The Human Interface Revolution
Synaptics
We shortened this case study to accommodate for humanity’s collective inability to focus for long periods of time. For the Full Monty, click here.
dna: mechanic
genotype: features
The Challenge
Positioning for new relevance in the semiconductor industry
In 2016, Synaptics Incoporated, a company founded by two engineers deeply interested in the intersection of neural networks and technology applications, celebrated its thirtieth year in business.
Rick Bergman, the company’s former CEO, attributed Synaptics’ longevity to the company’s commitment to innovation. “We make devices easier to use. That was the message we wanted to get out.” Synaptics knew that if it wanted to remain standing in an increasingly global competitive environment—and, in fact, lead the way—it needed to define its position in the marketplace better. Known predominantly for its work in developing the touchpad, the company was eager to establish itself as an innovator across a wide range of human interface solutions, including mobile computing, entertainment, automotive, and other consumer electronic developments. In short, it wanted out of the touchpad “box.”
In addition, although Synaptics knew it excelled at innovating, too often those innovations never saw the light of day—or were snapped up by competitors who took the company’s creativity to the next stage.
The Aha!
When we met with Synaptics in 2014, the company knew it should be positioned in the human interface space in which it already was operating. The management team wanted help defining that position to bring the concept of human interface to life and place Synaptics in the lead role.
It was apparent that with over 1,900 patents, Synaptics was a poster child for Mechanic DNA. More specifically, it was a Mechanic dedicated to offering a wide variety of features, all with an eye toward enhancing user experience. Synaptics has consistently added to its product line over the years, moving from notebook PCs into mobile and then adding display drivers, fingerprint sensors, and myriad other technologies.
An added twist is that in working to deliver an intuitive user experience, Synaptics doesn’t innovate just for itself. It brings its technology to partners, who decide what to do with it. Say I’m designing my dream restaurant. I want it to be modern and cool, with a state-of-the-art interface for ordering. Printed menus are out; ditto for having my staff take orders on a notepad or tablet or commit them to memory. I want something different.
I meet with members of Synaptics’ UX team someone comes up with the idea of turning the table into an ordering surface. Synaptics creates a prototype and we review it, tweaking the design as needed. In the end, I walk away with a touchscreen tabletop that brings my vision to life. Human interface in action. And very much in keeping with the positioning statement we wrote for the company:
Synaptics is the leader in human interface solutions. With its innovative thinking, best-in-class technologies, and portfolio of integrated solutions, Synaptics empowers its partners to deliver intuitive user experiences.
The Result
Synaptics’s new brand and communication platform launched at the end of 2014, and alignment with the innovation message remains the key to success. Being seen as the human interface leader is imperative to long-term growth. It’s also about figuring out how to use positioning to maintain Mechanic culture, which shines through in internal hackathons and on a patent wall. It also shows up in the companies considered for merger and acquisition, including the purchase of Renesas SP Drivers (RSP).
Bergman noted that five years earlier there wasn’t one semiconductor company talking about human interface. “But that’s what Synaptics is known for now. It’s completely changed the way people perceive us in the industry.”
The Human Interface Revolution
The Full Monty
The Challenge
Positioning for new relevance in the semiconductor industry
In 2016, Synaptics Incoporated, a company founded by two engineers deeply interested in the intersection of neural networks and technology applications, celebrated its thirtieth year in business. The founders applied the neural network concept to transistors on chips and built a touch-sensing interface solution that became the first touchpad, a technology widely adopted throughout the computer industry, so widely, in fact, that Synaptics became known as “the touchpad company.”
“Thirty years is a long time by nearly any measure,” former CEO Rick Bergman wrote in a blog post commemorating the milestone, “but it’s practically an eternity in the technology world.”
The company’s 30-year tenure is remarkable for another reason as well. “We’re the last American company standing in our field,” Bergman told us, noting that all of Synaptics’ competitors today are based in Europe and Asia. As the last American company in this space, Synaptics is clearly doing something right. Bergman attributed this longevity largely to its steadfast commitment to its core values, the first of which reads: We value innovation, and we innovate to win. “Innovation lives within everything we do,” Bergman said. “Simply put, we make devices easier to use. That was the message we wanted to get out.”
Synaptics knew that if it wanted to remain standing in an increasingly global competitive environment—and, in fact, lead the way—it needed to define its position in the marketplace better. Known predominantly for its work in developing the touchpad, the company was eager to establish itself as the innovator it was across a wide range of human interface solutions, including mobile computing, entertainment, automotive, and other consumer electronic developments. In short, it wanted out of the touchpad “box” it increasingly found itself locked in. “I’d mention the name Synaptics,” Bergman said, “and everyone would say, ‘Oh, right, you’re the touchpad people.’”
There was a second hurdle to surmount. Although Synaptics knew it excelled at innovating, too often those innovations never saw the light of day—or if they did, they were snapped up by competitors who took the company’s creativity to the next stage. “A passion for innovation is great,” said Bergman. “But we aren’t here to innovate for fun or for innovation’s sake. We’re here to make money.” After years of conservative operation, it was time to get out of the lab and into the market.
The Aha!
When we first met with Synaptics, the company knew it should be positioned in the human interface space in which it already was operating. The management team wanted help defining that position to bring the concept of human interface to life and place Synaptics in the lead role.
Despite a brief flirtation with Missionary status—an almost obligatory rite of passage for many technology executives when we explain genetic positioning—it was quickly apparent that with over 1,900 patents either pending or issued and with the fact that 70 percent of Synaptics’s 1,850 employees work in technology, engineering, and product-design functions, Synaptics was a poster child for Mechanic DNA. More specifically, it was a Mechanic dedicated to offering its customers a wide variety of features, all with an eye toward enhancing user experience. “Computers, smartphones, tablets and cars don’t need more gigahertz or megabytes,” Bergman wrote in his blog. “Rather, because of their complexity, they need to be conceptualized and designed through a user experience lens.”
