Project Manager: Afternoon guys . It's gonna be {gap} .
Marketing: Rock and roll .
Project Manager: Oh . {vocalsound} {gap} 'Kay .
Marketing: So do we need to re-train Mike on how to put his mic on ?
Project Manager: We may do .
Industrial Designer: Think s
Marketing: Okay , can he get it all by himself this time ?
Project Manager: I dunno , I'm feeling like a big boy .
Industrial Designer: Mm . Pro
Marketing: {gap}
Industrial Designer: Probably not , 'cause he's 'S been listening to {gap} too much .
Marketing: So {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: He's getting retarded . Yay .
Marketing: I believe I can fly .
User Interface: Alright well we got some exciting stuff for you guys .
Industrial Designer: Or not .
User Interface: Or not . {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: Yeah .
Marketing: Just what I needed was something exciting . Remember , I'm an old man .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: 'Kay , ready to go ?
User Interface: All ready .
Project Manager: 'Kay so we've got our conceptual design meeting .
Industrial Designer: Apparently I'm old as well .
Project Manager: Hopefully we've all got exciting ideas now .
Marketing: Thirty's really young , eh ?
User Interface: {vocalsound} We do .
Project Manager: Uh k exciting ideas . 'Kay so here's our agenda our agenda . Um
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: I'm gonna open . I'm gonna talk for a bit about what we're gonna do . I'm gonna take some notes . We're gonna all do a presentation , and then hopefully we're gonna make some decisions now . {vocalsound} Yep . {vocalsound} Well when I say hopefully , we have to . So
User Interface: Alright .
Project Manager: I'm gonna let you guys talk before we make decisions . And does anyone really want to go first ?
User Interface: I guess I'll go first .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: You p two ?
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: What's {disfmarker}
User Interface: Component , I think . Yeah .
Project Manager: Components design .
User Interface: Yep that's it .
Industrial Designer: Presented by name . {vocalsound}
User Interface: My name is {vocalsound} .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Your name is name ?
Marketing: Jose he man is .
User Interface: My name is name .
Project Manager: Huh hi name .
Industrial Designer: My name is Inigo Montoya .
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: You killed my father .
User Interface: {vocalsound} Sorry I did this in a bit of a rush .
Industrial Designer: Prepare to die . {vocalsound}
Marketing: N name .
Project Manager: Right . {vocalsound}
User Interface: So so here's a look inside your really old-looking remote control . Um you've got {vocalsound} a printed {vocalsound} a printed uh circuit board here , and you've got all these buttons which kinda press down little rubber {vocalsound} nubbies into these little holes that activate {disfmarker}
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: We've all broke a remote control ri um s yeah . {vocalsound}
User Interface: Yeah we've all broken a remote control .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound} I've {disfmarker}
User Interface: So you've also got um {disfmarker} you've got your chip here , your batteries here , and some sorta electronics . Um {disfmarker}
Marketing: I just love you tech guys , huh .
Industrial Designer: Yeah there's a thingy and a dingy and {disfmarker}
Project Manager: {vocalsound} You press this and it does th
User Interface: Well {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Marketing: {vocalsound} Yeah y do jabber {vocalsound}
User Interface: so you've got {disfmarker} here's here's a transistor , and this amplifies your signal ,
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
User Interface: um you've got the L_E_D_ here on the end of the uh uh on the end of the printed circuit board . Um you've got a couple diodes here for I don't know who and whatnot {vocalsound} .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} I dunno who and whatnot .
User Interface: So {disfmarker} {vocalsound} exactly .
Industrial Designer: Nah .
User Interface: So um we've got a {disfmarker} i in this in this uh drawing he uh in this example here , this is a eighteen pin um uh chip {vocalsound} I dunno .
Marketing: P Yeah .
User Interface: Uh it's two double A_ batteries .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
User Interface: This is pretty standard remote . So here are options for our power sources . You can use a basic battery , which we've already discussed , um {vocalsound} th our tech department also said we have the option of doing some kind of hand dynamo where maybe you crank it or something like that .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} 'Kay . {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} I wanna change that {vocalsound} .
User Interface: I don't know if that's really {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound} I I gotta I gotta flashlight , and uh {disfmarker}
User Interface: I don't know we got some qu crazy guys down there in that department so {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: You shake it .
Marketing: yeah but it's interesting 'cause you shake it like this {vocalsound} .
User Interface: {vocalsound} Yeah .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Marketing: Like this {vocalsound} .
User Interface: So that's the next bullet is the um the kinetic provision of energy ,
Marketing: And that's on the camera {vocalsound} .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
User Interface: so it's like that flashlight where you have to shake it {vocalsound} .
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: 'Kay .
User Interface: Uh we've got solar cells , which I don't think is a very good idea because um you could not use your remote at night {vocalsound} which doesn't make a lot of sense .
Project Manager: Mm 'kay .
User Interface: And finally we've got our cradle o our power cradle idea .
Project Manager: Okay so we basically have battery versus cradle here ?
User Interface: M battery versus cradle I think is {disfmarker} yeah .
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: I like the kinetic .
Project Manager: So we have battery versus cradle {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Marketing: I g I I figured you would . Yes . {vocalsound} Yeah .
User Interface: It could be fun {vocalsound} .
Project Manager: It's actually a novel thing because you could sell it a as a novelty , just to be actually serious for a minute here ,
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: you could {disfmarker}
User Interface: Well it is it is more uh {disfmarker} I mean it is more eco-friendly than the than the cradle 'cause you're still using power off the grid with the cradle . So um
Project Manager: Mm . Hmm .
User Interface: our case design . We have uh choices in materials and choices in the general shapes that we can do . Our material choices are a plastic latex um ty or plastic , a rubber latex type thing , uh wood , or titanium . If we go with titanium we're gonna be uh limited in the amount of shapes we can do because it's tough to shape the titanium , and uh {disfmarker} Yeah pers
Project Manager: Wood wood would ge would give us a little bit of a marketing niche , wouldn't it .
User Interface: I think wood i {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound} It it it {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Nah .
User Interface: I I can't see anybody wanting to use a wooden remote , it's just anti-technology really , you know .
Marketing: Uh .
Project Manager: Okay . Hmm .
Marketing: Uh uh to me in a marketing sense it's not it's not relative . We can we can o we can uh accentuate whatever {disfmarker} whatever product you put in there we can find a way to accentuate it .
User Interface: Right .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: And what we may be able to do , and I think this might be the best option is to combine some {disfmarker} a couple of these . Um my recommendation personally would be to do some kind of a plastic inner shell with a like a rubber outer shell , to make it um to mak uh like a thick plastic inner shell and a t um kind of a {disfmarker} to have that rubber outer shell to make it more durable , and also maybe i I think it feels a little better than the plastic .
Project Manager: 'Kay . Do you get a good grip on the rubber ? Yeah okay . {vocalsound}
User Interface: Yeah um {disfmarker}
Marketing: And if you make it from that super rubber , when you drop it on the floor it can bounce right back up in your hand .
User Interface: Yeah .
Marketing: You don't even need to lean down to get it .
User Interface: The advantages of working with plastic and rubber is {disfmarker} w we we'll have a lot more um options just in terms of shape
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound}
User Interface: because you can extrude plastic in basically any shape you want . So um {disfmarker} and then we can cover you know the breakable bits with rubber yeah so um {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: But basically these are {vocalsound} curved and double-curved I I believe that the tech department , in their um {vocalsound} in their {vocalsound} message to me , that they were referring to the number of th curves in the bottom . I have no idea exactly what they're talking about ,
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: but that's what they told me , {vocalsound} uncurved , flat , curved , or double-curved .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
User Interface: I would guess this like this pen would be kinda like a double-curved , where it's curved on m m multiple axes , right ? I think curved means just curved in one axis and double-curved is curved in two axes
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: or surfaces . I have no idea .
Project Manager: I think it might mean something like that sorta shape because a double curve rather than a {disfmarker}
Marketing: Mm-hmm yeah that's {disfmarker} yeah that's what I see .
Project Manager: yeah that's what {gap} .
User Interface: Oh okay oh like a wave , okay .
Marketing: Yeah that's what I see also .
User Interface: Alright that makes sense okay . Um okay , with the interface we have the following options , we can u we can use push buttons , we can use a scroll wheel with an integrated push button , and L_C_D_ display ,
Marketing: Ooh .
