Rodd.uk.com

OBSERVE. INNOVATE. DESIGN

Rodd are an award winning UK based product design and development

consultants. Our team creates engaging, innovative and consumer centric

design for some of the worlds most successful brands.

Rodd/Observe.Innovate.Design

Rodd

Since our formation in 1987 Rodd have earned an enviable

reputation for innovative, consumer focussed product design

delivery.

This is reflected in the clients we have attracted from around

the world, organisations who recognise design innovation is

central to their continued commercial success.

This document gives you an insight into our approach, past

projects and methods of engagement.

Rodd/Winter sun on the front of the studio

Innovate/‘Pinch’ Pan timers.

What we do

Rodd’s objective is to humanise and give clarity to products,

consumer experiences and technology.

We work with client organisations from Global brands to

NGO’s to establish and guide their design strategy, provide

early stage human centred insight and create innovative

design solutions to multi- facetted problems.

Combine some, or all of these elements and we can help

you craft beautifully executed product design and engaging

consumer experience which will drive loyalty and revenue for

you brand.

Rodd/Universal GSM

Observe.Innovate.Design /On the streets of Tokyo looking for insights

Observe. Innovate. Design

Our philosophy Observe. Innovate. Design has evolved

over twenty years of business and countless design

challenges. At their most powerful these disciplines are

used sequentially, each informing the next.

Our user centred observation is the starting point for

innovation and identifies the ‘truth’ behind usage and

reveals opportunity for consumer experience.

During this stage of insight work we can unlock innovation

opportunities and understand the subtleties of your brand

or product from an end users perspective. When mixed

with our ability to think strategically about your business

needs observation provides a invaluable starting point for

finding solutions.

This process will typically trigger design development of a

single product idea or entire product range. Rodd prides

itself in the highest standards of design delivery both

creatively and technically, whether you require front end

design thinking or turnkey solutions.

We acknowledge everybody’s starting point will be

different, so our first commitment is to work with you

to agree the best entry point is to ensure your design

investment is maximised.

Observe.Innovate.Design /A client ideation day at Rodd.

Observe

Design without understanding is an uneducated

guess, empathy at best.

From first hand experience, we know our simple

human centred design approach unlocks latent needs

and identifies subtle patterns of use, the subtleties

of use that often go unquestioned in conventional

research.

Combine this with our innate ability to understand and

take inspiration from cultural diversity, decipher trends

and find clarity for our clients brands makes Rodd an

ideal partner for your design insights.

Observe.Innovate.Design / Stills from video research.

Observe/Inclusive GSM

When a long term domestic telephony client wanted

to enter the GSM market to target the senior user

they turned to Rodd.

We began by carrying out video research with a cross

section of early adopters and ‘specialist’ users. This

is our definition for those who demonstrate extreme

use cases - such as the uber savvy mobile youth

market, occasional or ‘emergency use only’ and

users like ‘Jean’ a lady in her mid sixties with wet

macular degeneration whose GSM phone was part of

an intricate social lifeline.

In parallel, we took a cross section of the current

marketplace, identifying key positioning opportunities

and polling opinion on the current handsets

specifically targeting the older users. Reaction was

varied but the constant was a feeling that the current

‘Senior’ niche GSM’s are overly simplified and

stigmatised the user as ‘in need of care’, ‘elderly’ and

devoid of style.

By understanding these diverse requirements we

quickly identified the common ground, the features

and functions that any new offering must have. Top

of everyone’s list regardless of age and circumstance

was simplicity of use without over simplification, a

look and feel that does not stigmatise, a clear and

large format display with a desirable interface.

The resulting handsets are being developed under

Licence and we hope that they will prove to become

the desirable choice for anyone that wants a easy

to use, easy to live with and highly desirable mobile

phone.

Observe/Inclusive GSM handset produced under licence with a long term OEM partner.

Observe /48 hours in Tokyo

Internationally recognised for our user centred design

approach Rodd was invited to Tokyo to take part in

a 48 hour Universal Design Challenge, part of the

International Design Innovation Forum in 2008.

