Lenovo
New generations of devices or solutions are often iterative: small but meaningful innovations that enhance productivity, unleash creativity, or increase sustainability. Radical transformations, on the other hand, are rare, especially ones that reimagine our interactions with and expectations for technology. Sometimes technical breakthroughs drive those moments, as in new form factors such as the world's first foldable PC, proof-of-concept rollable screens, or the new era of generative AI. These moments come from teams willing to push the limits of tech, challenge habits, and make bold recommendations based on deep research and insights.
Lenovo's Next UX (user experience) team is one such group. The designers and researchers explore new ways to anticipate user needs and imagine new experiences, moving through design ideation, concept development, and user testing.
"We take a more holistic approach to user experience, going beyond any one device to consider how it fits into a wider landscape of technology, interactions, culture, and intentions," Lincoln Hancock, a senior UX designer on the Lenovo team, said. "Our team gets to research and explore what's possible and what best empowers Lenovo users, and we share recommendations across the enterprise."
As with all future-focused research, not every idea finds its way into homes and offices. But early Next UX explorations of dual-screen laptops helped inform the launch of the versatile Yoga Book 9i. And, before smart collaboration hubs and virtual meetings became ubiquitous, a shift accelerated by COVID-19, Next UX designers had already imagined those more intuitive, user-friendly device ecosystems.
Now, their attention is focused in large part on novel approaches to sustainability. "Circularity and sustainability are growing priorities for Lenovo, as they should be," Hancock said.
The inclusive power of PCs
Embedded within Lenovo's Experience Group, which drives customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) processes, as well as user experience, Next UX benefits greatly from the mission to improve end-to-end experience. It puts users, customers, partners, and employees at the center of every innovation, service, and solution.
"Technology experiences bring us together – that's the inclusive power of PCs and other devices and why they've become such an important part of the way people live, work, learn, and connect," Dilip Bhatia, vice president and chief experience officer at Lenovo, said. "Lenovo employs a diverse team of people looking for what's next in technology, just beyond the horizon in areas like advanced learning along with artificial intelligence, and other frontiers yet to be imagined in the evolution of collaborative work. And at the same time our need to be a leader in corporate citizenship and investigate themes like circularity becomes greater."
Developing a modular PC
Years ago, the Next UX team considered a maximally repairable PC concept called Project Aurora. Each component in this modular device could be replaced, including the screen, hard drive, keyboard, and battery, giving users more control and flexibility, while supposedly extending the life of the PC.
"Ultimately, this approach of maximizing the user-friendliness of device repairs may not actually result in longer lasting devices if there are too many trade-offs or users are still intimidated by the process," Alden Rose, a Lenovo UX designer, said. "We need to be strategic about balancing trade-offs like cost, weight, and thickness, with the value that making a component easier to replace actually provides. Where can we get the most bang for our buck and use design innovation to create new user experiences."
While the engineering challenge of packing high-performance tech into a sleek, reliable, and user-friendly device proved prohibitive, the concept evolved into a more focused solution.
Defeating the drain
In complementary studies in 2022 and 2023, Next UX found that more than 80% of end users and IT decision makers selected batteries as the top component to be easily repaired or replaced. Among those same ITDMs, 96% thought a customer-replaceable battery was a good idea, mainly because it would extend the device lifespan, which is beneficial for bottom lines and sustainability efforts.
Further emphasizing the potential, 40% of consumers and business end users reported that poor battery health had a major-to-moderate impact on their day-to-day computing.
In response, the UX designers developed five concepts for a replaceable battery, each with different degrees of complexity or ease. "We built real models, not working PCs, but all the hardware is real," Rose said. "And while nearly everyone preferred the easiest option, a two-step, tool-free battery swap, they were comfortable with all five. So how do we take that and create a design intervention, offering the right solution with minimal tradeoffs? By taking a risk."
Will one of those swappable battery designs appear in future devices? Maybe. Or perhaps the split-battery construction developed in another concept, including an external battery that doubles as a power bank, meets users' needs.
"To some extent, we have to determine how much of circularity relies on participation from end users, either replacing components or finding that e-waste recycling center to give the elements a second life," Rose said.
Considering circularity from all angles is part of the ongoing work at Next UX and elsewhere at Lenovo, from asset recovery initiatives to data center sustainability. And visionary, data-driven recommendations and the voices of our customers, users, and partners, continue to inform powerful innovation at Lenovo.
Learn more about Lenovo's user experience solutions here.
This post was created by Lenovo with Insider Studios.