Griffin Technology lets its hair down at MacWorld:
Little company that could produces accessory hardware for Macintosh computers

Alexandra Samuel
July 31, 2002

There comes a point in every relationship when you have to let your guard down. You wake up one morning with your hair mussed, or your makeup smeared, and you smile through your unbrushed teeth at the person next to you. That holds true whether you're relating to one person or a thousand. No, I'm not suggesting you wake up with a thousand people in your bed. I'm talking about how you relate to customers: The faceless hordes who buy your products. Maybe it's time to let them see you with your hair down.

That's the attitude of Griffin Technology, a small company that produces accessory hardware and software for Macintosh computers. I discovered Griffin's come-as-you-are policy at the recent MacWorld Expo in New York.

The MacWorld Expo is a bazaar of cutting-edge software, shiny gadgets, and overclocked hardware. Into this flock of swans, Griffin introduced two ugly ducklings.

One was a stark white triangle; the other, a rectangular lump of white plastic. Against the rest of Griffin's sleek accessory line, these two looked positively rustic -- rough, unfinished.

That's because they were.

Griffin was doing the unthinkable -- going to the cotillion with its hair down. Showing off its products before they were polished and packaged.

One was a radio receiver that connects to Mac desktops; the other was an FM transmitter that clips on the end of Apple's iPod MP3 player, channelling music to your radio.

These two gadgets weren't even in production.

Griffin was engaged in what it calls "public prototyping" - showing off potential products as a way of engaging customers in the development process.

According to Griffin's Andrew Green, public prototyping has become a core part of the company's production process.

"You get an immediate response that more accurately reflects customer's desires. You can give them a product they actually want, instead of guessing. "

Take the iPod transmitter. Thanks to customer feedback, Griffin left MacWorld with a tentative product name and a new product shape. More crucially, customers complained that the transmitter obscured the iPod's charger; the product has since been designed to rotate so that users can charge and transmit and the same time.

That kind of valuable feedback makes public prototyping worth the risks. And there are risks.

"It's a double-edged sword," Green says. "Sometimes it leads you in directions you didn't want to go, or builds up expectations you can't manage." And at least in theory, it opens you up to copying by competitors.

Green has a couple of tips for companies that want to try public prototyping.

First, listen. If you aren't open to potential improvement, don't look for feedback.

Second, be honest about production timelines. An exciting product can lead to disappointed customers. "It's about managing a person who wants the product really badly," says Green. "They need to know as accurately as possible when they might be able to get it."

But at the end of the day -- or the morning after -- there's a lot to gain from letting someone see what you have to offer. If you don't scare them off, you've just moved your relationship to a whole new level of trust, communication and satisfaction.

Harvard PhD candidate Alexandra Samuel is a Vancouver-based researcher and policy consultant specializing in electronic democracy.