3GWeek - Asia’s Mobile News

Nokia makes 16 cellphones every second

Last April 29, for the first time ever, Nokia opened the door of its Design Center in Soho, London, to outsiders. A group of journalists from all over the world was invited, including three from Indonesia.

We usually think of design as a process in which the properties of a physical object, such as the shape and size, are determined. Thus, when we hear the name “Nokia Design Center,” we are likely to envision a bunch of design engineers feverishly unleashing their creativity as they manipulate their computer-generated drawings and then mould the physical model of new cellphones.

It is not that simple. Younghee Joung, Nokia’s Senior Design Manager, explained that cellphone design involves much more than just choosing and cutting the different components and then knitting them together.

Studying human behavior and lifestyles

In her presentation, she showed the journalists what was also a critical part of the designers’ job. “We go to various places to study human behavior and lifestyles. We apply different research methods depending on what we want to find out,” she said.

Conducting in-depth interviews

She and her team may conduct in-depth interviews trying to identify what people’s motivations are, what their aspirations are, what are important to them, etc. Keep in mind that, for example, what is most important to an illiterate villager in Mojokerto is perhaps the ability to make a voice call. He may not care at all about texting or e-mailing. It is different from a constantly traveling sales manager who always communicates by e-mail and therefore relies on push- e-mail. As Joung put it, “Innovation is not about newness, it’s about relevance.”

Doing the street research

Another research method is the street research. “We observe people as they go about their daily life, cary and use their cellphones,” explained Joung. The researchers may also organize Nokia Open Studios, invite people and ask them to draw what they think their ideal phone should look like. “We get a lot of interesting design ideas, such as a cellphone with a solar panel,” she said. To a lot of participants, this is an important feature as their area is still not within reach of an electricity grid system.

Bringing all findings to the center

All the findings, including heaps of notes, pictures and videos are brought back to the center. The field researchers’ task will be to translate their findings into concepts and ideas that they have to share with the other designers. The design engineers then consider these user opinions and aspirations as they work on a new model.

Having proceed with a hand-drawing sketch

The design may then proceed with a hand-drawing sketch like the one in the accompanying picture.

Creating the computer images

Then the drafter will create a computer image using 3D software to see how the actual components should look like and should fit into one another.

Bottom-line: Creating a new model involves a lot of hard work!

Designing a new cellphone model certainly involves a lot of hard work. It should, as Nokia makes 16 cellphones every second. “We are dealing with human behavior, and there are billions of users with such a broad range of preferences that we have to take into consideration,” explained Joung.

That is why she and her teams go to various places in the world to get up close and personal with the future users of Nokia’s cellphones.

Their research, which has very little to do with inventing new technologies, plays a crucial role in determining how the cellphone may help those people in their future communication.