The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [21]
just for you.
As I’ve discussed previously, a key advantage for Mesh businesses is the use of rich information to personalize products and services. There are several ways to achieve this. Products can be designed to adjust easily for different users, but in a way that is not time-consuming or expensive, and doesn’t compromise the product’s primary functionality. One of my personal favorites is a kid’s bike that expands or contracts in size to fit the rider. Just in case the kid grows.
If a product design is modular, different modules can be added to or subtracted from the basic structure. That can be as simple as adding a luggage rack to the car, or carrying a variety of blades for a circular saw. And mobile devices will offer users the continually expanding ability to personalize products and services. A phone app could be programmed to automatically adjust the bike seat and handlebars to your preferences. Another could quickly locate jeans to your taste and size in a clothes-sharing service. The wireless connection that opens your shared car might also adjust the seat, temperature settings, and radio station presets to your liking, while pulling up your frequent destinations for the GPS.
Another type of personalization is simply to offer a range of options. For instance, I would like to see more companies offer cargo bikes, which have a longer chassis. On a cargo bike, a parent can carry a kid or two to the market with no crying—by the parent or child—and no lost beverages. Most car trips are for less than two miles from home. A bike becomes a more realistic form of transportation when you can use it to haul a small piece of furniture, or carry three bags of groceries and a child back and forth to a store a few miles away. In North America only a few companies, such as Specialized and Trek with Gary Fisher, make or distribute cargo bikes. In Denmark and in Amsterdam, a number of companies build cargo bikes.
The cargo bike example highlights a key advantage to Mesh businesses. They often offer different tools for different jobs—a cargo bike for trips to the store, but a light, fast road bike for taking a ride around the park. Having access to a variety of tools, such as electric routers or hydraulic lifts, is cumbersome under the ownership model. But it makes sense for a tool library. A man in Sonoma County, California, created just such a library by asking people to donate tools they weren’t using, and then lending the tools out. With a car-sharing service, you might check out a van to take a group to the park on Saturday, a pickup truck to haul lumber on Sunday, and a small hybrid to drive to work on Monday. It’s all about having access to the right tool for the right job.
fix it, the sequel.
The repair shops that used to dot U.S. neighborhoods—for shoes, bikes, clothes, vacuum cleaners, electronics, cars, and small appliances—have largely been pushed aside by cheap throwaway goods. As Mesh businesses acquire or employ physical goods that are more long-lasting, the incentives are also likely to shift back toward repairing things.
Since the constituent parts of a product typically deteriorate at different rates, standardized parts are more easily reused, replaced, and recycled. Modular design is served by a degree of standardization. If many of the parts of different