IN THE BUBBLE JOHN THACKARA - witz cultural

BodyMedia took a communication design course at an engineering
school—Carnegie Mellon University—and fully expected to become a
product designer. ‘‘But as soon as we started BodyMedia,’’ says Pacione, ‘‘it
became clear that our object was only one part of a bigger picture. We had
to become service designers—and after that, business model designers—in
order to survive.’’ 40
BodyMedia’s product is a hybrid of hard and soft features. What you see
on Pacione’s arm is a wearable computer, with wireless capability. But that
object is just one part of the story. The company develops and sells wearable
body monitors and software that collect, store, analyze, and display
continuous and accurate physiological and lifestyle data, such as energy
expenditure (calories burned), level of activity, sleep states, and other important
physiological data—anytime, anywhere. A website shows wearers
charts that compare their body’s performance to average or ideal charts,
thus enabling them to see at a glance if they are getting enough exercise,
sleeping too much, or consuming too many calories. As well as object
design—the industrial design of the object on your arm, its shape, weight,
materials, engineering, and so on—Pacione and his colleagues had to design
the appearance and organization of information on the website. They
also had to design the ways people would buy the product and pay for it;
they have had to adjust the company’s business model continuously. At
first they thought consumers might obtain the product free of charge and
pay for a ‘‘wellness monitoring service,’’ in much the same way as we
sometimes get a satellite dish, or television set-top box, free and pay for
programs through a monthly subscription. But the marketing costs of that
business model were too high, so BodyMedia switched to selling the product
to sportsmen and -women as a high-tech training aid. This did not
work—the unit price was too high—so now, BodyMedia sells its hybrid
product-service to insurance companies and health care providers in a
business-to-business model. Says Pacione, ‘‘we never stop designing the
object, the way it’s used, the way the information is presented, and the
way people pay for it.’’ 41 BodyMedia’s story is paradigmatic of the way traditional
‘‘thing’’ design is evolving.
Liftoff
Lightness 21
Global companies are integrated enough, today, to move steadily toward
lighter modes of production. Most of them dislike being ahead of the