I think to sum up the last meeting , would be to say  the requirements that we've  set out . Those are we were going to go for what seemed to be a fairly minimal design based on  a small joystick , L_C_D_ and a couple of other buttons for navigation  with power being I suppose one of the main single purpose buttons .  we were also going to use novelty of being able to locate the remote control again via a small transmitter with any luck , the idea to try and separate us and also because of the minimal design  looks like we'll be able to be fairly adventurous in the actual physical shape of our remote control with any luck . So we'll just crack on ,  like to maybe start with the Industrial Designer if it's possible . industrial designer: I'll just project manager: This  meeting is the conceptual design phase and is  Sorry about this . And is to cover things like  what the parts might be made of , can we  outsource these from elsewhere ,  will we have to construct any items ourselves ? industrial designer:  I have a presentation I just saved it in the  the folder .  joystick we'll probably if we're gonna use it ,  could be plastic w or rubber even as well .  can either use a hand dynamo , or the kinetic type ones , you know that they use in watches , or else  a solar powered one . project manager: the kinetic one , we've 'cause that's the ones where like you the movement causes it . project manager:  the bat  the battery for a a watch wouldn't require a lot of power , would be my one query . project manager: Is a kinetic one going to be able to supply enough power ? user interface: There's also a watch moves around a great deal more . project manager: Which I suppose as well would allow us to go off the shelf again , you'd say ? industrial designer:  .  one is a flat one , and then more original ones are single curved one or one with a double curved .  the materials are tha there as you can see , but  you can't have a titanium one for a double curved , project manager: marketing: Titanium , the really strong metal , titanium ? industrial designer:  which would be Yeah , marketing: Is it not also it's expensive ? industrial designer: and light .  , I don't know if you'd be able to off the top of your head or not , the single curved and double curved , would you be able to give an example ? industrial designer:  . project manager:  could you maybe draw something ? I you don't doesn't have to be perfect , it's just 'cause I'm not quite sure if I understand the difference between the two . Well for a curved , well I was thinking to f for to sit in your the palm of your hand . industrial designer:  which obviously it looks better than the single curve , but  you can't have it in titanium , which is  a nice material . industrial designer: and for the buttons ,  it can have the scroll wheel which they use in mouses for com P_C_s .  but  it requires a more expensive chip to use , and if you wanna use L_C_D_ it's even more expensive .  if you want the buttons to be oh yeah , if you have a double curve  control and it's rubber , then you have these rubber buttons as well . But you're gonna ha I reckon you're gonna have to have  key a number keypad anyway for the amount of channels these days . You wouldn't want to just have to scroll through all the channels to get to the one you want .  so you've got a little bit about the the chip that we might require as well ? industrial designer: Yeah . So , depends where gonna spend the money if you want the f fancy L_C_D_ display . project manager: do you have any idea so far , like when we're saying that we'd need an advanced chip for an L_C_D_ , does that in shoot the cost up by a drastic amount ? Or ? marketing: Need an advanced chip for the L_C_D_ . project manager: if you press a button that sends a certain transmission through the infra-red , whereas I think if we're controlling the L_C_D_ we definitely require a much more powerful chip . Yeah ? industrial designer: Yeah i project manager: Okay ,  should I go on , or go back ? industrial designer:  marketing: if we only have twelve Pounds fifty , twelve Euros , not even twelve Pounds . Twelve Euros , what's that , like eight pounds or something like that , nine Pounds ? project manager: Well we'd also be relying on the  the bulk buying in producement and such . If you go to the one before that  so it just says what it does , translate the key press into an infra-red signal and this is received by the T_V_ .  the chip just needs to detect the signal or detect the key press and then  it'll send it to the tr the amplifier . industrial designer: And  then the next slide just shows how the  copper wires  interact with the buttons , the rubber buttons ,  to  get sent to the chip . So in the information that you've been supplied , how feasible would you say that the idea of using an L_C_D_ looks ? industrial designer:  I think we can do it if  we use conventional batteries and not have solar cells or kinetic . project manager:  I'm not sure if there's any cost differences between single and double curved and I'm I don't know about anybody else , but plastic or rubber as a traditional form of casing would seem to be a good way forward ? .  I'm actually gonna be bold and go oo go straight for rubber  for reasons I'll go into  in more detail . Now I'm gonna have to work between the  the slides and the  and the white board project manager: Yeah .   I was given a an H_T_M_L_ file giving  various ideas from  from other previous remote control designs , and pretty much decided to just dump them all . I wasn't very impressed by them and they didn't seem to re  nothing I saw seemed to meet the sorts of design specifications that we're going for today .  so what I ra rather than looking at other remotes ,  ra oomp be better to simply look at the human hand .  and try and f  and try and figure out a way of laying out the elements we've already decided on ,  so that if r a if so that the finger is e each finger or thumb is wherever it needs to be already .  