JD+, the smart JD product, enters 751D•LAB Design is the next watershed of smart products

Every September, there is always a large group of people fighting to be the first to buy Apple's latest iPhone. Why is the iPhone so popular? The perfect combination of software and hardware is one reason, and the perfect iOS ecosystem is another reason. However, for most ordinary consumers, the impressive "good looks" of Apple products is the most lethal.

There is no need to elaborate on how important design is to a product. From Sony to Apple, almost all brands that have achieved extraordinary success in the market have their own ideas in product design. Especially for smart products, most of them have already laid a general framework and structure in terms of functions and uses. The difference in design has become an important dimension to distinguish different brands and products.

At the end of September, the 2015 Beijing International Design Week - 751 International Design Festival officially kicked off. As a part of the 751D•LAB exhibition, it is committed to accelerating the development of young original designs towards productization.

This year, 751D•LAB has also launched in-depth cooperation with JD.com’s intelligent “JD+” plan. The two parties will work together to become an accelerator for the productization of Chinese youth designs. With the collision of intelligence and design, JD.com is clearly thinking more about the construction of an intelligent ecosystem.

After breaking the pseudo-intelligence, users still have more demands

People often use the phrase "an ordinary product plus a Wi-Fi module can be called smart" to describe the current abuse of the concept of intelligence by some manufacturers. Being able to connect to the Internet does not necessarily mean it is smart, and each independent product is also quite far from creating a truly smart life.

There is no doubt that JD Smart JD+ Plan and JD Microlink APP are committed to connecting smart devices with different functions and brands. They are important measures to break the current pseudo-intelligence situation. But after breaking the pseudo-intelligence situation, do smart products really meet the needs of users?

Just as various types of home furnishings at this year's 751 Design Festival have once again become the objects of designers' creativity, from smart homes to wearable devices, various smart hardware are also objects that are extremely close to people's daily lives. The excellent and reasonable design of smart products from the inside out is the key factor in integrating intelligence into life.

In addition, through the big data of the JD platform, it can be found that smart users can basically be summarized as a group of people who are not sensitive to promotions, have a full understanding of the Internet and have a higher level of living income. Some female users may even try the smart functions behind a product directly for the excellent design of a smart hardware. They are early adopters of smart hardware and are also users who pay more attention to experience. This once again confirms the importance of software and hardware design to smart products in the market.

Unfortunately, design is difficult to "take seriously" in the eyes of most smart hardware teams and entrepreneurs. Firstly, some products are too focused on functionality and practicality and ignore other aspects. Secondly, design is also a huge investment for products, which is particularly difficult for start-up brands to accept. Over time, it has become a barrier between smart products and consumers.

How does JD Intelligence do its own design?

Since its inception, JD Intelligence has emphasized focusing on user experience with six core capabilities. Among them, industrial design and UI capabilities occupy an important position in the overall development of JD Intelligence.

In August this year, JD Smart Innovation Alliance was officially established with the aim of breaking down the barriers of design, becoming the "appearance control" in the smart hardware industry, strictly controlling the direction of product design, effectively promoting design transformation, gathering more entrepreneurs and design companies, and bringing user experience to new heights.

As of now, 30 design companies and related institutions have joined the Innovation Alliance, which not only provides the output of design resources, but also provides laboratory services for product demos. In the environment of an open ecosystem, it can more comprehensively support smart hardware projects and help smart entrepreneurial teams to screen out ideal product designs and ideas in the early stages, discover good ideas and projects from the design end, import them into incubators and finally execute good products, providing consumers with truly high-quality product experiences.

During the 751D•LAB event, JD.com showcased a number of products incorporating JD.com design elements, such as the Dingdong speakers with a unique “round sky and square earth” shape, the newifi smart router that cleverly combines the JD+ logo, and so on.

Shen Tao, JD.com's smart design director and head of JD Innovation Alliance & JD+ design, said that smart hardware has just emerged, and design teams in this circle are exploring some rules suitable for smart hardware design. It involves industrial design, app interface and interaction design, as well as more interaction and control methods, such as somatosensory control, voice control, and brainwave control, as well as brand design. These can create a comprehensive smart hardware design experience. Therefore, based on such a complex usage environment and scenario, a corresponding standard is needed to tell practitioners what kind of design is a good design.

The entry of JD+ into 751D•LAB, on the one hand, allows visitors to experience the different control experiences of smart homes at a closer distance, which is to make the ideas that were originally conceptual for ordinary users come true. On the other hand, smart hardware also needs more design-related innovative blood input to create products that consumers really need through excellent design.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.