Yin Yang<title>Lattétude

Excerpt from my thesis

Abstract

Lattétude¨ is a new concept in coffee drinking blending ‘western’ café society with the ‘eastern’ yin yang. The development of Lattétude arose from a need to put an end to inconsistent flavour and presentation of the espresso beverage known as a latté. The solution led to a new product which challenges the basic form and function of a coffee cup. Presenting the concept to business consultants and colleagues led to Lattétude gaining intellectual property protection as the novel idea was seen to have potential market value as a new product for Café Society. The designer established design registration, patent protection, and trademark registration and the concept design was further articulated and prototypes were fabricated.

Early benchmark testing of the product with consumers led to the need for further consumer research. A concept questionnaire was developed including a variation of a semantic differential to gain insight into consumer reaction to Lattétude. The commercial quality cups were then put to the test within three Central Test Locations: The Wellington Coffee Expo and two Dunedin cafés. The designer having never before designed a commercial ‘product’ required an objective view on the design and found consumer reaction to the concept favourable. Consumers were given pairs of words helping to define Lattétude. The designer interested in knowing how the concept would be perceived also found that despite the favourable response to the concept some groups of consumers associate the product with certain words leading to a hesitant reaction to Lattétude.

While believing in the concept and thinking the product would appeal to most consumers the designer found by using objective and quantitative research methods that consumers who are aged 25 and under and those who identify with being ‘stylish/trendy’ are more likely to like Lattétude. Overall consumer response to the concept is favourable and despite the hesitant response by other groups of consumers, the objective methods and analyse of data substantiated and validated his belief in the product concept. And, further is convinced the concept has value both as a new product far above the original idea. More importantly the designer recognizes how this design as a catalyst led to his newfound interest in combining design research with design practice.

Preface

Thirty spokes converge at one hub;
What is not there makes the wheel useful.
Clay is shaped to form a vessel;
What is not there makes the vessel useful.
Doors and windows are cut to form a room;
What is not there makes the room useful.
Therefore, take advantage of what is there,
By making use of what is not.

Tao Te Ching #11 (Lao Tzu in Wing: 1986)

This quote from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu is appropriate as the preface to this thesis for a number of reasons. The ‘thirty spokes converging at one hub’ are the ‘intangible’ ideas or associations behind the yin yang and café society which merge together in the form of a new cup called Lattétude. Lattétude is a product fashioned from clay in the form of a new drinking vessel. A coffee cup.

But, there is a problemwith a coffee cup. What is not there? The cup might contain coffee and milk creating a latté or any number of espresso beverages. Can something ‘not there’ become useful? The designer consciously sought ways to achieve a better tasting latté. An intuitive solution to the problem emerged and the designer would no longer have to contend with bad tasting lattés. He found that what was ‘not there’ was ‘balance’ in the cup. More importantly he also found that what was not there was a degree of objectivity in design research.

The design of Lattétude was inspired in 1996 and evolved slowly until it became the catalyst for a Master of Consumer and Applied Science in Design Studies. The designer becoming more focussed on the intent of the concept knew that only by gaining consumer response would allow the design process to be complete. Further, the drinking vessel known as Lattétude uses a graphically formed divider o another permutation of the ‘what is not there’ in a coffee cup. But, this thesis is not simply about a coffee cup.

This thesis is about the design process and the research into design, the development of an idea into useable prototypes to be studied and critiqued. Many books on new ideas suggest to ‘stay with it’ and ‘keep at it’. Quite often the designer did not want to heed such advice. The novelty of the idea was wrought with criticism and scrutiny. At times funding ‘was not there’ for required prototype development to best articulate the concept. But, that was not ‘it’. There was always something else that ‘was not there’. What was not there in the development of Lattétude that was necessary to be made useful? What had not been there that was found to be useful was a coalescence of the designers’ and the consumers’ wisdom.

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Lattétude Coffee Bowls and Cups