business.

developing my business case. money.people.branding.market.talking. conversations with experts and myself.

The market for digital pens is one I have researched in depth. Digital pens record movements and then translate to digital. This is a concept that initally offered the technology behind my final concept. The image above is of the FLY pen, when you write the fly fusion pentop cmpuer on FLY paper, everything is automatically capturd and digitised. Anoto-based products have about 20,000 business users worldwide

For more than two decades, the dream of controlling a computer with a pen has seduced and, more often than not, frustrated some of the biggest luminaries in the technology pantheon, including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

“The challenge, like with all technologies, is to package it in a way that people will want to use”

Instead of forcing users to write with a stylus on a computer’s slippery display, Livescribe put the computer inside a plump ballpoint pen that is used on paper imprinted with nearly invisible miniature dots. As a user writes, a tiny camera near the pen’s tip watches those dots go by, recording what is being written.

Mr. Marggraff said calling it pen computing is a misnomer: “We are creating paper-based computing,” he said.

In addition to the camera, the pen, which is about the size and weight of a fat montblanc pen, has two microphones to record sound, a speaker for playback, a small display that is called a pixel bar, and, of course, a hidden computer chip and other sophisticated electronics. It fits into a docking station, where it can upload or download programs and data files to and from a PC.

The Livescribe pen is a more advanced version of the LeapFrog Fly Pentop Computer, which itself has some impressive abilities, even if it is intended for children. Fly users can draw a calculator on paper and make it work by tapping the keys with the pen; a speaker in the pen plays back the results. Users can also draw a piano keyboard on a piece of paper and play a tune on it.

“Ironically, the big behavior change may be to get this younger generation to pick up this unfamiliar instrument called the pen.”

moleskin.

Moleskin is a company who has a very similar target market to Douceurs. The company brand is associated with identity. imagination. movement. memory and unique experiences. Moleskin is a brand that expresses values and lifestyles.

Moleskine is a flexible medium that complements leisure time and daily use, the creative arts and professions, study, research, and training. They provide products ranging from notebooks and albums, to agendas and diaries, to travel guides for various cities. The extensive assortment of moleskine products provides a platform for a wide array of communications contexts.

By expressing values and lifestyles both classic and contemporary and by sharing and intersecting these values with similarly-minded organizations, Moleskin articulate these shared values. Moleskine can satisfy all of their clients’ and partners’ communications needs. They are most definately a company that would potentially offer the Douceurs product.

" losing my passport was the least of my worries; losing a notebook was a catastrophe" Bruce Chatwin

The Red Dot Award offers a journey into the future of design. It searches for what all designers and companies aspire to: a seemingly impossible idea, a brave vision, which turns into a stroke of genius and which has the power to improve our world.

 

This is the winner of The Red Dot award: a digital product that combines a recording device with traditional seal, Credit Seal records promises made between parent and child, or between adults.

A promise is important to both a child and an adult alike. Credit Seal is designed as a “game” that records and seals promises between a parent and child, or between adults. Parents often make promises to their children, but at times these promises are left unfulfilled due to the parents’ busy schedule. this could potentially affect the trust children place in promises.

With Credit Seal, promises are recorded and are able to be retrieved at the anticipated date. The names of the parties involved print their names and the date of the promise in the area indicated by the stamp. This game is played to emulate the signing of contracts between adults. The child learns to understand the value of promises between adults through this game, and thus, the child will be encouraged to adopt a good set of values, including sincerity and trust. This product is aimed at a similar target audience to Douceurs.

fuzzmail.

talking to the maker of fuzzmail reinforced the market for my product.

"Yep, I empathize with your project, and am glad to see you pursuing this space. There's a lot of room for improvement."

motorola branding.

This image is an example of the essence of my project being portrayed in one single image. Achieving this image is crucial to the brand of douceurs. My brand must convey the seamless connection between the old and the new.

www.futureme.org

Futureme.org allows you to write yourself an email to be delivered at a later date. based on the principle that memories are less accurate then emails.

