Eirik, Remco, Shaun, Alice, Simone & Frank

Final Report Phase 3 IDP

Client: Enviu, Rotterdam
January 2010,
Team 24: WTF
Preface This project has been quite a challenge. When we received the
initial project brief, asking us to design a new sustainable Smart-
phone, we all got pretty excited as a Smartphone is an object
that everybody uses in daily life and as such, all of us have our
thoughts on how the ‘sustainable Smartphone’ would ideally
look like. A lot of ideas, thorough research, heavy discussions
and brainstorming have brought us to realize that this project is
really broad, ambiguous and complex. A Smartphone has almost
turned into a societal commodity, therefore the vast amount of
information surrounding it got us to realize that the problem in
current business is actually three-fold: first, there is an apparent
physical impact on our environment, mostly created by landfill.
Secondly, there is the ‘information overload’, which refers to the
enormous amounts of information we receive each day. And
third, the business is heavily skewed towards a push-market, in
which manufacturers force people to upgrade their phone every
18 to 24 months.
In front of you, our quest to find appropriate solutions to these
three problems is presented. In it, you’ll find many topics cov-
ered: user research, opportunities for new business models, ap-
praisal of (interaction) prototypes and other areas that have to
be taken into account when one is coping with finding answers
on how to design the new sustainable Smartphone.
Without the help of our dedicated coach, Tjamme Wiegers this
would not have been possible. He forced us to reflect, recon-
sider our choices and assure that we send out a message that is
clear and coherent. We also want to thank our detached critic,
Erik Jepma, for providing us with critical feedback on our two in-
terim reports and for his compelling vision he let upon us. A very
special thanks goes out to Enviu; our client, partner and initiator
of the project. They’ve appeared to us as a very young, dynamic
and inspiring company, fighting for a good cause. In particular El-
mar Stroomer, our contact person during the project, brought in
fresh ideas and new points-of-view whenever we encountered
him.
As for ourselves, we think we’ve delivered a project result that
can be used as a solid ground to develop the OMG platform fur-
ther. The six of us, originating from four different countries, have
pushed ourselves to the limits of what was in our reach. Discus-
sions were fierce, sometimes even tense, but never did we lose
our focus.
We thank you for your attention and we hope you’ll enjoy read-
ing this report.
Yours sincerely,
The WTF-Team
(TU Delft IDP Team 24)
19.01.2011
2
 Table of 1. Introduction
1.0 Introduction
4
4
5. Smart[er] phone: prototyping
5.1 Prototype Explanation
42
42

Contents
1.1 Summary of the project
1.2 Process Overview
5
7 6. Summary 46
2. Concept 8
2.1 Concept background 8
2.2 Concept Overview 10
3. Smart[er] phone: design 14
3.1 Physical: Layer design 14
3.2 Feasibility Study 19
3.3 Interaction 23
3.4 Bubble Mode 25
7. References 47
8. Appendix 48
8.1 Feasibility Study 49
8.2 List & Diagram of Comp. 53
8.3 Creative Session 55
8.4 Bubble Mode Feedback test 56
8.5 Business Models evaluated 57
8.6 Detachment interviews 58
8.7 Path testing 59

4. Smart[er] phone: commercialization 30

4.1 Commercialization vision 30
4.2 Business Model & Strategy 31
4.3 Market Implementation Plan 34
4.4 Branding 35
4.5 Marketing mix 38

3
1. Intr0-
duction
The report will describe the third and last
phase of WTF’s (Working Towards the
Future) Integral Design Project (IDP), bet-
ter known as the Phone4life. The project
has been a collaboration with Enviu under
their Our Mobile Generation (OMG) plat-
form. The third phase is the culmination
of the project, which began in September
2010, and will detail the product that has
been created to fulfil the project goal of
“Reducing the environmental and social
impact of the mobile phone industry by in-
creasing the lifespan of the phone through
changing consumer behaviour.”
1.0 Introduction
The third phase is the detailing phase of the IDP and ends
with a final presentation and a prototype. We have continued
along the path set from the final meeting with Enviu in the
second phase. From the second phase we emerged with a
mission to further develop one of the concepts presented
(the Modular Phone concept, see report 2) and combining it
with certain aspects of two of the three other concepts. Our
efforts have therefore been employed to distinguish the main
aspects of the concept, and refining them through the physi-
cal and interaction qualities, as well as our proposed com-
mercialisation strategy. The report is therefore a description
and overview of the process and results we have obtained in
this phase.
world should progress.
We hope you are as excited about the results as we are.
Structure of the Report
The report can be divided into three parts. The first part is the
introduction and provides a recap of the two previous phases
as well as the process in the third phase. In the second part,
both the issues that the project is solving and an overview of
the concept are presented. The overview is divided into three
domains: physical, interaction and commercialisation. The
detailing of these three domains make up the third and last
part, which is also the largest part of the report.

1.0 Introduction The topic of the project involves both environmental and
social issues. Some of these topics can be treated objectively
1.1. Summary of the Project through facts and measurements, while the “soft” nature of
social issues makes it difficult to avoid subjective and norma-
tive solutions. However, we have as much as possible tried to
1.2 Process Overview seek the work and thoughts of leading thinkers and research-
ers about the subject, so to ensure a foundation of theory, in
contrast to a foundation of our own beliefs. Nevertheless, it
has also allowed us as designers to represent a world-view of
what we would like to accomplish, and how we see that the
4
 1.1 Summary of the Project
To refresh the memory of the reader about the path until
now, a short summary of the two first phases is included.
The summary will only present the main findings of the two
phases.
First Phase
The design brief that started the project, requested the
design of a sustainable Smartphone that would have signifi-
cant impact on the mobile phone industry, and change the
existing practices towards sustainability. In all practical sense,
a carte blanche regarding the topic was given by Enviu. With
such a broad brief, most of the first phase was allocated to
focusing the project, and finding a project goal.
After a comprehensive fuzzy front end analysis, the short
lifespan of the mobile phone (on average 18 months in the
developed countries) was identified as the factor that had
the greatest influence on the environmental and social
impact, as well as being the factor that the status quo of
industry did the least to address: and also had the least inter-
est of changing as well. Thus, the first phase ended with a
project goal:
»» To reduce the environmental and social impact by ex-
tending the lifespan of a mobile phone through chang-
ing user behaviour.
Second Phase
There were many levels on which the project goal could be
understood. The second phase therefore began by a thor-
ough exploration of the domains of sustainable consumption,
the drivers of obsolescence and changing consumer behav-
iour. These domains are primarily theoretical, as successful
examples of are few. However, in order to understand what
we sought to do, a strong theoretical fundament was neces-
sary.
On a more practical level, user research and a mobile phone
teardown were conducted. The user research consisted of
a segmentation analysis, a generative session and a phone
free day, where users were not allowed to use their phone
for 24 hours and had to fill out a complementary booklet.
Among half of the participants expressed a sense of freedom
and relaxation of not having their phone with them. In the
segmentation, it became apparent that the business and
personal usage becomes blurry, and that there was a need to
get back control of the division between personal space and
professional life.
The teardown of the mobile phone showed; that the visual
degradation had a important role in driving fashion obsoles-
cence, the extreme miniaturisation that has been achieved in
the industry and that there were opportunities for improve-
ments in the area of on reparability and design for disassem-
bly.
The second phase was also the ideation and concept devel-
opment phase. From the creative sessions, four concepts
were created; the Honest Phone, the Good-Aging Phone, the
Modular Phone and the Fix-It Phone.
»» Honest Phone:
Creates awareness among the user through honest in-
formation about usage, and seeks to create awareness
of the troubles of the industry by the fact that as it is
honest, the others must not be. It also translates dif-
ficult technology into more “understandable terms”, to
lower the impression that the mobile phone is a black
box, which if breaks, cannot be saved.
5

»» The Good-Aging Phone
Uses product attachment to increase the lifespan:
as the phone becomes more adapted to you and
improves in quality the more you use it. It achieves
product attachment through the visual degradation in
the form of a “worn-jeans effect” and the gradual train-
ing of the software to adapt to your way of using the
phone and your everyday life events.
»» The Modular Phone
Is a transformation of the current way a phone is
perceived. The phone is made up of several layers that
can be repaired and upgraded, thereby combating the
technological obsolescence, and making the user more
aware that there are few lasting benefits on trying to
6
Figure 1: Visual
keep up with ever-escalating incremental changes to
the mobile phones.
»» The Fix-It Phone
Is a phone that is designed in a way to facilitate the
users to repair it themselves. An online community of
fixers that share ideas and knowledge about improve-
ment possibilities is set up to encourage users to fix
their phones and to spread awareness among users.
After the concept selection meeting with Enviu, it was
decided to focus the final phase on further developing a
combination of the Modular Phone concept with added
elements from the Honest Phone and the Good-Aging
Phone.
overview of the process.
1.2 Process Overview
The third phase began with a combination of
the modular, honest and good aging phone. In
the concept detailing, the combined concept
was reworked to make one coherent story of
the concepts, and went into concept detailing.
The concept detailing focused on the physical,
interaction and strategy domain of the concept.
We developed a method of commercialisation,
conducted a technical feasibility study of the
physical layers, and did user research to uncover
Figure 1: Visual overview of the process.
what and how the interaction of the phone
should emerge as. Thereafter we developed
prototypes of the physical layers and the inter-
action, in addition to a market implementation
plan. Combined, these are the final concept as
will be presented to Enviu in the final presenta-
tion of the IDP. See figure 1 for a visual overview
of the process.
7
2.Concept
Over-
view
In this section, you will find an over-
view of the concept and how we came
to it. In includes the background of
the concept, its most important fea-
tures and interaction. It ends with an
explanation of the business oriented
implications for the commercialization
of the concept.
2.1 Concept Background
2.2 Concept Overview
8
2.1 Concept Background
In order to understand the concept, it is of vital importance
to be aware of the underlying reasons for why it is cre-
ated. The concept did not emerge from the usual sources
of an identified business opportunity or an underserved
user need, but rather from a sustainable perspective that
includes both the environment and social issues.
The growing consumption and need of information is a
strong driver of making the technological support (the
phone) ever quicker become obsolete due to a fast demand
for better performances. The consumerist push is rooted
in today’s society as wellness and prosperity is measured
in a growth and “newness” is the ideal, implying a negative
perspective of older products. Consequently, the quality
and the perceived quality of both the products themselves
and the experience with them, are reduced since the speed
of new replacements become available is increasing.
Furthermore, the impact of the mobile phone is not only
caused by the physical attributes of the product and its
usage, but also by the manner it is commercialised, through
the set of business models dominating the mobile phone
industry. Mobile phone producers have little incentives
to encourage longer lasting products, as they derive their
profits on the one-time sales of the hardware. In effect,
the quicker the phones are being replaced, the higher their
profits. Thus, the market is focused on constantly pushing
incremental products to the consumer, and using different
sorts of obsolescence measures to increase sales. A result
of this drive is that the average lifespan of the mobile phone
has steadily decreased. The whole cycle touches upon a
much broader principle in our way of thinking: that the
more material we acquire the happier we will be. However,
despite stellar economic growth since the 1970s, the devel-
oped countries have not become happier.
Another effect of the focus on developing new products
with short time-to-market, a short lifecycle and a focus on
integrated, miniaturized technologies, is that they be-
come exceedingly difficult to adapt after manufacturing is
complete. Mobile phone parts cannot be used individu-
ally or taken apart from the rest of the device to (re)used
in another way, because of a very condensed, integrated
technologic components which are meant to be discarded
after they have reached the end of their lifespan. This also
changes the way user perceive technology, from something
valuable to be taken care of, to a black-box that can neither
be repaired or is it meant to.
 Background image: global interenet
data transfer patterns, adopted from:
http//www.policy.hu

The Interconnected world invest in and, with today’s possibility of connectivity, we expand
The advances in information technology has given the possibility our “broadcasting” power as we can communicate to more
of being in contact with everybody, meaning that there will be people at once ( i.e. Twitter and Facebook status updates). The
less quality in each of the possible connections. Today’s network- possibility of also connecting to people further away is definitely
ing power is bringing our social life towards a more single and something positive, as it gives the possibility to maintain relation-
detached experience ship over distance. However,
of social world, the so “We’re using inanimate objects to con- closer relationships and face to
called “alone together”
vince ourselves that even when we’re face contact is still needed. On
the other hand, some doubts
(Turkle, 2011). These two
forces have to be taken alone, we feel together.” remains on the actual meaning-
into account as they are fulness of all the contacts we
almost imposed to us in
- Sherry Turkle can reach and if this continuous
the moment of deciding general update through the
to enter the world of con- digital world could actually be a
nectivity and are even stronger when this becomes mobile (using real surrogate of social relationship.
a Smartphone). When having a Smartphone, we are always con-
nected. This affects our ability to stay focused and present in the Sure it could be said that one can choose not to use this technol-
now, as other options are always available. It also means that we ogy, but this limitation would also block all the positive aspects
can always be reached, and thus, it has become expected of us to of connectivity. And technology is not black or white. There are
be reached as well. Instead, we should be able to detach, without numerous positive benefits of connectivity and Smartphone tech-
being influenced by others wish for reaching us. nology. The point is to analyze and criticize the situation, not to
deny progress in itself, but to argue and define different possibili-
As we go on in our digital life contacts grow on number, making ties for a “Smart[er]” use and not a limited one.
possible to us to reach more and more people. Our social rela-
tionships are defined by the time and possibility of access that we
99

2.2 Concept Overview
The Smart[er] phone concept (Figure 2) strives to solve the
issues that were explained in the previous section. It can be
seen a new way of producing, keeping, using and paying for
the phone, as if the user and the planet mattered.
The concept can be divided into three domains (Figure 3) ;
the physical side, the interaction and the commercialisation,
that all address key issues within their domain, but which are
also vital for solving the issues in the other domains.
Physical Layers
The Smart[er] phone is made up of four layers (Figure 4).
The combination is based on the analogy of a person. Every
person needs a soul, a brain (or mind), a heart, senses and
a body to feel alive. This is translated to the communication
device in the form of the layers:
 Figure 2: The Smart[er] Phone
10
Figure 3: The Smart[er] Phone
»» The Soul is the most inner part of the device and is not
represented in a physical way, rather, it presents the
person using the device: the content of the user, being
contacts, email, social media messages, media and all
other digital interaction which is performed through the
device.
»» The Brain (or Mind) represents the processing parts of
the device, being the processor, memory, chipset units
and all remaining computational instruments.
»» The Heart pumps round energy and symbolizes vitality;
it is the energy source of the device, providing battery
life.
»» The Senses are encapsulated in the sensorial layer of
the device. Through this, sounds, images, acceleration,
humidity, speed and other variables can be sensed and
processed.
»» The Body finally, is the protective layer, it ensures that
the internal components are able to function properly
and are not affected by rain, dust, or user abuse.
 Figure 4: The four layers

The users assembles their own device by picking the version of the four layers; brain, heart,
senses and a body, that they would like according to their own needs and desires. This is
very easy to assemble and does not require any technical skills. To make it easier for the
indecisive user, there will be pre-fabricated devices which offer a pre-set configuration of
components.

