Spotlight on the user
Intel uses "contextual research" to develop products for customers and markets. Thus, a desktop for China.
By DAVE GUSSOW
Published July 25, 2005
HILLSBORO, Ore. - Herman D'Hooge points to a screw embedded in a computer made of wood. The simple household fastener may solve a high-tech problem for Intel.
Parents in China want computers for their kids, says D'Hooge, whose job title is innovation strategist at the giant chipmaker. And Intel would dearly love to have more computers with its chips inside sold there.
But Chinese parents aren't buying. The issue is one of control, D'Hooge says. Chinese parents care passionately about education, and they don't want their children playing games when they should be studying.
It took years of research, spending time with Chinese families, countless brainstorming sessions and making models to come up with ideas, including the screw that may be the heart of the answer.
The screw on the model represents a lock, which will come with a key. Turn the lock one way, and the computer is restricted to education. Turn it the other way, and it's open for all uses.
"It's really been inspired by what we understood the user needs to be," D'Hooge said.
And the China Home Learning PC is about to be born. While it is only the second product D'Hooge's 21/2-year-old group will see go to market, it represents a significant shift in thinking in the electronics industry.
Traditionally, the industry develops technologies and products, then tries to persuade consumers that they want them. But as the products have become more complex, evidence is building that consumers are losing interest, along with patience. That has some companies vowing to simplify products and reconsidering the way they develop their wares in the first place.
Using what D'Hooge calls "contextual research," companies such as Intel are trying to get a better understanding of how people live, what's important in their daily lives, how they use technology and what people want, then coming up with solutions.
The goal is not only to produce gadgets that have more relevance to people's lives, but also to remove some of the complexity that discourages people from adopting new technology.
So, as Intel considered ways to put parental controls on its China computer, it knew enough about Chinese culture and thinking to skip high-tech solutions such as biometrics, encryption or software - options that are used in the United States - and instead proposed the lock and key.
"People understood this metaphor very well," D'Hooge said. "They immediately said, "Yeah, I understand how this works. As long as I hold the key, I'm sure they can't break in."'
There were other issues to consider, as well. Chinese homes are smaller than U.S. homes, so traditional desktop machines would take up too much space. Chinese parents wanted handwriting and speech recognition to facilitate lessons.
Intel briefly produced a consumer line of products, such as digital cameras, music players and toys, but ended the experiment about four years ago to concentrate on its core technology work.
The company still wants to sell more chips, and the current research and design efforts aim to identify needs and come up with ideas for products. But Intel finds partner companies to produce and bring them to market.
The China computer design might have applications outside China, ranging from health care to schools, but D'Hooge is cautious. "We want to be somewhat careful not to force-fit a solution that was invented for one area and simply say, "Well, this will just fit everyone around the world,"' he said.
D'Hooge's work area at Intel looks somewhat like the aftermath of a school science fair. Wood and foam models of computers and other gadgets line shelves. D'Hooge calls them "artifacts" from projects past and present that he and his team have brainstormed.
D'Hooge's team of 33 does most of its work at a research facility outside Portland, Ore. Intel plans similar operations in offices around the world to assess cultural differences that affect products' use and acceptance in various countries.
Among other things, D'Hooge says, the new way of thinking means engineers and technologists should not be alone in determining what products make it to market.
In fact, engineers are brought into his brainstorming process later, not earlier, when the company has decided whether there's a product to be made that is worth its investment.
It also requires social scientists, user researchers, designers and others who can talk more about social sciences and aspects that affect real people than the science of engineering a chip.
"Typically, engineers are oblivious to social environments but cognizant on technical aspects," D'Hooge said. "If you have that empathy from a design team for a subject, you're much more likely to get it right."
Engineers may want a design they think is superior technologically, D'Hooge says. But if they understand why features have to be changed, they are more likely to accommodate those recommendations.
The computer, the traditional component in Intel's world, is complicated because "they're everything to everybody," D'Hooge said.
"We used to have at Intel the notion of computers should be as easy as consumer electronics equipment," D'Hooge said. "But I think things are flipping. . . . Consumer electronics has adopted some of the bad habits of the computer industry essentially because products are computerized."
Like many other high-tech companies, Intel has a usability lab where it tests everything from concepts to products about to hit the market. It is putting more emphasis on this work up front, trying to convince partners that it's better to define issues earlier rather than after spending millions on a project.
Among the benefits is that some companies don't believe their products are difficult to use, but watching people working with the gadgets changes their minds.
Cory Booth, a research and consulting manager who has worked at Intel about six years, believes tech has improved simplicity. Yet it's a constantly evolving target, and the industry can't make traditional assumptions about its market.
That can mean consumers surprising developers with how they struggle with the seemingly simple, or how they find ways to use products the companies never anticipated. Sometimes it can be exasperating.
"We have people in the back room yelling, "Just click on that button!"' Booth said.
It is in that kind of situation that D'Hooge's group becomes important. If products are designed differently from the outset, it could avoid some of those issues. Not everything in D'Hooge's world will even make it to a working prototype, but nothing is tossed.
A boom box for teens for music and instant messaging? Didn't fly. Teens in focus groups wanted something smaller and sleeker. Combining a phone handset onto a computer? Still working. A computer designed for college dorm rooms? It won an industry design award, made it to market, then faded away. But D'Hooge is not discouraged.
"Concepts never really die," D'Hooge said. "They sort of go back into the primordial pool of fertilizer that spawns new ideas."
- Dave Gussow can be reached at 727 771-4328 or gussow@sptimes.com