What is convergent design, demanded in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)?

This article presents content originally published in Design Mind, a design journal operated by frog, under the supervision of Mr. Noriaki Okada of Dentsu BX Creative Center.

We are now in the early stages of the "Convergent*1 Design" era, where we are becoming heavily reliant on new service ecosystems supporting AI-enabled products. Exploring new form factors—specifications and standards concerning hardware shape and dimensions—that deepen the relationship between humans and AI has become more important than ever.

※1 = Convergence. The gathering of multiple things into one. It describes the fusion and integration of entities that were previously distinct and had no connection.

Against this backdrop, Rabbit Inc. launched a new product widely regarded as one of the biggest highlights of the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Founder Jesse Liu set an ambitious goal: to rethink how we interact with digital services. The result is Rabbit r1, a ChatGPT-based personal assistant touted to render most smartphone functions obsolete. This sleek, compact device features an operating system that personalizes the experience for each user and can be operated via a natural language interface.

This time, we explore the future of Rabbit r1 through the lens of frog, which pursues a convergent approach that seamlessly integrates digital design, physical design, and service design.

<Table of Contents>
▼Riding the Wave: Experiencing New Technology...

▼The Potential of Rabbit r1 Through the Eyes of a Skeptical Optimist

▼Unrealistic MVPs Can Lead to Unpleasant Experiences

▼What Would frog's Sales Pitch for Rabbit r1 Be?

▼Experience and Modality in a World Without Apps

▼What Matters in Product Development is Whether Meaningful Experiences Are Possible

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Riding the wave of trends, the result of experiencing new technology...

It's no surprise that a niche group, including myself and my colleagues at frog, was drawn to Rabbit r1's ambitious goal: to handle everything needed for daily life while complementing smartphones. We belong to the category known as "innovators" in adoption speed classifications—those who embrace new technology earliest.

Fundamentally, an organization's speed of adopting new technology is categorized into five groups: "Innovators," "Early Adopters," "Early Majority," "Late Majority," and "Laggards."

Innovators like us embrace new technology before it has fully matured in the market. We find value in the playfulness and experimental nature inherent in immature products—meaning we are drawn to visionary ambition over market stability. With this strong desire for change, we are always at the forefront of fundamentally transforming the human experience.

< Five Consumer Categories Based on Speed of New Product Adoption>
Innovators (2.5%)
Early Adopters 13.5%
Early Majority 34%
Late Majority 34%
Laggards 16%

That said, trying new technology before it becomes mainstream is exciting, but embracing the new early on also brings its share of disappointments. In the case of the Rabbit r1, I must admit that my efforts to make this device useful have not been successful so far.

While I struggle to find a place for this device in my life, I remain hopeful. I firmly believe the Rabbit r1 has the potential to radically redefine how we interact with the world. I wish I could engage with this product in a simpler way... or rather, I feel I need an excuse to become friends with it.

With the Rabbit r1, the goal wasn't to make users feel "affection" for the product. Users don't need to be 100% immersed in a new product to feel affection for it. It's enough for some new attachment to develop. Products that emphasize affection can be easily woven into daily routines. However, how people interact with that product day-to-day varies.

Ultimately, given the right circumstances, we all become "innovators." Everyone has something they particularly love, and they can use AI-powered devices to enrich that something further.

For example, Rabbit r1 could target romantic souls who are always reading books and feel left behind by a digital age where computers are transforming even the human body. This approach could invite all book lovers—those analog enthusiasts seeking dialogue with their collected books—into the digital assistant experience, regardless of their skill level or purpose. Moving beyond advanced readers, it could also target university students to cultivate a new "innovator" market across diverse educational environments.

? What would the form factor look like?

※2 = Artificial intelligence models designed to perform actual tasks

The Potential of Rabbit r1 Seen by a Skeptical Optimist

When founder Liu first introduced the Rabbit r1 to the world and announced that Swedish electronic instrument maker Teenage Engineering (TE) was collaborating on the hardware design, it created a strong sense of both reliability and polish. TE has been highly regarded in both the music and design worlds for years, popular for its innovative user experience in music production and its simple hardware design adhering to the design philosophy of German industrial designer Dieter Rams. This design, coupled with the $200 price point, might be the biggest reason for optimism about the Rabbit r1.

To make people fall in love with a product, you need them to invest in some aspect of the experience of using it. Highlighting the high design quality of the exterior will get some people to invest for a while, and some will gradually come to appreciate the product's inherent appeal.

On the other hand, while the Rabbit r1 has a bold and playful design, what if TE's explanation had aligned more closely with the aforementioned goal of attracting people passionate about specific things, like book lovers, audiophiles, or plant enthusiasts? Would it have taken a more nuanced approach, different from the current design? The issue is that when attempting to manifest AI capabilities through a physical device, one must consider all human modalities that the device engages with to fully activate the user's intellect and senses.

It's been several months since I acquired the Rabbit r1, and I remain a skeptical optimist. I think many people should adopt that mindset these days. We tend to get caught up in the rabbit hole—fixating on shortcomings like poor battery life, lack of video recording, or slow data loading—and lose sight of the bigger picture. Instead, I feel it's better to explore what might have been or what could become.

Engaging in such speculation is one way to discover the true potential of this device.

An unrealistic MVP can lead to unpleasant experiences

Rabbit has explicitly stated it will pursue continuous refinement.
As an "innovator" eager to jump on new things, I trust this promise of continuous improvement. However, I also believe Rabbit has the potential to create something that instantly captivates people. Wouldn't it be more desirable as a market development strategy to narrow the focus a bit more and promise to fundamentally transform a single experience?

