{"id":4358,"date":"2011-05-18T09:34:23","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T09:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/?p=4358"},"modified":"2011-05-18T09:34:23","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T09:34:23","slug":"htcs-phone-targeted-toward-women-thumbs-up-or-thumbs-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/htcs-phone-targeted-toward-women-thumbs-up-or-thumbs-down\/","title":{"rendered":"HTC’s Phone Targeted Toward Women – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"I ran into this interesting article on BNET; HTC is Making a Smart Phone for Women. \u00a0At first, I thought that this was going to be an article extolling the virtues of using research to create a product targeted at a market with some unique needs, but Damon Brown read the news in a completely different way — that HTC had completely missed the boat on this one and will join the ranks of other failed segment-based products such as the Samsung phone targeted at teens.<\/p>\n

Perception Driving Data Interpretation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Granted this new product may or may not happen — after all, these reports were based on information coming from a “trusted source” which leaves a lot of room for error and corporate mind changing. \u00a0But that isn’t what I’m focused on. \u00a0I’m focused on the data interpretation.<\/p>\n

The article Damon wrote was based on information coming from another article written in This is My Next, so one blog referencing another and neither from HTC. \u00a0Both authors were basically insulted by HTC effort to create a phone with specific features targeted at women.<\/p>\n

As I think about this – it doesn’t seem that it’s the “targeted at women” that’s the problem, rather it’s the assumptions that were made about what would make the phone specifically appealing to women and, as it turns out, the features were :<\/p>\n

COLOR – \u00a0“greenish hue \u2014 we are told it\u2019s somewhere between a forest and sea green and the color was selected for its \u201ccalming\u201d effect. Our source was shown a few mockups, but each of them had a greenish-gray rubber back so \u201cwomen can have a better grip of the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

“shopping comparison and calorie counting apps \u2014 you know, because every woman watches the pounds”<\/p>\n

accessories. First up is a wireless charging dock with built-in speakers. The phone apparently switches to alarm mode when you set it down on the charging pad. Speaking of speakers, there will also be a square-shaped speaker that attaches to a car visor and supports voice recognition. There will also be a \u201cstylish\u201d matching Bluetooth headset available.<\/p>\n

The last accessory is certainty the most interesting. It\u2019s said to be called the \u201ccharm indicator\u201d and the cube-shaped device comes with a hook for attaching to a purse or bag. As we tried to show in the image, it lights up to notify you when you\u2019ve got a new message or missed call. We expected this to pair wirelessly with the phone, however, we are told that it attaches to phone with a cord \u2014 apparently, the cord also makes it easier for women to fish the phone out of that deep purse. It sounds like a pretty crazy idea, but one that actually makes a bit of sense for those that constantly lose their phone in their bag and want to easily see if they have a new message.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m curious about what YOU think. \u00a0All of this information came from an insider and is based on focus groups HTC is said to have conducted with women in their 20’s and 30’s. \u00a0There is no mention of whether additional research has been conducted and what the results of that were.<\/p>\n

If you were HTC what would you do next? \u00a0How would you handle the project? \u00a0Are people being simply too sensitive? \u00a0I mean why do we criticize car makers for not designing cars that are women friendly and then bash on HTC because they want to make it easier to dig your phone out of your purse?<\/p>\n