Design Matters

Steve Hamm’s new book The Race for Perfect is finally released. The book builds and expands on the cover story BusinessWeek Magazine article that Steve co-authored about the design and development of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300.  I finally managed to carve out enough time to read my copy of the book. Unfortunately it’s been hard for me to squeeze in reading something other than e-mails lately. The book did not disappoint me, it’s both entertaining and an accurate portrayal of the Kodachi story.  It also goes beyond the X300 story to include a detailed history of portable computing. Yes, there was life before ThinkPad.

Of course I instantly scanned the index looking for Kodachi references and possible embarrassing David Hill quotes. After all, I did interviews on a monthly basis with Steve for well over a year and a half. Who knows what I might have told him in the heat of passion that ended up in print. I am pleased to report that Steve did a great job protecting me from myself, and more importantly telling a great story. I may have a bit of “cultural backwater” explaining to do the next time I head back to my hometown Bartlesville, Oklahoma, but the portrayal is certainly not without substance. Sorry but you will have to read the book to totally understand this reference. For the “backwater” record, Bartlesville is the home of the Price Tower, the only true skyscraper ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but I must admit that cultural milestone was a very long time ago in Bartlesville history.

In my opinion Steve has written a great book. It’s a very informative chronicle of portable computing and the rich technology and design history that accompanies it. His writing style is engaging and the story is easy to follow. The early history of how ThinkPad was born is still fascinating to me. Congrats to my friends Richard Sapper for his design  vision and Tom Hardy for his corporate perseverance. It was truly a pleasure working with Steve on this historic endeavour. My sincere congratulations to him for this accomplishment. I recommend that all fans of portable computing and especially ThinkPad design enthusiasts check it out. This one is a must read.

As Steve points out in his book , the race for perfect is never really over. We continue to strive to create the ultimate ThinkPad.  Who knows, maybe Steve is already working on his next book.

David Hill

The votes are in, tabulated, and results posted for the Cooper-Hewitt’s People’s Design Award. This years winner was the Zon Hearing Aid. Congratulations! Instead of an unattractive necessity, the Zon looks more like a luxury fashion accessory. I think this is a great breakthrough for the hearing aid industry. Most hearing aids usually look more like a displaced clump of ear wax rather than a design jewel.

The ThinkPad X300 came in 14th, a very respectable showing. It was the highest ranked computer nominee by a very wide margin. The closest computer was the MacBook Air which came in 56th, maybe it would have done better with a few more ports and features. The X300 notably received more votes than the Obama for president logo, the iPhone, Converse All Stars, and one of my favorites, the Fender Telecaster electric guitar.

Thanks to all who voted for the X300, and congratulations again to the Zon Hearing Aid. Well done.

David Hill

It’s not often that the design of our ThinkVantage software gets specific mention in a product review. It seems that in general reviewers are far more intrigued with hardware than the included software. The latest version of our Access Connections for the Vista operating system changed that. It was singled out in a recent review of the W700. Chris Connolly at Hothardware.com wrote the review. I never would have guessed that Access Connections could challenge the W700 beast for attention. I was very glad to see the recognition for one of my favorite ThinkVantage Technologies and the hard work that went into the design. I use it everyday to make connecting easier.

Here is a quote from the review:

“Typically, OEM-created software to handle network connectivity is far below the quality level of Windows’s native Vista Wi-Fi software suite, which means we usually disable the bundled connectivity software. Lenovo has done some really great stuff on this end, though. Through their “Access Connections” software, you can see in a visual manner which Wi-Fi hotspots are the closest and giving you the best signal, along with which ones are locked. It’s an amazingly simple but useful way for connecting to Wi-Fi hot-spots.”  Chris Connolloy

Typically when I write about our offerings, I focus on what we have done, not how we got there. I thought why not take a peek into the development process and let Design Matters readers see the thinking that went into the new GUI. This is best seen by showing some of the early sketches that were created along the way. Design is very much a journey, not just a final destination.

