Future Issues To Consider For Pockets

I noticed the lack of ladies on this project. We may end up looking good with our new cell phone holding devices, but whose eyes are we trying to catch in the end?

As I'm not an engineer feel free to disregard my "out of the pocket" thinking. I'll leave it to the engineers to CAD and FEA these dreams into reality:

• We could incorporate cell phones into the body directly. Surely it would not be too difficult to implant the phone into the non-dominant hand of the user.
  
• We could also join up with some neuroscientists and work on implanting the cell phone directly into the brain. I'm sure Microsoft, Sony, Verizon or some other wonderful corporation is hard at work on it.

We also need to address some future issues of those who we are marketing to, which will, most likely, consist of Americans (the final three points are of tangential importance but must be noted):

1. Morbid obesity: By 2011 most garments bought in America will be muumuus (see attached .jpg). No pockets on those folks.
   
2. Shut-in syndrome: By 2013 36% of Americans won’t get beyond fourteen feet of their beds. Some pajama and robe models are necessary if we'd like to maintain market share.
   
3. Functional illiteracy: We must develop phones that don’t have numbers on them as people won't know what they are. 75% of tenth graders today can't tell the difference between a noun and a verb.

4. Our market's environmental concerns: People are thinking green, but not many of them. A recent poll found that 0.001% of Americans ‘think green’(the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 0.001%). 99.999% think grayish brown and they’re lovin’ it. Most Americans believe the world will end when they die or that the Rapture will happen within their lifetime, thus they are hell bent on destroying Mother Earth. We need to make sure whatever we manufacture uses fossil fuels or they just won't buy it. If we're burning wood to generate power we need to have it come from a rainforest. We are Americans. We’re on this Earth to dominate it.

5. Our market's labor concerns: Matthew, you’re in a unique position to help us. With all of your overseas experience you’ll be able to pinpoint which country America has not exploited to its fullest yet. Within that virgin territory we’ll be able to establish entirely new sweatshops. If it ain't made in a sweatshop it ain't a saleable good.

Best,
Andy,

Nota bene: Matthew you sit Indian style? Indian? I hope AISEC doesn't read these e-mails or you're gonna get canned. Please, cross-legged or (give the guy some credit) Squanto-style.

In Spirit of Hope and Collaboration

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. (Or rather, for opening a space in which to discussion an issue we've all experienced but rarely confronted directly.) Don, I agree entirely with the assumptions and (especially) limitations you've detailed in your analysis. To recap a few key points:

1. Belt clips, "holster" style external cell caddies, and fannie packs are inappropriate for anyone not old enough to remember when fireside chats were actually broadcast over transistor-type radios and listened to beside actual fireplace fires, i.e. because said fire was heating your home and possibly cooking your mutton. And even then, such device "appendages" should be considered only as a last and desperate resort.

2. Inside jacket or blazer pockets are indeed the best solution, though situational and environmental concerns severely limit the universal adoption of this approach. Living in a hostile northern clime, I am able to wear a coat or jacket for perhaps eight months of the year, and I consider the use of the inside pocket during these times both a personal joy and a general privilege. However, complications are introduced even in this ideal scenario, such as Going Inside After Having Been Outside. Such a transition often requires removal of the coat/jacket, but what is one to do with what is now essentially a vessel containing precious cargo? Hang it up and abandon it? Trust it to the undifferentiated mass of coats piled haphazardly on some back bedroom's bed? Such situations have led me to the uncomfortable predicament of passing by the coat-pile an inordinate (and possibly alarming to the party's hosts) number of times in order to perform ad hoc "pocket squeeze tests" to ensure the device's continued safety.

2.a. This is not even considering the significantly greater plight of those residing in warm southern climates, where the pleasure of coat/jacket pockets is negated by the social stigma of chronic sweat stains and the medical risks of heat stroke.

2.b. And also not to mention that some of us, for reasons beyond our control and through no fault of our own, just really don't look that great in blazers or feel, when wearing them, always slightly awkward, as though we're playing dress-up.

