MEX

The stories behind why novel product categories are introduced are often more important than the first product in the new line-up.  In the 20 years I’ve been writing about technology, I’ve seen plenty of good new products arrive, only to disappear – unsupported – after just 1 or 2 release cycles.  Nokia’s Lumia 2520 and Windows RT, anyone?

Reading between the lines of Lenovo’s September 2016 Yoga Book launch, however, there is an interesting origin story – as reported by The Verge – which suggests the 3 year gestation period of this product is backed by an ongoing commitment to establish a significant new product line for the company.

The first generation Yoga Book touches on several of the emerging strands of user behaviour we’ve been examining in the MEX initiative for the past 6+ years:

It is rare for a commercial product to make it into our Friday inspirations at MEX, but I include it here as much as for what it represents as for the product itself.  If other manufacturers perceive Lenovo as having serious intent in this area, it may be the spur which encourages the growth of a new category, with further iterations from other industry players.This post is shared at mobileuserexperience.com as part of the promise we made in episode 19 of the MEX Design Talk podcast.  That episode was dedicated to ‘Friday inspirations’, an internal MEX project hosted on our Basecamp, where members of the team discuss products, stories and things which have caught their attention.  During the podcast, co-hosts Alex Guest and Marek Pawlowski committed to sharing their next ‘inspiration’ with the wider MEX community…so here it is!

Follow future MEX Design Talk inspirations at #mexDTI on Twitter, or – better still – post your own Friday inspiration to the MEX team!