GigaOM » Yves Behar

Jawbone buys Visere & MassiveHealth to marry data & design with wearable computing

Om Malik — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:58:16 +0000

Updated: You can tell the influence of uber designer (and chief creative officer) Yves Behar on the San Francisco-based wearable computing products company Jawbone. The company is buying two startups – Visere and MassiveHealth (behind the Eatery app) for an undisclosed amount of money in order to create a better experience around the UP, its personal health focused wearable computing device.

As I have often said, hardware today needs to be more than hardware; it needs to marry connectivity, data and design to create a compelling user experience that keeps people coming back. The better the user experience, the more people engage with the device. Amazon’s Kindle, Nest’s thermostat and Sonos’ devices are examples of this new hardware equation.

Wearable computing’s building blocks are sensors, which record a lot of data. In order to make sense of that data, companies needs data wranglers. But to translate those data inferences into human-understandable experiences, companies — big and small — need design and user experience expertise. And with these two small app-makers, Jawbone is getting that in spades.

MassiveHealth was started by well-known designer and UX thinker Aza Raskin and it launched with fanfare, though it failed to attain the scale normally associated with winning apps. The Eatery app did win a lot of critical acclaim. MassiveHealth raised $2.25 million from various venture funds including Greylock and A16z, and a source tells us, that it was sold for low single digit millions.

Raskin, who in the past worked for Mozilla and helped come up with cool concepts for Firefox, is joining Jawbone. He had helped build a top-notch mobile design and engineering team. Visere, a digital design firm that has storied pedigree and is chock-full of talent. It has worked with Nike in the past.

Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman said that both these acquisitions bring in about 25 new people who will add to its growing software, data and design teams. The company has not decided what to do with the two apps just yet.

Today nearly 40 percent of Jawbone 300-plus employees work on software. “A year ago we had no one working on using data to enhance our offerings,” said Rahman, “Today we have fifteen and that number is going to keep growing.”

Jawbone started life as a company making headsets for mobile phones and about two years ago it has expanded into wearable computers. It launched UP in 2011 but the initial version came under widespread criticism. The company went back to the drawing board and re-jiggered the UP and released it recently along with a new iPhone application.

While these are early days for wearable computing, the market is chock-a-block with a lot of devices and it has drawn the attention of Nike whose FuelBand is a runaway hit.

Correction 2:23pm: An earlier version of this story misspelled Visere.

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How much did Adobe pay for Behance?

Om Malik — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:24:31 +0000

Updated: Earlier this morning, Adobe Systems, the San Jose-based creative software giant that is currently undergoing a makeover for the cloud-era announced that it was buying New York City-based design-oriented community, Behance. Since then, many have been wondering how much did Adobe shell out?

At least two sources have told me that that Adobe paid well north of $100 million. (Added on December 21: A well placed source tells me that the final number is closer to $150 million.) What may seem like a lot of money is reflection on reality of the modern software business — not only does a company need to offer software via the cloud, it also has to have a community of engaged users to keep enhancing the value of that offering. Behance team makes those points in a post on Behance blog.

Creation should be inherently collaborative – and must evolve more frequently than typical software upgrade cycles. If the tools we use to create are connected with how we showcase and discover creative work, we can help usher in a new era of idea exchange and collaborative creation.

David Wadhwani, who spearheaded this acquisition on behalf of Adobe writes on the company blog:

As we start to roll out increasingly integrated workflows across the services, you’ll start to see the benefits of combining the creation of content with the ability to seek feedback, showcase your work and distribute it across devices.

Behance was started in 2006 and raised $6.5 million from Union Square Ventures, Jeff Bezos, Dave Morin, Yves Behar, Chris Dixon and several others. It had a million members and was host to three million projects.

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After being down, Jawbone’s UP gets back up again

Om Malik — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:00:36 +0000

Think of it as UP 2.0 — an updated, and improved version of the wearable computing that was launched by San Francisco-based consumer devices company, Jawbone. The original version came to market with much fanfare a year ago, generated a lot of attention, but then fell on hard times when it failed to live up to its lofty expectations. It was a reminder of the product truism — don’t over promise, but always over deliver.

Jawbone, which cut its teeth making noise-cancelling bluetooth headsets for mobile phones, learnt that the hard way. Chastised, it went back to the drawing board, redrew the plans for the gadget and is coming back to the market — again. It is betting that dozens of improvements packed inside the device will help it attract customers again. Another reason to be hopeful — these are early days for wearable computers.

Of course, the device which was designed by Yves Behar, chief creative officer of the company, doesn’t look too different from the original and has retained much of its design flavor. It still uses a 3.5 mm headphone jack to connect with an iPhone and transfer data to an accompanying iPhone application. It still lacks the wireless connection to either the iPhone or a computer. And it still packs a motion sensor that tracks whether you sleep, walk, run or whatever.