Our design goal was to take advantage of some of the new Vista GUI features to both enhance the visual appeal and usability. We were proud of the 3D model we introduced a few years back, but were convinced it could be enhanced.

Original Design

We decided to retain the  3D connectivity design model where the ThinkPad is at the center of the universe, but we wanted to increase the visual richness and improve overall clarity. The following sketches show a progression of ideas aimed at just that. You can see how we created a continuum of 3D experiments leading up to the final design. The first sketch seemed too flat in appearance and a little too cartoon like, we dropped the second idea because it looked too much like a wedding cake. I don’t like my ThinkPad that much. There are many more sketchs, I chose to show these two.

We also adjusted the design of the TrackPoint inspired ThinkVantage red dot icons to increase the visual appeal. They now look more 3D and are simpler in terms of color. They almost look good enought to eat.

This is the final design for the find wireless application that showcases what we did. I really like where this ended up. Great to see others like what we did. Thanks to my graphic designers Karen Kluttz  and Yamato’s Shigeyuki Kimura, and to Neil Ganey who provided critical human factors direction. I think they got this one right.

Oh by the way, they also really liked the W700 hardware  : )

David Hill

I recently got confirmation from the design team in Japan that we have been awarded a total of seven JIDPO awards for good design. If you aren’t familiar with JIDPO, it’s Japan’s only comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system. This system itself has its origins in the “Good Design Selection System” (generally known as the “G-Mark System”) instituted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1957. This is truly the design “Oscar” for Japan. Here is the award list:

ThinkPad/Lenovo 90W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter

ThinkPad X300

ThinkPad W700

ThinkPad X200/X200s

ThinkPad X200T

Access Connections GUI

ThinkPad Long Life Design Award

I am especially proud of the  Long Life Design Award for ThinkPad. This is a new special award category this year. The Good Design Long Life Design Award recognizes designs that have received longstanding support and regular use by their consumers. The screening considered products nominated by actual consumers. In total there were only 19 Long Life awards granted.

This special award now puts ThinkPad in the same company with the iconic Honda Super Cub originally introduced in 1958. This is the bike that made Honda a household name. You may remember the famous advertising slogan that launched Honda in America ”You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” To date the Super Cub has sold over 60 million world wide. Like ThinkPad, they just keep selling and selling.

Congratulations to the entire ThinkPad team on this wonderful accomplishment.

David Hill

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is once again running their People’s Design Award program. The winner for 2007 was the TOMS shoe. For every pair purchased the company donated a pair to a child in need. You may remember that last year ThinkPad finally ended up in the fourth position beating every other computer design nominated. We topped the iPhone, Brooklyn Bridge, the Corvette and even the pyramids.

This year one of our fans has nominated the ThinkPad X300.  There are currently over 150 nominations. The voting concludes October 21st, 2008. This could be the most interesting vote you cast this year.  When they pass out the envelope with the 2008 winner lets hope the X300 is in it. At least we all know it fits.

Here is the official announcement:

Every year, Cooper-Hewitt gives out design awards chosen by a jury of distinguished design gurus—but do you agree with the experts?

Now you can make your design voice heard by voting for the 2008 People’s Design Award. Whether it’s handmade or mass produced, high end or low brow, if it’s an example of good design, we want to know about it! On this site, you can browse and search for designs that have already been submitted, or nominate something new.

Cast your vote for your favorite design before 6:00 p.m. EST on October 21, 2008, and check back on this site on October 23 at 10:00 p.m. EST to see the winner announced live at the National Design Awards gala in New York City.

David Hill

Recently I’ve seen a few blog comments regarding the stiffness of the keyboard on the new ThinkPad T500. Since the legendary feel of a ThinkPad keyboard is of great importance to both Lenovo and our ThinkPad customers I thought it would be best if I shared the facts. The historical stiffener plate was removed because we discovered a superior method to provide overall keyboard stiffness. We shifted from a stiffener plate to a stiffer chassis. The net impact is a more rigid keyboard and less weight. Who wouldn’t want that? It was not done as a cost saving play. We would never trade off keyboard feel for such a small cost saving opportunity. The rigidity of the keyboard when installed in the system chassis is, however, as flex free as always. Great care was taken to ensure the new design was superior to the previous one. It’s important to understand that this functions as a combined system, not individual components. For example plastic laminate for a counter top is bendy and floppy until it is glued to the sub-structure. Together they are very strong and rigid.

