80/20

We’re interface design specialists, completely focused on crafting unforgettable experiences, on making products and platforms better, smarter and easier to use.

Our Work

  • Better Place Vehicle Dashboard

Better Place Vehicle Dashboard

Taking the stress out of electric.

The challenge

How would you create a user interface for an electric vehicle that would allow a driver to manage his or her service plan, check diagnostics, driving range and fuel consumption, all without compromising safety? What if that system would also need to replace the traditional manufacturer’s “infotainment” system and would have to be global enough that it could be rolled out for adoption to markets around the world? In other words, can you create a UI that makes the experience of driving an electric car better, safer and more universal? These were the questions Better Place asked us to answer.

Our solution

After conducting extensive research, we found that the biggest hurdle drivers needed to overcome in order to consider purchasing an electric car was “range anxiety”. To address this, the 80/20 team created an easy-to-use interface that shows current fuel consumption, remaining distance on current charge and nearby recharge locations at a glance, all operated by a simple 5-way knob. For added safety, the screen automatically adjusts for day or nighttime conditions, making the most of the driver’s limited attention span.

The results

Currently in live testing, the 80/20-designed dashboard will initially be rolled out in Israel. Once this preliminary rollout is complete, Better Place plans to begin global deployment, with agreements already in place for Denmark, Hawaii, Ontario, Australia, and California.

  • Warner Bros. Digital Everywhere

Warner Bros. Digital Everywhere

Creating the ultimate media destination.

The challenge

Warner Brothers came to us with a vision. They wanted to create the ultimate media library for the modern world. This library needed to be accessible anywhere, would be able to include content from a wide variety of sources, should make it easy to discover new media and had to closely integrate with your favorite social networks. Plus, it would need to appeal to all types of users, from old-school DVD collectors to more sophisticated online-only consumers.

Our solution

80/20 worked with Warner Brothers to create Digital Everywhere. With Digital Everywhere, your entire movie collection is now stored in the cloud. You can access your Netflix rentals, iTunes purchases and even your DVDs anywhere and on any device. With rich content discovery tools powered by Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes, finding new things you’ll like is simple. Plus, full Facebook integration allows you to see what your friends are watching, browse their collections and instantly rent or buy titles they recommend for you. The service also makes it easy to get rid of your DVDs by authenticating your old disks, providing instant digital copies in your cloud collection.

The results

Since its announcement in April 2011, the service has been consistently lauded by the press for its ability to aggregate both physical media and digital content into one easy-access destination. It’s been a big win for Warner Brothers, proving that a movie studio can still change the game in the ever-shifting digital marketplace and helping them forge stronger relationships with iTunes and Netflix. However, the biggest winner is the consumer, who now has one destination for all their entertainment needs.

  • Vodafone 360 Service

Vodafone 360 Service

Making the address book simple again.

The challenge

One by-product of our increasingly connected world is an increasingly long list of ways to get in touch. Vodafone noticed that keeping track of the seemingly never-ending and ever-changing array of phone numbers, IM handles, twitter feeds, email addresses, social network contacts, and physical addresses across all your various devices was proving exceedingly difficult. Enter the Vodafone 360 Service. The groundbreaking service includes a super address book that manages contact information across all touch points and syncs to all your devices. Simple, right? Only one problem - their customers didn’t understand how to use it. This meant that Vodafone’s customers were also missing out on all the rich content offerings featured on their site. Vodafone turned to 80/20 to help fix the problem.

The solution

After spending some time with the existing interface we realized one important thing – the service was too clogged with extra features that customers would never use, making it difficult to operate for the average user. Accordingly, 80/20 prioritized feature sets, discarding any functionality that wasn’t core to the service. Then we redesigned the user interface, streamlining it and using familiar terms and symbols for contact management and adding more engaging large-format graphics to get users interested in additional site content.

The results

Working with Vodafone teams across Europe, the new 360 was rolled out in over 15 countries in record time. The 360 syncing service, content store and desktop companion have been called “the best we’ve ever launched” by the company.

  • Verizon Media Store

Verizon Media Store

A one-stop-shopping experience for mobile media.

The challenge

How do you integrate 10 different destinations, managed by 100 different people from various internal business units as well as 8 different content and service vendors into one cohesive offering? This was the problem Verizon asked 80/20 to solve. The site architecture not only needed to incorporate Verizon’s current offerings, but also needed to be able to grow as new features and services were added.

