The Future of Smartphone Product Design

A physical look at the product design of the External Keyboard

We have all been there, fumbling with the touch screen keyboard product design on our iPhone while writing a long message or email. You don’t realize all the unintentional keys you’ve pressed in your hasty message typing and are in too much of a hurry to fix every mistake. It becomes frustrating sending numerous messages correcting yourself over and over again, which makes you look incompetent and unprofessional. Not only does the product design of a touch screen keyboard change the actual content of the message but it also changes the physical appearance of the iPhone. Excessive fingerprints and smudges make the phone look dirty and unappealing. If these issues could be fixed, there would be hardly any complaints about having a touch screen smartphone, which is exactly what the External Keyboard’s product design aims to achieve.

The External Keyboard’s Product Design

The external keyboard’s product design is composed of a physical keyboard that clips on to your iPhone through neodymium magnets. These magnets hold the keyboard in place, allowing you to type at your desired speed without touching any unwanted keys in the process.  Robert Colgan, Senior Industrial Designer at MAKO Design + Invent believes this product design “improves accuracy and

The headphone jack is very accessible with the External Keyboard’s product design

brings that tactical feedback that you lose with a glass screen”. If you wish to have the keyboard off, you can take it off by simply removing it. This straightforward design makes the phone more user-friendly and efficient.  It does not add any unnecessary bulk and is easy to store since the dimensions of the product are 2.4” x 5.3” x 0.42”, making it very slim.  It also keeps all other access to the phone intact, not covering the charger plug or headphone jack. It provides users with the option of typing their messages and with its sleek design, it is not a burden to remove or travel with. The innovative external keyboard is certainly the future of smart phones.

Do you have an interesting idea like this one but you’re not sure where to start? Here at MAKO , we are always interested in hearing about different innovative product ideas!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!