Earlier this week, Hosain Rahman, founder and CEO of the company showed off the new device and also showed a comparison of the innards of the first and second generation devices. From new chips to new materials to even new manufacturing process, Rahman says, that they have put the device through its paces. They tested the device for millions of hours and worked with hundreds of testers to see how the device works in real life.

Rahman, said, they are not taking any chances this time around. Actually he doesn’t have a choice. Since his launch, Nike, the shoemaker has launched FuelBand, a wristband that tracks all your personal physical activity. Nike’s FuelBand is flying off the shelves, thanks to Nike’s massive store network and brand.

It is all about data
For Jawbone, the trick is to not only get people to buy the device, but also to use the accompanying iPhone application to track their personal information — from the amount of sleep, to the steps taken, to the distance walked and calories consumed. And just like the UP’s hardware, Rahman said that they have put a lot of time and effort to make the UP app, more useful and fun — almost like using a social network.

As the device — which remains working for about 10 days with a single charge (which takes about 80 minutes) — begins to gather personal data, it starts to collate it all and become smarter. And eventually the app, will try to help you make better decisions, Rahman said. The trick is to constantly use the device, which feels more comfortable than the original UP, whose edges were too angular to wear comfortably.

The Bottom Line

I have had the device for less than a day and it is hard to form an opinion just yet. I am taking off for New York and taking it along with me and will see how it feels after a week of use. The app, while attractive, hasn’t been put through the paces just yet. Most importantly, it will be a few days before I can offer a reasonable, indepth assessment.

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Yves Behar: Connectedness is what design does best

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:25:58 +0000

How important is design for this age of connectedness? Connecting the world is what design does best, said Yves Behar, speaking at the GigaOM Roadmap 2012 event on Monday. Behar, the CEO of fuseproject and CCO of Jawbone noted that “disconnected products in marketing and execution is what people hate. The look and feel of things give them identity. Design is actually the connectedness between all these disparate parts.”

One of the biggest factors impacting design choices right now are the needed changes due to touch interfaces found on everything from phones and tablets to household appliances. “Touch is magical,” said Behar. “It doesn’t remove the notion of tactility, which is important to design. How does something feel or respond when you touch it, for example.” The touch experience brings us back to “finger painting” by making the user experience more personalized and intimate. Going forward, design will be impacted more and more by how you can affect the world with your hands.

So who’s doing design right? Behar called out Microsoft and Nokia for their modern, contemporary design approaches combined with products. “I’m not sure that Microsoft’s Surface will work out, but I like where Microsoft is going; they’re moving away form skeuomorphism and thinking more about touch,” said Behar. From a user experience and user interface perspective, both companies are making good progress. The UX and UI are connected to the experience in a way that makes the product appealing and useful.

While touch is a new device design aspect, so too are software upgrades. “Self-healing is now part of design thanks to firmware that improve physical aspects of a device. The Jambox speaker, for example, has been made louder due to a software upgrade.” I’ve seen this first-hand as new features have been added to the Nest thermostat that add functionality without requiring a physical design change.

So what’s the hardest thing to design? “Wearables,” according to Behar. “I see lots of glowing Apple logos here in the crowd on the back of laptops. You can’t have wearables with such flashing things.” Indeed, Behar points to eyeglasses as a good example of design: Once wearing them, they almost become invisible to the wearer, bringing only needed functionality.

Check out the rest of our RoadMap 2012 live coverage here, and a video recording of the session follows below:

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The new era of startups focused on design

Katie Fehrenbacher — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:50:57 +0000

Startups that really make a commitment to design and user experience are emerging as the web and mobile’s most successful companies, like Instagram and Pinterest. Mike McCue, CEO and co-founder of social digital magazine Flipboard, explains to us in this video interview clip that he’s seen a resurgence of startups like Path that are putting design first and foremost and he thinks a strong commitment to design will separate the pioneers from the followers.

This clip is part of an interview we did with McCue for our RoadMap book, which we’ll be giving away to all attendees of RoadMap, our conference focused on design in the age of connectedness that will take place on November 5th in San Francisco. Speakers include the CEO’s of Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr, designers like Yves Behar, Scott Wilson and Tony Fadell, and many others (schedule and speakers here). We have a limited number of tickets, so reserve yours now here.

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How to design a store in a world of connectivity

Katie Fehrenbacher — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:00:54 +0000

Tesla’s VP of Worldwide Sales and Ownership Experience, George Blankenship, arguably knows more than anyone about how to design a disruptive brick and mortar store. Before he joined electric car company Tesla, he created the store experience for Apple, which has one of the most compelling in-store user experiences out there, and prior to that Blankenship pioneered store design at The Gap. Blankenship will speak at our RoadMap event on November 5th about how to design a store in the age of connectedness — is the store still relevant and what’s its purpose?