I agree absolutely with DeSander that the historical bias toward below-the-waist pockets is a) in need of serious examination, b) unnecessarily (and possibly dangerously) limited, and c) essentially unjustifiable.

Of course above-waist pockets raise a number of concerns as well:

- Shirt pockets, in their current form, are highly limited in distribution (generally restricted to $30 catalog-style brushed cotton tee-shirts and button-down "men's wear"), but also, crucially, in location, sequestered almost entirely in the breast region.

- Breast/heart region pockets, when laden with fragile instruments, essentially prohibit all forms of chest-bumping, transforming this popular greeting style into a potentially expensive mobile device demolition derby. This danger applies especially to the "flying" chest-bump, and extends even to firm bro-hugs.

- DeSander mentions another crucial limitation of chest-pockets: the sag-factor. Such pockets, being designed originally for the feather-weight cargo of handkerchiefs, pens, and slide-rules, are unable to maintain the structural integrity of the shirt under the duress of greater loads. Devices weighing more than approx. 100 g cause significant sagging around the neck and collarbone area, leaving even a fitted shirt resembling a child's bib or poorly-tied cravat.

- The vast majority of chest pockets take a traditional pentagonal shape, coming to a "V" or point at the bottom. This is a poor design for housing mobile devices, which are almost universally rectangular. With such contents, V-bottom pockets provide an uneven base and encourage the device's leaning forward, causing a slip-out hazard when leaning forward or, depending on cultural context, bowing/curtseying. This worrisome geometry is further exacerbated by the fact that traditional beast-pockets are significantly wider than the mobile devices likely to be stored in them, with this extra material compounding the slip-lean problem.

As DeSander concludes, there is no one best solution, but I've come up with a preliminary design that addresses several key issues including climate/temperature concerns, indoor/outdoor use, chest-localization, and neck-line sag. I've built a prototype (see attached photographs) which is open to critique and suggestion. After reverse-engineering a common button-down shirt, I transplanted a traditional (donor) pocket to a "host" shirt, resulting in a hybrid structure combining a standard external pocket with the preferred position of an internal jacket/coat pocket. The host shirt is by no means fitted (it's actually a bit too big for me) and yet, as demonstrated in the photos, there is no detectable neck sag, the weight of the mobile device being distributed evenly up the hemline, under the armpit, and across the shoulders. I can wear the shirt alone or cover it with a jacket, move freely between indoor and outdoor conditions, and never lose contact with my precious cargo. I no longer have to go through my day fearing the prospect of chest-bumping or greeting Japanese businessmen. For now, I'm calling this a trans-pocket (transplant pocket) or "The Frankenstein," though the design will remain open-source; no copyright or patent requests have been initiated.

I should also state that I would not be dismissive of simpler, non-material, strategic courses of action. For example, in Neagle's particular situation, we may be prone to overlook more elegant answers, such as the easily missed Not Sitting On The Floor Indian Style Like You're At Fucking Summer Camp solution.

In Spirit of Hope and Collaboration

Patrick Foran, PhD Student, Cornell University

The Usefulness of the Utility Pack

Yes, this is a problem, and one that I feel is a bit "wider" than a conversation on accessing cell phones. For example, I have spoken to a number of people who actually had developed bad backs as a result of sitting unevenly due to having a thick wallet in their back pocket. It's obvious that we need some more options for carrying around our stuff...

This is also likely a cultural-rooted conversation. Both the acceptance of transgender/ gender specific fashion and "feel" of products, as well as the physical postures that we find ourselves taking (ex. sitting cross-legged on the floor in Italy-or Japan)dictates what might be a successful solution.

----The solution that has worked for me---

A few years ago in Japan it was a trend for men to wear small utility pack-like pouches on their belts. Some people are still doing this. At the height of this trend there were all manner of materials and "looks" to these little pouches.

As I live in Cincinnati (a place that is famous for being 10 years behind the rest of the world), I too have adopted the utility pack.

As a result I am able to:
Access my wallet while sitting in the car.
Maintain better organization of things such as USB mem sticks
Carry a full cup of coffee to work in the morning on my motorcycle (since the pouch pivots and is always perpendicular to the ground).


