MEX

‘My tomorrow began today’, and through my ‘digital sixth sense’, I have ‘experienced success’. Thankfully, that ‘tomorrow is sponsored by Intel’ and now, well, now I can ‘explore more’. Time, however, is running short, as I am scheduled for a ‘playful mobile celebration’, which will bring me closer to my dance partner (Nokia, in case you’re wondering). By the end of today, I hope Samsung will have inspired me to collaborate and maybe, just maybe, I will ‘touch the smart life’ promised by LG.

Welcome, one and all, to the language of mobility, circa 2013.

It is, of course, easy to become jaded by the ill conceived marketing messages of a trade show, but there is a wider issue of how the product development language influences the outcomes which become consumer products.

Did you see Sir Jonathan Ive, head of design at Apple, accepting his gold Blue Peter badge recently? The producers of this BBC children’s programme asked Sir Jonathan, arguably the most influential designer of digital experiences, to judge a competition which asked viewers to create a combined lunch box, bag and pencil case.

His first reaction was to caution the presenter on the use of the word ‘box’, telling him how his teams at Apple played close attention to the language they used while designing because of the prejudice it created in product outcomes. Watch the video below from 1 minute (01:00) in:

Not all of the marketing at Mobile World Congress will be seen by consumers, but much will. Even that which doesn’t reach the average customer will be influencing those walking the trade show halls, who will create next year’s products.

Read the first paragraph again and have a think about how relevant this language is to the customers its creators are supposed to serve. User experience begins in the conception.