HP Innovation Journal Issue 05: Winter 2016 | Page 16

complement one another , while still giving the company room to create different looks for its many products .
The most subjective of these three design criteria , though , is “ iconic .” For the design team , this describes the act of designing a product that stands out . After all , an ugly , practical product will disappear in the weeds ; a beautiful , pragmatic product will bloom and flower .
Standing out , and standing together
Meeting these ambitious goals meant cleaning up the design of existing offerings , creating new leading products , and developing products that can achieve truly iconic status , such as the Spectre x360 convertible notebook .
Thus , HP began designing an array of products that both stood out and stood together — while also competing on price and aiming for the highest levels of performance .
By balancing pragmatism with a desire for change , HP has been able focus on crafting experiences that matter to their consumers — and the company is only just getting started .
A just-right balance
So , where is HP today ? Over the course of four years , the company has moved at light speed to get the balance between quality design and innovation just right . In doing so , they have transformed chaos into an extreme focus on detail , with a desire for true change and pragmatism driving the way forward .
The future of HP will see a continuing evolution of their products , and the company as a whole . And , with a new emphasis on developing beautiful , pragmatic products , design thinking and innovation feels right at home in the heart of HP . •
Emphasizing design — the OMEN X

For HP , the OMEN X gaming desktop represents another step forward . The designers that helped create the

OMEN X began development by targeting the
16 Innovation Journal · Issue 5 · Winter 2016
Omen X : Typhoon exploded view
enthusiastic gamer — the highest level of gamer . They only make up 5 percent of gamers , but they were a critical target . After all , if you ’ re aiming to design the “ ultimate ” gaming machine , you need to go to the experts .
Setting their sights on such a small , distinct target felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack . Aiming for a specific demographic , however , strengthened the overall design of the product . In the end , these gamers would ( ideally ) appreciate the effort dedicated to meeting their needs and wants .
Customize everything
When they started crafting the design for the OMEN X , HP ’ s designers first gathered input from hardcore , serious gamers . Their ideal consumers , these high-level users clearly valued performance . But delivering a pragmatic product alone went against HP ’ s new design innovation strategy .
So , instead of settling for a powerful machine , the designers dug deeper into their audience ’ s desires . Kevin Massaro , Global Director of Consumer Product Design at HP , points out that , “ Gamers love to get in there with their hands . This was about designing the touch points of that experience — we ’ re selling this as a bare-bones chassis with nothing in it , so you can build things from scratch .”
With an intense focus on customization , the designers found that serious gamers valued high-end performance above all else . But that ’ s not all : They also wanted to be able to access the innards of their PCs with ease , so they could tinker with their machines — almost
like classic car enthusiasts . That ’ s why OMEN X was developed with latch doors , so users could quickly access hard drives and adjust the innards of their PCs with ease .
All about the experience
Lance Hill , Director of Customer and Market Insights at HP , notes , “ We zeroed in on exactly who we wanted to make this for early on in the process , and that allowed us to go deep on the iterative design thinking .”
It shows in the end product . For example , the most distinctive design element of the OMEN X is its diamond shape , achieved by tilting the box at a 45-degree angle .
From a purely visual standpoint , the shape is striking , unusual , and echoes the OMEN brand ’ s logo . On another level , the tilt allows gamers to easily adjust airflow by keeping vents away from the floor — which is critical for performance . The OMEN X also comes with a built-in tool kit and accent lights for extra customization .
With the OMEN X , HP ’ s design team focused on designing the experience , not the product . And this represents the true purpose and power of design thinking and innovation — at its finest . •
Stacy Wolff is the Global Head of Design at HP . Since 2012 , Wolff has focused on imagining new , innovative classes of computing products .
Lance Hill is Global Head of Insights at HP . He has been in advertising for 15 years , almost all of which have been spent within the discipline of account planning .
Kevin Massaro is a Global Director of Consumer Product Design at HP . He played an instrumental part in the design and creation of OMEN X .