The combined system of chassis and keyboard were ultimately rigorously tested using real people typing in actual user scenarios. The typical force applied during typing is between 60-120 grams. Probably closer to 120 grams if your having a bad day. These types of tests are designed to capture the overall feedback on the feel of the keyboard, palmrest, and related navigational controls. The T500 performed beautifully.

We don’t drop bowling balls from space on the keyboard and inspect the remains, but we do put flex to the test in a classical engineering way. Our engineers perform a flex test where they apply a 1 kilogram force at each key location for 10 seconds at 18 unique points. This force is much greater than actual typing. This test yielded an average temporary deformation of no more than .73mm. When compared to previous systems the new design is superior by .03mm. From an engineering performance perspective this is exceptional. Stiffer and lighter is certainly a worthy outcome..

In addition to keyboard flexure tests we also run ThinkPads through an extensive suite of classical torture tests such as shock and vibration. I think it would be a fun job to try to break a ThinkPad, although a bit frustrating. ThinkPad’s are just plain tough. With these and other tests, the T500 exceeded previous levels of performance. Myth busted.

David Hill

Power, especially the lack of it, is top of mind for any ThinkPad user. I often find myself strangely compelled to scan rooms I am in for available AC outlets. I guess this is a disease that you develop after years of mobile computer use. We have all devised our own strategies for milking the last drop of power out of a rapidly draining battery. To assist ThinkPad owners with this task, we provide the ability to manage power settings using the Power Manager utility. This handy utility sets the balance between things like screen brightness, sound level, and system temperature to optimize power use based on the desired behaviors. Sounds complicated, but it really isn’t if we have done a good job. Our goal is to make it a lot easier than running a nuclear power plant.

We are currently studying a revised user interface and feature set to further improve this utility. I’d like to ask that you take a moment and participate in a brief survey that my team has created. You can take the survey here. Thanks for your valuable time and feed back on this important topic.

David Hill

Ask most any ThinkPad fan what pointing device they prefer and the answer will be unanimous: the trademark TrackPoint. A group of CNET editors came together recently asking the same question about a “new ultraportable laptop” that is equipped with a “pointing stick, but no touch pad.” I wonder which laptop it could be.

Head over to the CNET post and let them know which pointing device you prefer, and tell them where you came from.

David Hill

I just read an article at Sitepoint written by Josh Catone that ranks corporate blogs from around the world. As the official first Lenovo blogger I must say that I was very proud to see us in the number two spot. We have worked hard to publish relevant information and create an open dialogue via comments, polls, and surveys. I don’t have a squad of professional writers cranking out sanitized “corporate messages”. Design Matters is the real thing. Thanks to all my readers for your continued interest and support. Here is the copy about Lenovo.

Lenovo – The great collection of blogs from computer maker Lenovo demonstrate that the company really understands blogging. Lenovo intersperses posts about its product line with musings about business, design, life, and technology. Definitely don’t miss the Design Matters blog, which should be a must-read for any designer.

You can read the complete article here.

David Hill

We often get questions about the layout of notebook keyboards from our customers. People want to understand what drives the location of certain keys. Many times this is very difficult to explain. Key location is not always related to detailed human factors or usability analysis. History often plays a role. Have you ever tried to rationalize the QWERTY layout to someone who has never used or possibly even seen a typewriter? Fortunately most of the questions we see center around the location of very specific keys rather than global questions like the validity of the QWERTY layout.

In keeping with our continued desire to gather input from the readers of Design Matters, my team has created a detailed survey on this subject. Your input can help us get your favorite keys in the rights places. You can take the survey here. Thanks for your interest and time.

David Hill