This is an older story on Nokia Conversations.
If you notice anything odd, e-mail us and we'll fix it. Thanks!

Nokia 600 designer interview

Published by Adam Fraser on September 7, 2011


GLOBAL
– If there’s one thing we enjoy more than launching a new product, it’s talking to the designers behind them. Last week we launched three new devices, the Nokia 600, the Nokia 700 and the Nokia 701. We’ve spent some time talking to Giuseppe Russo, Design Specialist of the Industrial Design Team who worked on the Nokia 600. Let’s find out what went on behind the scenes.

What exactly does a designer for Nokia do?

Being a designer at Nokia has a mixture of functions. Designing devices and mobile experiences is an activity that pulls many things together, such as knowing the users and their desires, hardware and software technologies, services and markets, production and distribution, and several more. We work closely with the R&D and hardware teams to create and develop our ideas, sometimes many years ahead. Ultimately, the aim is to combine all the bits together to create a great user experience where hardware and UI (User Interface) work together as are a whole.

All the details: Nokia Lumia 800

All about our stunning new smartphone.

The specs; the price; the facts

What were the challenges you faced when designing the Nokia 600?

Great performance and accessibility; the main challenge with this particular design was to create a phone with a strong appeal, that was desirable and aspirational with its hardware and performance while also making it affordable at the same time. One of our primary tasks was to make this device accessible for people just starting out with a smartphone and in particular, people in the emerging markets. We wanted the device to be expressive but clean all together, and we decided to keep the part-count down and reduce the splits to make the phone more solid. Specifically the front of the device shows this approach with a seamless surface that flows down to the sides without interruptions.

Doing more with less makes for a simple, iconic and attractive phone. The new Symbian Belle user interface is brought to the fore in the display centric front of the device. This is complemented by the soft and tactile back that feels great to hold, and is comfortable in your pocket.

Why did you opt for the curved back design?

The Nokia 600 is predominantly targeted to a younger market, so people who are maybe more active than others. Portability and one-hand use are often strong necessities for them and the curved back fits comfortably even into smaller hands, making it easy to reach every area of the screen. This is celebrated by the side arc between front and back, which is the product signature and bonds the human (soft ergonomic back) and the technological (interactive front).

Why did you chose the colors that have been chosen for the Nokia 600?

The colors are a very important part of the design story. Of course, black and dark colors are always a good basic colour, but we wanted the Nokia 600 to express some attitude, so we decided on these vibrant colours.

In terms of the entire design process, what changes take place from start to finish.

It takes a long time for a phone to be created from start to finish. At the beginning the Nokia 600 did look slightly different but the overall feel of the phone is the same. Some changes and adjustments to the design are typically necessary as we move ahead with the development end we go into the testing phases. This phone is basically an evolution of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and the Nokia X6. Both were built with the young music-lovers in mind.

What do you think of the design of the Nokia 600? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Comments

  • Pingback: My Retirement Party at One24 — One24

  • Bill

    Has the Nokia 600 been cancelled?

    • nfan

      nokia will just keep ignoring us :(

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

    • Carita

      Right…Nokia 600 will not be coming in the markets. That´s the decision made after cafeful consideration.

  • Pingback: Nokia 5800 Xpress Music – Sensational music phone – Video Marketing Products and Services blog | All Things VideoMarketing

  • Bong_1918

    why is nokia 600 been cancelled,why…why…why.i love the that phone so much.pls.bring it back to market now

    • Carita

      Sad to say, but Nokia 600 will not be in the markets.

      We continuously refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices to meet their diverse needs.

      However, we have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 – all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone experience with Symbian Belle.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ahsan.niceboy Ahsan Shahid

    1st/Nov/2011,Nokia kills the Nokia 600,

    Nokia 600 was announced in August and was expected to hit the shelves before Q3 ended, but that obviously never happened. We got no official comment from Nokia about the delay and now it appears that the phone has been cancelled.All pages dedicated to the Belle-running Nokia 600 are now gone from the Nokia servers and even the Nokia developer website has no mention of it. Videos, featuring the Nokia 600 have been removed from the Nokia YouTube channels and if we hadn’t actually seen the announcement we’d really be inclined to believe that the phone never existed.We can’t figure out what happened in the past two months that lead to the cancellation of a smartphone that was just weeks away from actually hitting the shelves, but seeing how Nokia handles things we’ll probably never know…

    • Carita

      After careful consideration, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600 to markets. We continuously refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices to meet their diverse needs.

      However, we have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 – all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone experience with Symbian Belle.

      • Anonymous

        You better to discontinue 500 or 603. Nokia 600 is the best balanced handset of the last Belle line.
        Don’t you see, your customers are frustrated. Release Nokia 600 to make us happy again!

    • Carita

      After careful consideration, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600 to markets. We continuously refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices to meet their diverse needs.

      However, we have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 – all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone experience with Symbian Belle.

    • Carita

      After careful consideration, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600 to markets. We continuously refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices to meet their diverse needs.

      However, we have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 – all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone experience with Symbian Belle.

    • Carita

      After careful consideration, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600 to markets. We continuously refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices to meet their diverse needs.

      However, we have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 – all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone experience with Symbian Belle.

  • Pingback: Extraordinary Sound Quality With Beloved Nokia 5800 Xpress Music | Phone Number Reverse Look up Service

  • Carita

    Since we announced Nokia 600 few months ago, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600. We refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices.

    We have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone  experience with Symbian Belle.

    We will also make Symbian Belle software available on newly
    shipping versions of the Nokia N8, Nokia E6, Nokia E7, Nokia X7, Nokia C7,
    Nokia C6-01, Nokia Oro and Nokia 500, as well as by download.

  • Carita

    Since we announced Nokia 600 few months ago, we have decided not to ship the Nokia 600. We refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices.

    We have Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603 all featuring the latest Symbian smartphone  experience with Symbian Belle.

    We will also make Symbian Belle software available on newly
    shipping versions of the Nokia N8, Nokia E6, Nokia E7, Nokia X7, Nokia C7,
    Nokia C6-01, Nokia Oro and Nokia 500, as well as by download.

    • Anonymous


      We refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices.”
      Nokia 600 is the BEST device!

    • Anonymous


      We refine our portfolio to bring consumers the best possible range of devices.”
      Nokia 600 is the BEST device!

  • Bong_1918

    is there any replacement model of nokia 600 in the future?is it more louder or wider screen ,more megapixels in camera?or what?pls answer……i can’t understand  the cancellation of shipment of nokia 600,my dream phone to be.

    • Anonymous

      Don’t need wider screen or more megapixels.
      Nokia 600 was just perfect!