“Keep the Change” Program, Pangea Organics Top BusinessWeek/IDSA Business Catalyst Competition

That Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” and Pangea Organics took top honors in the 2007 Design and Business Catalyst Award competition. Sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek, the awards recognize the connection between design excellence and business success, and socioeconomic and ecological impact. The Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet, the Master Lock Titanium Series Padlock and LifePort^® Kidney Transporter earned honorable mentions. The products singled out for distinction are also noteworthy for the way they have tapped into human factors and ergonomics to make improvements or solve problems.

Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” program grew out of research that sought to understand how banks could improve service to women with children. The program rounds up purchases made with a Bank of America Visa debit card to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference to a savings account. The program attracted 2.5 million customers in less than one year to open more than 700,000 new checking accounts and one million new savings accounts.

The design team at Pangea Organics solved the problem of distinguishing itself and its body-care products in a crowded field of competitors claiming to be “organic” with packaging and customer education. The strategy combines viral marketing – a technique that uses pre-existing social networks to increase brand awareness – with product education at the point of sale. The company made environmentally-friendly changes to its labeling materials and techniques and tells customers about the change on the package.

Master Lock created the Titanium Series – its first significant design change in 50 years – to combat a competitive threat from low-cost imports. The design team understood that consumers care much less about the lock itself than they do about the valuables protected by it. This understanding of human factors led to a strategy that opened up new sales categories. Packaging with lifestyle imagery and coordinated color schemes helps consumers associate Master Lock’s products with their own interests.   

LifePort^® Kidney Transporter by Organ Recovery Systems offers a way to nearly double the period between removal of the organ from a donor and the actual transplant, allowing physicians to reach a greater number of patients and ensure a proper match. The design is reported to be easy to use, safer, and require only basic clinical skills and minimal training. At the same time, the transporter communicates the importance of the cargo inside.

The design of the interior and user interface of the Eclipse 500, the first very-light jet approved by the FAA, had to be as innovative, functional and luxurious in order to attract and satisfy buyers. The jet’s instrument panel, lighting system, cockpit and cabin were optimized. The Catalyst news release describes the  instrument panel as more intuitive, less cluttered, less fatiguing and more motion efficient. These are attributes that give an interface strong ergonomics credentials.

Source: Industrial Designers Society of America/BusinessWeek news release