposed to me that he would begin designing it immediately, on speculation that he might be retained to do so. For Sapper, there was no time to waste for the final Lenovo decision.  How could anyone argue with that? If  Lenovo liked his idea, we would compensate him for the work. If they didn’t like it, nothing was lost for Lenovo. The risk was all on Richard’s back. He was confident that he could create something revolutionary, and was willing to bet his own time and expense on doing it. The Sapper plan was quickly agreed to by Lenovo. Now it was up to Richard to deliver his idea by December 18th.

Richard flew to New York City late that evening. The following morning he would travel to Gloucester Massachusetts to visit with close friends. Immediately after the Gloucester visit, he was off to Los Angeles to be with his wife and son for Thanksgiving. How would he ever design anything if he was in hotel rooms, friend’s houses, carving turkeys, and riding airplanes? Designers need tools and time to create design. Sapper clearly understood the dilemma he was faced with. The next day he called me from New York City to describe the sleepless night he had endured as he imagined the design solution. His news was that he had been “kissed by Aphrodite” the night before. For Sapper, that means having the genesis of an idea. How poetic. He had spent the night drawing simple sketches in the hotel to refine his initial idea. He later described the concept verbally as a very thin and sculpted flowing form but not a “glob of pudding”. It had direction and clarity. He also talked about an articulated “stick” that would swing into view for various functions such as storage or a possible telephone handset. For me, that was the icing on the cake. Now all Richard needed was a model to validate his idea in 3 dimensions. Tall order if you are not in your normal work environment. 

The infamous “hotel sketch” that defined Skylight

Two days later, I received yet another call from Richard. Now he was in Los Angeles. There was very little chit chat, he went straight to work. “Do you know what I have in my hand?” he questioned. I really had no idea how to respond to that one. “A model!” he declared, instantly answering his own question. How could that be possible I thought? He must have just arrived in California. He told me of being at a cocktail party while in Gloucester, where he mentioned to a friend that he was working on a secret design project. He described how interesting the project was, but that he was frustrated by not being able to get a model built of the idea he had conceived the night before. He was in desperate need of a model. What followed is one of the most incredible strokes of luck ever. His friend suggested that he discuss his need with one of the guests at the party who amazingly enough makes violins and other such instruments. It was reported that he had an elaborate woodworking shop and the skills to match. Surely he could make such a model. After a brief introduction, Richard met him at his shop the next day where he masterfully directed the shaping of  a raw block of olive wood into what would become the first model of Skylight.

Stradivarius would be envious

Using the kitchen table at his son’s house and old-school drawing tools, Sapper then created a series of cross sections that were sent back to his studio assistant in Milan. His goal was to create computer generated 3D data and a highly accurate stereo lithography model for his immediate review when he returned to his studio. His plan worked. Once in Milan, he made several revisions to the form and interior leaving just enough time to create a more detailed model for the final review that was now scheduled for December 19th. There was little margin for error.

Early interior study model showing placeholder keyboard and speaker location

On December 15th Sapper again called to say that the model would be finished as promised but that he had no idea how to get it to Raleigh in time for the meeting. There was even some concern expressed about having adequate time for the paint to cure. More on that later. We immediately exercised all various options to get the model from Milan to the meeting but none were very promising. The final solution was to send Robert Enochs to Milan on the 18th to hand carry it back the following morning. Robert, who actually wrote the original marketing requirements document, eagerly agreed to the plan as though he had a choice. After landing in Malpensa, Robert took a taxi to his hotel in Milan, freshened up, and then headed to Sapper’s studio a few blocks away. Richard met him on the street in front of his studio, where he suggested they head to La Torre di Pisa for a nice Risotto dinner before visiting the model maker’s shop. It was nearly 9:00 PM Milan time.