User Interface: or multiple scrolling wheels . Um so these are all options that the user interface guy can uh {disfmarker} has at his disposal to put together a user interface .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: For electronics , we have these very technical um {vocalsound} descriptions here . A simple chip , which is the least expensive , but I have no numbers to give you ,
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
User Interface: a regular chip , which is {vocalsound} like the medium porridge {disfmarker} the {vocalsound} medium expense uh {disfmarker}
Project Manager: {vocalsound} D do we have actually any concept of what the difference is between a simple chip and an advanced chip ?
User Interface: Yes the difference is , with a simple chip {disfmarker} a simple chip will operate {disfmarker} oh why doesn't this scroll up ? Previous previous , okay . A simple chip is required to operate push buttons .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: Um {vocalsound} an advanced chip is required to to operate um the L_C_D_ display , and it didn't say specifically , but I I have a hunch that a regular chip is gonna be the scroll wheel and the multiple scroll wheels .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: So but yeah .
Project Manager: Yeah that makes sense . So presentation from {disfmarker} I guess design would go best . Next .
User Interface: That's the end of my presentation .
Project Manager: Technical functions or interface concept ?
User Interface: I think {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: Oh interface concept .
Project Manager: Yeah that's it .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} Very long presentation . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Yes , but it has your name on it .
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} Well that doesn't bo bode well for it for it tats as well . Um so , somehow that thing's too big , but um {disfmarker} okay um our uh manufacturing division wanted the speech recognition . They say they could put it to work but um we don't think so .
User Interface: No . {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: No . It it it {disfmarker} you'll be you know be affected by the by the other speech and {disfmarker}
User Interface: If the T_V_ is working , yeah .
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
User Interface: That's just {disfmarker} I mean it'll {disfmarker} if somebody says up in the middle of a television show , it's gonna change the channel .
Industrial Designer: Yeah and and fighting for the remote would not be fun anymore ,
User Interface: So {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: and I think that's one of the things we wanna keep .
Project Manager: But what if you actually had to press a button to make it recognize ? So if you pressed it and went , up ?
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} That kinda would r d
User Interface: Well then why don't you just press the up button ?
Project Manager: Man yeah .
Industrial Designer: yeah . That would kind of lose it .
Project Manager: But if it's just one thing with a button that you can just go {disfmarker} Up .
User Interface: Even still there's gonna be interf th there's there still will be interference from the T_V_ .
Marketing: That's right .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Yeah , okay .
User Interface: It might not be it might not be completely confusing , but I think you'll still y it's still {disfmarker}
Marketing: {vocalsound}
User Interface: I don't think it's practical at all . I think it's a bad idea frankly .
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: Yeah so um taking that away , our uh {disfmarker} the the the rubber but rubber buttons are the more reliable {disfmarker}
Project Manager: You guys know your stuff .
Industrial Designer: it's the the ones that would al would allow us to to market our product as being you know less prone to damage and more resistant to things like spillage of liquids over it or you know mistreat misuses as it happens to remote controls . Um as for the point that we making about losing it . Well , we wanna small r remote control one side because uh we want it to be cool and uh designed , but um apparently um market shows that bigger s bigger um remotes get less lost ,
User Interface: That I would believe .
Industrial Designer: about {disfmarker}
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Mm .
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: But um yeah I think we we need to compromise between those two and somehow we'll do that . Somehow . Um so {vocalsound} the the {disfmarker} what I would propose is something more or less in the uh direction of what is to yo the right of that slide uh but without {disfmarker} with a l a less complicated um design , so the numbers , the volume control , and channel control , and teletext access . Uh the volume and channel control can just become those the the four button array as in if it was a round dial .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Industrial Designer: And um if you just think about it as the one to the right but with the numbers and the four buttons plus maybe a centre one with teletext .
Project Manager: So we're suggesting doing a sorta scroll wheel thing for the volume ?
Industrial Designer: Ye no it's not
User Interface: That's not a scroll wheel .
Industrial Designer: i i it's just four buttons that are on a cross ,
Project Manager: Nah . Oh okay okay . I see .
Industrial Designer: so that you ba basically can control all of the important tasks from that {gap} alone .
User Interface: Right .
Project Manager: Uh , okay .
User Interface: Instead of play , stop , rewind , and fast forward there , that's up , down , louder , and quieter .
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: Yeah um yeah so I think we w we go for something mid-sized , so something looks good
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: and uh is not too prone to get lost . That be it .
Project Manager: 'Kay . So on to {disfmarker} Y functional requirements or trend watching ?
Marketing: I dunno .
User Interface: Trend watching has a later date there .
Marketing: Trend watching I guess . Trend watching I believe .
Project Manager: {gap} forty six nineteen fifty seven . Yep .
Marketing: See what it looks like . It's been so long .
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} {gap} .
Marketing: Well {vocalsound} I don't know what to say . When I s when I see the {disfmarker} when I see the product I I I I don't wanna buy it . I see so many of 'em out there . There's nothing about that product that makes me wanna choose that product over other products that are out there .
User Interface: Are you talking about the picture ? That's not our that's not our b design ,
Marketing: Yeah yeah .
User Interface: that's just a {disfmarker} that's just something he a a graphic he used to show you the layout of what the layout of the buttons might be like .
Marketing: Okay . Okay . Okay 'cause 'cause right now I don't have too much to say about how to market this product because we don't have a product to market yet .
Project Manager: Mm .
Marketing: And uh from from talking to Mike is that we have we have uh we can market a more expensive product now . That's what I understand so ,
Project Manager: Upper management said yes .
Marketing: hello .
Project Manager: Uh e excuse that , that's a bit of spam .
Marketing: And and so {disfmarker} yeah I'm a I'm a little bit stuck right now in that what uh w what is it that I'm gonna market ? Uh without special or increased marketable features I don't believe the product has a consumer demand . Uh I like the idea of of the scroll makin {vocalsound} there are so many people making these products at this price right now . What are we gonna do to make this one special and unique ?
User Interface: What's special and unique about a scroll ?
Marketing: Uh {vocalsound} well I don't {disfmarker}
Project Manager: It's cool .
Marketing: yeah it's {disfmarker} I I just see it as different . I don't say it's specially mm {disfmarker} I don't say it's special . Uh I say that it's different I {disfmarker} what I'm looking for as marketing is m give me something different . I give me a lower price , give me a higher price , give me some new technology , don't give me the same thing that everybody else is putting out there on the shelf it's f at the same price . I need something to market about this thing . We're we're a new firm .
Project Manager: I'd I'd say though that we {disfmarker} if we did make the decision to go with the cradle though , the then we have that as well ,
Marketing: What i {vocalsound} if when when we have {disfmarker}
Project Manager: but wi with a similar {disfmarker}
Marketing: yeah when we when we have something like the cradle or or something give that's {disfmarker} as as a marketing standard {disfmarker} I need something to market , to make this product unique .
User Interface: Well right I think the two big th points that we have so far are the {disfmarker} having the cradle and also having uh the um the actual design of the uh case itself having like this like rubber shell maybe with a plastic interior ,
Marketing: Yep .
User Interface: having it look really nice um and also be really durable .
Marketing: Mm 'kay . Just remember when I made up this report I didn't have the information that we're discussing here .
Project Manager: Mm . Course .
User Interface: Right yeah . Yeah .
Marketing: And and so so uh yeah when we have a cradle , when we have some kind of design , so what I'm saying is , from my perspective , I don't have a product to market right now . Um uh my personal preference is that we make some adjustment in the cost , either lower or develop an integrated new technol technology . That's that is the next step , there's technology and then there is technology , which we're moving into the next phase .
Project Manager: Yeah 'cause that's {gap} .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Marketing: And so uh we're gonna have some new technology to enhance the marketability . Yeah uh again I'm not sold on the product because we don't have a product in my opinion yet .
Project Manager: Mm .
Marketing: So I need a product .
Project Manager: Mm 'kay .
User Interface: Well let's get a product then .
Marketing: I need a product to market . And I just {disfmarker} whatever product you guys put together , we'll find a way to market it . Tha that I'm not concerned with .
Project Manager: So now {disfmarker}
Marketing: If you if you give me {disfmarker} if you give me a cut-out of what everybody else has then I need to I need to find a lower cost .
Project Manager: So our big {vocalsound} questions here really are cradle or not cradle ? Do we go basic or do we go for features ? Uh d does anyone really wanna do anything with the scroll wheel or should we ditch that off-hand first ?
User Interface: Well my question is what would the scroll wheel do ? Function-wise , what does that do that {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Oh but that was in your presentation {vocalsound} so wh what would you imagine it doing ?