Consider Amazon as an example. It began as the world's first online "bookstore," then expanded its scale while pursuing convenience. By initially focusing on a single category—books—it built a close relationship with enthusiastic users, which later became the driving force for its rapid scaling.

Launching products just to prove technology's broad applicability isn't a wise strategy. If you want people to be interested in the LAM concept, it's crucial to provide products that consumers actually want. Then, as awareness of LAM's true potential spreads among developers in the service industry, you can gradually broaden the range of needs it addresses.

What is frog's sales pitch for Rabbit r1?

"Consumers don't buy products; they buy value in the form of experiences and emotions."
Hartmut Esslinger (frog Founder)

At frog, we consistently pursue a convergent approach that seamlessly integrates digital design, physical design, and service design. We've launched numerous world-first, one-of-a-kind products. From this experience, we can say that launching new products focused on specific use cases helps build anticipation and clarify the subsequent roadmap. Particularly advantageous are use cases aligned with ordinary households—those not demanding an overnight replacement for current mobile devices.

In this case, LAM initially addresses only limited actions or objects. If that were the case, what different developments might we have seen? What if Rabbit r1 had launched with such a service and sales pitch?

Now, let's take a deliberately critical stance and imagine a hypothetical design. Consider the sales pitch for a Rabbit r1 that met all desirable requirements. Imagine if Rabbit r1 wasn't a multifunctional device, but a dedicated tool connecting you to services perfectly tailored to your unique needs. We came up with the following copy. If you'll indulge us, we'd love to propose this to Mr. Liu. 【Rabbit r1's Imaginary Mission】
Delivering the best experience in a specific field

The newly launched Rabbit r1 is your new knowledge assistant. What Rabbit r1 values most is restoring the joy of real-world experiences. It slows down the dizzying pace of technology to match the rhythm of daily life, enabling consistent, context-appropriate interactions using plain language. Real-world interactions and experiences are revived, free from distractions caused by complex user interfaces. Rabbit r1's mission is to help you reclaim a natural life, flowing with the rhythm of time.

Reading Assistant
Rabbit r1 is the ideal reading assistant for students, academics, and researchers. As you read your favorite books, blogs, or magazines, your knowledge creation skills sharpen. When you read, Rabbit r1 is always by your side, ready to discuss emerging themes or answer your questions. It's like your very own private reading club. Aiming to be the ultimate reading support tool, Rabbit r1 delivers a completely new reading experience. It provides useful related knowledge in real time and displays recommended books based on your reading habits. It seamlessly integrates your physical and digital libraries, enabling unified collection management. In this way, Rabbit r1 fundamentally transforms the reading experience, inviting you on an unprecedented, user-friendly journey into your own world of books.

【Key Features】
• Passage Scan: Scan a portion of text to display related information for quotations or summaries
• Dynamic Discussion: Read aloud a passage and Rabbit r1 initiates conversation with diverse perspectives and analytical styles, discussing what you're reading
• Library Catalog Creation: Scan the spines of books on your shelf and Rabbit r1 builds a knowledge base, creating a virtual library with summaries
• Cultural Perspectives: Interpret book content through various cultural lenses, broadening your understanding

【Coming Soon】
Music Assistant
Do you love music? For those seeking innovative ways to discover new sounds, Rabbit r1—the ideal music playback and search assistant—is coming soon. Look forward to the new Rabbit r1, which will enrich your music experience with features like notifying you about related information for your favorite songs and intuitively introducing recommended artists while playing tracks.

Toward a future where Rabbit r1 lets you experience "likes" to the fullest

Experience and Modality in a World Without Apps

As this fictional sales pitch illustrates, Rabbit r1 could also be marketed as a tool to experience its core assistant function: a "Reading Assistant." Rabbit r1's AI can scan pages to search for keywords, engage in literary discussions through various analysis modes, guide users on how to read favorite works in other languages, and recommend books based on an understanding of the user's reading habits.

In a world where companies fiercely compete to make smartphones obsolete, opportunities to gain user affinity through such focused offerings are being overlooked. Providing the basic reading assistant experience described above could initially differentiate Rabbit r1 from mobile devices in the short term.

However, true transformation begins when, after mastering one field, that expertise and know-how are applied and expanded to other experiences. What becomes crucial is not just the breadth of coverage offered by LAM and other large language models (LLMs)※3, but how users are guided during their first experience. Starting as a simple reading assistant, it should evolve into a true assistant AI device by adding various form factors and hardware tailored to specific uses.

※3: Natural language processing models built using vast text data and deep learning technology. Capable of generating text and answering questions.

To get people to adopt new technology, they need to understand how to use it. By focusing on specific areas (gardening, exercise, cooking, etc.) and making it easy to learn, you can capture users' attention during moments when they're engaged in activities important to them. We are not merely users, customers, or consumers. We also wear many other hats: researchers, producers, cooks, educators, explorers, gamers, drivers, DIYers, caregivers, hosts, and more.

What matters most in product development is whether it delivers a meaningful experience.

We "innovators," who are quick to adopt new things, could say we live to encounter devices touted as the world's first. The conditions for a product to excite us and make us feel its potential aren't numerous. It just needs to deliver a meaningfully impactful experience and foster a sense of connection through that experience.

Bringing a world-first product to market is no easy feat. We salute companies like Rabbit, who are challenging the status quo and leading the charge toward the future of convergent design in the era of generative AI. If any of you are working on developing a world-first device powered by generative AI, we'd be delighted to support you and share what we've learned. Please don't hesitate to share your experiences.