Sophisticated color inspiration

Once at the model shop Robert saw the models, yes there were two, one a beautiful shade of red and the other black.  Black was eventually replaced by a nice rich blue. We had enough black computers. Enochs was immediately impressed by how unique the design appeared and equally by how sticky the paint was. It seems there was a paint compatibility issue that never allowed the paint to fully dry. Sapper’s normal painter was already out on holiday.  Richard had to scramble to find someone to paint the model. He ended up hiring a rather inexperienced painter that he had never used before. I seem to recall that Richard even had to buy him the paint gun at a local hardware store. I guess that should have been a warning sign. The models were placed into a clever box of Sapper’s design and Robert headed back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before catching the morning flight to the states. I called Robert when he returned to the hotel to get his impression of what he saw. He was at a loss for words but groggily described it as “well…VERY unique”. It was well after midnight when Robert called it a day.

 Sapper designed the box for the trip home

On Friday evening in Raleigh the executive team anxiously awaited the arrival of Robert Enochs and the model. His plane was about an hour late due to weather issues and people were getting rather anxious. Once Robert landed, he called us on his cell phone to give us a turn by turn status of his continued progress towards Lenovo headquarters. At about 7:30 PM his car was spotted from the design center windows pulling into the parking lot. We were more than ready to see it. Sapper was standing by on the phone to discuss any of the details concerning his work.  It was well past midnight Milan time. The cleverly designed Baltic birch box was carefully opened and the models were revealed.  Immediately, the reaction was extremely positive, people loved what they saw. Sapper had delivered on the challenge beyond any of our expectations. The most immediate issue was how we were going to remove the bubble wrap texture that had now become impregnated into the forever-sticky paint.  The finish looked a lot like a well worn alligator. It was pretty clear that the only alternative was to photograph the models and remove the alligator pattern in Photoshop. Since this all had to take place before Monday we needed a photographer and Photoshop expert the next morning. Not easy to get that done unless your son is a photographer home for the weekend. Who else do you call at midnight to do a photo shoot the next morning? He was more than willing to help and did an expert job of saving the paint disaster. Thanks Eric.

 Worn alligator texture or just bad paint?

Photo of the concept models after extensive retouching by my son Eric

Final design is extraordinarily close to the original vision

There was far more to do following this pivotal meeting, but the most important hurdle had been crossed. We had a really marvelous design concept. We still needed to design a keyboard, make everything fit in the envelope, move the speakers around, finalize the touchpad, meet all the schedule commitments, and of course, design a totally new user interface. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. For me, it’s incredible to see the real thing and compare it to the original Sapper concept model. I’m not sure anything we have ever made has ended up this true to the original idea.  In the end, this was a great achievement for all of Lenovo. We had a fantastic team of people from Beijing, Raleigh, Yamato, and of course Milan. I think we truly delivered on the promise of our corporate tagline… New World. New Thinking. 

David Hill

ThinkPad T410

Even though there is considerable buzz about the ThinkPad Edge line, lets not forget our heritage.  We just announced four new ThinkPad classic offerings continuing the legacy of design and technology innovation for business. The T410s, T410, T510 and the W510 workstation are all new models with enhancements to processor performance, battery life and wireless technologies. You can read the detailed press release here. What is most interesting for this blog, however, are the improvements we made to the design and user experience. If you are a fan of the work we did on the T400s you will love these new rock solid ThinkPads.

All the new models use the same updated keyboard and controls we first introduced on the T400s. This includes the larger escape and delete keys, tighter key-skirt tolerances, enhanced volume/mute controls, and of course the flush textured touchpad. You can read entire  blogs I wrote about all of these updates when we first introduced the T400s. Also gone are the off centered displays that were driven by the previous level antenna design. Thanks to Yamato engineering for fixing this one without sacrificing performance. Having now used a T400s for months, I can attest to the significance of these improvements to the user experience. The thinking and testing that went into these updates was enormous and has paid off. If you are a classic lover these are the systems for you.

David Hill

ThinkPad Edge 13″

Lenovo is starting the decade out right with the announcement of two new ThinkPads. I made a couple of short videos that talk about the design thinking that went into each of them. I plan to write a few blogs during the next week or so with more details about keyboards, the color red, and something we call sophisticated simplicity. Enjoy. 