During the lifetime of the Smart[er] phone, the user can take out any layers, when there is
a need to upgrade or repair a certain part. If an upgrade is wished for, the user can simply
acquire the new layer and connect it to the existing device.

The layers make it easier to upgrade, repair, and re-use the different parts of the mobile
phone, thereby increasing the lifespan of the phone.
11
Interaction: Bubble Mode
Are we still able to switch off our Smartphone? How much
of our free time is being occupied by the use of it? Are we
still able to be focused on our daily life without the feeling of
missing something online? These questions are at the base
of the definition of the interaction with the Smart[er] phone.
 phone completely. With the creation of the Bubble, another
Today’s Smartphones gives users a chance to always be con-
nected, but doesn’t allow them to get smartly disconnected.
The Bubble is an additional mode that enables the user to
fill the gap between total connectivity and no connectivity, a
limiting and personal choice that is determined by the per-
ceived need and duty of being always connected. It allows
the user to detach from the polluted world of information
to create a pure moment of freedom from communication
needs . Bubble gives the chance to detach from the daily
intruding quantity of information that is difficult to filter, and
12
Figure 5: Bubble Mode logo (left) and Bubble mode Interaction (right)
to define a soft way of detaching from communication in
order to open up a new possibility of educated information
consumption. Currently, when a user wants to be “doing my
thing” or “focus on myself” or “feel free” the only way to get
out of emails, GPS, social network would be to turn off the
alternative is possible.
The Bubble is a way to sort information in the Smartphone
depending on the relevance of it to the user. The informa-
tion is the only retrievable when the user consciously choos-
es to get some time off communication using the bubble
mode. By sorting contacts and data into people, emotions
and moments, the user can filter the specific information
that feels worth keeping also in the most personal moments.
In these moments of freedom, communication becomes
personal and more real as it changes from being information
based to be more subtle and contact based.
The Bubble enables the user to define a closer group of
people and digital data related to them, in order to have a
filtered and personal way of making the phone Smart[er].
The selected contacts are the people that can always inter-
rupt and should be close to the user also in distance and
the moments and emotions i would like to recall in those
moments when one wants to be just off. Bubble blocks web,
GPS and incoming information and bounces incoming calls
and emails from the person out of the bubble. This incoming
information is then retrievable in a summarized way when
the user decides to get out of the bubble.
 Figure 6: The Smart[er] Phone
Business Model
Business Model Strategy
The Smart[er] phone is not sold as a normal
standalone physical mobile phone, but as a service,
consisting of a network contract with a provider and
a leasing contract with the company (see figure 6).
For explanatory purposes, “the company” will for
the remainder of the report be called: SmartCom-
pany. In other words, the customer does not own
the layers, but pays a monthly fee for using them.
The customer will be require to sign a contract for
a given length of time (for example 2 years), which
will allow SmartCompany to recuperate the same
sum as if it was sold directly. After the initial con-
tract expires, the customer will still retain the same
service, but at a substantial lower monthly rate,
thereby encouraging the customer not to replace
the phone. To further encourage the customer to
keep the phone for as long as possible, a point sys-
tem called Karma-points, which reward the user the
longer the phone is kept, is created. The points can
either be used to achieve discounts on the monthly
fee, or to transfer into tangible charitable gifts.
Free repair of the layers is included in the monthly
fee. In addition, the customer can also upgrade
their phone with new layers when needed. If or
when the customer no longer wishes to lease the
Smart[er] phone, it will be sent back to SmartCom-
pany, which can then make the necessary changes
(to the body layer) and then re-lease the phone at a
discounted rated to the same market, or a devel-
oping market. On a long term, the layers can be
opened up for 3rd party developers.
13
3. Smart[er]
phone:
design
This section will go further into the de-
tails of the Smart[er] phone, by describ-
ing two of the three most important
domains: the physical and interaction
designs of the concept. In comparison
to the previous section, this part will
go more in depth with the finer points
of the concepts as well as provide the
reasoning for why the different sub-so-
lutions were selected.
3.1 Physical: Layer design
3.2 Feasibility Study
3.3 Interaction
3.4 Bubble Mode
14
3.1 Physical: Layer design
The focus of the detailing of the layers has been on the aes-
thetics to achieve product attachment, the technical content of
the four layers, and lastly, the technical feasibility of connect-
ing the layers and the concept in itself.
3.1.1 Aesthetics and Product Attachment
As defined in the previous phase, product attachment was
an effect we wanted to explore, in order contribute to the
“PhoneForLife” concept (See Report 2). Product attachment,
intended as the emotional bond a user establish with a
product by using it over the time (Mugge et al., 2006), can be
conceptualized into three categories: irreplaceability, indis-
pensability and self-extension (Schifferstein & Zwartkruis-
Pelgrim, 2008).
The first category belongs to those objects that have a unique
meaning to the users due to symbolic values that cannot be
repeated. This quality is therefore impossible to plan and
reach through a product. The indispensability is connected to
a certain use of the product that cannot be accomplished in
the same way by any other product. Since the main philoso-
phy, within the PhoneForLife, was to slow down the com-
munication and bring the user back to a better social and
sustainable awareness, pointing at the indispensability would
have not been coherent with the concept itself. We therefore
Figure 7: Different coloring patterns
decided to work on the self-extension domain.
A consumer tends to project an image of himself on the
product he gets attached to, by seeing them as symbols of
what he was, is and will be. According to this vision the users
consequentially prefer products that are congruent to their
self-concept (Mugge et al., 2006). In addition a product, in
order to be congruent with the user’s self, has to be congru-
ent with itself, sending a univocal message.
The idea of giving at the phone’s body a visual identity
congruent with its “soul” encountered the first obstacle in
the double identity of it: the duality of the normal mode
against the bubble mode. We therefore decided to give to the
aesthetics a double identity as well, by playing with the lights
feedbacks. The idea of working on smart materials in order to
change the aesthetics was left apart since the beginning, in
order to follow a higher simplicity and make a more sustain-
able use of the materials.
The idea of using the lighting feedback system for expressing
the double identity of the phone’s “soul” allowed us to use
the same amount of material for a double effect, by applying
a RGB LED technology. By engraving the back cover a pattern
of circles is created. The circles engraved in the acrylic convey

the light emitted by the LED (red for normal mode and blue
for bubble mode). Both light and vibration follow different
patterns in terms of time, blinking and fading also according
to the mode selected (see Figure 7). The feedback aspect will
be covered in more depth in the Interaction section.
3.1.2 The Four Layers
The final design integrates a 4 layered modular phone (figure 8)
which are mounted on top of each other by the use of four little
magnets placed on each corner of the layers.
Body
The body layer consists of two parts: a front and a back. The
front integrates a 4” LED touchscreen display and a home but-
ton (being the only physical button on the device). The back lay-
er has the same coloring and material and furthermore shows
three engraved circles-elements, out of which light radiates. This
light can be either red or blue, depending on the current mode
the user is in: blue represents the bubble mode, whereas a red
coloring is activated when the user is in ‘normal’ mode.
Heart
The second layer from the top, the heart layer, integrates
all the energy supplies and functions as the batteries of the
phone. It is connected with the body and its underlying layer
(the brain layer) through a pin connector located at the top
of the layer (the other layers are connected likewise). The
battery power generated in this layer is passed through to
the chipset to make it operative.
Brain
In the brain layer, all critical components can be found: the
chipset (like CPU and memory) which can be replaced or
upgraded, if required. It also integrates the SIM-card reader
and other vital elements that define the Smartphone.
These elements are designed in such way they can be easily
distinguished through its coloring and engraved words (such
as: ‘memory’, ‘A4 processor’, ‘SIM’, etc.). Replacing the brain
layer will have the most effect on the phone’s total function-
ing.
Sensor
The underlying layer is the sensor layer. As the name implies,
this layer houses all components with which the phone
Figure 8: The four layers front view
can ‘sense’ the environment, such as the microphone, the
camera, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc. It is deliberately
positioned right above the back body, so that its sensory
equipment has an open range of detecting the phone’s
surroundings. All signals are processed through to the brain
layer, which in turn, will affect the interaction with the user
through the touch-screen.
3.1.3 Appraisal of Aethetic Decisions
Shape
The shape of the layers has been determined by taking the
popular current top Smartphone (the iPhone 4) and using its
measurements as a guideline for the visual aesthetics of the
product. The corners of the phone show fillets, which make
the layers more accessible and user friendly. The sides of the
layers are chamfered so that the bumper cover can easily be
mounted over the four layers, assuring a steady, robust final
product as they are nicely kept in place by this bumper.
Material & Colouring
The choice of the cover’s material leaded us into picking up
15

a simple layer of polished acrylic, in order to have a very
neutral basic aesthetics. Indeed even the use of what are
often considered neutral colours (black or white) would have
given a strong visual identity to the phone (black is often
seen as elegant, business or fashion; white is connected to
minimalism and elegancy). The colour effect of the polished
acrylic gives an ambiguous impression between grey and
white, leaving the general aesthetics as neutral as possible.
Another motivation behind this choice was the fact that we
wanted to avoid glossy, polished or very fine surface textures
because they are more prone to a fast aesthetic degrada-
tion and therefore a quicker product dismissing (Park, 2005).
Furthermore, it is lightweight, cheap to produce and offers a
wide range of moulding techniques. Another reason for using
matte acrylic is the fact that the back lit body cover, which
radiates the current mode of the user, will allow light to pass
through nicely. The front display will be manufactured out of
scratch-free glass.
The colouring of each layer’s components varies (Figure 8 –
“the different layers”); the heart layer will show green as a
main colour theme, orange/red is picked for the brain (asso-
ciating with ‘warm’ and ‘active’) and the sensors are charac-
terized by a slightly less explicit colouring, being somewhat
grey/metal-like. This has been chosen for to emphasize that
16
Figure 8: Lay[er] Bus
Visualization
these sensors are merely
processing input and can
be considered as ‘neutral’
elements.
3.1.4. Scalable Open
internal bus Concept
This section will explain how different hardware modules and
components communicate between each other efficiently.
Both serial and parallel communication is fundamental
for devices to communicate and to share sequential data,
making a complete system of different modules, which only
together become something meaningful. This communica-
tion occurs over an internal (local) bus, which connects all
internal components of a computer to a motherboard (CPU,
Memory, IO-Controllers, PCI, AGP, etc.), or external bus,
which connects external peripherals to the subsystem (USB,
PCMIA, FireWire). The local bus prioritizes, controls and re-
defines the different type of data, that flow between two or
more (different) hardware modules, all running on their own
speed and only transmitting and receiving accordingly.
By carrying out an open interview with two PhD students in
both Embedded Systems (Cedric Nugteren) and Analog Hard-
ware Design (Barend van Liempd) at the University of Tech-
nology of Eindhoven, the concept of computer busses was
discussed. These interviews, together with external articles
and other secondary sources, form the basis of a conceptual
interfacing framework that is the starting point from which
the separate layers could be developed.
Internal busses vs External Busses
The PC market as we know it now, offers any user the ability
to upgrade certain components, like CPU or Memory, to in-
crease or expand their PC’s capabilities by adding ‘external’
peripherals to the motherboards PCI(e) expansion slots or
USB ports, like WiFi-adapters or Graphic-Cards. However the
fundamental architecture, the motherboard, is completely
designed around one specific chipset (family). These chip-
sets on their turn are only compatible with specific types of
memory controllers and IO controllers, due to the tradeoff

that needs to be made concerning the compatibility of dif-
ferent types of hardware and their influences on the overall
performance of all (sub-)system.
Talking about integrated devices, such as mobile phones,
there is only a minimum amount of external bus interfaces
available, since most modules are integrated on one single
motherboard, mostly due to bandwidth and size constraints.
This implicates that all modules are interconnected by means
of several internal busses. A big downside with these inte-
grated subsystems, linked by internal busses, are proprietary;
meaning that they are closed and thus cannot be understood
nor changed by someone other than the original manufac-
turer. A reason why this internal bus is proprietary has to
and Serial bus communciation
do with the role of this ‘hardware integrator’ or handset
manufacturer, who designs the architecture and busses and
integrates all different subsystems and modules together,
that are only supplied to the handset manufacturer. Thus the
integrated subsystems, together with the internal busses,
form the fundamental basis of the phone, that are entirely
designed by current integrated hardware solution (e.g. Hand-
set) manufacturers.
Parallel versus Serial Communication
In electronics there are two type of communication, paral-
lel and serial communication, that both are used to both
transmit and receive data-bits. Each clock cycle, that varies
Table 1: Pro’s and cons of Parallel
from component to component, a various amount (depen-
dent on the state of a module) is transmitted and received by
a component over a bus. In case of a parallel communication
type of situation, the amount of communication lines are
distinct to the bandwidth available. In case of an 8-bit paral-
lel channel, eight bits (or a byte) are transmitted simultane-
ously. A serial channel situation would transmit those bits
one at a time (same clock cycle), and only requires a frac-
tion of the amount of communication channels. Taking this
into consideration, it gives the impression that the parallel
data-type of communication would be superior over serial
communication, because it transmits less information at each
clock-cycle. However, it is often the case that serial links can
be clocked much faster than parallel inks and thus achieving
higher data-rates. In addition to this, serial links have less
interference, caused by signals transmitted over parallel lines
or caused by other components located on printed circuit
board. In table 1 an overview of each communication’s ad-
vantages and disadvantages is presented.
17

