Creating
Creating the Next iPodNext
the
iPod
I’m really sick of hearing about the iPod
You can’t have a discussion about design today without someone bringing up the iPod
It seems every company wants to create the iPod of whatever product category
they’re in
Consumer electornics
ERP software
Dental chairs
Industrial abrasives
So why are so few companies achieving it?
1

Design Reflects Culture
They’re focusing on the wrong thing…the design of the product itself
There are a lot of good designers out there. The design process is well understood
Great design is culturally relevant
It mirrors peopleʼs passions and desires
Great design does not follow a formula
Creating breakout products takes more than talented designers and good
methodology; it takes the right culture
A product’s design reflects the culture in which it is formed
Most corporate cultures arenʼt right for creating great products
Many companies would love to create “the iPod” of their product category, but are
they willing to do what it takes? They first need to create the right culture
2

I Will Talk About…
• Three conditions necessary for
culture change
• What to expect during culture
change
• Things that drive culture change
3

My Experience
4

Three Necessary Conditions
• A critical business need
• A committed leader
• A compelling vision
Let’s start out with the three conditions necessary to achieve culture
change
Unless these three conditions are present, you cannot change your
culture
5

A Critical Business Need
The first condition is a critical business need
What is the relationship between design and business?
6

Design is business
• Design is the application of
creative expertise to solve a
problem
Design is the application of creative
• Whose problem?
expertise to solve a problem.
• The one who has money
Whose problem?
Design can be defined as the application of creative expertise to solve
a problem
[click]
But whose problem are you solving?
The end user’s?
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Whoever has the money.
Whoever has the money
Could be a client, your manager, or the CEO of your company
There’s a name for design that’s not connected to a business problem,
it’s called fine art
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Recognizing you have a problem
is the first step towards recovery.
In order to solve the problem, the people with the money need to
recognize that they have one
Let me give you three examples:
Apple had a problem in the mid-90s
listening to criticism of being non-standard
me-too product strategy
bloated product line
failed OS strategy
<Large internet portal> wanted to redefine the Web experience
Cisco achieved success in business VoIP
Why did it take Microsoft 5 years to come out with Vista?
Because they could get away with it
9

A Committed Leader
The second condition necessary for culture change is a committed
leader
You may recognize this leader from Chip’s talk…
10

“If you areSatoru Iwata
simply
listening to requests
from the customer,
you can satisfy their
needs, but you can
never surprise them.”
Satoru Iwata
CEO, Nintendo
Do you recognize this person?
[click]
At 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo Nintendo revealed a tiny non-
functional version of a device it saw as the future of gaming
1/10 the power of the Playstation 3
Nowhere near the online features of the Xbox 360
It would be the last to market of the three game consoles
Press was underwhelmed, the catcalls only grew louder when later
Nintendo announced the device would be called the “Wii”
Iwata was concerned about the state of the gaming industry
Focus on faster processors and better graphics would only appeal to
fewer and fewer people
Iwata advocated simplicity at a time when games were getting more
complex and that games should be healthy fun
Iwata didn’t listen to critics, in fact he didn’t even listen to his customers
[click] 11
This is one of my favorite quotes…