Interesting article by Sal Cangeloso at Geek.com regarding the introduction of  ThinkPad Edge as a compliment to the ongoing classic line.

David Hill

Can an inch really make a difference?

Two of my favorite leadership ThinkPad offerings have been the X300 and the T400s. We used our best technology, engineering, and design talent, to create some of most amazing ThinkPad’s ever made. Even though one is called an X and the other T, they are in some ways quite similar. They both have an onboard optical drive, for example.  Of course there are also many key differences between them such as processor speed, docking capability, hard file capacity, battery life, thickness, weight, and of course keyboard design. The T400s was the first to sport the big escape and delete keys. One significant difference that is often discussed and debated is screen size. The X300 models use a 13.3″ screen and the T400s uses a 14.1″. It’s amazing how a difference of about an 1″ can get people talking.

The 13.3 is 11.4% smaller in overall viewing area

I thought it would be interesting to poll my Design Matters readers to understand your preference for screen size. Lets assume we are talking about a hypothetical 2 spindle machine where everything is equalized except for screen size. There is a very slight difference in DPI and of course the 14″ version would be a bit heavier. The increased glass size adds about a half pound of system weight.  

Thanks for your continued interest in helping us shape future ThinkPad offerings. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the poll.

David Hill   

Zero Fireplace is anything but a zero

Lately I’ve been twittering what I have chosen to call ”The Design of the Day”.  Yes, my interest in design is far deeper than just computers. Design is a career, a hobby, and a way of life. My intent is to tweet a new design on a daily basis. Don’t expect to see a lot of computer tweets, that’s what the primary focus of this blog is.  I still plan on occassionaly blogging about non-computer related design classics here, but those will be much more detailed that Twitter will allow. One of the first designs I tweeted about is a wonderful outdoor fire place that celebrates both fire and fuel. This would look so good in my backyard. You can search for these tweets using #designoftheday or just follow me on Twitter. Hope you enjoy them.

http://twitter.com/dwhilldesign

David Hill

I just got word from Industrie Forum Design Hannover that the ThinkPad USB secure hard drive we designed has been honored witih a 2010 design award. This year 778 products were awarded from a total field of 2,486 submissions. Entrants from 39 different countries, competed for the coveted iF product design award. I love this product and consider this a great honor for my design team and Lenovo. You can read a detailed blog I wrote previously about the design of the hard drive here. Congratulations to everyone involved!

David Hill

Working at Lenovo exposes you to more computer users in one day than probably any job in the world. Everyone I see has a ThinkPad in hand either on the way to a meeting or is already there using one. It’s very common for Lenovians to carry an AC adapter to meetings, especially if they are long ones.  Trust me I’ve certainly been in my share of  those.

Martha would be proud

Over the  years I’ve noticed that people are not just physically, but are also emotionally connected to their AC adapters. It’s scary just how much attention is paid to them. People zip them into special pouches, carefully carry them their in laptop bags, or purses, slide them into a convenient pocket, or sling them over their shoulder like a jaunty scarf. Some people label them with their business card to avoid disappearing adapter syndrome. This happens way too often in the corporate world. I’ve had a few people even suggest we make the adapters the exact size of their business card to enable this practice more neatly. These are probably the same people who diligently arrange/label the snarl of cords and cables behind their computer desk. I think Martha Stewart did an entire show on this. 

Are you a winder, wadder, or something else?

One of the most interesting things I have noticed is that everyone seems to have a slightly different method for winding up the adapter cord when they are ready to hit the road. They have a tendency to fall into a few categories. Some people carefully stretch and straighten the cord then precisely wind it around the adapter body parallel to the longest dimension. Others quickly wrap the cord around the body in the opposite direction. This type of winder typically takes less time to neaten things up. A few just wad the cord up in a snarl and sinch it to the adapter body with the Velcro. I like to call these people wadders. I guess they must be more interested in speed than neatness. I’ve also seen some cord purists bundle the cord independent of the adapter body.