The solution

80/20 first worked with the various groups to help them align their business goals and requirements. Along the way, we helped build their trust and researched the existing system by helping them resolve their day-to-day technical challenges. This process allowed us to unite the various internal and external stakeholders, creating an open collaborative environment. Once this stage was complete, we designed a scalable site architecture that made it dramatically easier for the user to discover new content. Adding media-type search and global search functionalities meant that the team now needed to overcome a large meta data challenge. However, by working together as one seamless team, we were easily able to address the problem.

The results

With improved usability and easier-to-find content, the new Media Store site increased sales by over 200%. The resounding success of its new Media Store allowed Verizon Wireless to demonstrate their online expertise, and the client was so pleased that they asked 80/20 back to further expand the Media Store and explore additional mobile options for future projects.

  • Sony Next-Generation Mobile

Sony Next-Generation Mobile

Creating a true original.

The challenge

Looking at all the iPhone clones on the mobile market, you might be excused for thinking that Apple was the only company capable of creating an innovative mobile user interface. However, Sony’s Consumer Products R&D team decided to enlist 80/20 to take on the challenge. We were asked to research and brainstorm, then design and create a new type of touchscreen UI for the mobile that would go beyond the familiar application grid. Additionally, the interface had to be optimized for single-handed use. This vision would then be presented to Sony senior management.

The solution

Through ethnographic research, we discovered that users were engaged by activities, not applications. Therefore 80/20 created an integrated social phone concept, allowing users to interact directly with their contacts rather than their applications. To show how this would work, we developed a story-telling demo that used key personas and common scenarios to demonstrate how customers could use the new interface to make and receive calls, text, browse, update social networks and use the GPS, all using a single hand and without having to access an applications menu.

The results

The Sony CPD R&D team reported that the demo was very well received internally. The group was so pleased with the work that they immediately enlisted 80/20 for other research and concept development projects.

  • Vodafone Shop

Vodafone Shop

An innovative new store for the world’s largest mobile operator.

The challenge

Vodafone had a big problem. Its stores were disconnected, built with dated technology, and this meant its customers weren’t getting the content they needed. They enlisted 80/20 to start fresh, designing a new platform that could grow with the company’s needs on both the front-end and back-end.

The solution

80/20 worked with Vodafone teams across Europe to create a design system that could meet each market’s unique requirements. We then created an aggressive rollout plan that would get the system in place quickly enough to meet the company’s existing sales goals. Built in HTML 5, the store uses large bold graphics to entice desktop and touch device users to purchase featured content.

The results

The new Vodafone Shop was successfully deployed in record time. Combined with our Vodafone 360 service, the new media store offers a complete easy-to-use cloud-based service that customers can rely on to customize their mobile devices.

  • Second Life

Second Life

Designing a more inviting digital experience.

The challenge

Second Life is the internet’s largest 3D virtual world. However, usage statistics were showing that over 50% of the new users who registered and downloaded the Second Life viewer logged in once and never came back again. To make matters worse, Second Life wasn’t seeing the corporate and educational traffic it had expected. The company turned to 80/20 for a redesign that would help fix the problems.

The solution

After conducting extensive research, we realized simple cosmetic changes weren’t going to be enough to fix the problem – a complete redesign of the viewer was needed. The team designed a new viewer modeled after the familiar browser window, so that it was instantly recognizable and comfortably familiar to anyone starting the application. The browser analogy made it much easier for new users to navigate, explore and become immersed in the Second Life world and allowed more experienced users to focus more of their attention on the world itself. To make the service more attractive to businesses and educators, the 80/20 team added additional productivity features like VOIP to enhance virtual meetings, conferences and classes.

The results

TThe redesign helped Second Life increase the number of active users by 40%. New user attrition dramatically decreased and accolades continue to flow in from existing users on the blogosphere. This project remains the biggest and most successful overhaul of the Second Life experience since its creation.

  • Sonar Mobile

Sonar Mobile

Building a smarter choice for emerging markets.

The challenge

80/20’s founding partners saw an opportunity to radically improve the mobile experience in emerging markets. To take advantage of this, they created Sonar Mobile and roped in 80/20 to design the company’s first phone offering. The new mobile had to work within the technological limitations of developing countries and would need to be easy to use and cost effective, both for the manufacturer and the end user.