Marketing: Yeah wh wh what's the {vocalsound} wh
User Interface: {vocalsound} Yeah . Well it's it's just another way to do the exact same thing that the buttons do .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Mm 'kay
Industrial Designer: But would we {disfmarker}
Marketing: Okay now what I see with the scroll wheel is everybody has buttons . So from a marketing standpoint I have I have another door to walk through when we have something that's unique .
Project Manager: Yeah .
Marketing: If it creates something more complex or more expensive , then I don't know if that makes it uh a marketing necessity . But again , from a marketing perspective I want as much new and different about this thing as possible because we're we're co {vocalsound} it's a very competitive market .
Project Manager: What I understand about scroll wheels is they're they're quite expensive to to make .
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: So I d
User Interface: Th they are gonna be more expensive , but on the other hand , I mean , it {disfmarker} I mean it is an alternative if if you think that's gonna sell some some uh you know {disfmarker} if if we're gonna make up the extra cost by extra sales I think maybe it's worth it to do it , but I mean I would just use {disfmarker} if I was gonna do this I would just use the scroll wheel for s channels up and channels down . I don't think volume {disfmarker} or do you think volume would be {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: I dunno . I'll bet first in volume maybe . I dunno .
User Interface: No we can {disfmarker} we can do multiple scroll wheels but {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Well I d I like the idea of basically focusing the {disfmarker} {vocalsound} my personal preference is focusing the p the product on the idea of the uh the case the the {vocalsound} uh dock to put it in {disfmarker} to to charge it . We can target like environmentally friendly ideas , that sorta things .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: It s i m makes it easy to market ,
Marketing: Yeah yeah .
Project Manager: it's easy to differentiate the product , yeah so .
Marketing: I think it's {disfmarker} that's right . I think so .
Project Manager: And if we we keep the rest in a format that is durable because th th the whole product's gonna need to be more durable th thus because you're not going to be ditching it as often .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: It's gonna need to be more expensive because of the cradle .
Marketing: Mm .
Project Manager: So if we can market it in terms of that and yeah well {disfmarker}
Marketing: Yep . I think we got some exclusivity in that , you know , we got something that nobody else has right now ,
User Interface: Yeah .
Marketing: and and that means we can we can make some adjustments in the retail or wholesale price if we need to and it also can create it's own demand from it's uniqueness .
Project Manager: So our big decision then is like how do we do um like {vocalsound} {disfmarker} we have to decide on the details and we have to decide on well n not exactly the details , but d do we have uh {disfmarker} What type of casing ? I personally like what you were saying about the plastic with the rubber .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
User Interface: I'm thinking {disfmarker} yeah something like kinda almost like these pens , you know , where there's {disfmarker} you have plastic bits and then it's not really rubber but just kinda like a fused {disfmarker} the plastic with rubber on the outside .
Project Manager: Okay . Just a very thin sorta sheet for a a grip , sorta thing or for {disfmarker}
User Interface: {vocalsound} Well no ma yeah maybe a bit more then th is on here but ju just as a kind of an inspiration , these pens I think are are kind of {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Okay . So then if we {vocalsound} {disfmarker} d d do we want to do anything more basic with the {disfmarker} uh more advanced with the user interface in terms of do we want to go for {vocalsound} um buttons , or do we want {disfmarker} if we're ditching the scroll wheels do we want to go L_C_D_ ? Do we want to give {disfmarker} do we want to have anything else on it ?
Industrial Designer: It's only a T_V_ .
User Interface: Or from from my perspective I think L_C_D_ is a mistake because this is a universal remote and all you're doing {disfmarker} I mean it's {disfmarker} you're not gonna get any information back from the television , so the only information you can display on this remote is what channel you {vocalsound} just sent it at last and there's just not a lot of information , you know , there .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: It receives no information .
Industrial Designer: Hmm .
User Interface: So I I don't see any reason for having an L_C_D_ 'cause it's an increased cost . Unless you can think of something interesting to do with it .
Marketing: Yeah . Yeah right now there's {disfmarker} right now there's nothing coming out of the T_V_ to receive , so you know unless technology changes and information starts coming out of the {disfmarker} a cable box or something there's no s I don't see the ,
User Interface: Right .
Marketing: I don't see the necessity of an L_C_D_ either . Don't see it .
Project Manager: Okay so the question is now I guess we need t to decide on {disfmarker} well y you guys basically have to now go and figure out the details of this thing .
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: So , what we need to know in terms of marketing and uh project management are are there any other questions that we need to answer now before you guys can go and build this ?
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: What what overall things have we not decided on ?
User Interface: Well we have to {disfmarker} I think for me it's still not exactly clear exactly what the inter user interface is gonna be . There's the scroll wheel , in or out ? What do you guys like in the user interface ?
Project Manager: I think maybe in terms of marketing , is that gonna make enough of a difference to justify the cost ?
Marketing: {vocalsound} Again . Well I think it's it's {disfmarker} the more uniqueness you can bring to the product , the easier it is , I believe , for me to market . Uh again the push-buttons I I see are are everywhere . And so we can go with the same thing , but we're gonna be com competing in a in a broader market than if we go with something unique . You know the other thing I thought about was you know , do we go to something like this ? Make a remote that doesn't look like a remote . It's just another {disfmarker} it's just a an idea , and I don't know {disfmarker}
User Interface: Well I dunno about like the flip-phone idea , because {vocalsound} I think , as far as durability th it's not a big {disfmarker} well maybe when it's closed .
Marketing: I mean what I see {disfmarker} one of the things one of the things you brought up in an earlier presentation is , when you got children , {vocalsound} their their stuff gets inside the circuitry , they get dirty , they get messy with drinks and stuff .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: This {disfmarker}
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: And what I keep throwing out there {disfmarker} I just keep throwing out ideas to try to make this thing look or act or in some way identify itself as unique or different .
Industrial Designer: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: But you guys are the ones that have to c ultimately create the product within cost .
Project Manager: Yeah and I guess th th the question th {vocalsound} th that you're being asked right now is whether {disfmarker} is the dock enough of a unique feature to be able to go out and sell that a a as a a very different product , or do we really need the scroll wheel as well ?
Marketing: Oh okay
Project Manager: Because the scroll wheel comes at quite a cost .
Marketing: phew .
User Interface: Yeah .
Marketing: I think you gotta g get into cost effectiveness . I think if you can have the base station with a with a locator , I think those are two very strong features ,
User Interface: Well {disfmarker}
Marketing: if that's something that can be integrated without a bunch of extra cost .
User Interface: The {disfmarker} {vocalsound} The locator's gonna require a radio transmitter , which will {disfmarker}
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: That's gonna n is that gonna need a better chip as well ?
User Interface: Um {vocalsound} we're probably gonna have to go with a like a medium chip , s I would imagine .
Industrial Designer: No it's just different .
User Interface: But we I we will need a receiver , an antenna .
Marketing: Integrated , yeah .
User Interface: Yeah .
Marketing: So it's just uh I I think that's {disfmarker}
User Interface: It should be a really simple signal though so {disfmarker}
Marketing: {vocalsound} I know personally that would be a very attractive feature , is to have a uh have a button I can push to find my remote control .
Project Manager: And it's presumably gonna need a little speaker in it or something like that as well to beep .
User Interface: That's true yeah .
Project Manager: But I guess a little tiny speaker is gonna be quite cheap , it's not gonna need q quality , is it ? It's {disfmarker}
User Interface: Oh yeah yeah . It'll be really cheap .
Marketing: Or maybe you can like have a a smell-o-rama , you know you push a button and it s puts out a stink .
Project Manager: {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound} You can {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: Maybe not {vocalsound}
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Makes your living room more fresh as you watch {vocalsound} .
Marketing: Yeah yeah yeah yeah . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Okay we're doing well for time here .
Industrial Designer: S
Project Manager: Um we've got about another ten minutes . I think that uh {disfmarker}
User Interface: So the scroll wheel , in or out ?
Project Manager: Mm pr my personal preference is out . I don't think the cost is justified {vocalsound} for a little bit more uniqueness when we already have that , and I don't s think it's obvious and natural how it would be used .
Industrial Designer: Yeah . Yeah I think we have {disfmarker} like and it's not very usable and it will bring down the robustness of the whole thing ,
Project Manager: Mm .
Industrial Designer: 'cause it's it it breaks down easier .
Marketing: Yeah .
User Interface: For me I think the scroll wheel actually might not be so bad .
