Secluded behind the security-coded doors of Compaq Computer Corp.’s design studio, Randall Martin opens what appears to be a typical black laptop, snaps out the keyboard and mouse, and adjusts the screen up and in.
The notebook computer instantly becomes a sleek desktop arrangement with an eye-level flat-panel screen, wireless keyboard and navigation device.
“It’s the computer version of the kid’s toy Transformers, where you flip a few switches, turn a few parts and the robot turns into a racecar,” Compaq’s 43-year-old director of industrial design says with a grin.
But don’t expect to tote one home anytime soon. Martin and his nine industrial designers created the concept; now Compaq’s engineers have to figure out how to build it. That could take nine months to a year–but be assured it’s coming.
In years past, this inner sanctum of secrets, where even Martin’s bosses have to knock to enter, was strictly off-limits to outsiders. Products were kept under deep cover until the moment they were unveiled.
Now, as Compaq fights in a hostile environment of price slashing and falling demand–and tries to convince Wall Street that its proposed merger with Hewlett-Packard Co. is a good idea–it wants to tell the world that innovation is back at its global headquarters.
So Martin’s domain has become a tour stop, giving key customers and media a glimpse into the company’s future.
An internal catchphrase–coined by Michael Capellas when he became chief executive two years ago–is “cool stuff.” And Martin and his merry band of “visioneers” are knee-deep in frigidness.
The desk of one designer, Marco Ferrari, is cluttered with hand-held devices of every function, size, shape and hue.
He’s working on an all-in-one hand-held device–personal organizer, computer, MP3 entertainment center and cell phone–that should go on sale next year. It will also have wireless Internet access and fingerprint identification so you don’t have to remember passwords.
“The only thing you’ll have to remember is to have your thumb with you,” quips Martin. “It’s become such a chore to keep up with passwords that, unfortunately, people are opting not to use them.”
Wearable devices such as watches or sunglasses or earrings that meld computers into fashion statements are still figments in the minds of Compaq’s Industrial Design group–but perhaps not for long.
“What makes Randall special,” says Ken Willett, Compaq’s vice president of desktop marketing, “is his flair for design, but in a way that allows us to create technically viable products that have value to the consumer.”
PC industry veteran
That may be because Martin has been part of the PC scene since the earliest days, and he knows what happens to companies that misjudge what customers want next.
In February 1982, the native of Gasden, Ala., and recent graduate of Auburn University’s industrial design department joined IBM Corp. in ritzy Boca Raton, Fla.–just six months after that division introduced the world’s first personal computer.
A week later, Martin was in Seoul working on a graphics workstation that closely resembled a stackable washer-dryer and that had roughly the power of today’s Pocket PCs.
Martin joined Compaq as a senior designer in 1988, drawn by the 6-year-old company’s laid-back atmosphere, Houston’s depressed housing market and the feeling that the company was poised for bigger things.
Now he’s credited with the successful design of Compaq’s iPaq hand-held personal digital assistant, which is closing in on industry leader Palm Inc.
Martin’s group began an assault on office beige in May, when Compaq unveiled a complete line of business products all done in carbon and silver with a streamlined, industrial-chic look.
“Ever since the mid-’90s, the future of the PC industry seemed to be millions upon millions of boring beige boxes. Everybody looked alike,” Willett says. “Randall and his guys showed us how cool design could differentiate our products.”
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That shift toward design started under the interim leadership of Ben Rosen in 1999 after he ousted CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer. Compaq wanted to reshape its desktop computer, and the legendary technology venture capitalist told Martin to break the mold and take some risks.
Martin took Rosen at his word, weeding out functions many people don’t need, which enabled the unit to be smaller and less expensive.
“We did that project in an extremely short time,” Martin says. “That was the start in another turnaround for Compaq and the start in the rise of design for us.”
Almost simultaneously, Martin decided to start with a blank slate to design a new generation of PDAs.
He packed off his design team to Colorado Springs for some “visioneering.” The team first profiled people who weren’t buying hand-helds, giving them names such as Contractor Bob, June the Soccer Mom, Gena the Grad Student, Teenager Jen and Lee the Senior Exec.
“Then we said, `Let’s design something specifically for each at the exclusion of the others,”‘ Martin recalls. “At that time, techno-savvy early adopters and gadget freaks were the only people buying PDAs. That was Young Wired Kyle. We obviously had to design for him, too.”
The answer turned out to be “expansion packs,” or jackets for the PDAs that could be loaded with different electronic capabilities, from a keep-it-simple-stupid organizer to one with global satellite positioning, MP3 music and cranked-up memory and battery power.
The jackets could also act as cosmetic accessories: a rubberized-grip surface that looks like a power tool for Contractor Bob, one that’s curvy, cute and compact (perhaps in purple) for Teenager Jen.
A quick decision
Martin grabbed the first jacket from the hands of his modelmaker and immediately took it to the vice president of hand-held development, who just as quickly picked up the phone and asked for a 10-minute audience with Rosen.
An hour after the paint dried on the model, the concept was approved for production. “It went from `let’s do this far-out concept maybe in a year or two’ to being on the fast track out of here,” Martin says.
That’s not the norm in the world of industrial design, where a concept often gets hung up in the decision-making process of budgets, resources and marketing.
With Dual Worlds, the convertible laptop-desktop, the design studio sped things along by sharing the idea with several key customers without really asking for permission from higher-ups. The unorthodox move, which brought overwhelmingly positive feedback, pushed the time frame forward.
Now, with the full blessing of his bosses, Martin devotes a large portion of his time to kicking around ideas with customers, industry analysts and media types.
“When you run it by the end user, you can only make a product better,” Martin says, dismissing the chance that another company could take the convertible laptop idea and beat Compaq to market.
“It’s a highly competitive industry out there with a lot of people competing on cost alone,” he says. “We want to change our customers’ perception of Compaq and let them know how much we really put into the design of these products.”