The theme for the event was ‘Natural disaster in the

urban environment’. Each team had just 48 hours

to produce ethnography, identify and incubate their

ideas before making a presentation to a capacity

audience of design and disaster professionals and

company representatives.

Our winning submission Elixir: Is a Universal redesign

of a water bottle that could be deployed to cities in

the first 72 hours of a disaster. Beyond its primary

function the bottle is shaped to provide a makeshift

disposable toilet for both men and women. The

supply of clean water and management of human

waste were cited as key objectives by the disaster

experts.

Elixir was voted overall winner by the audience and

was selected for the Design prize by Professor Seiichi

Onobo of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music.

Observe/Sunrise over Tokyo. A high intensity week in Japan leading a team of Japanese design professionals.

Innovate / Philips Coolskin shaver - code name Merlin. The first of many projects with Philips.

Innovate

Innovation has many faces. Perhaps the obvious

starting point is the brainstorming workshop

where new product propositions and user

experiences are born and brought to life as

concepts.

Sometimes it could be brought about by

technology transfer or convergence, perhaps

a new material or process in need of a product

proposition to exploit it. Perhaps a brand new

market opportunity, or it could just be about

thinking about an old problem in a completely

different way.

Rodd’s divergent team of creative and technical

thinkers are regularly asked to deliver innovation

insight and opportunity into in-house teams,

either as the starting point for a long and detailed

design delivery programme, to add critical band

width or as a means to test a concept.

Our team will analyse and expand your

opportunity and present you with diverse but

highly targeted ideas. Our role is not only that of

‘originator’ but also to help you to assess which

idea is the killer and which is the lame duck.

It is these abilities brought on by over twenty

years of innovation that leads clients to our

studio.

Innovate/Fresh ingredients

Just one of a series of strategic projects for a

housewares A-brand.

Given our experience in the kitchen product sector

Rodd were asked to bring something new to our

clients highly successful kitchen timer category.

Having observed the ever increasing popularity

of TV chefs and the rise in wannabe home chefs

(team Rodd included) we proposed a range of

simple, stylish timer concepts that rather than time

the stove top fit directly to the pan. Allowing the

budding chef to time multiple pans to the second!

The favoured solution was ‘Pinch’. A colourful

silicon housing which shrouds both the electronic

timer and integrates a polyamide spring which

when squeezed opens and clamps to a variety of

pan styles and sizes.

Innovate/‘Pinch’ Pan timers.

Innovate /Philips Intimate Massagers.

Innovate/ The ultimate consumer experience

Philips has recently entered new and exciting territory with

its Relationship Care products – both in terms of the market

sector and the way it develops product.

The new range of intimate massagers are specifically

designed for couples to explore their sensuality together and

to enhance the mood for both.

The massagers were developed under an innovative

‘Incubator’ process new to Philips - requiring fast track

decision making and very close co-operation of a small

multi- disciplinary development team.

Rodd was invited to play a central role in the Incubator team.

We brought vital experience of fast-track development,

expertise in design, usability and mechanical engineering

to the party. This expertise, together with our control of the

central CAD models, meant we became a focal point and

bridge between the various project stakeholders within the

Philips organisation.

Our role became that of project ‘Architect’ distilling and

embodying the needs of Philips project management and

marketers, Philips Design, The Philips Advanced Technology

Centre and the Philips manufacturing plant into fully working

preproduction designs for consumer testing.

Innovate/ Social innovation

Building on our social innovation and public realm

design experience Rodd were appointed by East

London’s Leaside Regeneration to help develop

inclusive streetscapes, services and product concepts

to improve the access and service provision along

London’s Bow and Mile End Road.

During the collaborative project Rodd worked

alongside disabled residents, a specialist access

agency, stakeholders from Transport For London and

Urban regeneration architects to innovative signage,

improve communication, way-finding and new street

furniture elements that enhance visitors’ experiences

of the area.

The project has particular relevance to the 2012

Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Stratford City

and International Station developments, as Bow Road

and Mile End Road will be a key route to the Olympic

Park in Stratford.

Rodd/Our studio at Chart House. Secure, secluded and the perfect place to host an ideation workshop.

