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“I’ve worked with many design consultancies throughout my career. I’ve returned to Altitude time and again because, when it counts, I can count on Altitude. In my experience, they know how to apply deep thinking to achieve consistently usable ideas with unexpected levels of creativity.”

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Dialing Up Design.

Altitude created a series of mobile telephone concepts custom-tailored to different user groups, a highly successful design exercise that kick-started Kyocera’s innovation process and began to re-energize consumer enthusiasm for the brand. Highly targeted segmentation allowed each phone to achieve the perfect balance of function, features, size, and aesthetics.

Taking Customization Beyond Interchangeable Faceplates

It takes a lot to stand out in the mobile telephone market. It is all too easy to try pile on extra features and hop from design to design. Historically, Kyocera has been prone to these pitfalls, making buyers reluctant to commit to the manufacturer’s upper-tier offering. In an effort to rebuild confidence internally and jolt the brand to life, Kyocera sponsored an innovative user-profiling and design exercise.  When Altitude came on to the project, Kyocera had already identified 20 target consumer types. Altitude helped Kyocera narrow the focus to three segments for design conceptualization.  The three concepts would have to share the same basic platform for ease of development, manufacture, and reclamation. Otherwise, the canvas was completely blank.

Delivering Value: The Right Phone for the Right User

We fleshed out the three personality types, generating a compressive 'persona' for each and developing a well-thought-out rationale for his or her phone. For example, the “Safety Senior” phone is tailored to the needs of an older man or woman.  This persona posed a significant challenge: few seniors feel comfortable using cell phones, even though mobile access to emergency assistance has obvious benefits. Therefore, the Safety Senior phone would not be used for long chats with friends or frequent calls to the office. Instead, it would focus on instilling the peace of mind that comes with knowing how to quickly and easily summon help.

As a result, everything about the design articulates comfort, simplicity, and reassurance. The screen and the buttons are oversized and well lit, but in proportion to avoid making the phone toy like.  All telephone numbers can be voice activated, and a large external button can be dedicated to 911 calls or any other preprogrammed phone support.  Family members and roadside assistance can also be autodialed. It is easy to hold, with concave side profiles for easy opening. At the same time, the phone is elegant and unintrusive, dispensing with the potentially embarrassing 'panic button' and incorporating the use of leather so that the overall look is reminiscent of a well-made wallet.

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