Marketing: {vocalsound}
User Interface: I don't know exactly what the increased cost is gonna be , but I think he does have a point , i it might push somebody over the edge when they're looking at our at our remote versus something else , when they see this one has a scroll wheel to go up and down on the channels . I think it might be kinda neat to be able to do it like that .
Project Manager: But then that that surely d depends a little on the T_V_
Marketing: W
Project Manager: because some T_V_s are quite slow at changing channels from like so {disfmarker}
User Interface: Sure .
Project Manager: if you've got a scroll wheel and you s you have to scroll scroll it really really slowly just so that you're actually keeping in pace with the T_V_'s ability to to change channels . Or do you have to go through and you wait for it ?
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} You scroll it a bunch of times and you wait for it to {disfmarker}
User Interface: Well I think wh what it would be is like like the m like this , where it's maybe you know a digital wheel , right , where it's where it's quantized into you know certain {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Mm .
Marketing: {vocalsound} Oh yeah .
Project Manager: Uh I see I see . That's where you {disfmarker}
User Interface: That was that was my my intuition of what the scroll wheel would be .
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: Ah I see I see what you're talking about now . Okay .
Marketing: {vocalsound}
User Interface: It's just {disfmarker} it's basically {disfmarker} it it's just a f look and feel thing . It has the same exact functionality as two buttons .
Marketing: {vocalsound} I I think there's {disfmarker} you know that uh there are so many people today that are that are surfing {disfmarker} are television surfers , and I see the scroll as a as a great mechanism for surfing .
Project Manager: Yeah if you're just sitting there going {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Marketing: Instead of going button-to-bu you just {vocalsound} j you'd j j j j j j .
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: That's kinda cool actually .
Marketing: I really I really think that's a really cool thing for surfing .
Project Manager: I like that .
User Interface: Now just just so you know though uh you did bring up a point which is very valid , is a lot of T_V_s won't re the T_V_s won't respond exactly the same . Some of them are gonna be kinda slow switching , so you may like queue up like fifteen channel changes , and it'll be like flip , flip , flip .
Marketing: Well there's ano
Project Manager: Well not n necessarily .
User Interface: But {disfmarker}
Project Manager: You could basically make it so that it'll {disfmarker} I mean it's just gonna be sending a signal to the T_V_ yeah the T_V_'s ge so if you send about five flip channels , if you did that it's gonna flip once .
User Interface: Right .
Marketing: That's right .
Project Manager: If you do that .
User Interface: Yeah it just might be frustrating where you can't make it go as fast as you want ,
Project Manager: Other than click click click . Yeah .
User Interface: but I think once people get used to it {disfmarker} I I do like the idea of the scroll wheel though .
Project Manager: And if we're marketing it as a high niche product , then we're gonna be selling it to people who are buying good T_V_s as well , yeah , presumably .
Industrial Designer: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Primarily .
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Marketing: Yeah I think so . I I think so .
Industrial Designer: Yep .
Marketing: Now the the only thing I I {vocalsound} {disfmarker} on the interface side of it , is that {vocalsound} I I I see the dilemma . {vocalsound} But if we have the option of of scrolling {vocalsound} at any particular speed , or the option of jumping direct , okay .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: So I can go uh {vocalsound} presuming I have , on my television , something that tells me what channel I'm on , I can scroll direct from channel five to channel thirty two . {vocalsound} I know what {disfmarker} because it's on the television . The television tells me what channel it's on when I change it . So {vocalsound} I don't know that really that's that's gonna be a a d problem , 'cause the television can go automatically from channel five to channel thirty two with the push of a button . Okay ?
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: So ca can we can we create that kind of interface within a scroll system ? You understand what I'm saying ?
User Interface: I think I know what you might be getting at , or or {disfmarker}
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Oh I see so if {disfmarker} maybe if we had an L_C_D_ up the top that just did a number on it , right ? And then it {disfmarker} that basically {disfmarker}
Marketing: Oh no we could read it from the television .
User Interface: Well , what about this {disfmarker} what about if you can programme in your favourite channels into this scroll wheel and you can just like roll through your favourite channels ,
Project Manager: Mm . Well that's quite cool .
User Interface: and it c it {disfmarker}
Project Manager: You'd need a display on the th the thing .
User Interface: Why ? It'll tell you when you flip the channel on the T_V_ .
Marketing: Yeah the the television can tell you .
User Interface: Yeah .
Marketing: Can .
Project Manager: Oh yeah yeah no I see what you're talking about . Yeah that's kinda cool . How would you program it though ?
User Interface: Well you just {disfmarker} it's one extra button . You say programme start , and then type in {disfmarker}
Marketing: Put {disfmarker}
User Interface: 'cause you still have the typing you know you'll still have the keypad where you can type 'em in manually .
Project Manager: Okay okay .
User Interface: So programme start , zero , one , enter , zero , five , enter , {vocalsound} thirty eight , enter , programme end .
Project Manager: Okay and yeah
Marketing: And then .
Project Manager: and that just basically flips between it and it'll go {disfmarker} it sends out zero , five , and then thirty six , and then zero , one again .
User Interface: Mm-hmm . Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Yeah that's kinda cool . I like that .
Marketing: And again we have another another great marketing tool .
Industrial Designer: {gap}
Marketing: We have about three {disfmarker} we have three or four things here .
Project Manager: That's not gonna be too expensive because that's gonna be {disfmarker} you're gonna be able to nab that off of computer mouse manufacturers really . You could basically {vocalsound} come up with a partnership to be able to produce that quite cheaply .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Industrial Designer: Yeah .
Marketing: I dunno and an maybe we maybe even have this as in-house technology . This may be something that's available through our own uh through our own services .
Project Manager: Might be , but tha that's not gonna be such a costly feature . The problem we're gonna have is making it robust . Making it last .
User Interface: Oh well we also have to determine in some manner how to switch between modes , between going through your favourites list and just hitting up one , up two .
Marketing: Or we go directional up {vocalsound} we go we go this we go this we go this way for one , we go this way for the other .
Project Manager: So if there's a button {vocalsound} for each type .
User Interface: No because you wanna be able to go up and down through the channels .
Project Manager: Yeah people are gonna have their favourite sorta , whether they do that or whether they {disfmarker}
Marketing: Ah-ha okay . Okay , okay ,
User Interface: Right .
Marketing: well then you just have , you have a diff you have a mode switch .
Project Manager: Yeah yeah the mode switch .
User Interface: I think we'll need a {vocalsound} we'll need a mode switch , but then if we have a mode switch we're gonna need some kinda indicator
Project Manager: Just the lights behind the buttons .
User Interface: to which , an L_E_ an L_E_D_ {disfmarker}
Project Manager: You could have back-lit buttons maybe .
User Interface: okay .
Project Manager: Would that work ?
Industrial Designer: {gap} Yeah .
Project Manager: Is that {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
User Interface: Okay .
Project Manager: okay we have five minutes . So right details th {vocalsound} that we've talked about here are that we want a scroll wheel .
Marketing: {vocalsound} {vocalsound}
Project Manager: We want {vocalsound} a mode indicator . We want {vocalsound} back-lit buttons . And if we're making back-lit buttons period , do we want that just for the mode indicator or maybe to indicate what button you're pressing at the time , so that you know if it's actually pressed or not . I've seen some remotes do that .
User Interface: Okay . Just so you know I think {disfmarker} I mean it was my understanding that before we were gonna stay in the mid-market range . It seems we're kind of approaching a higher-end range .
Project Manager: I think we are yeah .
User Interface: I wanna make sure everybody's okay with that .
Marketing: Yeah yeah . Well you had acknowledged that we have more money for this .
Project Manager: Yeah well we don't have {vocalsound} it's not that we have more money ,
Marketing: Didn't you say so ?
Project Manager: we can push up the the price .
Marketing: That's what I mean .
Project Manager: Yeah .
Marketing: We can increase the cost .
User Interface: Okay .
Project Manager: 'Kay .
Marketing: So I don't know I don't know whether having {disfmarker}
User Interface: I just wanna make sure everybody's on board with it . So {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Yeah . So we really need to be sure as to what we can push the cost up to , though we haven't got to a stage where we're ready to pin down the price of components . But I'd say what sorta price are we looking to be able to sell something like that , and what sorta price can we make it for ?
Marketing: Well I think th I think the design and technology has to come back and say , okay to create this product we see it's gonna cost us this much for this volume , because we do have a volume target of of fifty million profit .
Project Manager: Yeah no I I think that's where we really should be more flexible than anything else because as we said in the last meeting , our management is really looking for us to push our brand . We're entering a new market here ,
User Interface: Right .