3.1.5 Requirements for conceptual inter-
communication framework
Scalability
Due to the very conceptual level of the Smart[er] phone, the
conceptual level of the interconnecting interfaces is kept to a
basic and fundamental level by only taking a theoretical and
scalable approach. In terms of the Smart[er] phone, scalable
is intended as a requirement for potential future develop-
ment with regard to size and volume, but also with regard
to the applications using future available communication
bearers. In near future complex network communication is
expected to be dominated by all-optical networks, using opti-
cal cables (e.g. Fiber) connections, that allow high-bandwidth
and low power solutions.
High bandwidth, minimum connection nodes
Due to the layered approach of the Smart[er] phone, a small,
18
low-power with high data-rates interfacing standard needs
to be developed that is able to communicate all sorts of
information sequentially over the different layers. This can
only be realized by developing a standard interface (connec-
tor and IO bus, which takes care of routing all information to
and from the appropriate receivers and transmitters). This in-
terface connector and IO bus needs to be positioned on each
layer. Beside data communication, this interface regulates
the entire power-management that is essentially centrally
regulated and controlled in the heart-layer, through which a
dynamic power-management system can be realized.
Open Framework Development
To empower all kind of manufacturers to take part in the
development of the separate specific layers of the Smart[er]
phone, the framework around the interfaces and busses is
ought to be developed openly. The initial development of
the interfacing system is being carried out internally, to avoid
Figure 9: Expected future de-
velopments of Parallel Optical
Interconnects.
Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org
similar situations that occurred during the development of
another decentralized modular concept: Futurebus (Peyton
Jones & Hardie, 1991), which never became a success due
to the amount of constraints that were created during the
initial concept development by many involved parties. After
having developed an open development framework, a Layer
Development Kit should be available for interested parties
who have ambitions in developing one (or more) layers for
the Smart[er] phone. By standardizing the connectors used
on the layers, together with the logic busses, layers are ought
to support each other consistently. Due to bandwidth con-
straints, the logic needs to be developed as such that newer
and more power-consuming layers are prioritized in terms
of bandwidth allocation, this, however, might be solved with
respect to the scalability of the interfacing standard, by using
optic interfacing and logic busses.
 3.2 Feasibility Study
The aim of this study is to analysis the feasibility of the con-
cept and to develop a list of design recommendations based
on technical considerations relating to the hardware and
software attributes of Smartphones.
3.2.1 Overview of Components in a Smartphone
To gain insight into the speed of technical developments in
the Smartphone market we have conducted an analysis com-
paring the components in a current iPhone4 with those of
the first generation iPhone, which was released three years
earlier. The iPhone was selected as it can be viewed as a
benchmark product for this market. Appendix 1 will provide
an overview of components, Schematics, and graph of evolu-
tion of iPhone. For each component, the analysis takes into
consideration the size, placement, need for Electromagnetic
interference (EMI) isolation, longevity and relationship to
other components. These are described in Appendix 2. No-
tice however, the level of detail of this analysis is on the core
components in the phone and does not take into consider-
ations the many resistors, LED’s, etc on the mother board.
3.2.2. Support from Electronics specialists
To gain additional insight into the feasibility of the concept,
relationships and longevity of components, two electronics
specialists from the faculty of Industrial Design at TU Delft
were consulted: Sander Minnoye and Dr.ir. Mostafa Hajian.
The discussions with different electronics experts from TU
Delft and the mode failure analysis were generally sup-
portive of the feasibility of the concept, although there are
many technical considerations relating to the placement and
relationships between components that would need to be
carefully balanced.
Supportive: Longevity of components – core concept
The study shows that the speed of technological obsolescence
can vary greatly from one component to the next. With compo-
nents such as the memory and processor tending to be updated
on an almost annual basis while others such as the SIM-card
reader and clock battery have remain unchanged for over 10
years. This is supportive to the core idea behind the concept –
that allowing users to update some components while main-
taining the core of the phone could result in significant reduc-
tions to the overall environmental impact of the phone.
Considerations
Miniaturisation
The concept is at odds with trends in miniaturisations in the
market. Currently the majority of components are integrated
onto the one mother/logic board, which is optimised using
micro-manufacturing techniques to fit as many components
and connections as possible. If parts are to be housed on
separate layers and connected in a plug-and-play manner (as
proposed for inter-layer connections) the results would be
larger, heavier and more expensive to produce.
Wiring
As stated above, the wiring and connections between
components is currently achieved via a complex network
of micro-manufactured hardwired circuits on the mother
board. Converting these connections to a plug-and-play
system between multiple layers would be the mayor chal-
lenge of the concept. Careful considerations would need to
be made to determine whether it would be more beneficial
to transfer the multiple lots of digital and analogue informa-
tion through hard wiring or encoded, and to ensure that the
connections were robust as possible.
Emi isolation
The effects of Electromagnetic interference are expected to
increase if components are placed on top of each other, as
appose to the current situation where they lay next to each
other on the one board. This will mean considerations will
19
be needed to determine where components are placed in
relation to those on other layers as well as their own layer. This
may also require additional EMI isolation between layers as well
as component groups.
3.2.3 Design Recommendations
As list of considerations on; where components should be placed
within the layer system to maximise the longevity of each layer,
and whether certain components would benefit from being indi-
vidually replaceable.
Level of Replaceability
The mode failure analysis suggests that the overall product longev-
ity could be further optimised by further sub-dividing layers to
group components together based on their speed of technological
obsolescence and relationship to other components. The follow-
20
ing is an overview of the
layout that would allow for
optimal longevity of the
whole phone.
There is a balance that needs to be reached here as the more
However, it is important to note that the deeper we go into replac-
over high-end the components are at the time of manufacture
ing individual components and groups of components the more
the more expensive and physically larger they will be. Such a
we increase the issues relating to wiring, size and costs mentioned
strategy also runs a risk if there is an unforeseen market shift
in the above section. Further exploration would be needed to find
towards a new technology that is not supportive.
the optimum balance and therefore the optimum design.
EMI isolation
Over Engineering
As there may be increases in the effects of EMI when compo-
One method for extending the lifespan of some of the faster
nents are placed on top of each other it may be advantageous
technologically obsolescent parts would be over engineer-
to have the layers either coated of entirely composed of an
ing them. By initially using components that have a higher
EMI insulating material, such as; sheet metal, metal screen,
capacity, processing speed, resolution, more pins, etc, they will
and metal foam.
remain compatible with other updating parts for longer.
Table 2 on left page:
Grey Shading – denotes sub levels of
removable components on layer
* Technology driven obsolescence
will vary depending on the perceived
need on the user. Innovators and early
adopters of new technology are likely to
replace these parts more often than the
majority.
3.3 Interaction
The interaction aspect of the concept revolves around the
Bubble and the feedback system to used together with the
phone, in order to deal with the issues of over-connectivity.
In determining what the Bubble should do and how it should
function, a vital source of input comes from the users. Thus,
this section firstly describes the usability testing that was
conducted, and thereafter, presents more specifically what
the Bubble is and how it works.
3.3.1 Usability testing of the interaction
As a large part of this domain is concerned about achieving
certain responses from the user, usability testing is a key ac-
tivity in discovering and assessing what works and what does
not. As they are so important, test are therefore included
in the report itself and not in the appendix. The usability
testing was conducted to acquire a vision of detachment, the
method of entering and exiting the bubble, and finally the
feedback system.
On the other hand, as the main medium of our concept is
the Smartphone, a physical interaction had to be found in
order to define a system that not only supported the need
of detachment, but even was enhancing it through gestures
and feedback. To address these two parts of the concept,
two main user test were made: a “generative” interview on
the theme of detachment and a physical brainstorm and test-
ing on possible “detaching” gestures.
Usability test 1: The detachment interviews
The underserved need of detachment became apparent
during our testing with “the Phone Free Day” (see Report
2). However, the idea of what could create detachment and
from which aspects users wanted to detach from, had to be
dealt with in more depth in order to define a better interac-
tion concept. To uncover these issues, a set of generative in-
terviews was done. The booklet used to guide the interview
and to define a common set of visualization can be found in
the appendix 6 (and figure 10). The first part of interviews,
were based on the definition of a visualization of what
detachment is in general and how this could be translated in
the communication world. The second part was focused on
the user’s experiences of forced or chosen detachment from
their Smartphone (when was turned off and why?) as well as
a definition of what the user saw to be a private bubble of
communication.
Results
The shared meaning of the term detachment is quite vague.
Most of the interviewees recall a sense of leaving and free-
dom from actual and contextual situations that depend and
differ on the situation.
When talking about communication, the term detachment is
closely related to specific situations of information pollu-
tion (notifications and social networking) and contextualized
problems (getting a bit away from family, work, etc). Another
interesting discovery is that close to all of the interviewees
did not turn off their phone anymore.
When introducing the idea of a personal bubble the inter-
viewees had very personal and context dependent needs,
showing a need of a very flexible system of filtering. Another
important and interesting finding is that when people leave
their phone turned off, or not with them, several commented
that: “I like to see if someone looked for me, but I also lose a
lot of time checking all my channels of communication.”
Figure 10 in background: Detachment
Interviews booklet page
21
21

Usability test 2: Mode switching
In order to define the best way to switch modes: from
normal to bubble and back again, a user sessions was set up
with potential users for this project: students of a yoga class
(see Figure 11). 
The session lasted about an hour and consisted of 3 different
assignments. In the first assignment, the users were asked
to define through full body movements certain actions like
“putting asleep”, “detach”, “relax”, “waking up”, “focus”
etc. During the second assignment, the users were given
an Smartphone-shaped-object and asked to perform hand
gestures with it to express some verbs like “awakening”,
“putting asleep” etc. The last assignment was done in the
opposite way, the users were now asked to perform certain
actions like flipping, twisting, shaking etc. and then describe
which mental association the actions provoked.
22
Figure 11 (left): Yoga group creative session
Figure 12 (top): mock-up of prototype, with turning
corners.
Between these assignments a mock-up was also tested. The
model represented a Smartphone-shaped-object made in
carton paper with three still smooth corners and one corner
that could turn. The turning corner could be changed from
smooth to edgy and the other way around (see Figure 12).
The mock-up was used to test if the users were more likely to
use a more direct physical interaction. Since they preferred
having more drastic difference in the gestures between
entering and exiting the bubble mode, this proposal was
rejected.
A complete description of the test set can be found in Ap-
pendix 3.
Results
The first assignment had very diverse results; from closing
your own eyes to having a bike ride etc. The results were not
very useful to the research, but brought the users in the right
mood and mind set for the following tasks. While answering
the second assignment most of the users spontaneously just
flipped the mobile phone on the screen side, in order to “put
it asleep” and all of them excluded the idea of having any
sound still going on. Another interesting option was to put
the mobile phone away, but always in the same place, as if it
had its own “nest”.
In terms of awakening many different suggestions were giv-
en, but the most common was to shake the mobile phone, as
to physically wake it up. From the general conversation some
other interesting information came from the users. Most of
them expressed the desire of having two different actions to
put asleep and to wake up the mobile phone, because the
feeling is different.

