ELSEWARES

Clocky started as a prototype when you were in school, right? Can you tell the story of its creation and how it came to be so popular before it was even an actual product?

Yes, When I was a student, I would hit the snooze bar repeatedly, never realizing how late it was getting. I had friends who told me that they would put the alarm clock on the other side of the room, but because they knew where it was, they would just sleep walk to it, turn it off and go right back to bed. Not to mention current alarm clocks are typically boring, only available in black and well, just dull. As a designer, it was obvious that the alarm clock needed to be improved, both in functionality and in personality.

The original prototype took me a couple of weeks. It was put together with materials I had at my disposal while I was a student at the MIT Media Lab, which turned out to be little more than a pair of Lego wheels and motors and a shag covering to hold it together. The concept was posted on the course website. Bloggers found the post and from there the media attention happened almost spontaneously.

Admittedly, I did not anticipate that there would be so much interest surrounding Clocky. In retrospect, I think it makes sense because it is an easy concept for most people to relate to, it is simple to describe, it does more than just make a marginal improvement to alarm clocks, and it has a huge market (i.e. there are a lot of snoozers out there!).

How long have you been designing products? Have you done other things or have you followed a direct path to founding your own product design company?

I have been designing products for a few years now, since I was a student at the MIT Media Lab researching the intersection of design and technology. I wasn’t planning on starting a company after getting my masters degree. But because of all the interest surrounding him, Clocky gave me the drive to start a company. Since graduating, I founded Nanda as a place to find things that are missing from our live and create them. Our ideas come from ordinary questions like ‘Why does my alarm do such a terrible job of getting me up?’ and ‘Why can’t I find a bag that makes it easy to carry my heavy laptop around and can double as a purse?’ Then, from these ordinary questions, we set out to create extraordinary products. Things that are at once both simple and exceptional.

Was it very difficult to find a way to turn your idea for Clocky into a product? Where did you turn for advice about IP protection, manufacturing, distribution and the like? Or did you have to figure everything out on your own?

In a word, yes, it is difficult! But it’s been an amazing learning experience, one I never imagined. As I was a student when I created Clocky, MIT helped me to file for patent protection. After graduating, I turned to others who have done it on their own, entrepreneurs and product developers in the Boston area. I relied on the advice of these people, but a lot of it I had to figure out on my own. I made multiple trips overseas to find viable partners. Mostly I just followed my intuition and common sense

In order to get Clocky ready for commercial sale, I worked with a team of engineers and manufacturers on the design for about a year. We went through about 3 design iterations on the external casing. We didn’t want Clocky to take up too much room on a night-stand so we reduced the size considerably. We also wanted Clocky to be much lighter, since it was to withstand a drop to floor everyday. Through a lot of engineering and testing, we identified the parts of the clock that would endure the most shock when Clocky jumps off of a night-stand. We designed those parts so that the force would be directed away from them. We compared and contrasted various strong and shock absorbing materials. I spent the last 3 months of 2006 in Hong Kong finishing up the design and overseeing the production.

Do you have any advice for designers who are interested in following a similar path?

With limited resources and time, don’t be afraid to get in there and do things yourself. This might not be necessary for all projects. For example, if I was just making an alarm clock, as they are commonly known today, it might not have been necessary for me to spend so much time overseas. But Clocky’s design involved several challenges- like being able to survive a drop to the floor everyday.

That being said, I solicited the help of family and friends (perhaps too much). So don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Also try and find partners that you work well with- everything from manufacturing to warehousing to e-commerce. If any part of this breaks down, the whole operation can become quite messy.

Finally, expect things to take 2-3 times longer than you would like them to!

Thanks Gauri!