What mobile designers can learn from the Army’s $5B camouflage snafu

What mobile designers can learn from the Army’s $5B camouflage snafu:

“Design is the new battleground” is the tagline for VentureBeat’s upcoming mobile tech conference, MobileBeat.
That phrase is meant to capture the importance of design to mobile devices, apps, websites, and more.
But for the U.S. Army, design has met the battleground in a much more literal way. As The Daily reported on June 24, the Army has thrown in the towel on its new camouflage program.
The Army’s Universal Camouflage Pattern, or UCP, debuted in 2004 at a cost of $5 billion, and it was meant to be a universal design that would help ensure soldiers would have useful camouflage in a wide variety of environments. It’s a sort of grayish pattern with a pixelated, blocky look to it. Imagine an 8-bit version of more traditional camo, and you’re pretty close. If Mario ever went to war in an urban dystopia, this is what he’d wear.
It had solid motivations. Soldiers deployed to Iraq found that they lacked a consistent set of camouflaged gear. They might be wearing desert camo fatigues but a dark green vest on top of that. The contrasting colors messed up the gear’s capability to do its job of making the soldiers hard to see. Clearly, the Army needed to standardize on something and then make a whole lot of clothing based on the same design.
The problem is that UCP didn’t work. At all.
“Essentially, the Army designed a universal uniform that universally failed in every environment,” The Daily quotes an Army specialist who served two tours of duty in Iraq as saying. “The only time I have ever seen it work well was in a gravel pit.”
So how did a design that worked so poorly ever get approved? Top-down cluelessness, for starters. The office in charge of equipping soldiers pushed the camo design team to select a winning pattern before tests were fully done. That office also ordered the team to make a pixelated version of that pattern, apparently because a similar pattern had worked well for the Marine Corps.
The result: Camouflage that only works well in a gravel pit, and a waste of $5 billion.
It’s easy to draw parallels with mobile design, where the stakes are much lower but the temptation to make mistakes in the name of expediency are just as high. Here are the lessons I draw from the Army’s camouflage debacle:
1. There’s no such thing as universal design.
Don’t be a copycat. Never mind patent and trademark law — it’s entirely possible that your competitor has a completely different set of customers, with different needs. Apple’s iPad has dominated the tablet market for several years, and Android tablets only started to make a dent in Apple’s market share with the debut of Amazon’s Kindle, which is smaller, more media-focused, and above all, cheaper.
2. Let the designers do their jobs.
Steve Jobs was a design genius with an almost unerring sense of what designs would work. Your CEO probably isn’t. Give your design team enough scope to do their jobs right.
3. Don’t skimp on testing.
The Army could have saved itself a lot of grief if it didn’t shortcut the field testing for its new designs. You, too, can do extensive user testing to see what works, how quickly customers can find their way around your product, and whether or not that “brilliant” design actually works in the real world.
We probably won’t spend much time talking about Army fatigues at MobileBeat 2012, but we will have a lot more to say about mobile design. With speakers including Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Google Mobile chief Jason Spero, fuseproject founder and designer Yves Behar, and Path CEO Dave Morin, it’s going to be a great event.
Photo credit: U.S. Army/Flickr
Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible — visually and experientially. , July 10-11 in San Francisco , is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.

Filed under: mobile

Please Someone Make This Self-Destructing Packing Tape Before I Break Another Nail [Wish You Were Here]

Please Someone Make This Self-Destructing Packing Tape Before I Break Another Nail [Wish You Were Here]:

You wanna know why opening a package is so thrilling? Because it's a fucking epic poem just to get the box open. By the time you're in, you'd be excited by packing peanuts and nothing else. More »

Google’s profit on every Nexus 7 tablet sold: $0

Google’s profit on every Nexus 7 tablet sold: $0:

Google unveiled its first own-brand tablet on Wednesday, and it may end up forcing Android tablet vendors to make big changes to their strategies. The new Android tablet is sleek and its price tag is attractive, but Google Android boss Andy Rubin confirmed one thing the tablet is not to All Things D on Wednesday: a profit maker.
Just as we suggested in a feature on the Nexus 7 published on Wednesday, Google will not make any money on hardware sales. Instead, the Internet giant will look to make money by promoting content sales through its Google Play marketplace, which will offer movies, music and more to Nexus 7 users, and through advertising.
“When it gets sold through the Play store,” Rubin told All Things D. “There’s no margin, it just basically gets [sold] through.”
Rubin also confirmed that Google is absorbing all marketing costs surrounding the new Nexus 7, which could end up resulting in a net loss per unit sold depending on Google’s marketing and advertising budgets.
When Rubin was asked if he thought this strategy would apply pressure to Google’s Android partners, his only reply was that “there is plenty of room left for Android tablet innovation,” All Things D wrote.

July is a bad month for cell phones, according to insurance company Asurion

July is a bad month for cell phones, according to insurance company Asurion: Better keep an eye on your handset next month because July is the worse month of the year for the health of cellphones; more insurance claims for handsets are filed around the July 4th holiday than any other time of the year...

Strategies for Answering Your Customers' Toughest Questions

Strategies for Answering Your Customers' Toughest Questions:
One of the hardest things to do in all of sales is handle tough questions from skeptical prospective customers. After interviewing thousands of customers as part of the win-loss studies I have conducted, I can tell you with certainty that answering customer questions successfully is often the difference between winning and losing. Here are seven points to consider when answering questions:

Clarify the question first. Customers ask two basic types of questions. Some are very specific questions about a feature or issue, while others are more general about a broad topic or your opinion. In both instances, make sure you understand the question before answering it. Either rephrase the question in your own mind using your own words and repeat it to the questioner aloud, or ask the questioner to further explain what he meant before answering. Many times salespeople are too eager to give an answer to a question that wasn't even asked.

