At CES the sun sets at Belkin. It was the most natural, inviting, “home” to hang out in… with a grassy courtyard in the center where the band played live music with the sun setting behind them… bedrooms, offices, kitchens, living rooms to the sides… even a perfectly darkly lit gamer den off to one corner… mannequins out for a jog out front… the VW parked out back. With lush green grasstroturf in the center space they nicely insulated from the chaos of CES, and hardwood floors with clean black furniture in the others… i felt more like i fell into a pre-fab house out of Dwell. Honestly you could momentarily forget that you were at an industry only electronics convention… they have really transformed themselves the last few years, and i am thrilled to hear that their design process for products and even the booth put Users First! They work with focus groups and run in home usability studies to find out what people really NEED in their lives, and only THEN do they bring together the designs and technology to fit ~ and it really shows, since they have managed to really put the “lifestyle” aspect into their products. Even the careful detail on the designs of products show, from the buttons, to the fonts and glows, the color choices and materials used… (remember the rockstar and conserve surge protector?)… and when it came to the booth ~ we see more of the silhouetted furnishings motif (like at HP) and i love the touches like both REAL black goldfishes in bowls as well as subtle vinyl stickered goldfish bowls at the top of the stairs where few may even notice such a minute detail.

Tags: Belkin - CES - events - technology