Steve McCallion, creative director, Ziba Design, in Portland, Oregon
Masters of DesignWorking from the profiles, McCallion crafted a positioning statement--"discovery, portability, personalization"--that drove the entire design process as Ziba tested and refined scores of prototypes. He knew the business charismatic was looking for a device that wouldn't detract from a car's interior, so he urged his designers to give the S50 and the Stiletto a simple, accessible interface. The intelligent fan was keen on portability, and by storyboarding scenarios for the S50, McCallion discovered that many people wanted to use it to record programming and play it back later. McCallion also pushed for the prominent media dial and a lustrous black finish, based on his conviction that both were powerfully reminiscent of "radio."
"We all have memories of listening to the radio when we were kids," he says. "We wanted to tap into those memories; they help you emotionally connect with the product." Apparently, McCallion and Ziba scored a hit, as the S50 became one of the 2005 holiday season's top sellers and took a gold medal from the Industrial Designers Society of America. Currently, McCallion is applying his research strategy to a $2 billion project to transform Portland's South Waterfront district, a sprawl of parking lots and warehouses on the western bank of the Willamette River. "We're trying to create the first American city of the 21st century," says Homer Williams, South Waterfront's lead developer. "Steve is our guide. He's leading us to the promised land."
That's a long way from contemplating shower stalls. Then, the problem wasn't "design a squeegee"; it was "clean the shower." Today, the problem isn't, "clean up the waterfront"; it's "create a vision of urban river living." Years from now, we'll know whether McCallion unearths the place's true character and translates it into somewhere people really want to live.
Bill Breen (bbreen@fastcompany.com) is Fast Company's senior projects editor.
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Recent Comments | 10 Total
January 20, 2009 at 10:30pm by Justin Discoe
I was fortunate enough to have Steve MaCallion teach a few classes during my Product Design studies at the Academy of Art in the mid-90's. Holy cow, the guy is a machine... and a true and rare talent. The little exposure I had to him as a young designer in school was awesome and changed the way I thought about design.
January 20, 2009 at 10:30pm by Justin Discoe
I was fortunate enough to have Steve McCallion teach a few classes during my Product Design studies at the Academy of Art in the mid-90's. Holy cow, the guy is a machine... and a true and rare talent. The little exposure I had to him as a young designer in school was awesome and changed the way I thought about design.
August 20, 2009 at 5:17am by Jesica Semon
I tend to see things going this way as well. I'm certain this won't stop at drug use and party behavior (which is actually a ridiculous qualifier as some of the best employees I've seen partied hard on the weekends). What happens when you're denied a job because of some political or religious views you espouse on blog that the HR person doesn't agree with? You know, the kind of information they aren't allowed to ask you in an interview setting. If it can't be asked in an interview they shouldn't be allowed to go looking for that info online. But, I guess you can always make your profiles private so only people you want to see them can.