> Page 30 My Turn > Page 32 Women of NAMM
IN THE TRENCHES I BY CYPH SHAH BRIDGING THE GAP T here are plenty of good products hitting the market each year, but recently I’ve been left wondering, how many
have to effectively take it on the chin when questions are raised about a product’s shortcomings. The product developers behind the design may be engineers, but they typically aren’t using the product in the field like their consumers. Blind spots can exist that are un- accounted for, a sign that enough perspectives were likely not taken into account early in the planning stages. Product developers may be confined to echo chambers of thought and/or company policy, left to fend without the adequate resources or corporate encourage- ment required to explore valuable considerations. For peak innova- tion to manifest, the requirement is being willing and open to tap into a series of micro-discoveries early in the incubation stage. THE DISCONNECT Dealers naturally have a large Rolodex of brand reps and, ev- ery week, it’s likely we’re going to be pitched the latest hot prod- uct hitting shelves. Sometimes I come in contact with a “hot” product announcement that I feel is lacking in some facet of design — lacking in ways I think will limit its ability to appeal to customers. And in those cases, I’m sometimes inclined to play along with their enthusiasm to politely appease the presenter. It’s kind of like telling someone their ugly baby is cute. There’s less incentive for me to put energy into being
constructively honest unless it’s going to viably spur a change for the better. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the excitement my reps bring to the table. They’re doing their job and doing it well, acting in accordance with the parameters and resources provided to them. But, I’m left feeling empty-handed and slightly heavy-hearted when my curiosity in a new product is downtrodden by the lack of a seemingly obvious feature I find myself wishing was included from the get-go. MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN DESIGN A few years ago Pioneer DJ re- leased a new robust DJ mixer, geared towards performers who favor live production. One of its unique features was a com- pressor on each channel. I got up close with the mixer during The NAMM Show, getting the run down from a senior product specialist. But it was missing some- thing that I knew would have been a game-changer: an option for side- chain commands. Sidechain is an essential tool for a musician who’s balancing synthesizers amongst other audio elements. With the compressor already in place, a side- chain function could have been an engineering tweak that would have paid dividends in its appeal to end-users. The feedback I got was that this concept was never explored but not intentionally. Historically, R&D has included
missed the mark to be great? The answer can’t be zero, but I have reason to think the actual figure has been migrating in the wrong direction. What we hope for is that a product will have all the features and design attributes we obviously need, but also some of the ones we didn’t even know we would want later — things you discover after you’ve had the op- portunity to establish a workflow with it. Features that make you marvel at the foresight in design. That level of proficiency in product planning requires a more grass- roots perspective to be laid into the foundation of the design approach. Adequately diverse feedback loops during development can curate well-performing products. But the widespread initiative to stimulate those types of conversations might not be as prevalent as one would hope. It raises a question of if we are missing out on opportunities for meaningful innovation right under our noses. Let’s paint a picture of a prom- ising product launch that’s unfor- tunately tailed by a few quarters of lackluster introductory perfor- mance. As it sometimes happens, the product wasn’t as much of a winner as was projected. Some- times it’s bad timing, other times
it’s a sign of something more. Those on the executive level can find themselves disconnected from the current ground-floor tempera- ture, ill-equipped to make assess- ments on product utility. Those in the middle trying to make the gears turn are then potentially subject to blame for design over- sights or flaws. The rep firms who interact directly with the dealers “It’s my belief that many manufacturers overlook the value of retailer input during the early stages of product development.”
28 I MUSIC INC. I FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025
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