Watch this video for free on GigaOM

Blankenship sat down with us this month to chat about some of his thoughts on the future of the store and this is a short clip of his thoughts. We’re using the bulk of the interview (including his work with Steve Jobs) for our RoadMap book, which we’re giving to all RoadMap attendees. Come hang with us on Nov. 5 and hear from Blankenship as well as other speakers on design in the age of connectedness, including Obvious CEO Evan Williams, fuseproject founder Yves Behar, ToyTalk CEO Oren Jacob, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, Tumblr CEO David Karp, MINIMAL founder Scott Wilson and many others.

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Postcard from Denmark: The throwaway culture is over

Ucilia Wang — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:00:16 +0000

Jeans that purify air. Fish scales used as a plastic substitute. Golf tees made out of sugar. These are some of the ideas for using sustainable materials and reducing waste that are on display at the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen, across from the famous Tivoli Garden amusement park.

The exhibit, called “Hello Materials,” reflects a strong interest by businesses and researchers to investigate concepts and engineer products that scale back a reliance on non-renewable sources. These are concepts that could resonate with average consumers, not just the über socially and environmentally conscious types. As Nille Juul-Sorensen, CEO of the Danish Design Center, said in a video shown at the exhibit:

“Consumers are demanding sustainable products because we have reached a point in our evolution where the throwaway culture is over.”

The companies creating these concept and commercial products include some big names – Coca-Cola and Puma, for example — and their motives for investing in environmentally friendly designs may be part pragmatic and part clever marketing. Regardless, their involvement reminds us that large companies have the means and the responsibility to push for a much broader acceptance of sustainable products.

Seeing all these efforts to re-cycle materials and find renewable substitutes makes me think that we need to figure out how to simply use less stuff in our lives. While it’s good to see Coca-Cola find ways to re-use plastic bottles, it’d be even better if we all just drink less soda.

Check out the following photos and captions about the exhibit:

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Designer Yves Behar: Wearable devices are the hardest to design

Om Malik — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:08:39 +0000

Whether it is the award winning Sayl, a chair designed for Herman Miller, or the Kickstarter sensation Ouya, an open source game console, it is easy to see that Yves Behar has figured out how to create unique and new experiences that marry the physical with digital. “I believe design’s purpose is not only to show us the future, but to bring us the future,” he told an interviewer for Herman Miller.

These days Behar, who spent his childhood in Switzerland, is obsessed with wearable devices, including watches and wrist computing devices such as Up created by Jawbone. Behar, who is chief creative officer at San Francisco-based Jawbone, the company behind Up, says, that wearable devices are particularly hard to design.

During a recent visit to the offices of fuseproject, a design company he started, we ended up talking about two things we both love the most: bags and watches. It was a conversation that started right after my onstage conversation with him at Loic Le Meur’s Le Web 2011. Behar who is a recipient of the National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum is looking to create a new line of bags and is working on a brand new watch, though he wouldn’t go into great detail on his new projects. He has previously collaborated with Japanese designer Issey Miyake on a watch.

Behar in a conversation said that, “Watches are a great way to think about how products should be designed to last.” He pointed out that things we wear on a daily basis have to meet a very high threshold of design because they “have to withstand constraints of life – water, dust, scratches.” Behar points out that with wearable computing has to over come that challenge.

Behar is one of the key speakers at our 2nd annual GigaOM RoadMap conference on November 5 in San Francisco. Our focus for this year’s conference is on how design, and user interfaces will help us navigate this age of constant connectedness and a world of increasing complexity. Other speakers at our RoadMap event include Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, Instagram CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom, Tony Fadell, CEO and co-founder of Nest, Scott Wilson, designer and founder of Minimal, and Ben Silbermann, CEO of Pinterest.

Behar told me that he is excited that design has finally become core to a whole generation of Silicon Valley companies. He pointed out that in the 1990s, design was seen as a vanity project and the notion of experience was very limited or non-existent. The success of Apple and its many products has changed things radically. “Apple has proved that design makes a difference,” he said. “I am looking around and seeing that guys like AirBnB are doing what Apple is doing and that is what makes a fundamental difference.” His points to companies like Nest and AirBnB as startup leaders embracing design.

But he is not satisfied with the state of the web and web design. From the T-shirts we wear to the sneakers we buy, in the physical world we have infinite choices to create unique experiences. It confounds him how little choice we have in the digital space. “The experiences need to fit to us,” he said during a lunch conversation a few months ago and added “We are pretty far from there. The data is all based on algorithms and it is not emotionally associated to us.”

Behar believes that the constant state of connectedness means that there are opportunities to create unique experiences. The increasing popularity of touch-based interfaces offers an opportunity to humanize the computing experience, especially on tablets and smartphones. He feels that the web has to become more visual as humans understand visual communication better than written words. Just look at the movie posters, he added.

