In his early days as a engineer and executive at Apple Computer, he played a integral role in the development of the Macintosh II and the PowerBook.
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Upon his arrival at Dell in 1993, Medica built up another area in which Dell had little prior experience: the notebook business. He is now charged with finding new ways to make Dell's PCs stand out in a boring gray-and-black commoditized world that, ironically, it helped create. At the same time, Dell is rebuilding its relationships with consumers following a awful year in which it launched the largest recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry and admitted its service and support capabilities needed work.
Medica sat down with CNET News.com to discuss Dell's renewed focus on product design and how the company can get in the good graces of fickle hipsters.
Q: Do you think that Dell can learn to be cool?
Medica: Define
"cool."
That's the thing. It's one of those things where you don't know exactly
what it is, but you know when you see it. Is this something that you can learn
how to do, or are product design and "coolness" things that must be part of a
company's culture?
Medica: There is certainly a cultural element. When I
think of an awesome product or products that I've had in my lifetime that I've
thoroughly enjoyed, they're the products that are extraordinarily well thought
through. (They) have a level of physical quality and predictability and
function, and they are as enjoyable to use on the first day as they are on the
day you've replaced them. They have a level of support and/or trust with the
company from which I purchased the product, and whenever I need any type of
service support…it's predictable, it's well done, and solves my issue.
Those are the kinds of attributes that I speak to. Then there's a whole element of emotional attributes that have to do with what kind of an emotional reaction do either I have to the product, or do others have when they see the product.
That's where you can gauge and/or measure when you have done it well--those elements of that product experience are resonating both with you personally as well with others around you. And that can be whether it's the press, whether it's peers, whether it's friends, family, customers.
Does cool design need to be part of a company's culture in order to reach
these types of customers? I've been to Cupertino (Apple's headquarters) and I've
been to Round Rock (Dell's home base) and as you know, those are two very
different offices.
Medica: Having had a chance to work in both settings,
what's so appealing and continues to be so appealing today about Dell is that it
really is about the customer. And it really is trying to ensure that we are
delivering a value proposition in the form of a leading product, a great value
with an awesome support and service backup. That is what has made this company
what it is today. And we would not have gotten to where we have gotten to if we
had terrible products, right?
Sure. But why then are we having this conversation? Why is design a
renewed or a heightened priority for Dell now?
Medica: I think we all see
that in many ways, there has been a commoditization to some degree in the PC
space. And there is an opportunity for Dell to be able to further distinguish
itself by investing further in product design and differentiating our products
to create a new level of demand, and also to enable us to create even more
enduring relationships with customers.
Medica: When we take a look at general usability or industrial design and appearance, the design languages of our client products--[such as] the OptiPlex, Precision or Latitude products--were derived to support the following attributes: to convey to users a level of professionalism, a level of quality and durability and reliability, a level of compatibility with the office environment and other products or furniture that are in the environment of the end user.
What is a design language?
Medica: The best way to describe a
design language is the form and the physical elements that collectively define
an identity of a brand. When you look at a BMW car, you recognize the
kidney-shaped grills, right? If you look at the front of a BMW, if it didn't
have the logo on, you'd know it's a BMW, right?
If you look at our projectors, you look at our work with printers, if you look at our workstations, you look at our OptiPlex desktops and our Latitude notebooks, the design elements, the appearance, the finishes of the products and the colors of the products, and the functional buttons of power switches will all be very consistent and will all look like it comes from the same company.
Businesses are a type of customer that's not looking for fuchsia laptops,
let's say. But on a consumer side, things are
a little bit different. People buy products based on wide variety of
factors, and so when you design for consumers, do you have individuals come into
Dell's offices that tell you what they are looking for? Do you consult with
focus groups?
Medica: Yes, yes and yes. In the area of gaming, look at
our XPS 700. That product was designed from the ground up by engaging with gamers
around the world and going to competitions, trade shows and the like, and
getting direct feedback as to what gamers value.
If you look at the XPS 700, the product looks like it wants to jump off the starting line. That is the pure aluminum housing, and also the lighting that sprays down the front and the back of the system. But it also has functional elements, because a lot of gamers are playing games in the dark to take advantage of the higher contrast. These things typically sit under a desk or have light coming down to allow the end user easier access to load the optical disc into the tray.
Does Dell's renewed focus on design consist of just the XPS products,
which are designed for gamers or PC enthusiasts? What about the rest of us? Do
we just get the products that look like regular old PCs?
Medica: I want
to make sure we're dealing with apples and apples, because if we look at XPS,
and depending upon whether it's a desktop or a notebook, we're typically talking
about products in the range of just under US$1,000.
For people who can't afford that premium product but still want something
that looks decent, what do you do with those consumers?
Medica: Well,
that's were we have the Inspiron and Dimension notebooks, desktops, as well as
our inkjet printers that…
And do you think those products really capture the imagination of
consumers when it comes to design?
Medica: That's a loaded question.
Well, that's what we're talking about here, though, right? This increased
focus on design at Dell is because a lot of people find your stuff
boring.
Medica: With the investments that we are making, we'll continue
to advance the design language. For the mainstream products (we will) ensure
that they are, in fact, relevant and are aspirational, and are identifiable as
being from Dell.
Because your business as a whole is so focused on corporate customers, do
you think that hinders Dell when it comes to consumer design? Most of your
design expertise and focus is on corporate customers, who clearly want something
different than what somebody wants to bring into their home or take off to
college.
Medica: We are seeing that the product design expectations from
small businesses and consumers are becoming more different. It is very likely
that in the future we will deliver products that are more tailored to those
specific customer expectations.
Play video
What is Medica saying? he is not answering the questions, basically skim around the fact that Dell's product design has no cool factor for sure. Nobody remember their notebook for anything outstanding. while price, reliability and support is important, these have nothing to do with being cool.
Who say corporate machines can't be cool? Good design will carry the brand further. boring design simply fade out of memory if ever there is any of it.
Posted by Sena on Tuesday, November 07 2006 02:50 PM