Gas detection
‘no design without reason’: a philosophy that drives innovation
CURIOSITY Vaisala’s history stretches back to the 1930s, when the company’s founder invented some of the operating principles of a radiosonde. Curiosity, the desire to meet challenges, and an extraordinary ability to innovate remain at the company’s core. Today, that focus on innovation is as strong as ever, and has enabled the development of a wide range of technologies which are designed to deliver observations for a better world. Employing around 1,900 people, Vaisala now exports 98 per cent of its production to over 150 countries.
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION Design is obviously important for any company that develops and manufactures new products, but for Vaisala, design is something bigger; it defines the whole company. When designing products, Vaisala designers ask themselves: “Does this feel like a Vaisala product?” In doing so, they are not just assessing the physical appearance, although that in itself is important; they are also asking if the product meets the customer needs, as well as the highest standards of accuracy, reliability, longevity and ease of use.
The guiding mantra in Vaisala’s design department is ‘no design without reason’. It sounds obvious, but what they really mean is ‘no design without a valid reason’ because they believe that too many companies add features to their products that do not add value for customers. As head of design at the Finnish measurement technology company Vaisala, Sauli Laitinen plays an important role in preserving and enhancing the company’s long-standing reputation for quality and innovation. A heavy responsibility, one might suppose, for someone with two degrees in Psychology, but Laitinen is keen to point out that good design is grounded in a deep understanding of customer behaviour. After 14 years working in Research & Development at Vaisala, Laitinen says: “I am fortunate to be working in an ‘ideas factory’, which is as exciting now as it was when I first started.” So, we took this opportunity to ask him how important product design is at Vaisala, how it affects the company brand, and why there is ‘no design without reason’.
As Laitinen says: “Our customers expect our products to be the best in the market, so we must not, and will not, disappoint them.”
NO IDEA IS A BAD IDEA The philosophy of the design team is to think outside of the box; confident in the knowledge that no one will be criticised for ‘dreaming the impossible’. Ideas for new market leading products can
come from a wide variety of sources, but all of them have to offer something that is not currently available, and they have to solve customers’ problems better than any other product. Following the mantra ‘no design without a reason’, there is no opportunity for design effort to be wasted on work that does not add value in the eyes of customers. “Too often,” Laitinen
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explains, “companies develop products, or product features, that add no real value for users. This can happen when designers are out of touch with customers. We therefore go to great lengths to ensure that all of our candidate products are completely user-centric, and designed for their intended application.” Finding the right problems to solve is a skilled
activity. For Vaisala this involves sending product and application experts out to visit and observe customers doing their normal work. Laitinen says: “If you just ask people what they want, there is a danger that you only get half the story, so it is important to observe them in their work; to ask the right questions and find hidden needs, which means that the researchers must have a deep understanding of the customers and their businesses. A key area of expertise is the
January 2023 Instrumentation Monthly
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