A great panel at CES today - “Wii Shall Overcome: The Triumph of Simplicity and the Lessons We Can Learn from Nintendo.” The panel were Wii believers in the clean, simple design which changed the physical gaming home environment; rough meaning, it was inclusive of all family generations. Wii was bigger than just Mii.

The panel was fairly well attended for an underwhelming CES year, and seemed fairly full of analysts and design firms. The panel description:

Despite pundits’ expectations that more powerful gaming machines would eclipse Nintendo’s Wii platform, the diminutive device has won over consumers ages 3 to 90. Wii’s success is a good example of the right mix of simplicity and price.

The panelists:
Clay Burns, Principal, Smart Design
Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience, Google
Todd Mozer, CEO, Sensory, Inc.
Nisha Sawhney, Founder, SnS Design, Inc.
Margret Schmidt, Vice President, User Experience Design & Research, TiVo, Inc.
- Moderated by: Daniel Sieberg, Science and Technology Correspondant, CBS News

Much of the panel feedback centered on the Wii bridging gaps with its ease of use (nobody reads the manuals, similar to Apple’s hardware), price point when supply was available, and being able to customize avatars. Marissa mentioned friends of hers actually shooting digital pictures of their Mii avatars and printing them on shirts (missed Wii merchandising opportunity?).

Margret from TiVo, whose user interfaces have won awards for years and Nisha, were fans of the Wii family exposure (”bringing the family together”); how the two “ii”s resembled both the Wii-motes (remote controls) and two people together playing (as opposed to the more solitary higher-powered console systems), and how the intuitive buttons and cute sounds made the device friendly.

The accessibility, lack of response delay (i.e., the system starts pretty seamlessly), fast learning curve for users and sense that when Nintendo added better IR tracking and perhaps even some outdoor accessibility (e.g., playing it against handball courts outside with more range and motion … and human exercise) that the bar could be raised more.

I threw out a parallel question involving netbooks - as the Wii simplified the gaming experience with less powerful/intense games (compared to more heavy duty Xbox360/PS3s), would netbooks have that same user interface opportunity: to become more social and have one manufacturer be the market leader like Nintendo. With size and energy considered, many on the panel thought that we’d see more devices that personalized themselves to consumers. Todd mentioned the amusing tagline: “Products with Personality.” Marissa saw the beginnings of the “Wii as Platform” concept, of Nintendo creating a community and opening itself to outside apps, as Apple and others have done well.

Marissa also noted that you know a brand has succeeded when users find alternative means of using the product or device. With Johnny Chung Lee, he turned the Wii-remote into a virtual white board for teachers with tight budgets. I saw this demoed at Google Zeitgeist recently:

Overall, a good overview. All in favor, but for the right reasons.

Missed from the design-y panel: Apple and Netflix folks.