Usability test 3: Gestures to freedom
After the feedback from the second usability testing, a set of
screen based gestures were developed to test a movement
for its slowing down and detaching effect on the user. The
movement would enable the user to enter the bubble mode
both mentally and functionally. These animations were
tested on a Smartphone to get a real feedback on dimen-
sions and interaction.
The animations (see appendix 7 and figure 13) were pre-
sented as paths the user had to follow. No information was
provided to the user, and the user was requested to talk-
out-loud (TOL) while using the animation. After the test, the
users were asked a few questions about the feeling and the
emotions related to the experience. All the animations were
done in order to represent different possibilities of differ-
ent movements and screen gestures based on the following
clusters:
Figure 13: 4 animation path designs that were used for user testing.
»» Background colour: white or black.
»» Path of the movement: circular, infinite, spiral or ran-
dom.
»» Speed of the movement: continuous, slowing down.
»» Duration of the gesture: 5sec, 10sec, 15sec, and con-
tinuous till they stopped.
»» Holding the phone: horizontal, vertical, one hand, two
hands and on a steady surface.
Results
»» The black background was found to be more comfort-
able, as it was more relaxing for the eyes. The white
background was too bright for comfort.
»» The continuous and slowing down movement was
making people so focused that TOL was difficult to
achieve.
»» One of the tested user said “it becomes slightly slows
and i felt almost like calming down too much”.
»» The paths were difficult to be decided as all the tested
had different visions, except that the circular was too
simple.
Usability test 4: Feedback
In the test 2 (mode switching), some users also expressed
the desire of having a “one-shot” notification in terms of
light and vibration, which does not repeat itself until the mo-
bile phone is checked. Based on these results some further
testing for light and vibration feedbacks were made.
In order to define the different versions of the feedback the
Smartphone would give the user, a user study were 7 dif-
ferent light + vibration combinations were tested on seven
Smartphone users: three for the normal mode and four for
the Bubble mode.
23

Figure 14: Different coloring of visual feedback, a test user holding the
prototype and the test protype itself (top to bottom).
24
During the test, the user was holding the
feedback prototype (see Figure 14), consist-
ing in a Smartphone-shaped block of acrylic
with an RGB LED and a vibrating motor
hidden inside (see Figure 14). The prototype
was connected to an Arduino via wiring and
this latter to a laptop, controlled by the test
monitor. The description of the seven combi-
nations can be seen in the Appendix 4.
The users were asked to answer three ques-
tions about the use of 7 different modes for
a Smartphone. These modes were consisting
in different behaviours in terms of light and
vibration. Three were based on a red light
and four on a blue light. They were then
asked to answer some questions about the
light meaning and finally pick up a mode to
be assigned to the Bubble mode.
Results
All the users associated the longer interac-
tions with calls and the shorter ones for
SMS or emails. Some of them associated the
faster interactions with alarm clock or agen-
da notifications. For the normal mode, the
users would like have liked to have sound
with the light and vibration. For the bubble
mode, the users did not want to have any
accompanying sound. However, they would
like to have the vibration also in Bubble
mode, because otherwise there is the risk
of spending too much time looking at your
mobile, when having only a light feedback.
In terms of the colouring of the modes, six
of the seven users associated the red light
with “Urgency” and more invasive notifica-
tion, while they felt the blue one as calmer
and quieter.
 Figure 15: The device, with the
‘enter bubble mode’ screen.
3.4 Bubble Mode
The bubble system consisted of two separate parts. The first
is the information and communication management, and the
second is the user interface and feedback system.
3.4.1. Information and communication management
The use of Smartphones often results in having more applica-
tions and more contacts, ensuing that it also occupies more
of the users’ time. It has also changed how things are done.
Things that once used to be gathered and done in certain
bursts of activity during the day, are now done a lot more
frequently. In this sense, rather than enabling the user to do
things better and use less time, it results in a usage that is
more frequent and that uses more time. An example is the
amount of times a user checks his/her email account when
having a Smartphone in comparison to only having access
to a computer. The possibility of doing more things may not
actually be making us Smart[er], so we need a phone that
may be “dumber” but making us Smart[er] or more educated
in the use of communication.
How to achieve it?
The benefit of using Bubble is not only to be able to detach,
but also to educate and realize how social connectivity could
be more personal if turned into a more direct and filtered
way. Bubble is a VOIP based application for communication
path for those moments when the user feels like detach-
ing from the information influx. Instead Bubble enables the
user to have direct communication with a selected group of
people of which the user wants to allow in his/her Bubble.
It furthermore acts as a filter on the incoming information
on multiple platforms (social networks and emails) and as a
block on specific parts of the phone (GPS, Wireless and 3G).
By enabling a choice of contacts that can enter the personal
“bubble”, the system define a soft barrier with the rest of
connectivity. People in the bubble can be reached and can
reach the user, people outside will receive feedback that the
user is momentarily not to be reached.
25

When and why using the bubble?
Bubble is not a forced and told steer towards a more moral
way of using our mobiles, but rather a chance of defining a
really personal and intimate use of it. The possibility of having a
personal and free moment and of personalizing what is relevant
will bring to a product that will be more adapted to the user and
so becoming a self extension and an image of him/her.
The possibility of filtering incoming information depending on
people and not on the media used will define a more person
based and personalized communication tool. In bubble mode
the focus is on people as it enables just direct calls and mes-
saging to the selected people and enables just them to directly
26
Figure 16: Normal Android interface with at the top the
bouncing bubble mode icon, and at the bottom the Bubble
mode App.
contact. Cutting user could be informed of the user’s detachment, it would help
off internet con- to achieve a real sensation of freedom. The situation tried in
nection is a restric- our research was forced, but the possibility of reaching the
tion based on the same effect was an interesting possibility for most of the users
vision of gaining interviewed after.
more time by
reclustering con- 3.4.2 User interface and feedback system
nectivity into burst
of activities rather Entering the bubble
than spreading it The bubble interface is an addition to the normal Android OS
towards an infinite that enables to enter an application based system (Figure 16).
and continuous The system has a bubble feedback icon that shows to the us-
time that actually ers when they should consider an information break. This is
denies a real free a subtle and non-continuous glow of an icon that is activated
time. “Checking when the users reaches a certain number of contacts per hour,
if” and “i will just internet connectivity, hours without turning off the phone or
have a quick look generally over-multitasking.
while..” are situations that take off time from reality by occupy-
ing spare time on “something” rather than living it. The pos- Entering feedback
sibility of cutting of GPS is a possibility for the future when GPS When choosing to enter the bubble mode, a set of actions have
based information will be a reality and also a potential problem to be done in order to reach the right mental state to detach.
for privacy issue. On a daily basis when one feels like being
focused into something or feeling alone or just detach from the A random smooth path has to be followed for 15 seconds in
daily routine, Bubble enables to bounce what is not subjectively order to enter the main interface. The movement, which is
relevant without the stress of missing something. continuous, smooth and gradually slowing down, enables the
users to focus their attention on the present and helps them to
Based on the findings from the phone free day (see Report 2), relax (as shown in the usability tests). The gestures help achieve
being completely unreachable was too drastic and unaccept- these states in a far better manner than switching on and off a
able for the users. However, if those attempting to reach the button, as in a silent mode.
1 - See what’s in the bubble currently (figure 2a - Add people or emotions by pinching the 2b - Select the names through the alpha- 2c - Finally, pick the desired name of the
shows: music, ‘Eirik’ and ‘mom’). inner bubble. betic list that pops up. person or song.

3 - You can select people

in the bubble and see their
availability and connection
options.

4 - When you leave the

bubble by shaking your
device, an update on missed
calls and messages is shown.
These items have been
‘bubble-bounced’ while the
bubble mode was activated.

27
Figure 17: The bubble bounce concept: normally all information
by all contacts passes through (left). Now, only a few selected
contacts have the ability to communicate with you.

@ @
In the bubble
While the users are in the bubble, only few actions can be
conducted. This is done since the actual goal of the mode is to
detach from connectivity and gain more quality in person based
communication. Contacts become people, video and pictures
become moments and music and other media become emo-
tions.

People can be added to the users’ bubble and data can be

connected to people (music, video and pics). People added to
the bubble can be contacted by direct (call) or indirect speaking
(voice message) or by sharing (text messages or data file).

The people added to the bubble are also able to contact the
users while in the bubble through each of the mediums they
use (Calls, sms, facebook, skype and so on...). The rest of the
information will be bounced.
 feedback that the information will be received later, the users
In the bubble feedback
The feedback on incoming messages or calls will be based on
light and vibration in order to have a more subtle effect. Accord-
ing to the preferences of the user in test 4, the interaction cho-
sen for all the notifications in Bubble mode will be a light with a
vibration that fades from min to max and back to min, without
any sounds. It has the following set-up: Fading LED from min (0)
to max (255) and then back from max (255) to min (0); fading
vibration from min (180) to max (250) and then back from max
(250) to min (180). The whole thing has to be slow: 3 seconds to
go back and forth (min/max/min).
As was confirmed in the test, the notification in normal mode
28
UNPRIORITIZED OVERLOAD
OF INFORMATION
will have red light, while blue light for notifications in Bubble
mode.
The bubble bounce
When the users enter the bubble, the phone becomes a pas-
sive receiver of incoming information (calls, emails, SMS and
notifications). Those people who are chosen to stay in the users’
bubbles can reach them, while the rest are gently bounced (see
figure 17). The system is set up to provide those attempting to
contact the users, feedback of the users’ momentary unreach-
ability with a message. The message can be personalized and
defined by the user according to his/her preferences in order
to give a choice of whether to be direct or more indirect. This
feature enables the user to counter the perceived need of
DIRECT CONTACT WITH FEW CONTACTS, OTHER
INFORMATION TEMPORARILY BOUNCED OFF
always being connected and the expected speedy reply that are
becoming the norm of today’s communication. By providing
won’t feel as stressed as if they would completely turn off the
phone. The information that is bounced will be presented later
in a relative time sorting system.
Relative time information sorting
The bounced information will be given back to the user in a list
that sums all the channel of communication based on people. In
this way the user won’t have to lose time searching through all
the different information sources, but focus more on who has
tried to contact instead.
Figure 18: Visualization of the business model strategy,
part of chapter 4: Smart[er] Phone: Commercialization.

29
4. Smart[er]
phone:
commercia-
lization
The commercialization of the
Smart[er] phone will incorpo-
rate the business model strat-
egy, branding and marketing
mix and serves as an illus-
tration how Enviu could ap-
proach the market with our
proposed design solution.
4.1 Commercialization Vision
4.2 Business Model & Strategy
4.3 Market Implementation Plan
4.4 Branding
4.5 Marketing Mix
30
4.1 Commercialization Vision
In this section the commercialisation strategy of the product
is explained in more detail. As was described in the internal
analysis of Enviu (Report 1); they are not a handset producer, in
fact, they do not have any existing role in the mobile phone in-
dustry. Due to their position, Enviu will not be able, financially
or technically, to develop and launch the product themselves,
but be required to find an existing actor in the industry to con-
tinue the project. The strategy is made under the assumption
that an existing actor in the industry is behind the project.
Since Enviu will not launch the product themselves, the focus
in this section will be on the strategy, which revolves around
how to ensure that the commercialisation gives added value
and continued drive to keep the sustainable philosophy. The
marketing mix we propose in the following section will due to
the previous mentioned reasons, only carry illustrative power,
as the marketing mix will have to be adjusted according to
the company ending up commercialising the product.
Remaing sustainable
An inherent difficulty in the project in regards to the com-
mercialisation derives from the initial project brief. It stated
that the project was to strive for creating maximum impact in
changing the mobile phone industry towards sustainability.
An important criteria in selecting the direction of the project
(described in Report 1) was to chose a target which was not,
and would most likely not be pursued by the mobile phone
industry by itself. Increasing the lifespan of the mobile phone
was one of the things at the most at odds with the industry.
Consequently, there will inevitably be tension between hav-
ing market success and project success, a fact that is impor-
tant to remember when evaluating the different commerciali-
sation alternatives.
We believe it is unrealistic to expect sustainable solutions (ef-
ficiency gains cannot be classified as sustainable solutions) to
be implemented directly into the existing system, as it is the
cause of the current level of environmental and social impact.
The commercialisation strategy and model proposed is radical
in respect to the current level, a necessity if the goals set in
the project are to be accomplished. Although a strategy that
does not revolve around profit-maximisation is at odds with
the current state of the industry, there is a growing field of in-
dustries and companies that have another raison d’être than
profit maximisation. Many of these companies are driven by
a strong belief in a cause, and some have a social business
model. For sustainability to take root, it is also important to
move these principles into normal strongholds of consumer-
ism such as consumer electronics.
Figure 19: Example of Business model visualization, adopted from the
book ‘Business Model Generation’, by Osterwalder and Pigneur.
Through our product and commercialisation process, we
want to create a mobile phone industry that:
»» Has designed the phones: using longer lasting compo-
nents, easier to repair and recycling, making it easier
for consumers to keep their phone for its true techni-
cal lifespan, and thereby reducing the intensity of the
cradle-to-grave cycles.
»» Generates the majority of revenue from other sources
than sales of hardware, changing sales from physical
parts towards intangible parts.
»» Removed design for obsolescence.
»» Does not push phones at consumer in breakneck
speeds, but focuses on more radical innovation that
have significant improvement
»» Has created an alternative to the connectivity craze –
creating awareness about life quality among users, and
given them back the control of their connectivity
4.2 Business Model & Strategy
The section a more detailed description of the different as-
pects of the business strategy will be presented.
Layer release strategy
The layers will with some software tweaking, be compatible
with each other. However, as was described in the techni-
cal feasibility evaluation, the “processor” is the part that
quickest becomes obsolete, since the other layers take up
an increasing amount of computational power from the
processor as they improve. After some time, newer layers
will not be able to function with an older processor. From a
sustainability and functional perspective, the processor is the
most crucial item of the mobile phone. The other layers will
therefore have to revolve around the different processors,
with explicit information regarding which processors are sup-
ported, and which are not.
Another key element is to provide sufficient upgrades to the
user, so to discourage an upgrade of the processor. The exist-
ing customers will be served by providing new layers that still
fit with older processors, and will be fully served for its entire
lifespan, through repairs, a lively second hand market, new
layers and adapted OS development.
When launching the Smart[er] phone, SmartCompany will
release a variety of layers (with different functionality and
processing power) that cater to the selected target groups
different needs and desires. Over time, it will still be possible
to get “older” processors, as they will diminish in price in
comparison to new ones, but still offer good functionality for
those not seeking the cutting edge.
To avoid too much cluttering and confusion regarding layers
and compatibility, it is important to keep the number of
variations in the layers to a manageable amount. SmartCom-
pany will therefore only launch new processors and layers
when there is a significant technological development to
warrant a new release.
Revenue of the leasing system
The mobile phones will be offered without an initial fee
(or a symbolic fee in cases of regulation). The revenue will
however be generated by a monthly fee (see figure 20). The
fee structure will start fairly high in the beginning, before go-
ing down, and then down again after the minimum contract
expires. The would-be selling price is recuperated when the
initial contract ends. How much they will drop, will depend
on the length of the contract (Europe has different legislation
according to the length).
31

