Scott Henderson . Industrial Designer / SmartDesign NYC
http://www.scotthendersoninc.com/
On December 1st, design and management faculty member Ian White hosted a guest speaker, Scott Henderson, a New York based industrial designer to speak not only on his recent endeavors, but also on the design process. During his 12 years at Smart Design, Scott Henderson managed to obtain global notoriety from his 50+ award winning inventions and patents.
Although Scott's presentation was restrained into an hour frame, I still managed to capture some important points. Throughout his lecture, he displayed many of his inventions that made it, and prototypes that didn't. From coffee makers to thermometers better suited for toddlers and young children. He also showed us this award winning salad bowl/spoon combo that he designed where the prongs on both spoons could connect, making one huge scoop, allowing the user to literally dig out ALL of the contents inside the bowl with one try. Next, he got into the good stuff, the stuff that will one day help lead to our success, the design process.
He started with sharing that we need to first identify the design problem, following up with setting goals and establishing resources. We also need to get a sense of what's happening in the market place. Anyone like to research? When he showed us the thermometers better suited for children, he mentioned the "business of design". He explained that when designing, we need to have 1 BIG idea, 1 concept, and to stick with it. For example with his thermometers, he made 3 kinds, one for a baby where you can gauge their temperature rectally, one for a toddler where you can gauge their temperature via arm pit, and one for a young child, simply putting it under their tongue. The products grow with the children, and when the mother of that child needs to buy a new thermometer because her baby is getting bigger, she will be more apt to buy the next version up, instead of another competitor's totally different design. The products grow with the child. Another important fact that he pointed out was how we don’t have to let mature products die; we can take those products and transcend them. For example, how Apple has taken their personal computers to the next level, making their user interface even easier to understand.
Are you up on your intellectual property game? Scott pointed out that the act of protecting your creative ideas is a very essential step in the design process. I.P. is a tough subject. Im still getting used to it. I need to find a business lawyer or something.