Economy-class seats are 17 inches wide. Seat pitch (the distance between seat backs) is typically 30 to 32 inches. Add 10 inches of legroom and we essentially travel cross-country in a mini fridge. It sucks, but it’s what we expect.

Low expectations are an opportunity. It’s one thing for an airline to announce an additional 2 inches of legroom in coach; it’s another to invest real R&D money into blowing away customer expectations. That’s exactly what Air New Zealand did when it introduced the “Skycouch” coach seats that fold out into beds:
http://bit.ly/8Mvq1t

Not only did they innovate on seating, but they also came up with an inventive pricing model to ensure that those new skycouches would be full of passengers. What I like about the Air New Zealand approach is how radically they addressed the customer need. The three-year project not only looked at ergonomics for a single passenger but also for how families and couples utilize space together. Competitors may be able to shift seats forward and backward to create more room, but most will be at least two years behind on radical innovation.

Making big improvements in customer experience during an economic downturn takes guts. It will be interesting to follow Air New Zealand’s business curve over the next two years. Given my most recent travel experience, I’m thinking: Auckland is looking like a pretty sweet destination.

We help our clients delight their customers. We expand what’s possible for people to accomplish on the technologies they use every day. We love community, embrace advocates, and put experience first. Ultimately we want to help people achieve something big — our clients and their customers alike.

Our mission points toward a future where what people want to do is more important than how they do it. For now, the world is defined in terms of social media, online media, offline media, advertising, games, etc. But as those distinctions fade, what remains is the experience. One of our goals as an agency is making sure that with the diversity of work we do, we keep in mind that the customer has a goal. There is something they are trying to accomplish, and it’s not our job to get in the way. It’s our job to surprise them with how well they were able to achieve that goal.

The moment a customer has a great experience and feels empowered in the process, that’s an OIC moment.

Objectified is a film about product design. The documentary by Gary Hustwit, who also directed Helvetica, is a passionate look at the designers desire to create objects so perfect they seem almost inevitable. Early in the film former Braun Chief of Design Detier Rams states one of his 10 principles of design “Good design is as little design as possible.” Gary takes the viewer into conversations with the luminaries of product design. There is a segment in Apple design studio with Jonathan Ive. Design firm IDEO takes the audience through a brainstorming session on a tooth brush design. Smart design reminisces the creating of the Good Grips handle from a bicycle grip. In one segment Andrew Blauvelt head of design at the Walker Design Center reveals why Japanese tooth picks are only sharp on one end.

Gary is an independent film maker. It is amazing what one man with a loptop and camera can do with a credit card. See this movie.

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/