"Dear Future me lets us eavesdrop on the silly, hilarious and heart breaking conversations that ordnary people have with extraordinary people they hope- or fear- they will someday become, providing a fascinating view of the human mind on it's one-way trip through time." Daniel Gilbert. Professor of Psychology, Harvard Univeristy.

At the moment there are 535,049 letters in Futuremes database...and counting.

Here are two examples fom the website. The concept of Futureme is very similar to Douceurs. However, the website is very poorly designed and the site is mainly used in America. The large volume of users proves the concept appeals to large section of society.

Dear FutureMe,

For the past 6 years you've been unable to make up your mind about leaving her. When it's good, you want to stay forever. When it's bad, it's hell on earth. You think you've made up your mind to stay for sure this time, have you?
This is your 15th anniversary. You've never been with a partner this long. Do you want to continue? Did you give up? If things haven't changed by now, if you are still sitting on the fence, please, listen to me, GET THE HELL OFF!
Leave her and get it over with. Don't waste another day.
You'll live. Because I will still be here for you and you are incredible!
If things are good, then listen to me. I told you so.

Dear FutureMe,

Your have now attained your dreams. You are successful, married and business is booming! You have a beautiful wife and children. You are finally secure in your life and look forward to each day with great expectations of building a brighter future for your family. You lucky dog you married the girl of your dreams!

PS Thanks for believing in yourself even when nobody else did.

This article from the Herald discusses Royal Mails endevaour to increase sales online - Douceurs would be sold online as well as in store.

carve your letter.

The designers of this wooden card prompt users to carve their musings onto this postcard-sized slice of cedar wood and deliver it to the object of their affection. This highlights my initial research into how people perceive making their private messages public.

the new guide to identity.

futurelaboratory publication.

philips vision of the future.

"social trends and product opportunities."

Subjectivity : people are searching for identity, people take time out nowadays to reflect on what their true values of life are.

Sociability : we need other people. families are becoming fragmented to the extent that relatives are moving, not only away from home, but often to another part of the country or world. naturally, through the medium of telecommuncations - phones, faxes and email, people are trying to stay in touch, but, in the future we will see the emergence of products which link people far apart in more satisfying ways than are currently available.

Time and space : time can be considered in two different ways - one is to consider our ever accelerating lifestyle. People have a sense that a lot is happening at once, that they are doing many things at the same time that they never have enough time and that they are constantly struggling to keep up with demands of modern life.

Also consider the moments when times stand still: moments of rest, mediation or wonder. These are moments when we become aware of our relation with the past, our heriatage, and when we see ourselves as part of a continuing tradition.

Space can also be considered in two ways: personal space that is familiar and comfortable. This trend is often referred to as cocooning, the sense of feeling comfortable in one's own territory.

Space can also be considered has having no borders. through telecommunications we are able to to communicate in real time, over vast distances. We can also join virtual communities whilst remaining members of our physical community. As a result our subjective experience of distance has changed, and physical borders no longer limit our ability to communicate with people in distant places.

Fact highlighting the need for Douceurs - in one year an average student writes up 42 pages of notes and 500 pages of emails.

This article from the Sunday Times is interesting as it shows two constrating views on our lives becoming so impersonal. The views of the female writer are extremely similar to my personal views and the views of potential Douceurs customers.

hand written valentines.

This company offers to hand write your message in scented ink on a parchment roll. They have a large market and have many respected customers...

This little article from a local Newspaper again highlights the shocking effects that texting is having on our younger generation. Perhaps, if Douceurs had been introduced to these children in school the effect would lessen , even is just a little.

This article from the BBC website portrays the reality that post boxes are here to stay. They are protected by the Queen and will continue to be protected for decades to come.

This article from the Herald highlights the lifestyle of the few amongst the population who do not own mobile phones and their reasons behind their decision. It also highlights that although the majority of us who use mobile phones do not actually like using them.

"the soundtrack of modern life is a cacophony of pings, rings and buzzes"

"Oftel Residents Survey in 2007 showed that there are more than 65 million mobile subscriptions in the UK. 4% of adults aged between 25 and 44 don't have a mobile phone."