Project Manager: so I think the the profit expectation for this one product is maybe not as important as being able to {disfmarker}
Marketing: Okay I'm I'm okay with that . I guess what I just want {disfmarker} to me the next step is for these guys to come come in with the design proposal w with the cost estimate attached , and then we have to take this to the next level .
Project Manager: But th what's our ballpark as to what we'd be able to sell something like this for ?
User Interface: Well y yeah . Let's let's try and think now , how much would you pay for
Marketing: We have to find cost .
User Interface: {disfmarker} with all these features {disfmarker} how much would you pay if you went to the store , and you were in the market f to replace your T_V_ remote , how much would you pay for that ?
Project Manager: But you've gotta think who our target market is because I I'm not our target market .
User Interface: I'm just asking you .
Project Manager: I'm a student , but on the other hand I would think , mm with my Project Manager salary , I would think {disfmarker} yeah I could probably afford this {disfmarker}
User Interface: If {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
User Interface: {vocalsound} Then you could probably afford this {vocalsound} .
Project Manager: uh would I buy it ? Maybe . If I had a cool new T_V_ and this was r looking really slick and it had the dock and it had the scroll wheel , which I think's a really cool idea , that would sell me on it a little . Then maybe you know . I do I don't think I'd go over a hundred Euro certainly , that would be way too much ,
User Interface: Oh no no .
Project Manager: but the {disfmarker} I would be happy paying over forty for it , I guess , but not much {disfmarker}
User Interface: I would say thirty five to forty .
Marketing: Yeah , I was gonna say thirty five to fifty .
Project Manager: 'Kay . Thirty five to fifty Euros is our sales bracket okay . So the question is what we ca we make it for .
User Interface: Okay .
Marketing: Because one of th one of the things we're marketing about this product is that this is the last one you will ever need to buy for your television .
Project Manager: Mm .
User Interface: Right .
Marketing: It's one of the marketing features in this .
Project Manager: That's why the scroll needs to be really robust .
Industrial Designer: Okay so we'll come up with something between thirty five and fifty that is rug rubber , robust , with scroll wheel , with the new facilities of the scroll wheel like favourite stuff , favourite channels , and and with a cradle , and yeah and the locator .
User Interface: With a cradle , radio transmitters , and back-lit buttons .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: And it's gonna look sexy {vocalsound} .
Industrial Designer: {gap} Or not {vocalsound} .
User Interface: Or not . It might look like clay {vocalsound} .
Industrial Designer: Okay so you can market pe depending on that ?
Marketing: Yeah yeah . Bas th that's that's easy . That's that's not a , it's a {gap} . 'Cause we have about six , six , seven features in that alone .
Project Manager: Yep .
Industrial Designer: Cool .
Marketing: Under the title of uniquenesses .
Industrial Designer: Hmm .
Project Manager: Okay . The next meeting starts in thirty {vocalsound} minutes , although does it ? It starts at three twenty one , the next meeting . So we've got more than a thirty minutes . Um {vocalsound} we've got more like fifty .
Marketing: Well I have {disfmarker} Is my {disfmarker} three twenty one is the next meeting ?
Project Manager: The the ne next meeting is three twenty one yeah .
Marketing: That's that's almost uh fifty minutes .
Project Manager: Yeah that is . Uh they've they've changed the times from the presentations .
Marketing: {vocalsound} You guys can {disfmarker} You guys you guys can uh create a {disfmarker} All kinds of things .
User Interface: Probably . We'll let you know when we're done , if we can go earlier .
Marketing: {gap} Thanks , yeah .
Project Manager: Okay so you guys will be getting your modelling done now and uh {disfmarker}
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: Okay are there any other questions with regards to what this thing's gonna do , look like , how it's gonna work that need to be addressed before we really look at this in a lot of detail ?
User Interface: I don't think so . If we have any questions we'll just email you I guess .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: Yeah I think it {disfmarker} pretty much everything's covered .
Project Manager: Okay . This one was quite easy .
Industrial Designer: Coulda been worse .
Project Manager: Always the optimist .
Marketing: Still .
Industrial Designer: Yes I am .
Project Manager: 'Kay thanks guys .
Marketing: Thank you . I don't have any emails . This means I can go home . Oh , we all leave . {gap}


Marketing: Just put it on the deskt {gap} desktop .
Project Manager: No on the desktop you'll find you should find that there's a project documents link . A well actually just there .
Marketing: Project documents ,
Project Manager: Yeah . That's it .
Marketing: yeah .
Project Manager: If you dump it in there .
Marketing: What's your username ?
Project Manager: Your username .
Marketing: What's your username and password ? Mm-hmm . Sorry .
Project Manager: Okay .
Marketing: Okay . There we go .
Project Manager: Excellent . Right . Hopefully that's us ready to uh to go . So . Functional design meeting . We'll have to flesh out some of the uh stuff . Um we'll start with the minutes of the last meeting . Not a lot thankfully to say . We introduced ourselves , discussed the possibility of a macro facility , interac interacting the T_V_ a bit more , um mentioning of bar-code , joystick for user manipulation , um and ergonomics of the remote control as well . Um it's come to my attention the following . Teletext has become outdated due to the populat popularity of the internet . Remote control should only be used for the T_V_ . Um due for uh time to market and possibly also cost issues . Um also key is the corporate image should stay recognisable , um f uh your colour and slogan of course is down at the bottom there . Um . Now . Just to say quickly uh I would have thought that only being used for a television the macro facility may now not be required .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: Um or at l its functionality would have been of limited use . So to the point in my opinion anyway that it might not be worth pursuing . Um if anybody disagrees we can uh definitely say so . Um and hopefully we'll just crack on and we'll get everything going . Um I'd like to if possible hear from our Marketing Expert first , to help us gain an idea of where we're going to go .
Marketing: 'Kay .
Project Manager: So um I'll just load up your presentation from here if you want .
Marketing: Sure . Um , sh would you like to {vocalsound} I'll just do it from here .
Project Manager: Yep . Sorry . Uh . Is yours the {disfmarker}
Marketing: Um , try second one maybe . Try it , yeah maybe .
Project Manager: Oh sorry . Okay , right .
Marketing: Yeah . Okay . Oh , I thought I put in my last name , I guess not , but {gap} .
Project Manager: Uh if you {disfmarker} that's all right . If you {disfmarker} do you want me to just cycle through it for you or ?
Marketing: Okay . {vocalsound} Oh yeah , that'd be fine , that'd be great .
Project Manager: Yeah ?
Marketing: Okay . Functional requirement by me Ebenezer . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Okay .
Marketing: Okay , so um we did some research , we asked one hundred people their opinions on remote controls . We asked some uh open ended questions , just , what are your opinions on the remote control , got a lot of re responses , and we asked some very specific questions , and we got a lot of good feedback . Please bear in mind this is only a hundred people , so even when the groups are divided into fifteen to twenty five , twenty five to thirty five , there's only maybe ten people {vocalsound} fifteen people in each group .
Project Manager: Okay .
Marketing: Okay . {vocalsound} So we got {disfmarker} some the bad stuff we got , remotes are often lost . I often lose my remote control , the back of the couch , some place , and even if it's not lost permanently , it takes me a few minutes to find it . {vocalsound} Most buttons are not used any more , like you said , teletext is outdated now . I remember trying to load a D_V_D_ player recently , and there were so many buttons , it took me I don't know maybe ten minutes to to go through each button , 'cause you have to press the shift button to access the yellow buttons , you know there's just a lot of stuff that no one really uses . And if they do , not very often . Takes too long to master the remote control . I've seen some remote controls that are big , they have a lot of buttons , you have to hold down more than one key at one time to do something , they're just not great to use . We just got a lot of bad complaints about remote controls , people do not like remote controls . Some of the good stuff we got . Between the age of uh fifteen and twenty five , most people would be willing to pay extra for voice recognition software . Now don't get excited yet , I've got more to say on that . Most people'd be willing to pay for that um most people want remote controls to be pretty , they want it to be fancy , th they they want it to be different , everybody has a white remote control with black buttons , and a red button and a green button , not everybody wants that . {vocalsound} {vocalsound} Finally , my opinion .
Project Manager: Yep .