I am looking forward to chatting with him at our RoadMap event where we will explore how design will influence our digital experiences in the future.

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Creative portfolio showcase Behance gets $6.5M from USV, Jeff Bezos

Ryan Kim — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:04:22 +0000

After bootstrapping itself for more than five years, New York City-based Behance, an online destination for creative galleries and portfolios, has finally turned to outside funding. It has secured a $6.5 million investment from Union Square Ventures and a host of investors that include Jeff Bezos, Dave Morin, Yves Behar, Chris Dixon, Dave Tisch, Dave McClure, Alexis Ohanian, and Garrett Camp.

The money will help continue Behance’s momentum as it tries to attract more creative professionals looking to showcase their work. The site highlights more than 2 million creative projects covering categories such as photography, graphic design, animation, fashion, interior design and others. That’s up from 1 million projects just eight months ago. Visitors have viewed the projects more than 1 billion times and “appreciated” them more than 22 million times. Behance gets more than 30,000 projects a week and uses a curation team to narrow its selections. And more than 10,000 personal websites have been created using Behance’s ProSite portfolio builder tool.

For many years, the company was happy to eschew funding but with the recent growth, it saw an opportunity to take Behance to another level. CEO and co-founder Scott Belsky wrote in a blog post that the team is looking at building more products that can serve creators. Albert Wenger, a partner at USV, wrote that Behance will be enhancing its Prosite offering and developing more tools to support collaboration among creatives and between creatives and their clients.

“We have an exciting product pipeline we want to make happen,” Belsky wrote. “So, for the first time, we debated the option of continuing to bootstrap vs. raising funds. Ultimately, the team wanted to kick things up a notch: We want the resources to do our life’s greatest work in serving the creative community.”

Online channels are proving to be a great way for people to find talent through services like Stack Exchange, Github or Kickstarter. There’s still a lot of opportunity in helping people connect to jobs and organize with other people in their industry. Since its first redesign in March, Behance has seen searches for creators on the site jump by 70 percent.

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Jambox wireless speaker gets bigger & better

Om Malik — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:00:32 +0000

Jawbone, the San Francisco-based company that got its start making headsets for mobile phones is launching a new wireless speaker, simply called the Big Jambox. It is a much larger (and louder) version of its portable Jambox speaker that is one of the top selling wireless speakers in the market.

The Big Jambox comes with 15 hours of battery life and connects to the iPhone via bluetooth. “We are targeting the speakers that want to make you dock your phone,” says Hosain Rahman, chief executive officer and founder of Jawbone. “It makes no sense to dock your phone, considering we are doing more and more things on the phone.” In other words, they are taking aim at the likes of Bose with this new speaker.

Connected Experience

Rahman, in an earlier interview said that emergence of iPhone-connected consumer electronics
devices is a big opportunity for his company, which has gone through many ups-and-downs. Jawbone has taken the audio technology it used in its original headphones and expanded into different categories by building new capabilities. The Big Jambox is the latest in a series of connected devices being launched by the company. Jawbone launched the original (and smaller) Jambox a couple of years ago and a few months ago launched the fitness-oriented UP device in addition to its lineup of bluetooth headsets. UP launched with much fanfare but encountered stormy weather soon after launch. In comparison, the $299 Big Jambox is a less risky move for the company.

Rahman believes that the devices such as the Big Jambox have to be social as well and as a result they have built in ability to take sound inputs from different sources – so for instance you could be playing your playlist and your spouse could switch the Big Jambox to playback their playlist. The speaker is simple, well designed and easily portable. It was designed by Yves Behar, chief creative officer for Jawbone.

Hey Dj, Hit That Bass

So how must be wondering does it sound?

I have been using the Big Jambox for a couple of days and my initial impression is that the speaker is very good. First as a speakerphone, it is a godsend. I cannot underscore how much better it is to make phone calls via Big Jambox versus turning on the speaker phone functionality that is built into the iPhone. I used it to make phone calls via Skype and so far have nothing to complain. You can customize the Big Jambox via the company’s MyTalk platform.

Now when it comes to music, Big Jambox isn’t going to replace my Sonus Faber speakers or even the Sonos Play 3, but it is a nice addition to my home office. The sound is clear, crisp, though I find it a tad metallic. I like my sound “warm” but you can get that only from old-fashioned speakers. The sound of Big Jambox reminds me of old-fashioned cassette players that made Sony and Panasonic a lot of money. Think of it as a boom-box for the iPhone age.

The speaker comes with what the company calls Live Audio technology that makes it possible to get a 3D audio effect, which is pretty awesome when you are watching movies. I would say that is my most favorite part of the speaker. Rahman says that the company wants to get more folks using the Live Audio technology and is going to offer an API that can be utilized by other apps as well. As it is always the case, I don’t make a decision or a recommendation based without putting it through the paces, so stay tuned for the review.

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