Tonight, Sundberg-Ferar’s Director of Strategic Growth, Jeevak, was an invited speaker at an in-depth discussion on developing intelligent connected products. Centrepolis Accelerator organized this event at the beautiful Lawrence Tech University campus for an audience of professionals involved in all aspects of connected products, whether from larger companies or startups. Anticipation was tangible in the packed room as all the guests chatted, made new connections, and waited to hear from the lineup of expert speakers.
Jeevak’s presentation inspired and rallied the audience with the power of industrial design thinking in developing intelligent and connected hardware products. Jeevak showed the audience that it is only by the integration of industrial design thinking that we can prevent ourselves from creating another banal or even frustrating “intelligent” product. The industrial design process is the only thing rigorous enough to produce an authentic understanding of the end user and correctly translate this understanding into a connected product. “Your product is the only honest container of your brand promise” Jeevak explained. In a market where technology is advancing so rapidly, it is paramount that we not lose sight of the final purpose of the product: To meet the needs and desires of all of its multi-users. Otherwise we fall prey to pumping out new connected and intelligent products simply because we can.
Jeevak demonstrated how our work at Sundberg-Ferar injects emotional response into everyday products, and our belief that any product – connected or not – can always be made a bit better and a bit more beautiful. He contrasted the needs of a product from the functional perspective, including business viability and tech feasibility, with the needs of a product from the emotional perspective. Jeevak challenged the audience to broaden their view and presented a panoramic of the emotional forces that are always acting on a product, whether we realize it or not: Culture, context, value, behavior and beauty. Industrial designers bring a deep understanding of these forces to the product development process. Only by employing industrial design to balance these emotional needs and functional needs can a company develop a successful, useful and usable intelligent product.
Over the course of the evening several experts in other aspects of connected products also shared their perspectives with the enthusiastic and curious audience. Each speaker brought a new dimension to the discussion and was met with multiple questions from the group. The scope of topics included everything from defining intelligent connected products to deciding which systems and technologies are most appropriate for a given product, to actually bringing these products into the physical world and making them useful and useable.
By the end of the night, the audience came away with a robust download of knowledge on the product development process and on local resources available to help them succeed. More than that, entrepreneurs and businesses alike were spurred on to use the knowledge they’ve gained in making their products a bit better and a bit more beautiful through industrial design.
Centrepolis Accelerator fuels the growth of Southeast Michigan’s small manufacturers and hardware entrepreneurs by providing access to key resources specific to their unique needs. The organization works collaboratively with the City of Southfield, and Lawrence Technological University to provide leaders of these businesses with access to mentors, workshops, cutting-edge technologies, corporate connections, college students, events, workspace, and a collaborative community of peers. For more info on Centrepolis, click here.
Jeevak is a national-level keynote speaker on Industrial Design and Business as well as Principal + Director of Strategic Growth at Sundberg-Ferar The company is a full-service Product Innovation Studio that has been supporting the Product, Vehicle, and Medical industries both nationally and globally from its Metro Detroit location since 1934. Jeevak helps companies understand the fundamental role of Industrial Design Thinking: To leverage usefulness, usability, ergonomics & aesthetics as unique and compelling differentiators in their products – all in order to aid the sustainable growth of business, plan for the entire range of use-case scenarios, and design for ideal user experiences. For more info on Sundberg-Ferar, click here.