One of these people is William Morrison, 35, an english teacher based in Aberdeen. He is adamant he will never succumb to a mobile. "I regard them as the single most annoying things ever invented in the complete history of the human race," he says. He is aware of the problems this creates in getting hold of him, but wears his elusiveness with pride: "I must confess, I enjoy the fact that even arranging this article has been made harder by the fact I refuse to play the mobile game."

"Why must everything in the world be instantaneous and automatic?Mobiles phones pander to the worst traits in our own personalities and in our society. They celebrate crass, selfish behaviour."

Mobiles are favoured by the needy and the clingy, people who are totally unable to function with out engaging in the most mind numbingly trite exchanges. We're breeding a generation who are unable to cope unless they have one of these tiny glowing comforters in their hands.

Barry Shelby, 47, a freelance writer who works from home in Glasgow. mobile phones are an invasion of privacy and prevent people from becoming fully absorbed in what they are doing. given the choice email is his preferred choice of communication. "Again, I think it's control. I can see the emails that come in. I can read them, and then I can decide when want to respond.

When it comes to personal calls, he prefers to meet up for long chats as opposed to speaking for any length of time on the phone. These people are definately potential customers for my service.

The graph below demonstrates in the UK, higher income and better educated AB households receive 70% more mail than DE households.

The following statictis were taken from the paper Is there a future for mail? by the Postal Rate Commision. Luis Jimenez.

The use of electronic mail increases the use of paper in offices by 40%. In the first ten years after the introduction ot the PC, paper uses in offices doubled. With the explosion of the internet and web-based email, office printing grew 56% in 1996-2003.  72% of companies in the USA "keep everything or many things" on paper.

It is a myth that paper will disappear.

“The paperless office is close”
Business week, 1975

“By the turn of the century we will live in a paperless society”
Business week, 1986

“If mail service fails to improve, 60% of mail will be delivered electronically by the year 2000”
Wall street journal, 1987

“Electronic Mail…could replace 25% of snail mail by 2000”
TIME magazine, 1998

“Email is disrupting postal services. The volume of communication that is done by letter dropping is precipitously, leaving postal services with magazine, bills and junk mail” The Innovators Solution, 2003

The optimists were also wrong.

“The citizens who live in the nest century will pay one cent for a postage stamp.” Postmaster General, 1893.

"Free mail delivery will be universal." author 1893

“Before man reached the moon mail will be delivered by rockets between New York and Australia.” Postmaster General, 1959.

“It is very difficult to make predictions, especially about the future”
Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1922

 

Smilers.

This is a service that Royal Mail provide - targeted to a similar market as Douceurs. The service is designed to allow users to capture and share their treasured memories on mail.

I personally used this service to allow me to gain a deeper insight into the way their service works, the touchpoints involved and the website.

I created a stamp that will feature on prototypes of Douceurs:

This document was produced by the Royal Mail. The information documented is crucial to the business model of Douceurs. The main issues are highlighted below:

More than half of all UK households are now online and broadband take up has doubled in last year. The average household invests an average of £230 getting online.

Around 250,000 people nationwide live too far away from a local shop, so there is a considerable potential for more home shopping in future.

Brand value counts for alot online.

The web as a medium is more rational and less emotional than real world experience. With 30% of online shoppers logging into peer review sites, word of mouth has never been more powerful.

There are 14,ooo post offices and 100,00 post boxes in Britain.

Trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt said "The service is in profit and is going in the right direction."

Service quality is going up and postmen and post woman who do an outstanding job - earning up to £300 a week.

A loss of more than 1million a day three years ago has been turned into profit of more than 1million in a day in 2005.

Royal Mail is one of the country's most prominent enablers of communication.

"Royal Mail does understand that mail has an environmental impact and we're doing all we can to address that. We're specifically interested in mail media, which we believe can be produced in an environmentally responsible way."

The services pictured below are services that Douceurs could potentially work very closely with.

The following are examples of unique services that Royal Mail currently provide.