The solution

First, the 80/20 team had to rethink the way the mobile phone was used, removing any unnecessary clutter in order to create a user-friendly interface. To accomplish this, we created an over-the-air portal that allows users to select only the features they need, streamlining the mobile interface. Research showed that most people spent the majority of their time texting friends and communicating via social networks, so those functions were broken out, making them easier to access and use. To help carriers conserve precious bandwidth, these features were designed to consume minimal data, easing the pressure on the existing infrastructure caused by growing demand.

The results

The first Sonar prototype was successfully built on top of Qualcomm’s Brew MP platform. It was highlighted by Engadget as one of the best in show at the 2009 Mobile World Congress and praised for its concept, design and smart back-end.

  • Motorola Motoactv

Motorola Motoactv

Conquering the fitness category.

The challenge

Motorola wanted to enter a new category – fitness. With the market already glutted with products, what could they do to stand out? They turned to us to help them answer this question. Working on a very limited timeline, we helped them develop their idea. Looking at the market, we saw that there was a big opportunity. While there were many simple consumer-oriented products, like Nike Plus, and many complex products geared toward professionals, there weren’t any options that bridged the gap between the two.

The solution

We helped them fine-tune their idea into an all-day-wearable Bluetooth-enabled fitness device that would function as a watch, music player, multi-sport trainer and that would also extend the functionality of your android phone. With the approval and support of the CEO, we worked closely with Motorola’s international engineering team to develop the tech specs and perfect the functionality. To help the project stay on track and on time, we introduced an agile development process, staying closely involved all the way to final prototype. To test usability, we brought in treadmills, ensuring that the device worked every bit as well in practice as it did on paper.

The results

One of the most talked about products of CES 2012, the Motoactv has been lauded in the press and continually praised by users. Currently short-listed by Endgadget for Best Wearable Device of 2011, the product is four-star rated on Amazon and has received glowing profiles on Engadget, Slashgear and Wired, just to name a few. Motorola has been thrilled with the success of the project, which has helped them become a major player in the fitness category.

Clients

Better Place Comcast Fidelity Google Motorola Nokia Second Life Skype Sony Verizon Vodafone Warner Bros.

What We Do

Before we started reinventing our clients’ businesses, we began by reimagining our own. Designed to be a smarter, more nimble company, our approach isn’t always standard. But, then again, neither is our work.

Dream it

Even the most ingenious ideas are fragile things. Difficult to find and harder to pin-down, they can get torn apart by internal corporate rivalry, stalled by market uncertainty or simply dissipate in the face of technological challenges. At 80/20, we have a wealth of experience helping companies overcome these obstacles.

  • Business Requirements Development
  • Consumer Research and User Personas
  • Experience Audits and Expert Reviews
  • Business and Marketing Strategy
  • Technical Architecture Evaluation

Design it

Ready to turn your freshly vetted idea into a fully-fledged concept? At this stage, we carefully craft the user experience. Through interactive prototyping and visual schematics, we’ll help you ensure your new innovation will surpass your highest expectations.

  • Product Development
  • Information Architecture
  • Schematics and Wireframes
  • Interaction and Visual Design
  • Sound and Motion Design
  • Interactive Prototyping
  • Usability Testing

Deliver it

Even the most flawless concept won’t amount to much without an equally flawless execution. Closely collaborating with your own internal teams, we develop, test, optimize and then test again, so that we can be sure nothing is lost in the transition from vision to experience.

  • Functional Requirements
  • Interface Specifications
  • Asset Production
  • Iterative Development
  • Quality Assurance
  • Analytics and Metrics
  • Deployment Consulting

Leadership

At 80/20, our ranks are filled with some of the leading minds in user interface design. Our management team has led and designed some of the world’s most talked about applications, products and services – a tradition they proudly continue here at 80/20.

Andrew Borovsky

Andrew Borovsky

At Apple, Andrew led the product design of MobileMe, where he defined the ecosystem of services for the iPhone and the Mac. Prior to that, he directed design at Adobe, creating state-of-the-art mobile experiences for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, AT&T and Vodafone.

Jerry Knight

Jerry Knight

Jerry led design for the Adobe Lighthouse Team, which worked with strategic clients in the creation of next-generation, multi-platform digital solutions. He’s led industry-shifting initiatives for Verizon, Fidelity, NASDAQ and KDDI.

Andrew Lin

Andrew Lin

Andrew has designed some of the world’s most successful applications. At Adobe, he set the vision for a ground-up, end-to-end redesign of Photoshop and the entire Creative Suite line of products. Prior to that, as a product design lead at Apple, Andrew led the creation of Aperture.

Contact Us

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