and what we've basically decided on was the the  the joy  the joystick , two function buttons and the L_C_D_ , just keep it paired down to the absolute minimum . I don't actually think we need the  the numeric keypad because if you m because one of the menus that we could have available  v via via the L_C_D_ is one where you scroll through channels , so if there's something f and be bear in mind since this isn't meant to work for  marketing: digital . user interface: f f f for di for digital or  or for or for cable , whatever , industrial designer: Ah , okay . user interface: you're basically looking at four or five terrestrial channels , and then  your V_C_  and then the channel through your V_C_R_ and or D_V_D_ player . You must have two two modes , basic mode , where  the joystick's  left right left right for channels , up down for volume ,  and the   and the menu mode for  further functions .  now the reason I was particularly interested in using rubber for this is that if we're going to have a highly ergonomic design ,  it needs to be ergonomic for left or right handed people . project manager: That would suggest the double curved design's probably going to be most appropriate , then . user interface: basi basically what I basically what the what be having  , I would say , the the whole thing articulated at two points , so that if you if you're handing it from a lef  left or right handed user you can adjust it so that the  the L_C_ the L_C_D_ and the  The joystick would be in the right place . And also this is a rather nicer de  design gimmick that the the  you know the whole thing you know it should have sort of organic feel to it project manager:  . user interface: that it should be , you know , soft to touch and can be moved around all nice . Just to let you know we'll probably be quite tight for time as well , user interface: Okay . project manager: because I think you've probably got a lot you'd like to say , I guess . The  Assuming the hand the hand to be in about sort of this position ,  hol  holding the remote , the  the joystick unit should rest over the  the joint of the f of the  four finger so that it's directly accessible for the thumb .  and it would need t there would need to be a it would need to be articulated just below that so that it could be switched around for  left or right handed users . You then have a grip section that can be more or less the same irrespective of handedness . You just have big two big buttons that cover most of the area so it can in the upper part , one for the four finger , one for the middle finger .  , and that marketing: Is this the joystick ? user interface: Th this part here is the joystick . And you then have , at the  at the bottom , the L_C_D_ , and this would need to be articulated as well . And again , this part could be rotated , so it can So so so that it can be adjusted to either left or right handed user .  So the t  the top function button in basic mode would be the on off switch and menu mode would be the enter button . So I thought th the simplest way around that would be to have  a cable to connect it to the computer some some fair iv fairly fairly simple software on the computer just so that you on your computer just so that you could  pr program it at a rather in a rather more comfortable interface . And you could download programs for it from  for  T_V_s from all sort of main manufacturers .  though you i it would be necessary to have  have a m  have a ha have a mode for programming it without the computer ,  just in case there are there are still people left out there who don't have them yet . We compared  whether people want the remote control to do a lot of stuff or they want it to look cool . And then we we research  fashion trends in Europe , what's what's the new black , project manager: Okay .  we found , in order of importance , people want the remote control to look cool more than they want it to to be cool . As in they want it to do a lot of good s they want it to look like it does a lot , and if it does do a lot that's a bonus , but they don't care so much , you know . People want it to be that , but s still they care more about the way it looks than what it does . And easy to use , it it just so happens that  from the second point to the third point is twice as important  the second point is twice as important as the third point . People want it I is it has to be cooler than easy to use , you know , if it has the newest features , even if it's difficult to use , prefer it to have the newest features . The fashion , now this is seems a bit odd to me , but fruit and veg is the new is the new black for furniture , for clothes , for shoes . project manager: marketing: But I I see I come on to that in the next in the next slide . If it's the type of rubber that you can squeeze , you know , it's spongy , then can I skip the rest ? industrial designer: Oh yeah , I forgot to mention that . marketing: So  so my personal opinion ?  we want something fancy and techni technologically innovative , obviously . But what we what we need is something that looks like it's from the future that looks cool , that's that's different , you know , that's everyone has a white remote control , black remote control , you need something cool .  now the fruit and veg options , either we we go in that direction or we stay totally away from it .   