The declining fee works better than a flat fee for three rea-
sons. Firstly, it allows SmartCompany to recuperate the ma-
jority of the money as soon as possible. Secondly, it signals
the customer that he/she is rewarded with better terms the
longer the phone is kept. And lastly, for a customer con-
sidering to upgrade to the newest layers after the contract
expires, for example, a tripling of the monthly fees, provides
an incentive to remain with the existing set of layers for a
longer period. The drawback is that the fee structure is more
complex for the customer to understand, and that the main
fees are closer to the present day, and therefore easier to be
affected by the price, than if they were evenly spread out, or
occurring later in the future.
As the phone can be seen as a set of layers, the contract is
dived into separate entries for the different parts. Thus, each
individual layer will have a monthly fee, which is combined
into one total sum for the customer.
The point system
The point system is implemented as an additional feature to
encourage customers to keep their phones for a longer pe-
riod of time. The points are earned in a very simple manner:
just by keeping the phone another day. However, they do not
being to being earned until 18months (the average lifespan
32
of a mobile phone). Since the phones are made up of a four
layers, the customer earns 40 points every day (10 per part).
The points can be used on either themselves or into value for
the “greater good.” The “value” of the options will always be
in favour of giving to the greater good, to show that giving
is always better. For personal value, the customer can use
the points to discount the monthly price of the layers. For
the greater good, they can be used to unlock gifts/benefits
(something concrete) that the customer can choose from
among a selection of worthy causes. Different “benefits” will
be unlocked depending on the length of time the customer
has kept the phone, where the longer the customer waits,
the more valuable is the gift.
Furthermore, there will be a constant tracker of total number
of days that users have kept their phones past 1.5 years, and
what that translates into from an environmental perspective.
SmartCompany will also have several set goals that will be
initiated when the amount of days has been reached, these
are goals that can be cross-incorporated with the corporate
social responsibility activities of the mother company.
Figure 20: Business model
revenue system.
Repairing the phone
Repairing is often associated with a lot of uncertainty and
expenses. As part of the service, SmartCompany will pro-
vide free and fast repairs for all the layers, being a point of
differentiation. This service can be implemented due to the
form of the layers: SmartCompany will only change the layer
in question, and send a new or re-used back to the user. The
broken layers will then be organised to take advantage of
economies of scale while repairing the problems.
However, to discourage moral hazard among users, the leas-
ing agreement will have to include a terms of agreement that
makes only “normal” mobile phone failures free to repair.
Upgrading the phone
A key part of the offering is the possibility for the customer
to upgrade their phone with new layers, as new options be-
come available, or if a different function is wanted. The new
layers are added to the user’s account and to the monthly
fee. The old layers will then either be sent in or brought in
by the customer, as the fee continues until they are handed
in. Another option for the customer is to transfer them to
others, but then they have to accept, and they will then take
over the current layer status (monthly fee, karma points,
etc).

Bubble mode
The bubble mode service is not meant as a separate product
or service, but as an integral feature of all the phones that
are released by SmartCompany.
Ending the contract
When the user wants to dismiss the service, the phone
is to be sent back to the company. Then the body-layer is
changed, with a new shell, and leased out again at a dis-
counted rate. Either in the same market or in developed
markets, where it can be kept alive for a longer time, since all
the parts are changeable. Thus, the life-cycle of the mobile
phone is expanded. If the phone is lost, or the customer
wants to end or change the layers before the contract period
is over, requires an environmental cost from the user, as they
have underutilised the resources.
Guidelines for the company
The company that makes the layers should be an OS (Operat-
ing System) developer. When the brain layer and the other
layers being to be out-dated, they cannot continue to follow
the updates of the new OS’s because of lacking hardware.
Thus, the SmartCompany needs to focus the development
of the OS that is to be used on older models platforms, on
making it leaner and more efficient, instead of adding more
capabilities. The efficiency gains can then be implemented
into the newer versions as well.
Long term: Opening up layers for 3rd party developers
In time, 3rd party developers can be allowed to offer their
products within the standard, thereby creating a new source
of innovation and product development. The 3rd party
developers have to offer their products according to the dif-
ferent standards set into the layers, and their offerings will
go through the SmartCompany, since they will not be sold,
but leased as well. To incorporate 3rd party developers, a set
of technical specifications they have to live up to, as well as
financial distribution key depending on how often the layers
need repairing, etc will have to be developed.
Challenges to be tackled:
There will be several uncertainties and challenges that have
to be faced and tackled for the strategy to be a success. The
most pressing are:
»» The application market will at any given time take
advantage of the best possible technology. Thus, there
can be difficulties in how to maintain the offerings to
several levels of performance associated with the dif-
Figure 21: People, Planet, Profit;
win-win-win.
ferent platforms?
»» The cost of repairing and the increased product re-
sponsibility for SmartCompany.
»» The change of mentality that people don’t own their
own mobile phone any more, but pay for them as a
service. And the increased likelihood of people damag-
ing their phones.
»» Continuing the previous point, customers can worry
about the privacy of their data when returning their
phones back to SmartCompany.
Rational behind strategy
The major strength of this business model in contrast to oth-
ers (see Appendix 5 for a closer description), is that it offers
a win-win-win for the customers, SmartCompany and the
planet. It will offer incentives for all the parties to keep the
phones for as long as possible (or desired).

Furthermore, as SmartCompany is responsible for providing
free repairs, leasing them out again and the material itself,
SmartCompany will be motivated to make it easier to repair,
the components longer lasting, make it easier to re-use
components, and focus on fewer but better models to sell. It
gives them a closer customer contact, and gives them profit
from having a long-term view.
33
 4.3 Market Implementation Plan
Objectives
The launch objectives are related to the newness of the
product (Guiltinan, 1999). The Smart[er] phone has as-
pects that are very new to the market (the layers, busi-
ness model and bubble mode), but although the form
factor and ownership are different, the functionality of
the Smart[er] phone is well established in the market,
and well understood by the users. It does therefore not
create a new market or category, but attempt to acquire
market share in existing markets.
According to the framework proposed by Guiltinan
(1999) the Smart[er] phone can thus be classified as
a new product entering an established market. In the
framework, the objective is therefore to encourage
trial and repurchase. However, the Smart[er] phone is a
durable product where one purchase will be sufficient
for several years, so the focus will be to achieve the first
purchase.
An additional aspect of the framework is that by analysing
the relative advantage of the product and the compatibility
the product has with the target group, and judging them
34
these attributes are not valued as high by the target group.
against the existing products in the same market that will
In terms of compatibility, the customisation makes the phone
be entered, gives recommendations on the type of launch
tactics that should be employed. fit closely to the user’s needs and requirements. It fits their
values by being focused on sustainability and on “old-fash-
ioned” principles as caring for the material objects. The
“Relative advantage depends on a posi- Smart[er] phone is based on the same functionality prin-
tioning of the product’s benefits against ciples as existing phones, but it will have a challenge in
those of other products, and compatibility the new way of layers and ownership, which will require
depends on a positioning of the product’s the user to adapt their mental models. Nevertheless, in
sum, it could be argued that the product also had a high
fit with individuals’ needs, values, and ex- compatibility.
periences/usage systems compared to the
fit of other previously used products” Another objective is related to whether to target the
- Guiltinan, 1999. mass or niche market. Although the mass market would
imply a higher sales potential and thus also a higher
impact, pursuing the mass market would mean a lot of
intense competition from the other handset producer
The Smart[er] phone can be seen to have both a high relative (which is already an intensive industry). In addition, mass
advantage and high compatibility with the users. In terms markets are only advisable when the product has a high rela-
of advantage, it gives the user free repairs, the possibility of tive advantage and high compability within the market. Since
customising the composition of the layers and upgrading, the Smart[er] phone can only be said to have these quali-
and detaching from the connectivity. It will not be as cutting- ties within the target group, it is recommended to purse the
edge or be as powerful as the other products over time, but niche market (Guiltinan, 1999).

Business Review,
May 2010, pp. 49.
4.4 Branding
Transformation of the busines
Drucker talks about traditional (past), transitional (present),
and transformational (future) time zones (figure 22), in which
companies live simultaneously. Furthermore he states: “no
such thing as a future decision, only the futurity of a present
one (Flaherty, 1999).” In this, technology plays an important
role; yesterday’s technology, today’s activities and tomor-
row actions all need to be taken into account to initiate
change. He also mentions that there have been three major
technologic breakthroughs: shift from nomadic to sedentary
societies around 6000 BC (Flaherty, 1999), the upcoming me-
chanical applications around the 18th century and the more
recent information and knowledge developments in the 20th
century. Now, as we are well in the 21st century, these latter
developments are taken to extremes (as this entire project is
built around that belief).
Figure 21: Adopted from Harvard
What is the What will the
business? business be?
Traditional Transitional
Figure 22: Image freely cre-
What should the ated from: Peter F. Drucker,
business be?
1998.
show strong improvements on
From a branding point of view, the eco-efficiency should not be afraid
transformational time zone should be to ‘climb the execution curve’ (or:
addressed: what does the future bring Transformational the transformation of the current
along? By using branding as a vehicle to en- business): adapting their strategy
lighten people about the mindset that the current and business processes to actualize their
way of using mobile technology might contain an overload of sustainable intentions. Furthermore, they state that
information, this transformation should be initiated. By mak- companies should not only develop internal strategies but
ing people aware of this, self-actualization can be achieved also ‘adopt open-source approaches that engage outsiders’.
(actualizing one’s beliefs and mindset). As for branding, this This provides a solid ground on which future telecom indus-
can be done implicitly or explicitly, depending on the mes- tries have to put their words to action: reducing the impact
sage. of the production is one thing, changing the products them-
selves, is another. With respect to branding, this is another
An interesting new theory raised by Lubin & Esty (2010 - fig- clear evidence that the concept should radiate the intention
ure 21) in one of last year’s Harvard Business Review, is the that the current way of designing phones is no longer valid in
notion that reducing environmental impact solely, will not the (near) future. This will be translated to explicit branding
withstand in future business. Rather, companies that already terms for the project. Transformation is the key-word here.
35

Going beyond ‘Feeds & Speeds’
In today’s telecom industry economic benefits and functional
benefits are very important; the first will occur for people
who value efficiency, reducing costs and errors will choose
a phone that fits that image. The latter for people who look
for the best possible interaction or experience (performance/
flexibility/usability/etc.) with their device. These two benefit
sets are encapsulated as ‘think’ and ‘act’ mindsets and can
both be considered as quite rational attributes in the custom-
er Decision Making Process (DMP).
However, Scott Davis pleads that manufacturers need to go
beyond the ‘feeds-and-speeds’ for modern day electronic
devices: advertising and branding products by showing
technical components and emphasizing their additional
benefits will no longer suffice. The emotional benefits (or:
36
Figure 23: Adopted from: Kellogg on
Branding, p. 220.
what we ‘feel’) should »» Self-actualization
be addressed: style, »» Self-expression
self-expression, self- »» Control
extension, control (but »» Freedom
also freedom) are a few »» Independence
of the attributes that fit »» Affiliation
this thought. Therefore,
producers need to shift As product attachment is a key-word for the concept, it
their focus to what a shows overlap with some of the words in the list: self-ex-
product actually does for pression and affiliation specifically. As product attachments
the customer and what it kind of rewards he or she will get stools on three important pillars (product’s irreplaceability,
when using the product. See figure 23. indispensability and self- extension - Schifferstein & Pelgrim,
2008). Self-extension follows self-expression, irreplaceability
For the final concept of the project, this means that the follows affiliation. Therefore, product attachment and emo-
reasons why there would be emotional benefits, must be tional benefits are heavily intertwined.
filled in. The concept is hugely focused on these benefits
implicitly, but for the overall branding strategy they will have Control and freedom are different: they are contradicting,
to be turned into explicit forms. By doing this, potential users but do not exclude each other. Normally, one would be in
could envision what the concept can do for them, creating control when freedom is lost. The reverse could also be true:
communal awareness for the (sustainable) impact the tele- one should have freedom when control is lost. However, for
com industry has upon us. By offering them an alternative, the concept, a certain control is wished for, to create free-
this is achieved. dom. As the user can deliberately go into a ‘bubble-mode’
(by being in control), additional freedom is gained. In that
Key-words for emotional benefits that are appropriate for sense, independence and freedom result from an (increased)
the concept: notion of control over traditional mobile phones.

