Making modular product design key as Technology and Luxury converge
The smart device and wearable technology products are increasingly turning into luxury goods. Apple, by getting Angela Ahrendts from Burberry made its perspective on the industry very clear. And luxury goods companies are also keenly working on making their products smarter. Tag Heuer, for example is rumored to be launching a range of smart watches. Ralph Lauren unveiled the Polo Tech shirt that includes sensors knitted into the fabric to track movement and gauge performance. Jonathan Newhouse, global boss of Vogue, has coined a new word for the sector –‘Techno-Luxury’
Although there are many learnings from luxury goods industry that could be applied to the new techno-luxury world, there are some unique characteristics too. In particular, there is a divergence between the economics of Technology and that of Luxury that companies need to worry about
The technology lifespan of hi-tech wearable is constrained by the Moore’s law. The products launched some time ago command much lower value than the ones launched recently. And the perceived value drops very fast with time
On the other hand, one of the most important perceived values for consumers of luxury products comes from longevity. Remember the famous slogans, “You never actually own a Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation.” Or the one from De Beers, “Diamonds are forever”
To manage this divergence of economics, unlike the traditional luxury product companies, Techno-Luxury makers will need to focus a lot more on modularity of their products. This would allow the products to be technically upgraded easily and selectively, whilst retaining the physical form and appearance.
Indeed much of the innovation is happening in this direction. Misfit has unveiled an activity tracker module that hides behind a separate Swarovski crystal. Google has come out with modular phone that has a strong aluminum and steel frame but can be fitted with new camera, speakers, batteries etc allowing the consumer to upgrade as the technology evolves. Likewise Montblanc in its recent launch, rather than creating a smartwatch, retained a mechanical watch with the smart device built into the leather “e-Strap.” This annexure to the watch can be bought as a separate module
Keeping modularity at the heart of the product design will be key for techno-luxury products - Designers would need to make this one of the key design objectives very early on in the design lifecycle, allowing them the ability to maximize the value they capture from the customers in the long term