Marketing: The voice recognition thing is cool . And uh voice recognition , the software , open source software exist already . It's a bit sketchy at some times , uh , you're not gonna get good always accurate results , but for a very fixed number of words , you know you have , how many different words can you have for a remote control , up , down , left , right , channel five , channel seven , you know , how many , you can't have that many words . For a fixed vocabulary it works quite well . I'm pretty sure people would buy it . But after a while people may wanna return it , because {vocalsound} if you have to to say som I mean most people use a remote control for switching to channels , and they say they do that about ninety eight percent of the time . Using the remote control , ninety eight percent of the time for changing channels , and that's for flickering through channels . So if you have to say up , up , up , up , if you have to do that all the time , then people might get a bit fed up with that and they may return it . {vocalsound} However , {vocalsound} oh , because the voice recognition software exists already , there's no need to spend money on research and development , but this does mean the need for microphones in the in the remote control , which is an unusual feature in my opinion . But if we do have the voice recognition thing , there's a lot of stuff that you can uh get rid of . See , you could {disfmarker} there're two options . Either you have voice recognition by itself , which I think is a bit impractical for like night time if you wanna be watching television and you wanna be quiet , or I don't know you have a visitor coming round and the remote's only trained for you , it's a bit impractical to have just voice recognition by itself . So you can have voice recognition and a regular remote . But imagine you got rid of the regular remote part , then you can design the remote to look any way you want it to look , because there are no restrictions on physical size , or shape , it it could be as fancy as you want it to be , you know , it could be like a lollipop or something like that , something weird like that . As long as the voice recognition stuff works , that's that's fine .
Project Manager: Okay , yep .
Marketing: So we have the three birds , we have the design , that {vocalsound} we have the the fancy bit , right , the voice recognition's fancy , it's cool , it's different , it's radical , so , and then we have an extra bit I don't remember {vocalsound} so I'm pretty sure people will buy the remote , but is it practical to have a voice recognition system in a remote control , I think is a big question . Um , will people will people be willing to wait for the the period that it'll take to train the remote , 'cause I think it will the remote will uh get better over time with the same user user , but for the first week or for the first two weeks are you willing to wait , are you willing to have a bad remote control . {vocalsound} And uh what if you have visitors come round , they stay the night , they wanna use the T_V_ , they can't use the remote because they speak differently to you . Um , how do you account for regional accents and stuff like that . Uh , will people return the remote control , {vocalsound} I think a lot of young people will buy the remote control , if they have the money , you know , so ,
Project Manager: Mm-hmm . If you could uh
Marketing: do our audience have the money , but would they return it after a while because it's not as fast as pressing a button , it's not a practical . So . These are things I think we should consider .
Project Manager: sor
Marketing: I think it's cool ,
Project Manager: if you could speed it up a bit , yeah . If you could uh speed it up a bit please , yeah .
Marketing: I'm sorry ? Sure .
Project Manager: Sorry .
Marketing: I'm about to end , yeah .
Project Manager: Cool .
Marketing: I think it's cool but there are definitely some considerations .
Project Manager: Okay . Excellent .
Marketing: So , yeah .
Project Manager: Right . Um . Hear from the {vocalsound} User Interface Designer now I think might be an idea .
User Interface: Okay .
Project Manager: Um , you've got your presentation now ,
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} How did {disfmarker} where did {disfmarker}
User Interface: Yeah , it's in the it's in the folder
Project Manager: is it on the {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: where did you get all your in information {gap} ?
User Interface: yeah .
Project Manager: is it ? Okay .
Marketing: There was uh a website , uh ,
Industrial Designer: Oh .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Technical functions ?
Marketing: right here .
Industrial Designer: Ah , okay .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: No . Yeah . Okay .
User Interface: Okay , this is a {vocalsound} brief run through of the um of the technical functions of the remote . As um is uh the the the presentation is uh already slightly obsolete because I {vocalsound} had in mind something that would uh be i be aimed at controlling multiple devices but uh there's still stuff of relevance , so
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: press on . I've looked at {vocalsound} looked at a num {vocalsound} uh couple of other uh remote control models just for an idea of basic design principles . Um and wasn't really satisfied by what I saw I have to say so this is more sort of springboard for uh how these could be improved on . {vocalsound} Um um basically the job of the device is to send commands to an appliance , in this case the television set . Um to save you getting off your backside . Um and there's two main trends in th in the sort of design practice . On the one hand {disfmarker} and this uh this particularly relates to its sort of earliest models where with you know i so so many buttons on it so about the size of the television set . Um giving you every possible function that the that the device has , the remote control controls . And most of these functions are not going to be used , it creates a rather user unfriendly interface . And on the other hand there's a user focused approach that pares things down to just what {vocalsound} what is most likely to get used . Um {vocalsound} With uh {disfmarker} a and a and of course there is a certain amount of sort of loss of function here obviously , but mostly that's relatively peripheral functions . And so you go for something that's fairly intuitive to use , and um well f the for the most part for T_V_ remote it's uh tha that would be channel control and volume . Um and if you {vocalsound} if you if you are wanting to incorporate uh control of a D_V_ {vocalsound} D_V_D_ or uh {vocalsound} V_C_R_ presumably into that then there's a play , pause , stop , rewind , fast-forward , record , so forth . Um . My own view is that we should definitely be going for a user focused design . Um but uh the pro {vocalsound} I think the problem with a lot of the sort of user focused designs that are about is that they sort of make assumptions in advance about what uh what a given user's going to uh want mo want to do from {vocalsound} want it to do most . So , something that's uh {vocalsound} something that is more programmable , that uh perh perhaps has the full range of functions available to it but you can then specify yourself what you're most likely to want . Um so that those are then immediately {vocalsound} accessible through fairly minimal number of controls , um I liked Ebenezer's idea of including a joystick in that and uh possibly a sort of fairly minimal number of sort of function buttons , and have a disp {vocalsound} you then have some sort of basic display on it so that if you're um sort of cha changing from different modes for the device it'll tell you just exactly what uh you know each direction of the uh of the um joystick's {vocalsound} going to do or wha or what each function button's going to do . Um , this is actually {gap} a again slightly taking inspiration off of uh games controllers , you know the Playstation control where you have four basic function buttons
Marketing: Mm .
User Interface: that are just marked with um distinctive uh geometrical shapes but the {vocalsound} and then dependent on what you're doing with it what game and so on um those uh those functions are then sort of further specified . And so it's taking taking the lead from that . Um .
Project Manager: Okay . Yeah .
User Interface: {vocalsound} That's it .
Project Manager: Right . Um , if we could hear from our Industrial engineer , or Designer .
Industrial Designer: Yeah . Uh , I was still working on stuff , I hadn't got it finished . Um , {vocalsound} alright . Click to save in {disfmarker} where do I have to save it ?
Project Manager: If you look on the desktop you'll find that there's a link to the project folder , or project documents . If you save it in there we can open it up from here .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound} Um , what I've done with it , I'm sorry . Shit . Um {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Are you finding it okay or ?
Industrial Designer: I'm just {gap} closing it now . {gap} where I've saved it .
Marketing: Well like if you go to one , uh whichever one you were working {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: {gap} that's it there ,
Marketing: yeah ,
Industrial Designer: yeah .
Marketing: and you just click file save as .
Industrial Designer: Oh right . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: Uh , right I'm responsible for working design , uh , this is basically the inside going on of the the uh remote control . So we have the energy source , we have the user interface , this this is what I've seen . Uh the sender will push the button , the chip will respond , uh and then the dig digital signal is sent to the T_V_ . So uh uh , if you go to next slide , you'll see you'll see uh what do we need on the user interface . Do we need uh many buttons , or do we need l many light bulbs that could be easier to uh to realise which appliances are on or not . Um , {vocalsound} , or would that take too much power , would we need more um components in there to supply the power ? Um , the joystick is another thing , if we were gonna add that , um , there'd be more components to deal with that .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Industrial Designer: Um {vocalsound} , so uh we need to {disfmarker} I dunno exactly what {disfmarker} That's the design of the the the layout of the uh electronic design , um obviously there'll be more details once we've decided what we're putting on the user interface .
Project Manager: Okay .
Industrial Designer: So , that'll be decided , I guess . {vocalsound} Uh , and the next slide . Oh , yeah {disfmarker} Um , if you go to the next slide then .
Project Manager: Oh . Yeah .
Marketing: {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: I just used the {vocalsound} it was a mess , uh I was just putting adding it together at the end there . Uh {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Ah , don't worry about it at all mate . {vocalsound}
Industrial Designer: Uh so you have the energy source obviously connected to the chip , and the user interface obviously contains everything . You have the switch turn it on , infrared bulb , uh will contact the T_V_ and will have whatever device or D_V_D_ player , the bulb will turn on to say it's on . Uh , so do we need on the control uh different buttons to decide , or different light bulbs , would it be easier ? Um , I dunno what we should decide on that .