Frame of reference
Another important aspect of setting up a brand and creating
its strategy is the frame of reference, being part of the brand
positioning (Tybout & Calkins, 2005). This refers to the asso-
ciation and notions the user has when the brand is recalled,
what it is that makes it relevant to him or her. The frame
of reference for the concept could be the unique selling
points (USP’s or Points of Difference - Keller & Tybout, 2002)
it integrates, but also more generic attributes (or Points of
Parity) that relate to the brand in a larger scope: the product
or brand category (something that is shared by all brands in
the category). By levering from points of differences and by
trying to ‘break-even’ with points of parity (generic category
advantages that competitors might have), a strong brand is
created.
Points of difference
»» the ability to detach from the daily ‘overload’ of com-
munication by entering a mode in which you are less
connected to the world and therefore have more time
to focus on the ‘here and the now’ (providing quality
time).
»» Physical layers and replaceable/upgradable compo-
nents in (some) of these layers make that the phone
is more environmentally sustainable than current day
phones, as a defect in the product will not cause a
replacement of the entire phone but solely a part of it.
»» the physical appearance of the layers will show what
mode you are in (normal or ‘bubble’ mode), providing
visual feedback that is meaningful and interactive.
»» a lively second-hand market of layers and components
will reduce landfills and prevent people from upgrading
their phones every 18 months or so.
Figure 24: Timeline of Nokia products, adopted
from: http://www. cellphones.techfresh.net.
Points of Parity
»» it should still offer the ability to do everything the user
would do with a ‘normal’ phone: e-mailing, browsing,
social media, calling, etc.
»» phones nowadays are small, lightweight, easy to in-
teract with and offers a vast amount of functionalities
which have become a standard (an Application Store,
tools, Media player, etc). This should be taken into ac-
count, maybe slimmed down, but not ignored.
»» as phones are oftentimes provided when a new con-
tract is signed, people choose for this option so they
can avoid a high-priced purchase. Pricing the phone
too high might scare off people.
37
 Figure 25: Attitude and Behaviour
Segments of smartphone users.

4.5 Marketing Mix

In order to create a brand strategy, the before mentioned
implicit values will have to be made explicit. This will be
integrated in the marketing mix (product, promotion, place
and price).
Product
The product itself is detailed extensively throughout the
whole report, and will therefore not be described further
here.
People
The target audience for the concept phone will be basically
everybody with a sense for the environment and sustain-
ability and moreover, are not resistant to get involved
themselves. They are very open to innovations on the digital
platform and possibly own (smart)phones which are reaching
the end of their lifespan and so these people are looking for
a new phone to buy. The age category of these people will
be anywhere from 18 to 50 with some money to spend. They
probably own a decent Smartphone already, but are not
resistant of trying out something new, even if it might cost
them a bit extra.
38
Demographically, this audience
could live almost anywhere,
as long as a shopping centre is
relatively close (if they choose
to physically hold a Smartphone
before they purchase). Nonethe-
less, even at remote locations,
an online purchase is still possi-
ble. But more specifically, people around the big cities in the
Netherlands and its surrounding countries (and possibly even
further) are part of the target audience as many sustainable
initiatives take place there.
Niche market
In order to penetrate the telecom industry, a niche mar-
ket might help. By pinpointing a specific group of people,
other audiences can be reached from there. This niche will
demand certain characteristics. First of all, it should be large
enough to reach a decent amount of people, but still be very
reachable. Secondly, they should share the a set of values
which are addressed by the concept. Third, there must be
a clear incentive why these people would buy the product.
And lastly, there should not be much competition, as a niche
market typically focuses on a group of users that is eager to
adopt your product.
In phase two, we have made different types of users,
regarding their Smartphone usage (see figure 25 on this
page). Apart from the distinction between rational (phone
as empowerment, necessity) and aspirational users (phone
as fashion, trend followers), there are four quadrants of
behavior segments: business, multimedia, essentials and
style-focused.
As for a niche market for the Smart[er] phone, we believe
there should be a focus on aspirational, high involvement us-
ers: people that can induce a change in the industry and are
considered as early adopters rather than being part of the
majority of consumers. For the long term, other segments,

like the Mature acceptors and family providers could follow,
when a lively second hand and repurchase cycle has found its
way to the surface.
Since we will collaborate with a handset manufacturer, this
will greatly determine how the product’s distribution will be
handled, these people will be reached through existing pro-
motion and sales channels.By choosing such a niche market,
the three characteristics are met:
»» it is large enough to reach a decent amount of people,
as style oriented, aspirational users make up a fair
group of the total user range.
»» they will share the same values that relate to our
planet, society and sustainability; they are aware of
current problems regarding environmental impact.
»» the incentive to buy the sustainable Smartphone is
found in progression/innovation: as these people want
to differentiate from other people they are eager to
take up new conceptual products and are not hesitant
for radical changes.
Promotion
For the promotion of the concept, advertising and word-to-
mouth are important pillars. Over time, awareness will be
created through experiences with the phone. The incen-
tives for using the phone are mostly long-term oriented as
rewards for using it are only visible after a certain amount of
time. Because the phone excels in making it easy to upgrade
or replace, there first needs to be the need of doing this,
which will take time (anywhere between 1 and 3 to 4 years).
However, the customer buying experience and the incentive
to buy such a device, will have to be oriented on the short
term as well, short term rewarding is key to sell the prod-
uct. Therefore, when using advertising, this should be put
forward.
Short term benefits are situated around the fact that the
phone is a sustainable, no-nonsense device which ultimately
will save you money thanks to its upgrading/replacing capa-
bilities. The advertisements around the new product will be
placed at spots were the target audience is present (these
spots are not distribution channels, but merely places where
brand exposure is appropriate):
»» at eco-friendly stores and sites
»» The Body-shop or other fair-trade/community-trade
stores
»» Slow food movements venues/stores
Figure 26: http://www.treehugger.
com homepage example
»» Sustainable Blogs (e.g. <www.treehugger.com>, figure 26)
»» At sports brands stores like Adidas, a top ranked sus-
tainable company (<www.forbes.com>; Adidas ranked
28th of all big companies worldwide)
»» At telecom stores such as Vodafone (being connected
to Enviu)
»» Enviu website and on websites of partners (HybridTuk-
Tuk, Sustainable Dance Floor, etc.)
»» All other promotion channels that are used by the col-
laborating handset manufacturer
The reason why companies like the Body Shop are put here (which
has no interest in selling Smartphones) is simple: having referred
to the frame of reference before, this sustainable Smartphone has
quite a broad area of associations. What the Body Shop, Adidas,
and the concept-brand have in common is a care for the envi-
ronment and their corporate sustainable impact on the world.
Although they go about these topics in different ways, with dif-
ferent production techniques and completely different products,
their communal aim to act more sustainable is present. Both the
Body shop and the new Smartphone brand will profit from shared
sustainable mental model. The frame of reference for sustainable
business is quite broad; specific product categories are no longer
the most important factor in bringing brands together.
39

Place
The place refers to the locations at which the product can be
purchased. The first obvious place would be telecom retail-
ers, which people visit in need for a new phone. Here, they
will have the option to choose for the sustainable Smart-
phone.
But offering the phone at these retailers alone will not with-
stand. As the product creates a new category of products
(namely: sustainable Smartphones), placing it next to tradi-
tional category products will not emphasize its points of dif-
ferences (POD) well enough. For a good brand to stand out,
its POD’s need additional attention and a suitable surround-
ing. Therefore, the frame of reference can be extended to
‘sustainability products’ and as such be placed at eco-friendly
retailers (which might not sell phones as their core business)
and online web-shops that offer sustainable products.
Next to these somewhat ‘experimental’ places, the product
be purchased through all existing distribution channels of
the collaborating handset manufacturer. Their established
network of stores, online web shop and distribution partners
can be put in action.
40
Figure 27: Example of in-store dis-
play of layers.
Price buyback).
Pricing is key in finding the right branding strategy. If the
price is too low, people might not value the product as a The exact prices of the phone and the layers are hard to
replacement for their phone. If it is too high, or if a skimming determine. However, we believe that since the product is
price strategy is applied (keeping a high price to attract early a highly compatible and offers high advantage, a skimming
adopters) people might not take the risk of switching to an price could be applied. Although a skimming price indicates
unknown, unfamiliar new brand which is radically different a higher-than-average starting sales price, this should be
from what they are used to. decided on with caution as users should not be lured to
lower priced competitors. Therefore, the handset manufac-
The pricing strategy is based on a leasing system. In the first turer that will decide on a price has to keep in mind that the
year, the customer pays 60% of the ‘would-be-selling price’ product must be considered as high-category product (as
(the price of the phone if it was to be purchased at once). with the current advanced Smartphone market: HTC, Nokia
After the first year, the contract price drops to 40% of this and Samsung having a broad range of products from fairly
price and after two years it stays at 20%. Looking at the cu- cheap to high-priced phones). The price of the layers will be
mulative revenues, the company would break-even after two determined likewise.
Figure 28: Pricing Strategy
years (which does not include the phone’s manufacturing
costs). See figure 28. Within this
contract period, as mentioned in
the business model part, users
are free to have their phones
repaired or replaced when there
is a defect.
The price of the individual layers will
probably vary, as some layers are
more complex than others. Users
are discounted when they hand in
their used, to-be-replaced layers so
that a buyback system is assuring an
optimal recycling/re-usage environ-
ment and the phone’s hibernation
period will decrease (the time be-
tween the moment that a phone is
discarded and its recycling/re-usage/
41
5. Smart[er]
phone:
Proto-
typing
To present the concept to Enviu,
and for them being able to show
it stakeholders, we have created
a prototyping installation that
can be used as a stand-alone pre-
sentation device. It incorporates
a wooden box with all the layers,
which interact with an animated
presentation.
5.1 Prototype Explanation
42
5.1 Prototype Explanation
The Smart[er] phone concept is radical, smart and takes a
huge leap in comparison to all devices currently out there on
the market. This is only realized by changing the rules of the
game drastically. In order to convey the core messages that
make the Smart[er] phone actually being smart and being
easy to understand, a simple and powerful demonstration
installation (prototype) has been developed, that intuitively
tells the story behind each of the core components of this
multidimensional phone.
Demonstration subjects
The installation presents the core components that have been
developed during the final concept development phase, but
only which ultimately adds direct value towards the end-user.
Due to strict selection criteria for a powerful presentation
model, the technological implications and the entire business
model, that supports the concept, are mentioned only briefly.
The reason for doing so, is that the presentation should only
reveal the direct impact on the viewers their lives. This direct
impact is approached from the Lay[er] and Bubb[le] concepts,
Figure 29: function indicator dis-
played at the to of each layer.
being translated to a physical level. For this installation, a
display, a laptop (with a custom written application) are re-
quired, beside the custom made installation model(s).
Lay[er]
The lay[er] prototype is the modular stackable physical
embodiment of the Smart[er] phone. Through a unique (to
be developed) interfacing standard, the layers can be con-
nected on top of each other. All together, the layers resemble
the total phone, supported by each of the layer’s unique and
required abilities. Each of the lay[er] is made out of opaque
glossy acrylic, with a customized laser-cut engraved design.
The laser-cut design exists out of different important ele-
ments: interface connection, inter-layer connection and the
core function indication. The layers only differ in their core
function indicator (figure 29), which essentially represent the
hardware modules available on the subjected layer. Each layer
is positioned on a the installation-box, that emphasizes each
of the layers function.
 Figure 30: Layers placed on top of each other
Usage
At start, the user asked to put his or her phone down, on
the special allocated box on the installation-box, after which
the installation directly detects it and anticipates on it by
triggering the viewer his/her view on current phone their
impacts.Each of the layer then is required to be stacked onto
each other, keeping in mind the intended order from bottom
to top: Senses, Brain, Heart and Body. Every time a layer is
added (figure 30) on top of the prior one, the installation will
detect each of the layers and displays specific information
about that layer on the display. Each layer added will bring
the installation closer to completion, and when the final layer
(figure 31) is added, the installation will show the Smart[er]
phone assembled after which a transition phase in the instal-
lation is activated. The installation switches towards the
Bubble mode, which then is presented by interacting through
a secondary prototype model.
Bubb[le]
The Bubb[le] mode is activated when all layers are stacked
on top of each other, only then the Smart[er] phone can be
used. The Bubble mode demonstration is done by showing
Figure 31: All layers complete
different animations of the possible interface, interactions The Arduino was connected through a Serial Proxy to Adobe
and the system features that are integrated in the Bubble Flash, which therefor could interact based on physical events,
mode. Throughout the Bubble demonstration, a second detected by the Arduino. Through a unique method, the dif-
physical prototype is used to create a direct link between ferent layers can be detected, whether they are connected
digital abstract information that is demoed on the display or not. All layers conduct the prior their current through the
and perceptual (tangible) information. This digital informa- interface connection, that creates a direct shortcut be-
tion is translated by using integrated RGB LEDs and a vibra- tween the +5 and the GND (over several 10kOhm resistors).
tion motor, that are controlled by a congruent software
application (written by WTF), that is ran by the laptop and
the Arduino. This part of the installation is mainly about
the software domain of the concept; to clarify the fact
that the interface is supposed to run on a phone (not on
a external display) an iPhone was used to run the video to
instigate interaction with the ‘interactive’ elements of the
interface (which was demoed only through an animation).
Installation Production Process
Electronics
The installation has been build by using basic core compo-
nents in combination with a programmable advanced mi-
croprocessor: Arduino (only for demonstration purpose).
43
Secondly, during the Bubble Model, a RGB LED
and vibration-motor are activated through a Pulse
Width Modulation event, by which a slow fading
movement can be realized. Lastly, a LDR (Light
Dependent Resistor) is used to detect whether
or not a phone is been placed on the installation.
Which requires a very specific connection, that is
directly connected (as are all above components)
to the Arduino.
Flash Patch
The flash patch is completely build on custom
made animations that are played according to the
input, determined by the Arduino. In between the
Arduino and the Flash Patch, a Serial Proxy moni-
tor, monitors all in- and outputs of the Arduino-
board. A custom made Flash application uses all
this information and acts on changes on in- and
outputs. Since this installation is going to be used
by Enviu, to present the Smart[er] phone to both
potential endusers and investors / partners, the
installation requires to act fully autonomous.
44
The installation is therefor build to be ran as an
standalone application, that does not require any
technical nor developer insights. Running the
installation is as easy as hit and run.
Installation-box
The installation box is the embodiment of the
total presentation model, that houses the most
important components and acts as the interactive
board. All different layers have their own engrav-
ing, together with the stacking location, location to
put the user’s phone and the interactive Bubb[le]
prototype. The installation box is, similar to the
acrylic layers, made through laser-cutting the ma-
terial based on a CAD / Illustrator design. Due to
the high exposure of the material, the prototype(s)
needed to be made from high quality and good
(and sustainable) looking materials.
Far left: Arduino with resistors and connection wires
Left: Setup of wooden box + connected laptop
Top right: Laser cutting of acrylic layers
Bottom right: Laser cutting of wooden box.
6. Sum-
mary
The third phase began with a
rough combination of three con-
cepts. By focusing on the core,
and detailing the three domains,
the concept emerged as a holistic
concept: The Smart[er] phone.
46
The Smart[er] phone is our solution to countering and reducing
the environmental impact of the mobile phone industry. We
hope it will not only influence the Smartphone market, but also
function as a starting point for questioning the ever-increasing
throughput of all consumer electronic products. Consequently,
companies should not only aim at reducing the environmental
impact, but also generating awareness about “true” sustainabil-
ity and change consumer perspective on materiality.
It furthermore tackles the social and personal consequences
of increased connectivity and the dependencies it causes, by
giving back the user control of their own information usage and
connectivity. This is also hoped will have a lasting impact on the
norms and standards that dictate the current cultural expecta-
tions that everybody should be reachable 24/7.
The Smart[er] phone is compiled of four layers that are easy to
replace or repair and can be upgraded according to the us-
ers’ needs. This takes advantage of (and too strengthens) the
trend of focusing more on software and interaction and less
on hardware, which has emerged in the industry over the last
years. Naturally, such a layered Smart[er] phone poses technical
challenges to ensure its manufacturability. Therefore a technical
feasibility study was carried which indicated that the concept
would be indeed feasible.
Through several user- tests and -studies, an interaction concept
based on a Bubble mode has been developed. It lets the user
detach from the stresses caused by the everyday constant con-
nectivity, into a mode that enables the user to be more present
in the moment, as unimportant information and notifications
are prevented from interrupting the user (‘by bubble-bouncing
them). The system encompasses a remainder, a soothing way
of entering the mode, information and contact management, a
information rebound function, a specifically designed feedback
system and an update of the pending information when one
leaves the bubble mode.
If change towards sustainability is to be accomplished, product
changes are not enough. The system that supports the existing
practices of un-sustainability also has to be changed. The proposed
commercialization is a radical change in the form of a leasing sys-
tem for the layers. Users sign a contract where they pay a monthly
fee for the layers (including free repairs) and for a network contract.
When the initial contract expires, a significantly cheaper contract
takes its place. After a minimum time has lapsed, the user can
easily upgrade the layers of choice. Together with a point system,
Karma points, the user is encouraged to keep their phone for as
long as possible. The branding of the phone complements the com-
mercialization strategy, and is used as a vehicle to contribute to the
proposed radical (transformational) changes in the industry. 
Since Enviu will not develop and launch the product themselves,
it is assumed that the company behind the Smart[er] phone will
be an existing actor in the mobile phone industry. The marketing
plan proposed is therefore more generic in nature, as the specif-
ics in such a plan are too dependent on the launching company
for it to be possible to describe in any credible fashion.
The final delivery to Enviu also consists of a physical prototype,
a key delivery for them in fulfilling one of the requirements for
the governmental funding of the Our Mobile Generation(OMG)
platform.
The Smart[er] phone is the sustainable Smartphone of the
future, delivering strong potential for the three pillars of sustain-
ability and creates a win-win-win situation for the company, the
user and the planet. It is simply a Smart[er] phone.
7. Refe- Academic Material
Drucker, P. (1999). Shaping the Managerial Mind, by John E.
Schifferstein, H.N.J., Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, E.P.H., (2008).
Consumer-Product Attachment: Measurement and Design