Design inspiration can come from your own backyard

We have designed many AC adapters over the life of the ThinkPad brand. Some new processor power requirement is typically the driver for a new design. Big ones, small ones, short ones, fat ones have all passed through the design studio.Of course we have tried designing the adapter shape to make winding up the cord eaiser. My favorite design earned the nick named the “dog bone”. It won several design awards back when it was first introduced. Oddly enough, the very features we built into the adapter to aid winding made some people unhappy. The distraught crowd often stated it didn’t match their own winding style. Interesting, the shape actually helped winding whether you wound the long or short way. Some whined that it looked like a dog bone. Is that such a bad thing? Perhaps they missed an opportunity to train their dog to fetch more than a pair of fuzzy slippers. Such is the life of a designer, everyone is a critic.

Subsequent ThinkPad adapters have been pretty simple in design. They usually feature form fitting black cases, heat dissipating ribs, molded logos, a zillion agency approval marks, and of course a grey Velcro strap to top things off.  We haven’t given up on making something that adds winding value. The trick it to invent something that doesn’t add size, cost, or weight.  It also can’t have design features that jam, break off, hook your clothing or make the myriad of winders and wadders mad. Something to think about while you’re unwinding over the holidays.

David Hill

Trivia question: Where is Einstein’s brain today?

Sketching and diagraming are very important tools for the designer. This hasn’t changed for centuries. Cavemen drew pictures, Einstein drew formulas, designers draw everything you can imagine. There is a clever site where you can pretend to be Einstein at the board, totally hilarious. Drawing is a tool for both communication and problem solving. One of the traps that many designers today fall into is the desire to run to a computer to solve a design problem. Not so fast. Never under estimate the power of the traditional methods.  One of my favorites is the blackboard. When I was about 8 years old my dad put a good sized blackboard in the garage for my artistic endeavors and doodling early design project details for things like Cub Scout assignments. I followed his lead by screwing an even larger blackboard to the wall in my own garage for my sons to use. I bought it a the Mayo Clinic surplus equipment store for a whopping 8 dollars.  I ended up using it as much as they did. Some things never change I guess.

When I first started working at IBM back in the 80’s I had a huge blackboard in my office that was well over four feet wide and eight feet tall. It was a floor to ceiling statement of creativity. What a wonderful way to draw a refrigerator sized design concept. You could even draw it as though it were sitting directly on the ground. It was a great tool. Chalk may leave dust behind and perhaps gets your clothing a bit messy, but it never runs out of ink. Even if you couldn’t find chalk you could still draw in the  the residue of former sessions with your finger. Much of the mid- 90’s IBM AS/400 Advanced Series design conceptual work was actually done on that very blackboard. There is just something about an old school blackboard that still gets my creative juices going.

Would Einstein have liked this?

Okay, white boards have their place too. We have several huge ones that allow us to brainstorm our thoughts and project design photos or drawings at the same time. Remember those electronic white boards that captured what you created and printed it out for you as a memento? They didn’t quite catch on in my world.  One true benefit of the basic whiteboard is the ability to draw over the projected image. Not so easy with a blackboard. This technique allows me or my team to envision design revisions as though you were working on a giant drafting table.

There is no such thing as too large of a drawing surface

As useful as white boards are, they still frustrate me. The ghostly image from the last meeting seems to hover on the board like a cloud of blue haze that refuses to die. Someone always steals the nasty smelling eraser which in turn demands that you rub the board clean with your handkerchief, finger, or hand. I hate having rainbow colored hands for the rest of the day. The markers also seem to always be the wrong color for what I want to draw.  When using ink or pencils I like to draw with black. Color has a place,  but not just color for the sake of color. For me it should have meaning in a sketch or diagram. If the markers aren’t missing they are squeaky dry, or totally empty. The empties annoyingly never seem to quite make it into the trash can. Do you throw the chalk away when it’s used up?  Think about it. The ultimate white board crime is when someone writes on it with a permanant marker. Game over.

I thought it would be interesting to poll Design Matters readers as to their own preference.