Do the right thing and the results will follow.

Inclusive innovation beats one size fits all. By Delphine Donné

Upon arriving in Switzerland, after living and working in China and the United States, I took over a group of categories that felt historically more designed for men. Mice and keyboards; almost all big and black. As a 1m60 woman with small hands, I could not even touch the scroll wheel of our latest mouse. Working for a company with a vision to extend human capability, I decided it was about time to level that playing field, and to do what Logitech has done consistently over its forty-year history: reinvent. 

My team and I set in motion a plan to embrace the diversity of over a billion computer users and to design for our many users and their various needs. It was the beginning of a remarkable journey, one that unleashed a number of things: great learnings, personal and team growth, breakthrough innovation, and business success. Perhaps most importantly, it expands our categories' offerings, providing many diverse solutions for a wider range of purposes/needs, and including more users than ever before. 

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL 

One conclusion we quickly came to is that not one of us is the same, so why should the tools we use every day be? Size, style, form, function, comfort, precision, type of work, where we work, creative preferences, personal preferences… We all have different needs. 

At Logitech, we do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach. We believe in designing meaningful innovation that makes a positive impact on people’s lives. In everything we do, we strive to strike a balance between diversity, inclusivity, well-being, environmental sustainability, and business impact. If you do the right thing, the rest will follow. 

Rooted in our purpose and mission, it starts with the human and the problem to solve. We identify a specific audience and focus on unearthing deep consumer insights that can lead us to develop meaningful innovation. 

If we want to be inclusive, we need to diversify and create products that answer the specific needs of specific audiences: Younger audiences, women, people with specific ergonomic needs, left-handed people, super users, creative types, and expressive types. Let me make this a little more tangible as I share a real-life example that is very dear to my heart: the development of Logitech Casa Pop-Up Desk. 

LOGITECH CASA POP-UP DESK

Global lockdowns tasked us to sort ourselves out fast as the home became the center of life: school, study, work, play, cook… All of a sudden everyone needed some sort of workspace. Creativity surely was at its highest levels, funny to see and workable for a certain period of time. 

We learned quite some things, especially how women found themselves juggling their different roles of parenting, caregiving, and housekeeping, while often being the ones who did not even have a fixed work space at home. Hybrid work has maintained this requirement to juggle, especially as private and work lives continue to blend. Thus, we decided to focus on women as our primary audience and solve their needs first. 

Some of the key insights:

1. Need for flexibility/mobility at home: Challenged with smaller living spaces,  people need more flexibility. Some people, women in particular, do not want to be anchored in one place in their home and sometimes even function better at completing certain tasks in certain areas (this is known as cognitive anchoring).
2. Home is a sanctuary: People do not want to turn their home into an office. So rather than looking for technology, or office-like design, they look for something that blends with the design of their home. 
3. Comfort: Working long hours on the computer takes a toll on the body especially when you don’t have the right set-up… a few hours on the couch are manageable, but eight hours a day, for days on end, is a completely different experience.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION IS NOT ALWAYS SIMPLE 

Consistent with Design Thinking, the insights we got informed a simple solution, starting by assembling a diverse and multifunctional team. The solution yet had to be more than just simple and intuitive; it also had to be durable, environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing, ergonomically sound, lightweight, compatible with all OS, secure, and compact. It goes without saying that the project's complexity caused us to encounter multiple obstacles. But whenever we had to make a decision, we always went back to what was right to do (not the simplest course of action) and what was important for the user.

The result is a first-of-its-kind product: a pop-up desk called Casa. It is an innovative foldaway desk kit with your work-from-home essentials. Casa creates a comfortable and productive workspace anywhere in the home, whether this is the kitchen, living room, balcony, or bedroom. With its minimalist wireless keyboard, intuitive cross-operating systems wireless touchpad, and book-like case that transforms into a sturdy laptop stand. The Casa pop-up desk packs away in moments - out of sight, out of mind - keeping home, home

With its elegant design,  Casa perfectly blends in with your home decor, at the same time being durable and sustainable. It is also designed for sustainability from the start informing all choices during the product design. Not only is the Casa Pop-Up desk carbon neutral, but also the plastic parts used include certified post-consumer recycled plastic, a minimum of  62% for Casa Touch, minimum 47% for Casa Keys, and minimum 44% for Casa Book. All the way to the packaging which is FSC certified. 

AN INSIGHTFUL JOURNEY

As for past innovations, we learned a lot on this journey. 

1. Stay focused - By focusing on a specific audience (women in the case of casa) and solving their problems first, you will create a halo effect and automatically attract other audiences as well.
2. Teamwork makes the dream work - Form an energized, multi-functional, and resilient team that overcomes obstacles, addresses biases, and works towards a shared vision while remaining flexible enough to take on new challenges and adapt as they arise.
3. Always go back to the right thing to do - Always think about your mission and the proper course of action, especially when you are at a crossroads. Your product's or company's performance will always be at its best if you focus on creating a 5-star experience for the audience. Again, we must be willing to learn from, adapt to, and change as a result of the varied feedback that users may give us regarding this groundbreaking product.
4. It’s an end-to-end process - From idea conception to product communication and marketing. Give your launch strategy some additional thought, and consider various models.

ALWAYS AIM HIGH

Nothing is impossible. The most challenging project can be brought to life successfully with the right team, leadership, passion, open communication, and focus. This will enable us to grow and transform, and most importantly, it will help us build a future that is more inclusive, equitable, and diverse.