Analysing these service is my approach to Benchmarking:

Benchmarking involves looking at providers that offer a different service but with similar characteristics to the service being designed. It is helpful to look at the service that is already developed from a different perspective as well as to learn from the experience other companies have in providing characteristics that are the same to the service that is developing.

My service is, in simplistic terms an evolution of the current Keepsafe service - over a longer period of time.

branding.

 

The recent branding fro Apples new product focuses on the simplicity and thoughtfulness associated with envelopes. I believe this add corresponds very well with the branding Douceurs will adopt.

This data shows how Royal Mail is continually innovating and striving to improve their service.

The Douceurs website will potentially feature in the home page of the Royal Mail which has very strong branding and colours associated throughout. Their tag line 'with us it's personal' also heavily relates to the branding values of my service.

 

The business model .

Who are my intended customers?

People who appreciate thoughtfulness, have strong personal values, ambitious, dreamers, creatives, people who write letters regularly, read books, write poems, visit libraries…parents, lovers, friends, sons and daughters.

What is my intended route to market be?

Through companies such as Royal Mail. Post Office. Local Libraries. Museums
Stationary chains: such as Paperchase and Papermill. Scottish Antiques and Art Centre. Well known Writers. Poets. Authors. Musicians

How will I attract customer attention?

Advertising. Promotional use of the service ( i.e receiving a letter encourages recipient to become a user of the service). Website ( links to website on sites promoting gap years, universities, parenting, self counseling, entrepreneurship etc)

Features and benefits of my product?

Emotional benefits – putting feelings down on paper is proven to aid the release of tension. Letter may be mend a broken relationship. Comfort knowing loved ones will have something to remember you by. Personal sense of achievement. Personally associated with the charm of the service. Benefits your mind in terms of improving literacy skills and communication skills.

What solutions does my product/service provide?

My service provides a trustworthy solution to an experience many people desire but have no route of achieving.

Pricing?

There is no product of a similar nature on the market. The douceurs pack will be priced between £10 and £20.

Where and how will my product be manufactured/ assembled to maintain high margins?

Exclusive stationary companies such as Muji is an example of a company who have a basic principle is to develop new simple products at reasonable prices by making the best use of materials.

Through the careful selection of materials, streamlining manufacturing processes and simplifying the packaging Douceurs natural and simple design complements today’s lifestyles perfectly. Therefore, it would appeal to many companies with a similar ethos.

Douceurs seeks not to adorn the product but rather to highlight its natural colours and shapes. Faithful to the philosophy of simplicity, Douceurs product appears on shelves in simple packaging bearing only product-related information and a price tag.

How will I control any rising costs?

By continually assessing my service's place in the market and analyzing any potential competitors and adjusting my service accordingly.

How will you maintain margins through distribution?

By intelligent management input, adjusting the volume of products accordingly, as to ultimately deliver the most profitable return.

How will you maintain high quality for your product or service?

As a service is very different to a product in the sense it is ‘living’. The customer journey never fully ends and each of these stages would be continually assessesd using design techniques such as focus groups as well as using expertise in the field of Service Design.

How will you provide technical support for service?

Through an easy to navigate, thoroughly thought out website.

Does my product need to interface with other products or is it stand alone?

My product is made up of several components. The relationship between all the parts that make up the final outcome will be carefully considered.

What will your strategy be for new product development?

The service is based around people. A mixture of knowledge from experts and insight from ordinary people will allow Douceurs to develop accordingly.

How am I going to control my distribution channel against threats?

By recognizing the threats in advance and taking actions needed to overcome them – perhaps a re branding or re launch of the service.

How will I keep ahead of well funded competitors who may enter your market/produce your product?

By providing a service that is the most beautiful and seamless.

What initial funding is required to develop the product or service? What are the initial set up costs for the business?

Funding could be sourced from companies such a Royal Mail. The service has potential to source funding from postal service across the globe. Companies such as Smythsons could also provide funding. The website would be personally funded.Initially, a small batch production would perhaps be made by hand – printing and materials costs etc would perhaps reach £1000.
Charities who specialize in bringing families closer together and schools may also offer initial funding..