PRODUCT DESIGN: A NOTEBOOK BUILT FOR CREATIVES
I am a notebook fiend. I probably have over one-hundred partially filled notebooks covered in sketches, ideas, notes, and diagrams. I was curious about how designers use their notebooks and if a specially designed notebook could help them collect and follow up on ideas more effectively.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
I observed and interviewed a variety of creative people - designers, marketing specialists, innovators, comic and story writers, and illustrators. I examined how they took notes, what they took notes about, how they noted things of importance, how they organized their notes, and questioned them about their brainstorming and project process. I organized the results into several key takeaways.
PRODUCT DESIGN SKETCH PROTOTYPE
My main takeaway was that standard notebooks were not fit for creative people in a number of ways, the largest issue being flexibility. When creatives are inspired, they don't want to worry about perfectly organizing their new great idea into its appropriate section. They just want to get a blank page and put it down. A notebook created for a creative needs to allow them to take notes on-the-fly, create their own system for note taking, and allow them to reorganize notes whenever they want.
PRODUCT VARIATIONS / UP-SELL OPTIONS
A notebook would be developed that contained a few standard paper types and used a binding system that allowed the opened notebook to lay flat, but also for the pages to be removable so people could reorganize later. Additional packets would be available with different themes, like “Get Things Done” which would contain to-do lists, calendars, and productivity aids. Other packets could include motivational statements, brainstorming tools, drafting grids, and transparent inserts for found objects.
IN-STORE MARKETING
To show potential buyers how the notebook works, there will be "fake" notebooks placed on stands that purchasers can look through. Each of these "fake" notebooks will be used from the perspective of a well known character. For example, Donald Trump may have many Illustrations of his own hair and lots of notes where he’s obsessing over China. These will be humorous, but will also show how the buyer can organize and utilize their own notebook.
(NOTE: This Donald Trump concept was funnier *before* he became president...)