Microsoft presented with 7 IDEA awards for design excellence

By Tom Warren, on 1st Jul 11 5:16 pm with 20 Comments

Microsoft has won a bumper 7 IDEA awards for design excellence.

The Industrial Designers Society of America handed out 7 awards to Microsoft during their annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Steve Clayton, Next at Microsoft blogger, labels the IDEA program as the “Oscars” of the design industry. 20 experts judge the awards and come from backgrounds in design consultancies, corporations and universities. Apple, Herman Miller and Frog Design have previously won awards in the past.

Here’s the list of awards:

It’s interesting that Microsoft’s failed KIN project scooped a couple of design awards. The KIN was widely criticized in the media mainly due to its lack of features and pricing. Microsoft responded by canning the project and rolling out its fully fledged Windows Phone software.

  • Steve Jobs

    This is very good! But the Kin doesn’t deserve an award!

    • Guest

      “KIN was born out of the way a new generation of people communicate with mobile phones, immersed in social networking and constant sharing with friends. This mobile phone was designed to mimic how people communicate in real life, with people (not icons) at the heart of every action.”

      Entirely accurate.

    • http://www.about.me/AngeloGopaul Eingoluq

      ha ha ha, even the Kin’s UI looked better than current OSes. It deserves it. And have you not seen Kin studio?…tasty.

    • http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

      That needs Windows Phone porting pronto

  • CandidCalum

    This award ceremony doesn’t care about the amount or usefulness of features, it cares about the design, and that is why KIN won some awards (along with the design of its packaging). KIN was excellently designed.

    • Anonymous

      Agreed. I think people forget that the issue about KIN was pricing all along.

      Unfortunately it’s just in people’s MOs to be anti-Microsoft.

    • Guest

      pricing + timing. By the time it arrived, it was really too late. Most people were already looking at full smart phones.

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/6G3ZZJCHOLYP3S5CRCIHQ7WDSE MVIM

      The KIN was targeted toward the tween/young teen market. A market that is not necessarily ready for a full-fledged smartphone, but could certainly enjoy the benefits of the social networking and media support that the KIN devices had. The KIN Studio presented features that no major smartphone platforms have to this day, including Windows Phone 7.

      It was an excellent product, but it needed to be sold at a feature phone price point. Maybe with a special discounted $5 mandatory data package to compensate for the fact that the KIN is not a “real” smartphone. Especially since the target market doesn’t have $15+ to cough up for a data package every month, anyway. Despite the infighting and internal politics, Microsoft was not truly at fault for its poor sales. Verizon made nearly no effort to market the device and obviously had no interest in selling it with appropriately priced plans/packages.

    • Anonymous

      http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5572&deviceCategoryId=2#ReadReviewsAnchor

      MVIM is correct.  VZW dropped the ball on this and that is why everyone calls it a failed product.

      It ISN’T A FAILED PRODUCT! VZW tried to sell it as a “smart phone” because of the data usage the phone demands but now it’s VZW’s BEST SELLING FEATURE PHONE!  It’s the ONLY feature phone with WiFI!

      Look at the reviews section.  Anything pre-January 2011 has a horrible review because users thought they were getting a smart phone.  Feature phone users love this device because it’s so social network friendly.  The Kin is cool but only if you don’t want a smart phone.

      Now there is no advertising at all but when was the last time you saw VZW advertise anything except smart phones?

    • Anonymous

      Agreed. I think people forget that the issue about KIN was pricing all along.

      Unfortunately it’s just in people’s MOs to be anti-Microsoft.

    • Anonymous

      The Kin was great when it came to usefullness aswell, it’s just that noone is willing to pay what?  $100 a month? for data on a phone like that.

  • Anonymous

    Well, at least they won an award for their KIN…

  • Anonymous

    Well, at least they won an award for their KIN…

  • Aaron

    I was glad Microsoft canned the Kin so quickly.  It was a dumb unnecessary distraction from Windows Phone.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000678662470 Vincent Haakmat

    Take that Apple… finally a group that recognizes quality when they see it :)

  • Test1ngi23

    That sucks. I hate MS.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VGQMRQOQYPZHFOGRIZ53F646KU Not ice_fusion.

      That sucks. I hate people who comment about their hate for Microsoft and/or their products with no constructive input on a website dedicated to everything Microsoft.

    • http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

      Spoken eloquently

  • Anonymous

    The Kin is gaining much more attention since Verizon no longer sells it as an “enhanced” phone.  You don’t need a data plan anymore and can use all the online features via WiFi.

    • Anonymous

      I’ve said that SOOO many times on this board and have been laughed at and called foolish.  The KIN is a great “feature” phone and the only one on VZW with WiFi enabled by default so it’s a big seller for VZW but they don’t get the “data package” so VZW only advertises smart phones.