Show your domain expertise. If you intimately know your industry, company, and products and how they compare against the competition, you need not fear even the toughest question. Frame the beginning of your answers with statements that confirm your credibility like "Based upon my experience working with X, Y and Z companies" or "I've been asked that many times over the years."



Make sure everyone understands. Since most sales calls are conducted with groups of people, you should give a little background information with your answers to ensure everyone understands the topic of conversation. Don't assume everyone understands your company's buzzwords or nomenclature.

Provide an expert point of view. Never forget, your customer would rather do business with a trusted consultant who has intimate knowledge of the industry than an ordinary salesperson who simply understands how the product works. In fact, you are not actually there to sell anything. Your goal is to become a trusted advisor by intently listening to the questions the customer asks so that you can apply your expertise to solve the customer's business problems or complete his initiatives. Ideally, once you have established yourself as an expert the conversation will flow into an off-the-record talk about the politics of his organization and his ulterior motives.

Redirect inane and unfair questions. Don't get flustered when you are asked an inappropriate question. Simply redirect the question by saying something like, "The question you really should be asking is ... "

Respond with metaphors. Metaphors are stories, parables, and analogies that communicate ideas by using examples that people can relate to and identify with. Metaphors enable complex concepts and theories to be explained in an understandable, interesting, and persuasive manner. The most important metaphors are examples about the customers that are successfully using your products and services. Instead of barraging the customer with point-by-point facts and figures, structure your answer in a logical way using an existing customer's impactful storyline.

Demeanor speaks volumes. The most powerful response to the most difficult question isn't solely the answer you give. It's also how you say it. Regardless of the question, keep a calm and confident demeanor. Most of all, do not get defensive. Stay positive. This is a critical lesson. When confronted by someone who disagrees with your opinion, it's okay to disagree without being disagreeable.

The demeanor and communication style used to deliver your answer should be collected and matter-of-fact. However, you want to build momentum as you make your response and finish on a high note. This is called a "build up." Whenever you speak to a customer, you want to confidently peak during the final sentence of your paragraph. You don't want your voice to trail off, signaling uncertainty or lack of conviction.

Remember, behind every question customers ask is an ulterior motive. They may want to validate a bias or throw you off track. That's why you shouldn't be too eager to answer or say yes to every question you are asked. The first step is to quickly theorize why the question was asked. Then formulate your response strategy to demonstrate your industry and business expertise in order to command respect. Sometimes, it is best to address inappropriate questions by providing an answer that guides the customer to a different topic. Most importantly, maintain your composure at all times. So be sure to prepare your answers in advance to protect yourself from uncomfortable questions about your products, company, and competitors.

A critical aspect of every sales call is not necessarily what you have planned to say. Rather, it is how you handle the tough questions the customer asks you. Your question-handling ability is what separates you from the pack.

MORE ON SMARTER SALES

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Amazon’s Kindle Fire said to come in 2 sizes with metal casing

Amazon’s Kindle Fire said to come in 2 sizes with metal casing:

Amazon may be prepping two new tablets for its impending Kindle Fire revamp, both of which are said to have metal casing, instead of the traditional plastic.
Recently, it was reported that Amazon would release the Kindle Fire 2 on July 31 at $200. The tablet was originally released in November 2011, and is due for a revamp in the near future. But BGR reports that Amazon is actually prepping two new Kindle Fires — 10-inch and 7-inch models. These models, according to BGR’s source, will feature a metal casing, as opposed to the current plastic one.
Earlier reports suggest that the revamped tablet would have a camera and much request physical volume buttons. BGR believes that the 10-inch version will have a front-facing camera, but volume buttons have been left out of the details.
An international version of the Kindle fire is also rumored. Amazon announced earlier this month that the Amazon Appstore, where owners of the Android-based tablet can pick up apps, will be soon be available internationally. The Appstore serves both the Kindle Fire and the overall Android Market and will be opening in the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and Germany this summer. More countries will follow soon after. The expansion leads many to think that an internationally sold Kindle Fire may not be far behind.
Amazon claims the Kindle Fire is the “bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for” product, though the company does release specific numbers. Executives will only say that it has sold “millions” of the device.
via BGR; Kindle Fire image via Courtbean/Flickr

Filed under: mobile

Are you Chromebook curious? Google to put Chromebooks in Best Buy retail stores

Are you Chromebook curious? Google to put Chromebooks in Best Buy retail stores:

Google is bringing its line of Chrome OS-powered Chromebooks to brick-and-mortar retail stores, the company announced today during its Google I/O developers event in San Francisco.
Google first announced that its new line of Chromebooks would be available for pre-order on Best Buy and Amazon’s websites, but today’s announcement means consumers can venture into a physical location to check out the new netbooks. I’m assuming the Chromebooks will be available to play with much in the same way that Apple has traditionally done with its table of products. This is a big deal because Best Buy is currently the largest U.S. retailer, with some serious clout in the mobile tech sector, as previous reports have shown.
Whether or not sales of Chromebooks will increase after people test drive them is another story entirely. They could very well push people away because they’re different and new.
Pricing for the models falls in line with many Windows-7-based netbooks. The computers range from $379.99 to $499.99, as VentureBeat previously reported. The next generation Chromebooks are said to be faster and smoother than their predecessors. The Chromebooks are available in stores today in the U.S., while a select number of Dixon stores will carry the product in the U.K.

Filed under: VentureBeat