rences
Flaherty, Jossey-Bass, 1999 Implications. International Journal of Design Vol.2 No.3

http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/26/most-sustainable-com- Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from

panies-leadership-citizenship-100.html Technology and Less from Each Other, Basic books

Lubin & Esty, Harvard Business Review, May 2010, pp. 49. Tybout, A.M. & Calkins, T. (2005). Kellogg on Branding, John
Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ
Guiltinan, J. P. (1999). Launch Strategy, Launch Tactics, And
Demand Outcomes. Journal of Product Innovation Manage-
Feasibility study:
ment, 16 (6), 509-529. http://www.ifixit.com
http://www.chipworks.com
Keller, K. L., Tybout, A. (2002) The principle of positioning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
Market Leader, Issue 19, Winter, 65 http://www.apple.com/iphone/
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Drucker, P. F. (1998) Peter Drucker on the Profession of Man- http://www.phonewreck.com/
agement. Harvard Business Review Book http://www.zdnet.com
http://www.ti.com/
Mugge, R., Schifferstein, H.N.J., Schoormans, J.P.L., (2006). http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/
Product Attachment and Product Lifetime: The Role of Person- http://www.skyworksinc.com/
ality Congruity and Fashion. European Advances in Consumer http://www.triquint.com/
Research, Volume7. Delft University of Technology. http://www.broadcom.com/
http://www.st.com
Park, M. (2005). Sustainable Consumption in the consumer
electronics sector: Design solutions and strategies to mini-
mise product obsolescence. 6th Asia Pacific Roundtable for
Sustainable Consumption and Production. Melbourne, 10 –12
October 2005.

Peyton Jones, S. L., Hardie, M. S. (1991). A Futurebus Interface

from Off-the-Shelf Parts. IEEE Micro 11, 1 (January 1991), 38-
41, 84-93.

47
 8. App-
endix

1 Feasibility Study

2. List & Diagram of Comp.

3. Creative Session

4. Bubble Mode feedback test

5. Business Models evaluated

6. Detachment interviews

7. Path testing

48
1. Feasibility Study

Communication devices iPhone4 Component Oerview

Antennas – UMTS, Skyworks SKY77542 Broadcom BCM4329FKUBG
GSM, GPS, Wi-Fi Tx–Rx iPAC™ FEM for 802.11n with Bluetooth 2.1 +
and Bluetooth all Dual-Band GSM/ EDR and FM receiver.
integrated into the GPRS: 880–915 MHz Samsung
stainless steel frame and 1710–1785 MHz Skyworks Broadcom K9PFG08 flash
bands. SKY77541 BCM4750IUB8 memory
GSM/GRPS single-chip GPS
Front End receiver.
Module Power Amp
TriQuint
TQM676091
Processor
Input devices A4 Samsung,
Power Battery 3.7V
ARM Cortex A8 core
Simcard reader magnetic sensor Management 1420mAh Li-
(1GHz when used in iPad)
AKM8975 - Polymer
newest

3 axis gyroscope 3-axis

Cirrus Logic
ST Mirco accelerometer Micophone
338S0589 audio
AGD1 - STMicro
codec
L3G4200D STM33DH
(Apple branded) Speaker - 2nd
(3mm x 3mm)
Buttons/ speaker -
switches; Earpiece
Touch Screen Camera - 5 MP Vibartor motor
power (on/off),
Controller camera with
volume, hold,
Texas 720p video at
main enter
Instruments 30 FPS, tap to
button
343S0499 focus feature,
and LED flash

Second camera
Capacitive Display Unknown devices
- front-facing
Touch Screen VGA camera mobile DDR 338S0626 - SRAM
unknown 36MY1EE NOR -
unknown use
49
 Logic Board - iPhone1.0

Samsung chip
K9MCGD8U5M
(22.5x14)

Wolfson audio
Processor - Samsung 620 chip
MHz ARMARM1176JZF. WM8758BG
Stacked on the SDRAM, and 73AFMN5
two 512 Megabit chips. (5.5x5.5)
(14.5x14.5)

Linear Technology 4066

USB Power Li-Ion Battery Charger
(4.5x4.5)

50.3mm

Intel Wireless Flash stacked 32 Mb NOR Infineon M1817A11

+ 16 Mb SRAM chip. 338S0289 and 8G60710
Part numbers 1030W0YTQ2, 5716A673, (7x7)
and Z717074A
(10x8)

Edge Power amplifier

Skyworks GSM/
(SKY77340)(8.5x6)

338S 0297 G0719

(6.5x9)

Multimedia engine.
Infineon PMB8876 S-Gold 2 MARVELL, Single chip radio
Part numbers: 337S3235, 60708,W8686B13, 702AUUP and baseband IC
and EL629058S03. Marvell's 802.11b/g for Bluetooth 2+EDR
(10x10) 18.4mm2 chip(5x5) CSR BlueCore4-ROM
WLCSP (4.5x4.5)

50
 50mm 100mm

Serial Flash memory Application Processor Power Management IC UMTS Transceiver

1MB Samsung and DDR Infineon SMP3i SMARTi INFINEON
SST SST25VF080B SDRAM
Power Amp
Accelerometer
Module
ST Microelectronics
SKYWORKS
LIS331 DL
SKY77340
Display Interface
National Semiconductors Power Amp
LM2512AA Triquint
TQM666032
Touchscreen controller WCDMA/HSUPA
Broadcom
Power Amp
BCM5974
Triquint
Simcard reader TQM676031
WCDMA/HSUPA
Power Amp
Triquint
TQM616035
WCDMA/HSUPA

Pseudo SRAM
NUMONYX
PF38F3050MOYOCE
Logic Board iPhone3G

Audio Codec 16MB NOR +8MB

WOLFSON
WM6180C

Digital Baseband
HAMMERHEAD ii GPS Power Management Battery Charger/USB Processor
Infineon NXP Controller
PMB2525 LINEAR TECHNOLOGY
LTC4088-2

51
Logic Board iPhone4

50mm 100mm
110mm

Antennas – UMTS, GSM, GPS, Wi-Fi and

Bluetooth all integrated into the
Cumpas -
stainless steel frame
Magnetic sensor
3 axis AKM8975 - newest
gyroscope (4x5)
ST Mirco
338S0626 AGD1 - Processor
Skyworks SKY77541 Unknown Simcard L3G4200D A4 Samsung,
GSM/GRPS use (6x6) reader (4x4x1.1) ARM Cortex A8 core
Front End Module (17x17) (1GHz when used
(8x7) in iPad)(14x14)

Broadcom BCM4329FKUBG 802.11n

with Bluetooth 2.1
Power Amp + EDR and FM receiver. (6x6) Broadcom BCM4750IUB8
Skyworks 3-axis accelerometer single-chip GPS receiver. (4x4)
TriQuint TQM676091
SKY77542 Tx–Rx (4x7.5) STMicro STM33DH
iPAC™ FEM for (3mm x 3mm)
Dual-Band
GSM/GPRS:
880–915 MHz and
1710–1785 MHz
bands. (4x7.5)

Flash memory
NAND
Samsung K9PFG08
5RAM
Audio codec (12x18)
36MY1EE NOR
Cirrus Logic 338S0589
(7x7)
(Apple branded)(6x6)

Vibartor motor
(2.5x3.5)

Digital Baseband Processor

Manages all devices that require an antenna
(7x9) Touch Screen Controller
Texas Instruments 343S0499
(4.5x4.5)
Mobile DDR
Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM
reduces overall power consumption