Project Manager: Okay . Well . Oh sorry , I'm I'm interrupting you . Are you {disfmarker} is it {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: No , it's finished , yeah .
Project Manager: yeah ? Okay . Right . Um , {vocalsound} right we can probably skip that for now . So , we've had some stuff put forward , um along with the new user requirements , um we've had a lot of kind of input I'd say so far . Um I hear what the Marketing Expert's saying about {vocalsound} um voice activated control . However I've got a couple of worries about that . {vocalsound} The power required , um and the ability to the cost , it seems like for uh an embedded system , this could cause us issues .
Industrial Designer: Cost . Mm .
Project Manager: Um for example you see that there's fairly robust services on uh computers via uh via voice , I_B_M_ do um drag and dictate , but these require a lot of memory
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: and usually um state quite advanced processor requirements . Um voice activation could be an interesting idea but I think that our Ind Industrial Designer would probably upon some research say that it's maybe not feasible .
Marketing: 'Kay .
Project Manager: Um that's just my view right now ,
User Interface: Mm . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: however the idea of a joystick and then maybe an L_C_D_ which has been kind of put forward so far , it's almost like having a small T_ not T_V_ to say , but if you can control almost all of the functionality from the display , I don't know how much power an L_C_D_ would take , but it might be quite low ?
Marketing: Mm . I uh {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: L_C_D_ on the remote just telling you what's on , or {vocalsound} uh , interactive L_C_D_ or {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Well literally um if you can imagine the display maybe slightly larger than um those on a {vocalsound} a mobile phone ,
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: something where you can read an an um fair amount of information , traverse maybe quite a few menus , if we maybe used mobile phones as a good example , they usually incorporate they have the keypad , and then evr all the other functionality is usually associated inside by traversing around .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: That could be one possibility . Um and then we could have like say the common buttons as you say , volume control , changing channels {disfmarker}
User Interface: Mm . {gap} I I was thinking that the remote {vocalsound} the um {vocalsound} sort of default functions for the joystick would be up and down for uh volume , left and right for channels .
Project Manager: We {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: Do you think that people will get mixed up , like , they'll be looking at this screen and that screen and then , you know , trying to get everything working , would it be a bit confusing ?
User Interface: Um I think probably for the first couple of hours of using it
Industrial Designer: Yeah .
User Interface: um but you know muscle memory's a wonderful thing , um . And I think {vocalsound} and I think that size of uh display was about what I had in mind .
Marketing: Mm .
User Interface: Um though I mean I w I would say that uh we could probably probably be required to um mo most of the mobile phone displays you see these days are colour but we should probably try to stick to black and white .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} I would agree with you .
User Interface: Si si simply to keep m keep the unit cost down . Um I mean colour could be a sort of subsequent development but uh you know cost a bit of extra money f w w w w w once everyone's got the first , you know , oh colour's out , we'll have to replace it won't we .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm . {vocalsound}
User Interface: It does nothing extra .
Project Manager: That would be my feeling as well , I think we could possibly create quite a useful user interface . Um now I mean I don't {disfmarker}
Marketing: Sure but the idea of a remote with a menu or {disfmarker} and a joystick I think like I h if I was in the habit of buying remote controls then I would want one ,
Project Manager: sorry , go for it .
Marketing: but I think we don't have a specific audience , you know , like what is our target audience , what niche are {disfmarker} niche are we trying to market and corner . You know , you know what I'm saying , like , for whom is this intended ? Everybody ?
Project Manager: {vocalsound} I think it could probably be aimed at most people who've used a mobile . And that might be just another way of saying try to target most people .
Marketing: Most people , yeah .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: Um , if we are if we were to follow that avenue , we might be s you know um we're kind of almost relying on their experience with a mobile phone I suppose . But that does cover a very large section of the people out there .
Marketing: Mm-hmm . Sure . I think that's fair {vocalsound} yeah .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: Um , I mean I imagine as well that the actual L_C_D_ and maybe to a certain extent the joystick as well would be for the additional functionality . Which maybe doesn't get used as often , maybe it makes it easy for them to figure out how to um change the channels as in the frequencies and such for reprogramming it .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Um and you can still have the main buttons that allow the people to turn the machine on and off , d up and down , it depends , I mean maybe we have the fol um the joystick as a separate one for the other functions then , that there's just a a small number of as you were saying uh buttons that have already been defined .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: So like we go for the nice standard um up and down for and volume control . So that literally anybody can come along , pick up the remote and still know what do do . And they can completely ignore most of the functionality which would be for say the o actual owner of the the T_V_
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: and who would normally use the unit .
User Interface: Mm . {vocalsound} I th the thing I like about the uh the uh joystick
Project Manager: I dunno .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: is that uh you you you then basically you can then basically put it I mean for for T_ T_ for T_V_ remote alone , you could put um I mean there are {disfmarker} like I say the the the main things people do with a T_V_ remote control is the volume and the channel . You can pack all that onto was onto a single control . Um .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: But uh but the {vocalsound} but then o uh obviously if uh you know if you i if you wanted to access further functions i {vocalsound} you you then get to sort of menu navigation . I mean with things like ch with things like tuning and channels um you know adjusting brightn uh brightness and {vocalsound} fiddly things that no one really bothers with , most T_V_s these days actually have menus anyway so this would be a fairly rational way of integra {gap}
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: integrating the uh the remote with the device it's controlling . Um {gap} concern about our market . Um , if we are I mean most of the uh of the replacement remote market is sort of {gap} remote control rationalisation . Um , you've got twenty different devices in your living room ,
Marketing: Yeah . Mm-hmm .
User Interface: you want one wo {vocalsound} y you want one that'll do the job of all of them . Um , if all you're replacing is one of the you know however many remotes you have in your living room , um you know you still need separate remotes for everything else .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: I just think that uh possibly {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Well this is a requirement that we have to stick to I'm afraid ,
User Interface: mm .
Project Manager: this isn't one that I've just arbitrarily decided on .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: So um this is this is one of the solid ones that has to be obeyed , for now .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: So I can understand your point , and I would agree with you , but this is our design spec for now . 'Fraid to say . Um {disfmarker}
User Interface: {vocalsound} Does that um would that include um access to say {vocalsound} interactive functions on digital or cable ?
Marketing: {vocalsound} Yeah .
Project Manager: I would say so , yes , because then we have to be able to control the remote boxes , and that is a separate unit . Um I think that it {disfmarker} I would say that the design spec we've been {gap} with is for the television only for now .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: And until we hear otherwise we should go with just that .
Marketing: Hmm . Okay , specifically television .
User Interface: Okay .
Project Manager: Okay . Maybe we'll hear differently , but for now {disfmarker}
Marketing: So the joystick is just for differentness .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: It would be ease of manipulation of certain functions , yes . Um {disfmarker}
Marketing: Okay .
User Interface: Just a thought . {vocalsound} Um maybe then our market should be T_V_ manufacturers , rather than the public . Try and sell it t sell it to them to supply with um {disfmarker}
Project Manager: There is that possibility , yes . B However I don't know exactly where we'll be going with that , but it might not even be the avenue of the Marketing Expert ,
Marketing: Mm . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: that might be sales , who are not in this meeting .
Marketing: Mm-hmm . It's just , the way I figure it , twelve point five Euros per unit , we have to sell at least like three million or something like that ,
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: not to account for all the the money we waste on remotes that no one buys , you know , like if we made a perf if we made a ks for every remote we made someone bought it , then we have to sell a lot of remote controls .
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: We just {disfmarker} Is this gonna be enough to to sell ?
Project Manager: Well , something else that you brought up was uh the ability to lose a remote , which as you said you've done , in fact we've probably all done .
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: Um , I don't know if it's a gimmick or not , but have any of you ever seen those odd little key rings where if you whistle , it will beep and you {disfmarker} tell you where it is .
User Interface: Mm , yeah , I've seen them .
Marketing: I had one of those , and my brother , and my dad , could have beat me up
Project Manager: Um . Well
Marketing: because it it went off all the time accidentally .
Project Manager: the other option of course is that um the
Marketing: The clapping one . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: well {disfmarker} I was going to say clapping , um {disfmarker} Um digital telephones , uh for example , one unit has {disfmarker} of course you have to have that base unit , somewhere where there's a button , but maybe it's a button that you attach to the T_V_ .
User Interface: Mm .
Marketing: To a television . {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Something which you when you press that , it would beep to give its location away , on the remote unit .
