Alex Liu

Diet Juice

I saw my co-worker drinking "diet juice"(less sugar,more fit) today and I got really surprised by the fact that she is buying into this funky concept.(she definitely has no diabetes)

To me,the "diet coke" works because of the artificial nature of an orginal coke.But "diet juice" doesn't work because the "juice" is born to be "diet".

Just because there is a market for "healthier drinks" doesn't garante this is a good concept.

"Made in China",unwanted

My parents and I went into a "toys r us" store this afternoon,expecting to buy some great toys for my cousins back in China as gifts.

But they were shocked when every time they carefully grabbed one from the shelf,asking me where it is made in.

It is nothing wrong with all the "China made toys",but the thing is that we do not just want a toy.We want a kid gift that can tell a "consistent American story".

We finally ended up with "Hotwheels made in Thailand".   

Do not disturb

My roommate just placed this for our shared toilet.

It reads:"Do not disturb,driving idling"

What a smart idea.

Design for the new China markets conference-3

Jan Stael von Holstein, Co-chairman of the Network with a Silver Lining,surprisingly told us in his presentation-It's not about finding talents,there are plenty of talented people in China,it's about the immaturity of companies here that are reluctant to accept.

In a lunch table conversation with Kumo Chiu,Design Director of Motorola in Asia,He said-Chinese companies will feel losing face if their products are designed and developed by a third party.

Tom MacTavish,Vice President of Motorola Human Interaction Research Labs,told me that they had to constantly encourage Motorola's employees in China to speak up with issues and discoveries they found.

It takes confidence and time to be innovative for China.

Billion dollar networks

The world is becoming more and more connected.From instant messenger AIM ,to online auction market eBay ,to premier photo service Flickr and blog service TypePad ,and to Social networking Myspace ,It's amazing to see how many web-based services are making big money in the US so far.None of them essentially provides the user with any content,but they are the billion dollar networks,networks that draw crowds and facilitate human interactions.

While Google is trying to combine Gmail+Google Talk and Microsoft has been making great progress in integrating its MSN messenger+MSN Space for a streamlined user experience,I'm wondering the other way-segmenting the networks.What if we have things like"AIM kids","Flikr women",or "eBay X'mas"?

When will we "set the billion dollar networks free"?

Design for the new China markets conference-2

It's ironic to hear the presentation from Tom Borsboom,Manager Global Industrial Design for GE Plastics,talking about the immaturity of design industry in China and head of IDEO shanghai office,Andy Switky's modest delivery of human-centered innovation approach-ethnography.Because if people in this industry are still in transition to the appreciation of design esthetics,how can you expect them to even understand the value of innovation?Hit me with the classic "Apple story",I'll easily point you to piracy.

It's the difference of worldview.

new words,new results-a blind man

Kim Klaver's pointed us to a great story on how different it can be by telling your story in a remarkable way. One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: "I am blind, please help." A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it. He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins. The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it. The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently." He smiled and went on his way. The new sign read: "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

Design for the new China markets conference-1

The brief presentation from Xinlin Zhao on overall webpage length was really interesting.She talked about how Sina.com,the largest web news portal,intentionally creates a huge page length of 5 screens(1024*768) to attract Chinese web surfers,which is much longer than Yahoo China's and the Google China's extremely simple interface.

Do surfers like complexity in China?Not really.But the large amount of content  visually presented on Sina website does help trigger interests and keep people stay longer.

On the other hand,Google stands for another optimal mode of news reading-efficient searching, if the user knows what he wants.

So what if a "Sina Toolbar" for the browser?it would make perfect sense for me if I can have such a toolbar that helps me easily switch between the 2 optimal news reading modes.

From the west to east

I've finally get some time to reflect the sweet time I spent with my parents last winter right after attending the "Design for the New China Markets Conference" in Beijing(I'll be posting thoughts on the conference soon).

I definitely enjoyed tons of authentic Chinese food and shows, but it's really amazing to see how Western ideas and cultures are changing the way people perceive and behave here.

If you go see how many people are spending time in McDonald's, you will know what I mean. It's not just selling food,but also culture to tell a story.

On the other hand, as China keeps pushing broadband technology from the west over the internet,people are being violently forced to adapt to complex machines equipped with countless features. Sometimes I can tell huge frustration from the generation of my parents when using those machines due to the rapid technology development and their lack of knowlege and slow learning progress.

I have started to see small workshop business claiming "learn how to type within one day"... And I believe this is a serious problem if the fact that China is an aging country is noticed.

We'll see.

McDonald's MVNO in China

I'm doing a design planning project for McDonald's MVNO in China.It's been fun.As China,a communism country playing on a captalism sand, keeps leveraging its importance in international economics.I believe the telecom door will eventually be open to international brands.Currently Virgin Mobile is considering MVNO in China.

Just give a taste of the MVNO project I'm working on here,detailed description will be available on RecruitWeiLiu later.

Stay tuned ;)

It's about how you deliver

Why McDonald's is perceived to be cheap and unhealthy in the US. while it's a premiere food service valued by the up-coming Chinese middle class?(it's selling the same food)

People in China think McDonald's is great because it's from America and America has long been associated with a better life quality in their "worldview".People buy food with an American originality to tell a story to friends,a story that they think separates themselves from the mass visually and mentally.

Work featured in engageID

I'm pleased to announce that my work is featured in engageID Issue #9 in January- the Institute of Design bi-weekly newsletter,check it out.

Microsoft hardware on emerging markets

Speaking of emerging markets,the interview I conducted with Andy Cargile, User Experience Manager from Microsoft Hardware is published as ID white paper,check it (pdf) out.

Fortune Cookie

I've been loving it since the first time I came to the states.(I never saw it before in mainland China and believe actually few people know about it there)

How wonderful it is, just a funky looking cookie, but when you add some “fortunate words”, things change.

A very nice example for experience design(I particularly love the quote from SRC in this image here)

"Fortune cookies tell you what you want to hear,solid research tells you what you need to hear" -SRC