110mm
50mm 100mm
 2. List & Diagram of Components
for mobile devices, becoming
faster, smaller and cheaper. The
speed and capacity of the proces-
sor directly relates to how much
functionally a phone can have and
as such the market is continually
driving for more powerful proces-
sors. The market brings out new
processes on an annual basis.
Memory
Flash memory
Description - Flash memory is
non-volatile computer memory
that can be electrically erased
and reprogrammed. Non-volatile
means that no power is needed to
maintain the information stored
on the chip.
Lists and diagrams of components in a Smartphone
Longevity – This is one of the
From the analyses an overview of typical Smart phone com-
faster developing components in a phone, tending to double
ponents their functionality, relationship to other components,
in capacity per size and price every year.
indication of Technical(Fashion) and Functional longevity was
devised.
NOR SRAM and Nand memory
Description - flash memory is one of the two popular types

Processors of flash memory. The other is the newer NAND flash memo-
ry.
Application processor Longevity – The speed the processor can work is dependent
Description – Is a Microprocessor Integrated chip, the CPU of on this memory, therefore it needs to be updated only as
the Smartphone, it controls all applications on the phone. often as the processor.
Longevity – There are continual developments in processor
Power Management
Description – Controls the power provided to the device de-
pending on it requirements. Thereby reducing unnecessary
use of the battery and extending its life.
Longevity - Needs to meet the requirements of the Proces-
sor.
Connectivity
Baseband processor
Description – Additional processor used for all devices con-
nected to an antenna.
Longevity - This only needs to match the transceiver and
Power Amp developments (maybe 3-5 years)
Wi-fi Bluetooth Transceiver
Description- Bluetooth is a wireless protocol for exchang-
ing data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices,
creating personal area networks.
Longeveity – These protocols change relatively slowly, devel-
opments tend to come one a new superior protocol replaces
an old one. Slower increases are achieved in increasing range
and bandwidth.
GPS Tranceiver
Description- Global Positioning System was developed by the
United States’ Department of Defense. It uses between 24
and 32 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise
microwave signals. This enables GPS receivers to determine
their current location, time and velocity. The GPS satellites
are maintained by the United States Air Force.
53
Longevity – The range of GPS is upheld by the US Air Force
and extremely strong. Therefore the transceivers don’t
chance so much just maybe become smaller and cheaper.
Power
Battery
Description – Rechargeable battery provides power to all
devices on the phone.
Longevity – the same Li-Polymer batteries have been used
for many years. However the functional life of these batteries
is limited as their load capacity decreases over time and with
additional recharges, they last an average of 1.5 – 2 years
before this starts to affect performance.
Audio
Audio Codec
Description – The term ‘codec’ comes from encoder-decoder,
fittingly an audio codec encodes analog audio coming from
the mircophone as digital signals and decodes digital back
into analog to be played by the speakers.
Longevity - Dependant of new formats of audio? Hi-def etc?
Dependant on the resolution of the speakers and mic.
Speakers and earpiece
Description - an electro-acoustic transducer that produces
sound in response to an electrical audio signal input.
Longevity – Improvements are occurring to provider better
sound quality, cheaper, smaller and at higher volumes.
Mic –
Description - an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor
that converts sound into an electrical signal.
Longevity - Improvements are occurring to provider better
sound quality, cheaper, smaller and at better resolution.
54
Screen
Touch screen controller
Description – Translates the changes in capacity on the
surface of the screen as measured by a number of sensors
(varying depending on the type of touch screen) into to a
digital signal.
Longevity – Needs to be updated at the same speed as the
screen.
Touch screen
Description – several types of capacitive touch screen can
be found in mobile devices these days. While they vary in
method they all contain sensors that measure the changes in
capacity on the surface of the screen.
Longevity – There is a large push for higher screen resolution,
and an increase in multitouch sensors.
Display
Description – Backlite LED monitor are currently the most
common in mobile and smartphones. Analog signals through
the matric of pins determine the colour of pixels on the
screen which are used to display information to users.
Longevity – Fashion obsolescence is continually pushing for
clearer, higher resolution screens.
Fixed
Simcard reader
Description – Digital / Analog. A subscriber identity module
or subscriber identification module (SIM) on a removable
SIM card securely stores the service-subscriber key (IMSI)
used to identify a subscriber on mobile telephony devices
(such as mobile phones and computers).
Longevity – The technology simcards are based on has
remained virtually unchanged since the popularisation of
mobiles 15-20 years ago.
Mini USB port
Description - Universal Serial Bus (USB). Used to transfer
digital signal and power from and to an external source via a
USB connection.
Longevity – EU regulations will soon come into place to
standardise all mobile and smartphone chargers and data
transfer to mini USB format, this will ensure that it remains
the standard for some years to come.
Head phone jack
Description - A TRS connector (tip, ring, sleeve) three pin
analog audio out connector used to listen to the phone audio
via a headset or headphones.
Longevity – Commonly many handset manufacturers use
customised jacks, if these were standardised by regulation
there longevity could be increased.
Sensors:
Compass
Description - fibre optic gyrocompass, which detects the
magnetic directions without potentially fallible moving parts.
Longevity – These are a reality new development with mo-
bile device and therefore hard to judge the speed of develop-
ment. However their functionality should remain constant
for many years.
Camera
Description - A camera that takes video or still photographs,
or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image
sensor. The camera consists of a lens and a Bayer filter to
capture the image.
Longevity – The quality to size ratio of mini cameras for such
portable devices continues to be pushed with a 1-2 megapix-
 3. Creative session
el increase in resolution every 1-2 years, this trend is likely Setup for Creative session/User testing with Yoga group: Normal-Bubble
to continues. Transitions between Normal and Bubble mode »» Detach,
»» unwind,
Gyros Users: »» let-go,
Description – A VSG (vibrating structure gyroscope) is a rela- »» relax
We plan to conduct a creative session/ user testing workshop with a
tively inexpensive device that converts vibrations in different
group of Yoga students to gain an insight into the types of actions that
planes to digital or analog data that can be used to deter- Bubble-Normal
people could associate with detaching and re-engaging. The results of
mine position with 6-degrees of freedom. »» Engage
which will be used to help determine the actions required to switch the
Longevity – These are also a relatively new addition in such »» Reawaken
Phone4Life from Normal Mode to Bubble Mode, and back.
devices and currently only found in some Smart phones. »» Focus
We plan to test from 5 to 8 users.
Making it hard to determine their speed of development.
Research questions: 2. Hand gestures to word prompts with an object – Participants will be
Accelerometers given an object representing a Smartphone and asked to perform a
»» What movements/actions stimulate a sense of detach-
Description - multi-axis accelerometers are used in some gesture they feel achieves the following;
ment/relaxation in a user?
Smartphones to detect magnitude and direction of the ac-
»» What movements/actions stimulate a sense of engage-
celeration as a vector quantity, and can be used to sense Normal-Bubble
ment/reawakening in a user?
orientation, acceleration, vibration, shock, and falling. »» Putting the phone to sleep,
Longevity – Such sensors have become increasingly common Research setting: »» Forgetting about the phone,
in Smartphones and seem like to remain as they allow for »» Detach from the phone
richer interactions with the phone. Once again they are a re- The research was placed in the yoga school itself, in order to leave the
ality new inclusion in Smartphones making it hard to predict users in a comfortable environment and to profit of the relaxed mind Bubble-Normal
their speed of development. However while their size, price state brought by the place itself. A camera was placed behind them, »» Wake up the phone
and resolution may improve their basis functionally shouldn’t over a shelf. In this way the whole session was documented but the »» Reconnect with the phone
change. users did not have the impression of being “studied” or observed. The
test runners also took part to the yoga class that preceded the session, 3. Predefined actions – Participants will be given an object representing
Buttons (power, volume, etc) in order to let the users feel on the same level with them and not like a Smartphone and asked to perform a
Description – Buttons mechanically make or break electronic connec- 2experiment subjects”. »» Twisting corner prototype
tions to allow users to control aspects of the device. »» Blowing
Plan
Longevity – Individual physical buttons are increasingly being replaced »» Twisting
by the touch screen interface on Smartphones. Many handset manu- What background info; participants will be informed that “we are »» Flipping
facturers have reduced the number of buttons to simply power on/off, working on a project looking at ways to use a physical object to help us »» Rubbing
volume up and down, and an action button. With the exception of the detach/unwind/relax/step-back from the stresses of our daily lives.” »» Shaking
on/off button these could also be replaced by the touch screen. Little »» Slapping
advancement in these areas has occurred in recent years and their 1. Full body actions with word prompts – Participants will be asked to »» Squeezing
functionally would not decrease if they were keep for many years. perform an action that they feel embodies each of the following verbs: »» Push-away
55
 4. Bubble Mode Feedback test
»» c1. Fading light + fading vibration both from min (0)
Setup for User testing: to max (255) VERY FAST repeatedly for 5 times (the
Different Feedbacks for Bubble mode motion goes only from min to max, never from max to
min, when repeating it just jump back to min)
Users:
We plan to test from 5 to 8 users, between 20 and 30 years 4 interactions with Blue light on Rgb LED + vibrating motor
old and owning/using a smartphone in their everyday life. »» a2. Slowly fading LED from min (0) to max (255) and
then back from max (255) to min (0); fading vibration
Research questions: from min (180) to max (250) and then back from max
(250) to min (180); all repeated three times. Three
»» What vibration pattern can be associated to Bubble
seconds to go back and forth (min/max/min), all the
mode?
three repetitions have the same length, with no time
»» What light between red and blue can be associated to
interruption between them.
Bubble mode?
»» b2. Slowly fading LED from min (0) to max (255) and
»» Are the users likely to have vibration and/or sound for
then back from max (255) to min (0); fading vibration
the Bubble mode notification?
from min (180) to max (250) and then back from max
Research setting: (250) to min (180). Three seconds to go back and forth
(min/max/min). [Practically it is the same than before
The test was run from one person from the team (test moni-
but without repeating].
tor) who was in charge for making the system work. During
»» c2. Blinking led + blinking vibration (1 blink only, not
the test, the user was holding the feedback prototype and
repeated)
was asked to answer three main questions.
»» d2. Slowly fading LED from min (0) to max (255) and
Question 1 then back from max (255) to min (0). Three seconds
to go back and forth (min/max/min), repeated three
The users were asked to assign each of the following seven
times. No vibration.
interactions to:
»» A situation (business, free time, trvelling, etc.) Question 2
»» A notification (call, sms, mail etc.)
The users were asked to assign an emotion or mental asso-
They were also asked to specify if they would have liked to
ciation to the use of the red light and the blue light.
add a ringtone to each of them
Question 3
3 interactions with Red light on Rgb LED + vibrating motor
The user were asked to pick up one of the four bubble mode
»» a1. Continuous vibration and light on for 5 seconds
interactions to be assigned to that mode.
»» b1. Blinking light + blinking vibration repeatedly very
fast on and on for 5 seconds
56
 5. Business models evaluated
Different business models evaluated
The suppliers give the parts to SMARTcompany on order. This
gives SMARTcompany full control over the branding, launch
plans and income stream. The business model is further built
upon the notion of self-control for SMARTcompany, that they
are so driven by the goal of sustainability, that they only re-
lease new models when older expire, and thus, do not purse
the notion of maximising profit.
 open for other to do what they want, as long as it is within
ever, how to ensure that this situation does not become even
worse than the present is not know. Instead of having one
phone to be replaced, suddenly all four layers are continu-
ally replaces as new models appear, and are pushed by the
companies.
SMARTcompany develops the standard that the Smart[er]
phone employs. It works in the same way as Android. It is
the regulations that are set-up. Thus, SMARTcompany will
function as a gatekeeper between the suppliers and the us-
ers.

but too high a price for the layers, and the customer will be
discouraged from upgrading at all. Thus, loosing out on the
needed revenue, as well as not improving the environmental
impacts.
Summary of the models:
The main challenge is how to ensure that the company’s
need for profit does not result in a push for the customers to
buy new products at a fast pace. None of the four business
models solves this issue, as it will never be in the interest of
the company to sell as few as possible of the phones: some-
thing we have been striving to achieve.

SMARTcompany creates the standard that other suppliers

can use to reach user that have bought into the platform.
This model opens up the industry, as it allows smaller suppli-
ers and developers the chance to specialise in certain niches.
Thus, there can be developed for example sensor layers that
are optimised for exercising or mountaineering, etc. How-
This model is built around the hook and bait model: Selling
the initial combination of layers together for a smaller price,
and then selling the upgradable layers more expensive. It
would enable us to sell the initial phone for a lower price,
57
 6. Detachment interviews
Detachment interviews

Set up
The interviews were done using a book-
let as sensitizing material and platform
for discussion of the theme. Ten people
have been interviewed on the theme of
detachment. The first part of the inter-
view was set to define a visualization and
mental model of what detachment is in
general. Then the focus was set into com-
munication field and so testing the idea
of a communication detachment “space”.
The interviews were held in an informal
way in order to achieve a discussion
rather than a detailed interview. The user
tested were both smartphone and non
smartphone users in a age range of 20-35.

58
7. Path testing
different variables of gesture.
Path testing The variables tested were:
»» Background
Set up »» Path
»» Speed of the gesture
In order to understand whether a certain gesture would
»» Length of the interaction
bring to a state of relax in the user, several paths were
»» Position of the phone.
tested with different variables. The users were told to
follow a certain path on the screen with their finger with
Ten random user were tested in different situations and
a Talking out loud feedback.
context in order to achieve variation in the hold on the
A smartphone was set up with an animation of the paths
phone and on the reactions to the test.
to follow.
The interviewer would observe the reaction to the dif-
ferent paths and ask question on the reactions to the

59