Marketing: Yeah .
User Interface: Yeah , I think that's a good idea .
Project Manager: And that could be something could um separate us a bit .
Marketing: Yeah , that's a good idea .
Project Manager: And that way , because we're attaching what would be a small button to the T_V_ , again say what , it would be a small transmitter , um watch battery type scenario I would say , or something that if it was problems enough you could actually even just um I don't {disfmarker} power {gap} that might be something that we could look into .
Industrial Designer: Yeah {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Yep . Yeah , it's uh putting a lot on your shoulders there , so I mean that could be something that separates us a bit from the market as well .
Marketing: {vocalsound} I think so , yeah .
Industrial Designer: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: So . To go on from here . Um we have to decide exactly what we're going to do with the remote . Before we leave this meeting , it would be best to say this is what we're going {disfmarker} this is the design we're gonna try and get , this is how we're gonna make ourselves look unique .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: Do we go for maybe a remote contro uh sorry , we're gonna go for a remote control obviously , do we go for a small joystick that would operate say changing channels , up and down , and then , what , another button that would say that it's now being used to manoeuvre round the L_C_D_ .
User Interface: Mm yeah . Yeah , I think that's {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: We're just saying volume . Should volume be important in the joystick , do you think ?
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: We could use say the left and right for changing channels and the up and down for volume ,
User Interface: For volume .
Project Manager: and {disfmarker}
Marketing: But we have a frequency of how what people use a remote control for most .
Industrial Designer: Yep .
Project Manager: Okay .
Marketing: Um , power is used like once per hour ,
Industrial Designer: I
Marketing: channel selection is used a hundred and sixty eight per hour ,
Project Manager: Mm-hmm .
Marketing: that's by far the biggest one , and then teletext , is still here , that's like fourteen ,
Project Manager: Vol Volume selection okay , yep ,
Marketing: and volume selection .
Project Manager: the teletext we're gambling with , and we're gonna say it's dead , the way of the dodo {disfmarker}
Marketing: No , yeah , okay okay . Yeah , um {vocalsound} {disfmarker}
Project Manager: So we {disfmarker} well , sorry , we could maybe even go as far as saying power button , small joystick , L_C_D_ , and then what maybe is it one more button to say that you're using the menu system , and with the possibility of pushing down on the joystick to say okay ? So we're having very very few buttons involved ,
User Interface: Actually how {disfmarker}
Project Manager: but navigation around a menu for most things .
User Interface: Actually I would say maybe two two function buttons , the {disfmarker} y we're now using the menus button and um and an og and an okay button . I mean certainly something I've found with the joystick on mo the joysticks on mobile phones is that a lot of the time th the device mistakes you trying to move it in one direction or the other for pushing down for okay .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: Or vice versa .
Project Manager: Okay .
User Interface: And that's really irritating .
Marketing: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: {vocalsound} The o the o the other dis design constraint I think we should bear in mind is that people are you know very much used to using a remote control one handedly , um , so we need to make sure that e even with the joystick , you know something that can just sit comfortably in the palm of the hand and have the joystick just controlled by the thumb .
Project Manager: Okay . So um we're actually that sounds like a rough idea . Do we incorporate the idea of trying to f locate the remote control again via a beeping noise ?
Industrial Designer: Yeah , think so .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} Do you mind looking {gap} ?
Marketing: Um , I think because it's so small it might be an uh I mean if we only have like two three buttons it might be essential to have to have that {disfmarker}
Project Manager: The ability to locate it again .
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: So that would require a um transmitter maybe attached to the T_V_ , just so that it says find me , and {vocalsound} what , a basically a small microphone um on the actual unit , can maybe hide it in the base .
Industrial Designer: Light bulb as well ,
User Interface: Oh . So {vocalsound} so
Industrial Designer: no ?
Project Manager: Sorry ?
User Interface: a small speaker you mean .
Project Manager: Some speaker ,
Marketing: Speaker {vocalsound}
Project Manager: sorry , yeah .
Marketing: yeah .
Industrial Designer: And a light bulb ? No . To flash . No .
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Um {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: Nah , you'd see it anyway , if you hear it .
Project Manager: {vocalsound} E us we might be better with the sound possibly {disfmarker} we could maybe incorporate
Marketing: W those little key-rings have both ,
Industrial Designer: Yeah .
Project Manager: th e the true fact , considering the cost of an L_E_D_ , we could just incorporate it anyway .
Marketing: so {disfmarker} Yeah .
Project Manager: The L_E_D_s can be surprisingly bright now .
Marketing: Yeah . Yeah .
Industrial Designer: Mm-hmm .
User Interface: Mm-hmm . Blue ones particularly .
Project Manager: Um . {vocalsound} So
User Interface: Plus that's a nice wee design touch .
Marketing: Yeah .
Project Manager: by the sounds of it , with what we're suggesting so far , your design um the user interface is still quite open , you could go for quite an interesting design .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Because we're only going to have a very few key and you've got you know a small L_C_D_ , joystick , e I think it leaves you open to a a potential wide range of shapes , something that can make it stand out slightly .
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: Um if you could look into what we've suggested so far , the feasibility of um small transmitter , um and such , maybe if an L_C_D_ screen requires too much power , or such . Ebenezer , um , Marketing Expert {disfmarker}
Marketing: {vocalsound} Well I can give you the frequency , what people what options people use most often , I guess that's gonna be important in the ts defining the the software side of the interface , right .
Project Manager: If ,
Marketing: You want the stuff {gap} .
Project Manager: yeah if you could maybe as well see what people think about the idea of this minimalist approach that we've taken , where of a joystick to control the very basic functions , and then the idea of manipulating it like you would a mobile .
Marketing: Okay .
Project Manager: I don't know how easy that will be within the time frame ,
Marketing: Okay .
Project Manager: but could be something we could maybe look into .
Marketing: Mm-hmm . Sure . Sure .
Project Manager: Okay . Um any last comments that anybody would like to put forward ? Anything that they think has been missed out . Bit of a wide open question there of course .
Marketing: Mm .
Project Manager: Feel free to email me if you think that uh we've screwed something up and wanna get it rectified as soon as possible .
Marketing: Sure . 'Kay . Yeah .
Project Manager: Right .
Industrial Designer: So I should just look at um the speaker , {gap} the speaker and an L_E_D_ .
User Interface: {vocalsound}
Project Manager: Speaker and L_E_D_ for locating , um ,
Industrial Designer: And {disfmarker}
Marketing: Transmitter {gap} .
Industrial Designer: Yeah , and a transmitter .
Project Manager: transmitter {disfmarker}
User Interface: Actually one one wee thought about that . Um , if we do end up trying to market this to television manufacturers then the um then the transmitter could actually be built into the television .
Project Manager: {gap} getting the external power source , yep , that's quite true . Um , and something that we can can easily be adopted at the last minute as well I'd say .
User Interface: Yeah .
Project Manager: The electronics could be s either placed externally or internally , makes no difference to the final product of the actual remote control ,
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: so that's good .
User Interface: Mm-hmm . {vocalsound} You know I think
Project Manager: 'Kay .
User Interface: I mean if it w if we get a major television manufacturer to say y oh yeah we'll have that , save us the bother , then that's you know vast amounts of sales . Quite quickly .
Industrial Designer: P
Project Manager: Oh , one thing that we've almost not talked about at all , my apologies for that , um , user interface , we also need to maybe get the slogan in here , um it's ,
Industrial Designer: Fashion .
Project Manager: I'm pointing at my laptop , what in God {disfmarker} Real reaction , and such . So um {disfmarker}
Industrial Designer: The slogan is {disfmarker}
Project Manager: Oh , sorry .
Industrial Designer: yeah , the slogan's we put the fashion in electronics , isn't it ?
Project Manager: My apologies . No it could well be , I've probably missed that . Um , I think that's l almost the last minute thing
Industrial Designer: 'S also look cool .
Project Manager: we can just incorporate into the actual plastic on top .
User Interface: Mm .
Project Manager: So I'm not too concerned a that we haven't gone into depth about that . But it might be something you could consider when you're thinking about shapes ?
User Interface: Mm-hmm .
Project Manager: In fact we might like to put a slogan on , and um possibly the two R_s to signify the company . Rather than real reaction .
User Interface: Mm-hmm . Mm . Yeah . I thought the uh the d the double arc could perhaps uh be the uh the enter button .
Project Manager: Sounds good .
User Interface: {gap} .
Project Manager: And I'd say that that's us for now . Okay .