To that end, Synaptics has consistently added to its product line over the years, moving from notebook PCs into mobile and then adding display drivers, fingerprint sensors, and a myriad of other technologies to its offerings. Notably, it also has continued to update the original touchpad. “Some people say, ‘It’s just a boring old touchpad; why bother?’” Bergman said. “But if you tried to use a touchpad from 20 years ago, you’d think, ‘Forget it.’ We’re constantly iterating to improve user experience.”
That constant iteration to improve an existing product incrementally is exactly what makes Synaptics a Features Mechanic. Of course Synaptics offers its customers value, but the company’s drive to innovate continually on features is a dead giveaway to its genotype. “Ours is a tinkerer culture,” said Bergman. “If you walk into offices around here, you’ll see a bunch of old devices lying around, different things people have worked on over the years. There’s an attitude here that lends itself to innovation.”
An added twist is that in working to deliver an intuitive user experience, Synaptics doesn’t innovate just for itself. Instead, it brings its technology to its partners, who then decide what to do with it. Synaptics innovates in conjunction with those partners—be they Mothers, Mechanics, or Missionaries—and in doing so empowers them to adapt the technology to their own specifications before production. In short, Synaptics empowers its partners to deliver intuitive user experiences.
Say I’m a restauranteur designing my dream restaurant. Because my restaurant is in Silicon Valley, I want it to be seen as modern, cool, and cutting edge, starting with a state-of-the-art interface for ordering food. Printed menus are out; ditto for having my wait staff write orders on a notepad or commit them to memory. I don’t even want my servers to submit orders using anything as basic as a handheld tablet. No, I want something different, something diners won’t find anywhere else.
I meet with members of Synaptics’ UX team and outline my vision. We toss ideas around, and someone comes up with the idea of turning the table itself into an ordering surface and more. I want to see what this might look like, and Synaptics goes off to create a prototype. In essence, I’m simply ordering a specific technology: I want a glass touchtop that offers a hundred different menu selections, and I want that menu to appear and then disappear, to be replaced by games, puzzles, videos, or scenic backdrops. And eventually, of course, the bill, complete with mobile payment options.
Once the prototype is done, the Synaptics team and I review it, tweaking the design as needed—maybe we move the drinks selection to a different, swipeable page, or add a new game. We do this again and again until we get it right. In the end, I walk away with a touchscreen tabletop that brings my vision to life. Human interface in action. And very much in keeping with the following positioning statement we wrote for the company:
Synaptics is the leader in human interface solutions. With its innovative thinking, best-in-class technologies, and portfolio of integrated solutions, Synaptics empowers its partners to deliver intuitive user experiences.
Although such solutions already existed in the market and in fact Synaptics had innovated many of them, human interface was not considered a category per se, since it is an embedded technology in other products such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and sensors. So why not just come out and claim leadership of this category right there in the positioning statement? It seems obvious now, but at the time, it was a simple aha! that emerged from the positioning exercise.
The elevator story we created for Synaptics expands on the positioning statement:
We are the pioneers and leaders of the human interface revolution, bringing innovative and intuitive user experiences to intelligent devices. From usability and R&D to supply chain and support, we collaborate with our partners to invent, build, and deliver human interface solutions that integrate seamlessly and elevate system value. The improved ease-of-use, functionality, and aesthetics of Synaptics-enabled products help make our digital lives more productive, secure, and enjoyable.
The Result
Synaptics’s new brand and communication platform launched at the end of 2014. Alignment with the innovation message remains the key to its success, and the messaging took a strong stance by positioning Synaptics as leading the human interface revolution as inventors, builders, and deliverers of innovative and intuitive user experiences. “The work that we did in terms of clarifying our corporate DNA was a critical foundation for the messages that we ultimately developed,” said Ann Minooka, the former head of global marketing communications and investor relations. “Following the positioning exercise, we developed a thought leadership platform that homed in on exactly what human interface is—what our vision is and what we mean when we use that phrase.” Synaptics has used that platform as the basis for a variety of keynote addresses presentations. “Positioning really helped us zero in on the messaging that we want to consistently convey,” Minooka said.
Being seen as the human interface leader is imperative to Synaptics’ long-term growth, and why the company works hard to maintain the partnership it has built up with clients. “We don’t have 200 customers,” said Bergman. “We have roughly 20 customers that matter, so we work really, really closely with them. It’s all about figuring out how we’re going to interact with the future computing engines of the world.”
It’s also about figuring out how to use positioning as a guidepost for maintaining Mechanic culture internally as well as out in the market. Synaptics’ Mechanic soul shines through in internal hackathons organized to foster invention, on a celebrated patent wall, and in a demo room arrayed with finished products. It is evident in Bergman’s in-house e-mails and online posts. And it shows up in the choices Synaptics makes in the companies it considers for merger and acquisition. That is why the purchase of Renesas SP Drivers (RSP), a unit of the Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corporation, makes perfect sense. The acquisition was a marriage of complementary Mechanics—both known for their engineering expertise—and allows Synaptics to integrate its touch technology with what Bergman called RSP’s “world-class” display drivers for smartphones and tablets.
With user experience playing an increasingly crucial role in next-generation applications, the company considers itself well positioned to remain the industry leader and, as Bergman wrote in the anniversary blog, “poised to drive the next inflection points of man and machine.” He noted that five years earlier there wasn’t one semiconductor company talking about human interface. “But that’s what Synaptics is known for now,” he told us. “It’s completely changed the way people perceive us in the industry.”