Full Article: DRINKS WITH DESIGN FOR CONVERSION, THE MOBILE EDITION
27th of October 2009, Amsterdam – Paris
Jérôme Nadel, the speaker we always wanted but were afraid to ask
Marijn Driessen, from Design for Conversion sips coffee with Jérôme Nadel, Senior Vice President of User Experience with Sagem Wireless. She sees a future of Segment-Based Gadgets and understands why her ‘phone’ really isn’t a phone at all!
All Design for Conversion attendees, yes all! will remember vividly the moment Eric Schaffer, CEO of Human Factors International, took the floor during our June event. Eric is the kind of guy that fills a stadium sized venue with his personality and this is not to everyone’s taste! We at Design for Conversion do not really care about everyone’s taste. Rather we search for remarkable thought leaders who can provoke us with intelligence and conviction to improve our ability to Design for Conversion.
This year Jérôme Nadel will take the floor of our first Mobile Edition, held in Amsterdam on December 11th. Jérôme worked with Eric Schaffer for over fifteen years. While sipping coffee with Jérôme it turns out he’s nothing like Eric.
The Mobile Edition
It goes a little too far to suggest that we decided to launch our Mobile Edition (held on December 11th, in Amsterdam), just so we could invite him as our speaker. Yes, he is a dinosaur in the field of mobile user experience and the recent Senior Vice President of User Experience for Sagem Wireless.
But more importantly, Jérôme meets another key requirement of our speakers. The willingness to roll up his sleeves and get actively involved with participants while they take on the team challenge.
(May you wonder what Design for Conversion is and begin to fret why you haven’t taken part before: DfC is the most intimate and energetic event in Europe that facilitates the much needed collaboration between three disciplines: online marketing, user experience design and analytics. You can still sign up for the Mobile Edition on www.designforconversion.nl – be warned space is limited.
Très internationale
Jérôme Nadel is not your average American user experience expert. For one, he’s half frog and lives in Paris. We promised not to hold this against him when he visits Amsterdam in December. All jokes aside, his international background really is a blessing, as he senses the intricate differences that shape cultural consumer preferences and behaviour across nations.
Jérôme’s professional background is one that integrates experience as a psychologist, scientific analyst, user experience consultant, marketing director and business strategist.
Seeing the bigger picture
So what are his views on user experience for portable devices? For years he has been urging practitioners in his field to stop thinking about technology but consider the value to society and consumers. He hopes to see an evolution from methodologist to visualist to strategist. After much evangelism his conclusion is that there remains a huge opportunity for user experience professionals who distinguish themselves simply by seeing the bigger picture. As few do.
Segment-based Gadgets
Why is this important? It can no longer be ignored that consumers don’t think in terms of experiencing a device (unless it breaks down) but rather in terms of experiencing their interests, friends, lifestyle, activities etc. The device is merely an enabler. There is no French is the way Jérôme states it: the term phone is antiquated. Mobile phone companies are not in the business of selling phones or phone services. Instead they sell lifestyle devices and if they’re smart they sell lifestyle services. Consumers will say they’ll only want one phone, but they’ll buy multiple lifestyle devices. Jérôme calls them segment-based gadgets!
Focus on brand centric – the Puma scoop
Continuing this line of thought Jérôme explains that we should expect lifestyle brands, which we don’t associate with the telecom sector, to move in fast! Sagem Wireless just announced that they are developing a phone for Puma – or should we say a segment-based gadget? Jérôme can’t share too much before the official launch at the World Cup in South Africa. But it’s clear that this is a strategic move for Puma to strengthen the connection with their brand fans by increasing their joy, passion and access to their favourite game. Sagem Wireless will spec the phone with solar cells, connection to a social community and some top secret features that we can’t give away just yet. But you can imagine the kind of stuff that makes sense around the World Cup! The characteristics of a portal device will also be leveraged in full, using seductive video moments to drive mobile transactions. Yes, you’re right to think tickets!
What the future holds
As Jérôme talks to me about a future of brand centric, segment based gadgets I can see a lot of potential in what he says, but equally my mind begins to wonder. I have a vision of thousands of depressed Puma phones, which like most gadgets provide the kind of instant gratification that doesn’t last for long. Will they be outdated before the next sporting event comes along? Do the solar cells still make sense when the lads take the phone home to Liverpool? How will these feature rich gadgets be priced, when it’s not the device but the connection to lifestyle services that we’re interested in?
Hungry to ask Jérôme Nadel your own questions? Join Design for Conversion, The Mobile Edition in Amsterdam on the 11th of December.
About the author: Marijn Driessen owns Fluid Nations, a strategic marketing consultancy based in Amsterdam. She is also Head of Marketing for Design for Conversion.
