PRESS RELEASE: Future of mobile phone design unveiled at New York Design Week 2008

by Janne Loiske

HARDCORE New Finnish Design will showcase 20 individual design projects and concepts from Finland presented in collaboration with major Finnish design companies. The exhibition will be the centerpiece of Meatpacking District Design Week May 17-19, 2008.
The HARDCORE exhibition is organized by Design Forum Finland, the Consulate General of Finland in New York and the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, and presented in collaboration with the Meatpacking District Initiative and Abe NYC, Inc.

Provoke is presenting mobile phone concepts in the curated section of the exhibition.

Mobile concepts 2012

In 2007, Provoke made a conceptual study showing where mobile phone trends are heading in 2012. Mobile concepts 2007 is a collection of clearly differentiated devices for focused end-user segments. Provoke presents three of these concepts: Express, Feel and Share as prototypes at New York Design Week.

A design team focused on the end-users' actual needs innovated differentiating benefits for them. What do users really want to do with their communication devices in the year 2012? Upcoming technologies will enable robotics, sensors and illumination which will transform radically user experiences. The user interface will eventually step out of the display and blur to its surroundings.

The concepts are presented as Live Proto™ devices - fully functional prototypes demonstrating the core innovation of each concept.

Express your mood with illumination

Some people prefer to express their emotions through unique symbols carried with them in everyday life. Could future devices enable new ways to support this behavior and help them gain the social status they crave for?

The Express concept enables the user to enhance his/her current mindset instantly by totally transforming the habitués of the device - changing the color will be possible electronically. The pace and intensity of visual contrast between the different states can be customized to suit personal liking.


Feel the touch of your loved one

Touching is a very intense and personal form of communication. People share their deepest feelings by touching. Feel is a phoneset concept for couples. Tactile sharing trough simulated touch. Real physical communication - what if you could touch your loved one via your mobile phone?

In the future, the user interface will eventually step out of the display. Feel has a specialized user interface and touch simulation to enable deep communication.

Share urban extreme sport challenge

Technology will enable new forms of intellectual networking and augmented reality. The Share concept enables communication and sharing of information through personalized codes formed in subgroups of likeminded individuals.

By tagging content to locations, group members can challenge each other. Actual and virtual worlds will blur. In this example, the Share concept is customized for skateboarders.


Provoke background

Provoke is an award-winning international strategic design house that has doubled its business twice in the last 5 years. Provoke is focused on creating strategies for portfolio management and innovating new concepts. The basis is always the end-customer insight gained by working for the highest valued international brands.


Background for the future concepts

Product development is facing new challenges as end-user lifetime value is replacing the device-centric mindset in progressive companies. Most companies are still creating products without really understanding the needs and values of the end-users. Often the design, the user interface, the linked services and even the marketing message seem to be conflicting, thus blurring the usability and desirability of any new concept.

In many fields of business, companies are focused on overlapping user segments and fighting fiercely over the same customers. Only a few companies are differentiating their products and innovating products with diversity in mind. Choosing among multiple options is always based on differences - but are there too little differences in the offerings?

Also cultural issues are finally emerging rapidly in global markets. Most of the products being sold today are developed by western people for western people, using the outdated way of feature-based product specification. New kinds of products will be created to serve the growing needs of the emerging markets.

For more information, visit www.hardcoredesign.net and www.provoke.fi.

Hi-resolution images and more information are also available from:
Janne Loiske +358 (0)440 - 333 803, janne.loiske@provoke.fi