Iwata stuck to his vision of game design and:
The Wii sold out immediately upon launch and 18 months later remains
in high demand
In 2007 it passed both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in unit sales
Nintendo makes $50 on every console, unlike Sony and Microsoft, who
subsidize their consoles through game licensing
Nintendo’s stock has soared
Nintendo now has the second-highest capitalization in Japan, behind
only Toyota
Iwata solved Nintendo’s business problem in a big way by sticking with
unconventional design ideas
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A Compelling Vision
Finally, the most important thing a leader can do to drive a culture
change is paint a compelling vision
I want to expand on what Chip said earlier about JFK…
This is the quote that everyone remembers:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the
goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and
returning him safely to the Earth”
If you look at the context of this quote it wasn’t about just landing
a man on the Moon and returning him to Earth,
It wasn’t about the science or technology, but about the future
freedom of mankind
He didn’t use PowerPoint
He didn’t refer people to a white paper or requirements document
He appealed to people’s aspirations and emotions by painting a vivid
picture
The vision was clear and simple. The simpler the vision, the better
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Build a prototype.
A great way to connect people emotionally to a vision is through a
prototype
A prototype tells a story that people can see and touch and experience
You are putting them in the story
A shared design vision that people are excited about will take on its own
momentum
and be a powerful unifying force
It also focuses everyone in the same direction
It makes people more willing to go through the pain of change to get to
the end goal
When people have a clear idea of the end goal, itʼs a lot easier to get
everyone moving toward it. It shifts the conversation from “What is our
vision?” which can sometimes go in circles, to “How do we achieve it?”
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What to Expect
So a:
Crritical business need
Committed leader
Compelling vision
are the three conditions necessary
This is only the start of changing a culture
What can you expect going into a culture change
These are things to prepare for
15

You can’t
expect
different
results
doing
things
the same
old way.
One thing to expect is corporate inertia
The power of inertia is incredible
You can’t expect to get different results by doing things the way you have in
the past
At frog we saw great ideas and projects get bogged down in a company’s
existing culture
Gordon McKenzie wrote a great book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball”…
16

You can change:
• People
• Process
• Products
It’s easier to manage the status quo than to enforce change
You can change people, process, and products; most likely you’ll need
to do all three
Processes accumulate over the years and can bog down innovation
They will likely need to be dismantled or reorganized
With the commitment of a strong leader, change can start with a small
group of dedicated people and eventually spread to the entire
organization.
At Cisco we’ve changed all three:
Gone from three designers to over 15
We revamped our product development process to include user research,
design, prototyping and usability testing very early on, and used these
activities to drive feature requirements and development
Scrapped existing product plans and developed a new technical
architecture to achieve the user experience we want to provide our
customers
17

Change takes time.
People are resistant to change
Change takes time, persistence, and patience
and reiteratint the same message over and over again
One of the most surprising things I learned when we were designing the
first release of Mac OS X was how resistant to change people could be
Story of Apple OS X designers and initial reactions to Mac OS X
18

Driving Culture Change
What are some things you can do to drive culture change?
19

Top management must show visible
and consistent support for change.
Senior leadership must consistently show their commitment to making the
transition, with every decision, action, and communication
People will look for the first hint of wavering or back pedaling
Which can be used as an excuse for dragging their feet
20

Over communicate.
Communicate objectives, reasons for, and benefits of change every
chance you get
This helps the cultural change gain momentum
At Cisco, just about every communication that goes out to our
organization mentions user experience, and that has made its way into
everyone’s conversations
Reward steps in the right direction
Seek opportunities to point out that the old way of doing things is not
acceptable
21

Stand firm and make an
example of somebody.
At some point you’re going to have to kick somebody’s ass
The sooner you do this the better
Story of secrecy at Apple
Story of canceling a product at Cisco
22

Be a rebel.
Designers find ways to make things better in the face of conformity
To instigate culture change you need to be a rebel
And you need to recruit other rebels to your cause
Change can start with a small group of dedicated people and eventually
spread to the entire organization
But not everyone is going to get on board…
23

Follow the Pirate’s Code
Those that fall behind, get left behind.
Some people will be unwilling or unable to make the shift
They need to leave the organization. Soon.
In this case, it’s best to follow the Pirate’s Code: Those who fall behind,
get left behind
You have to set and enforce high standards and new behaviors
Those who canʼt adapt to the changes need to move on
24

Show, don’t tell.
The power of a prototype
200 page requirements document vs. a prototype
Months vs. minutes
Story of Cisco prototype
25

If you want to create a
great product, first create a
great culture.
Although everyone would like to create the next iPod, you won’t do it by
just designing a product
You need to first create a great culture.
26

Thank You
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