the research did come up with fruit and veg , so maybe it is important for it's the up to the interface guy . So if we stay away from it , s you know stay away from it , but if we're gonna go along with it then it doesn't necessarily have to be like an apple or something like that , or a kiwi fruit . It could be something like , I say potato peeler but I'm sure you guys have a have a much cooler idea than I do . I think maybe they were I don't know , back in the day when they first came up with remote controls , they had a reason for it being project manager: So  if we want something strong and sturdy , I say stay with plastic or titanium , but if we go with spongy , we can stress that you can drop this as many times as you want , it doesn't matter , it's spongy material , it's not gonna break , you know . I just don't know how the L_E_D_ and the lights are gonna fit into a spongy material because it's not gonna be completely squeezable . So how do things fit it ? And if we are gonna use spongy , we can say it's long lasting , you know it's damage resistant and stuff like that , so . So just to summarise , people want stuff that's cool , that's that looks like it's cool , and if it is cool then that's a bonus doesn't have to be  people like fruit and veg . If we're gonna use spongy material we have to think of how practical it is , and how we can further promote that idea . So , things change all the time , every year you know they they always talk about this year , this is the new black . project manager: Well ,  I would say that the most you could probably hope for is gaining a year's lead on most people anyway . You always have to bring out new designs , so if we can get next year then that's possibly a good place to start anyway . project manager: Seems like a a lot of the components could be off the shelf , so I don't exactly what cost would be incurred .  I can see your point about the number keypad , but I've I would say that we can probably incorporate it into the menu system if you need to do traversal of a large number of channels . industrial designer: project manager: My feeling would be that even if at a later date this was to be taking control of  boxes as well  having the use of the L_C_D_ and the joystick would probably allow you to manipulate enough channel numbers for you to be user interface: Yeah , actually if you've got a lot of channels , the number keypad can be quite annoying as well , becau it's you know if you're trying to remember what  , you know , what number's the discovery channel or whatever . user interface: But if you h but but but if you have a me but if you have a menu structure , then you can sub-group them . project manager: So what it looks like to me is we'll use a large number of standard components , say something like  lithium ion battery , the kind that you find in most  small hand held devices now . Though I'd have to say depending on how flexible it is , we might need to have some kind of inner frame . user interface: Yeah , I I would say definitely ,    the the idea of having it sort of articulated i th there would be basically two points of articulation . So project manager: Do you think there's any way we could maybe remove the articulation ? I can see why it looks appealing , but it could be a weak point in  the structure , do you think ? user interface:  . industrial designer: If you're going with the fruit and veg thing , looks like a banana . user interface: I d I don't thi I don't think that it would be a a structural weakness , marketing: . marketing: user interface:  if you have a firm s sub-structure , you can then incorporate articulation into that . If you then have a sort of outer skin of  flexible , spongy rubber then you have something that is you know very much you know organic , and I think would look rather co  mi rather cool .  my drawing there doesn't doesn't do it justice , it makes it makes it look more a little bit more like a vibrator than a than a  than a remote control , project manager: user interface: but  . industrial designer: project manager: However , one interesting point is , I don't know how serious you were there , but we if we take some of the ideas why don't we make the damn thing yellow to incorporate the des the colour of the logo ? industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: It's an certainly a different colour from your average  user interface: Make it harder to lose , as well . project manager: Was there anything in your research marketing: The noise for when you lose the banana ,  f yeah , for when you lose the remote control , it could be like a a monkey noise or something like that , rather than a standard beep beep . industrial designer: project manager: marketing: Y you know , you lose the monkey the banana , industrial designer: monkey . project manager: marketing: y you lose the banana , you press a button , and you hear like monkey screams or something like that to direct you towards the banana . user interface: I th   if it I think that's something that could perhaps be programmable , though maybe have monkey as default . Now I think it'd be cool if you had one remote control that could work with all T_V_s , you know you s you click a button and it finds the frequency that works with your particular television . marketing: But why you'd need to program it like as as a standard feature , I I don't know . user interface: Well basi basically the  for f for   e each manufacturer will have a partic will have a particular command set that  the T_V_ responds to . user interface: So  usually what's done is you have this big booklet full of different possi you'll have all of them sort of programmed in to the  remote , and you'll have this little booklet of codes you then find your  ma  find your manufacturer marketing: marketing: That's because televisions , they don't give the remote control any type of feedback when you send it . user interface: So that's that's quite annoying and we probably would still have to do that . But if we had  some sort of hook-up to your computer as an option , then if you've got a computer you can avoid that rather irritating thing . project manager: An interesting point is that if the person doesn't have the computer , we can still make the process easier because instead of having to look up codes , maybe we can have it that one of the options they have is that they look up the name of the company on the L_C_D_ user interface: Yeah . project manager: Or we have the remote control just go through them until it's like does this do the correct function , and such . marketing: Is it is it actually a book of names to digits , or is it like a few pages ? user interface:  booklet . This person probably need to use this feature like once , you know , when you first buy the remote control , or whenever they buy a new television , so user interface: Yeah . project manager: Doesn't have to be used very often marketing: once every s project manager: that's right , yeah . marketing: and it's user interface: And it's a nuisance very close to the to  to actually purchasing it , so it's something that you're likely to be thinking about . user interface: If you if there's w i if there's one in the shop that's that says it can avoid much of that nuisance , you might be favourably inclined towards it . project manager: Okay , this just to give us a rough idea of what we're meant to be doing for the next stage .  