Design

Innovation is nothing without strategic vision and well crafted

design delivery.

Our industrial designers craft seductive product concepts,

user experiences and interface designs each beautifully

detailed and carefully considered to perfectly target the needs

and aspirations of your consumer.

With our in-house team, strengthened by external specialists

in electronics and production we offer a complete product

journey from concept to production. Meaning that at every

point in the process we can provide a complete and secure

service of design skills to match your needs, from trend

forecasting and concept design, through to mechanical

design, rapid prototyping, model making and offshore

procurement of production.

Design/ NXP Web tablet.

Design/ Designing Demand

Rodd was selected by the Design Council to provide

strategic and development support to Neptune Outdoor

Furniture. This critical project formed a key part in the

company’s future strategic development and as such was

identified by the Design Councils ‘Designing Demand’

scheme as worthy of support.

Neptune and the team from Rodd identified that key

to future revenue growth was the need to evolve it’s

traditional product range and support its well established

customer base – whilst a new, premium contemporary

range was required to target a more design lead clientele

such as developers, architect/specifier’s and local

authorities looking for a modern offering.

Rodd was selected from a number of Design Council

approved agencies because of our ability to offer both a

strategic and turn key product development role.

Design /Cerro by Rodd. For client Neptune.

Design/ Design Partnerships

Our relationship with DKB dates back to 2000

when we were invited to bring innovation to

Culinare their kitchen utensil brand.

Our work across the thirty piece line addressed

brand consistency and quality of production,

however what made the most commercial impact

was the introduction of ‘simple everyday benefits’.

These are the things we noticed that make our

lives in the kitchen a little easier, such things as

whisks that are easy to clean, serving spoons that

fit the contour of your pan and a pizza cutter that

cuts even the most crisp base. Each product had

a feature, sometime subtle, sometimes overt that

followed this train of thought.

Culinare forms the foundation of DKB brand

portfolio and is a solid commercial performer even

ten years after it was re-launched.

Winner of a prestigious Red Dot Award.

Design/ Culinare

Design/ Strategic guidance

Rodd was invited to undertake a piece of design

strategy for Kenwood, manufacturer of small

domestic appliances and home to the legendary

Kenwood CHEF food mixer.

Our brief was to provide insight, design clarity

and differentiation for Kenwood’s Breakfast

category.

During early discussions we linked up with

James Surridge and his team at Ideaology who

had already created a brandprint booklet that

described Kenwood brand aspirations and

‘Kenwoodness’, the consumer touch points that

make Kenwood unique.

It was concluded that whilst these design values

are clearly obvious in the premium Kenwood

CHEF and K-Mix product range they are harder

to see in the current breakfast category.

Early effort was directed into understanding

buyer groups and the needs and aspirations of

these users. These needs were translated into

product values, values about quality and ‘look

and feel’ that these consumers would expect

from their products. Finally ‘exemplar’ products

were designed showing how these values would

manifest themselves in real products.

Design Strategy/ Exemplar products showing how consumer values would manifest as product.

Engage with us/ Business models

Rodd engages with its clients and brand partners in two ways, either through strategic

engagements - typically on a project by project basis, with clearly defined start and end points,

milestones and deliverable. The second method are ‘partnerships’ either with brands or start-ups

to co-create intellectual property and explore radically new markets.

Rodd are one of a few leading UK design businesses that has innovated its own engagement

methodology. We are using our knowledge of consumer behaviour to pro-actively identify

innovative design opportunities which we develop and licence to brands on a shared risk, shared

reward basis.

Which ever approach is right for you will receive the same passionate, hands on, professional and

highly accountable design service that clients have enjoyed for over twenty years.Rodd/Taking a break from an ideation session at Chart House.

Clients/ Relax you are in good company

This is a selection of the clients and brands that we are proud to

have been involved with. Whilst they differ in business sectors they

are united in their investment in high quality design and innovation.

Rodd Design LimitedChart houseSandy laneLyndhurstSO43 7DN

t +44 (0)23 8028 2456 www.rodd.uk.com

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Ben Davies / Managing Director Peter Phillips / Director ben@rodd.uk.com peter@rodd.uk.com