2.8¢ : Design with Customers in Mind

I recently talked to a RISD (top ranked design school in US) student on their project with the company OXO. 'Good Grips' was the breakthrough that helped the company to earn its current market place years ago since the designing team spent tremendous of time to understand the needs of customer segments before the first sketch of design was drawn. The proposal for design school students will not be approved based on only creativity, but also usefulness. The real life experience for him this summer is that not all the beautiful idea can sell, so he has to make some compromises between the art world and the business world.

Customization seems like a solution. Target has launched a service in 2004 called ‘Target to a T’ where customers can design their own clothing online. Although Target currently only offers very limited choice, customers can pick their preferred color, fit, rise, and packet/leg styles and of course the clothing is made to fit the size. It costs $36.99 for a pair of jeans, which is not bad at all. The information gathered from the customers might also be analyzed to help Target to design their store brand clothes. Because Target did not offer too many different product lines, they should be able to mass produce the clothing at a very competitive price and make the purchase more easy and convenient for its shoppers. The idea is great, but I don’t see my self buying custom clothes online particularly, since I am skeptical that the jeans will look and feel exactly the way I want it to be. Another reason may be because trying out different things is part of the fun of shopping --- for girls, at least. In addition, I feel the web site is a bit lacks of human touch and I seriously doubt the general public enjoy shopping on Target to a T. Nevertheless, I personally think customization of Timbuk2 is a brilliant idea and I think if Louis Vuitton could do the similar thing on its signature canvas bag, it can reach another level of luxury.

The 64 million dollars question for any product launch is "how to enhance customers experience even though the product is already customized by request". I don’t have an answer, but product development certainly should come hand in hand with customer feedback to reach the ultimate satisfaction. Stores like 'Timbuk2' or 'Target to the T' must constantly review customer satisfaction survey and evaluate what’s the disconnect between customer expectation and reality of the product they ordered. The truth is customers can always put together a customized BMW online, but they rarely pay for it without a test drive.