I'd try to decide who generally who this product/ style of pocket might be for - at least a loose target. Then I think that some good old benchmarking and other secondary research would be in order. I'd then follow up with interviews and observational research to attempt to arrive upon some actionable insights. Then I would imagine that a primary prototype model directed by those insights could be constructed that could be used in a second wave of interviews to gauge reaction - this iterative "co-creation" process could then be repeated as necessary until you feel that you have a viable solution.

Peter, From Cincinnati

A Glimmer of Hope To The Problem

This is a serious problem. One either needs a better pocket or must remember to take it out of the pocket before sitting down. While it may appear the simplest and obvious solution, the preemptive take-out has many down-sides: 1) risk of forgetting to put it back in when standing up and leaving, 2) exposing the cell phone to risk of spillage and/or damage, and 3) becoming a distraction. Therefore, the preemptive take-out is clearly not adequate and work on a better solution is justified.

For now, let's make the assumption that all belt clips and european carry-on bags are either too ugly or bulky to be considered as viable solutions to this problem. While they may get the job done, each one carries a fashion stigma with it. Belt clips give the appearance of a gadget utility belt, especially when paired with cameras, additional cell phones, or music players. Man bags can make the owner appear unnecessarily cluttered, insecure or worst of all, feminine.

We could start evaluating the design of the pocket, but I think it is fundamental to first question the location of the pocket. Why does the pocket need to be below the waist? The answer is that nearly all men's pants come equipped with pockets, but only a subset of all shirts do. Clearly, the type of shirt a man wears is dependent on situation and personal style, and in combination with the awkwardness of belt clips and man bags, these issues of situation and personal style are clearly obstacles that must be confronted in any solution to the problem. For example:

- the blazer or jacket with an inside pocket is what I call the "best case scenario" solution. When the event and/or weather permit, the cell phone is hidden in a pocket above the waist. But you must have the best case scenario to implement it -- a man wearing a blazer does not sit on the ground indian-style nor does he wear it during the summer months or in warm climates.

- the shirt chest pocket is what I call the "best body scenario" solution. While not as stealth as an inside jacket pocket, chest pockets are easily accessible and, with a thin device, can be as subtle as carrying a pen in the pocket. The only drawback is that a cell phone (like a heavy ink pen) can make a baggy shirt pull away from the body, cause the pocket to sag, or in extreme conditions become lopsided about the neck. A fitted shirt is required such that the pocket is supported by the shoulders instead of the neck, and the chest is tight enough to keep the pocket taut. The downside is that not every man is fit enough to wear a fitted shirt.

- the shirt arm pocket is what I call the "remember the 50s" or "very rare shirt" solution. The cool kids wearing their white t-shirts and slicked back hair carried their smokes in their shirt sleeve. They rolled it up twice with the pack trapped in between. That could be done with a cell phone, at least with a short-sleeve shirt (that's one flaw). The other (and I've tried this) is that it is hard to ensure that the phone won't fall out during the bouncing of everyday life such as hurrying across the street or riding a horse. That's were a true pocket is needed on the arm instead of a make-shift one, and that is a very rare shirt, indeed.

With the above analysis, it becomes clear that there are situational solutions where pockets are already available and completely adequate (including others not discussed here such as the cargo pant pocket and the sweatshirt belly pocket). So the next questions to ask are: 1) for those many situations lacking a pocket solution, is there a common denominator, a common obstacle that prevents an obvious solution, and 2) when we define that, can we apply what we've learned to address that common obstacle and, hopefully, a widely used solution?

From Donald Desander, Boston, MA

The Problem: Mobile Devices and Pockets

More and more people are using mobile devices, especially young people, and these mobile devices are very often stored in their pockets. The average teenager uses their mobile device dozens (if not more) times per day - they need to have easy access at ALL times to their mobile device.

However, as I just experienced once again one minute ago, the modern day pocket is poorly designed to meet the needs of the new mobile device driven person. Every time I need to access my mobile phone while I am sitting down it requires either a squirmy yogic maneouvering or fully standing up. This is an absolute pain. And, a serious issue.