I think we've decided on what , you know , decided on standard items for most of  rubber and such , so we're now looking at the detailed design and what we need to be doing for the next meeting .  So for example ,  I'll just start at the top , you've got yourself and the Industrial Designer gonna be working quite closely at this stage 'cause it'll be hard not to , obviously .  The user interface design , They're kind of it looks they're the idea I've pushed forward so far is maybe more of a physical one there , whereas possibly be more interested in maybe how the L_C_D_'s going to incorporate , do you think ? user interface:  . project manager: Or do you s perceive that most the design design decisions still need to be based on the physical layout ? user interface:  well I I think other than ge getting a sort of more aesthetically pleasing form for it ,  mo most of the sort of layout design decisions are are made , I would say .  but then again , the  the menu structure to to a considerable extent that's gonna vary according to the model of television , and also any customisations that the user might wish to incorporate . So  and one of the nice things about having an L_C_D_ and a menu structure is that there is that flexibility to it . marketing: Yeah , you see I don't some of these things kinda logically follow the others . project manager: I I think we'd be yeah , no , it'd be more a case of how do we envisage us performing the product evaluation once we have a model to test with . project manager:  so it'd be a case of do you think that just bringing users in to have them test it out ,  maybe putting a certain number of products into the field in certain places which I suppose is quite similar . project manager: Or just kind of hitting the streets and you know saying this is a new remote control , what do you think of the look of it ?  marketing: Okay , sure . At this stage we still have no no target audience or project manager: I think the target audience is pretty much anybody under the age of say maybe sixty or something ludicrous . project manager:  the reason I'm saying that is we're just looking at a a replacement remote control , something that's stylish , so maybe you're even just maybe you're narrowing down your target audience simply by saying marketing: And it's stylish . project manager: if they're buying it that often or they're maybe looking to replace something then , they've got a bit of free cash , so that puts them potentially in the younger age bracket . project manager: Although of course  at twenty five Euros , I don't think we're looking at charging the earth for the  device . U_S_B_'s definitely one of the cheapest interfaces out there , but it might push the cost of the overall unit up 'cause it would require not just the connection but the chip for communicating with the rest of the system . project manager: The the idea was that maybe it could connect up for  allowing a software interface on the P_C_ for a larger programming industrial designer: Oh right , okay . project manager: due to the fact that we've gone for such a nice , easy minimal design , normally . marketing: We've w definitely talking some type of industrial designer: But didn't they just say it's just for T_V_ , or are we gonna project manager: It's just for T_V_ , but for marketing: Different . project manager: programming it to use your T_V_ , you might hook it up to the P_C_ . project manager: I'm not sure , but I'm thinking maybe that the additional cost of the U_S_B_ might be prohibitive . user interface: Yeah , marketing: But you're gonna need some type of flash memory or something . marketing: you wouldn't have to redo the whole thing once the batteries are changed , you know , once you turn off the power . The other thing  it  it would need to ha it would need to have  some sort of on board memory anyway . user interface:  f for one for one thing because I do think that the menu system should be    although you know , it's not going to be terribly complicated if it's just controlling one device , the menu system ought to be  o ought to be customisable and  marketing: Different languages ,  different skins and stuff like that . How  how  how you want say the  the the menu structure for flicking through channels if you've got lots of channels . I if it was customisable as in different languages and stuff , that does open it is supposed to be international , right ? So . marketing: It would make sense if you could project manager:  and we'd better be careful about the time as well . project manager: So  user interface: Where is the clay ? marketing: project manager: do I think we've got an idea of where we need to go for the next meeting , would you say ? marketing: Yeah . industrial designer: they're going with the fashion thing , like the design , spongy rubber . I th I think I would largely want to actually steer clear of the whole sort of fruit and veg thing . project manager: We seem to have quite a general consensus that the idea of the the r rubber could be quite marketing: Yeah . user interface: I having it i having it sort of br bright yellow I think that's quite a good idea , though maybe we could have options for colours as well .  we are trying to promote a remote control , but we wanna keep the company brand as well , user interface: project manager: So we always need to remember that somewhere we're meant to be getting the slogan on . Possibly I'm think I'm not sure but I'm seeing a little bit of space around maybe the joystick area which could be used . I was like like I said before I I think we should have the R_R_ on the  on the top function button