High Performance Gaming Tablet

Creating a Game Changer for Tablet Gaming

Client: Wikipad

Industry: Consumer Electronics, Lifestyle, Music & Entertainment

Services: Brand Strategy & Design, Product Strategy, Industrial Design, Packaging Design

Challenge

Wikipad came to RKS with an exciting challenge: designing a high-end tablet with a removable gaming controller to reduce the barriers between touch screens, which are not optimized for gaming use, and high-end gaming controllers, which offer game players much more precise and responsive manipulation. In addition to the industrial design of both devices, RKS also developed a brand platform for Wikipad, including brand positioning, logo, style guide, U.I., packaging design as well as the company’s corporate website.

Process

Using the Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology, the RKS strategy team defined the opportunity space for Wikipad. The team established a positioning framework distinguishing between two extreme gaming experiences: “the light side”, casual and family games, and “the dark side”, action and shooter games. The gaming tablet was positioned more towards “the dark side” to target young male gamers while representing the aesthetics of pro-gaming gear. The team also conducted research and observed that hardcore gamers would play for hours without rest. As a result, design optimized the center of gravity in such a way that one’s arms are always perfectly relaxed, so users can maintain optimal gaming performance much longer. The thickness of the controller was also optimized to offer enough grip for all hand sizes while keeping the Wikipad light enough to fit a mobile lifestyle.

Solution

The Wikipad tablet provides a versatile experience in one platform for both working and gaming. It functions either as a cutting-edge Android tablet, or, by adding the controller, as a powerful gaming system. A friction based lock mechanism secures the two elements together, eliminating potential concerns about dropping and damaging. The control buttons are optimized for gaming and placed in a standard, but ergonomically optimized configuration, which creates a feeling of familiarity in users while increasing performance. The final branding reflects the duality of gaming and working through a logo with the four directional buttons of a gamepad overlaid on the contours of a tablet.

“From ambition to execution, RKS has delivered us an award-winning solution both on time and in budget!”

- Matthew Joynes, Founder and Chairman of Wikipad

Learn more about this program

RKS led the industrial design, UI, strategy, branding, and packaging for the first product of the start-up Wikipad, Inc.

Originally developed as a tool for reading, electronic tablets were not designed with games in mind but evolved into being used as gaming platforms by players of all ages and all skills levels. However, anyone serious about gaming will find the touch screen less precise and responsive than a physical controller, making it a much less satisfying experience.

How do you elevate the gaming experience on tablets?

The Wikipad team came to RKS with an exciting agenda: create a high-end tablet with a removable gaming controller, so the touch screen no longer feels like a barrier between tablet users and the universe of the games they cherish.

RKS led the design of Wikipad’s first product and developed a strategic plan using the Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology. Beyond industrial design, they committed to the creation of a new way of experiencing games and multimedia on tablets through an innovative treatment of user interface (UI), branding and packaging.

“Holding a seven inch screen in your hands creates its own virtual reality effect. Everything but the screen fades into the background, making it like living inside the game. The technology comes to life in your hands.”
– Lance Hussey, Creative Director

The design of the device posed some unique ergonomic challenges. Because the team anticipated that the hardcore users will play for hours without rest, they optimized the position of the center of gravity in such a way that the arms are perfectly relaxed, inducing people to maintain a healthy posture while holding the device. The thickness of the controller was also optimized to offer enough grip for all hand sizes while keeping the Wikipad light enough to fit into a nomadic lifestyle.

The thickness of the controller was also optimized to offer enough grip for all hand sizes while keeping the Wikipad light enough to fit into a nomadic lifestyle.

How do you elevate the gaming experience on tablets?

The design team also strived to create a device that is powerful yet easy to master. Getting the Wikipad ready for the enhanced gaming experience is as simple as sliding the tablet in the controller, with the sculpted back of the tablet serving as a guide and mating with the gaming accessory.

A simple mechanism, based on friction, secures the two elements together, eliminating potential concerns about dropping and damaging the precious instrument. The buttons and triggers are positioned in a traditional configuration, which creates a feeling of familiarity; since his or her first encounter with the Wikipad, the user is like absorbed in the virtual universe and gets the feeling of being one with the game.

The Wikipad was designed to be more than just a gaming platform and functions as portable entertainment hub. The back of the tablet is carved with a ridge that not only guides the tablet for easy sliding into the controller fingers but also elevate the speakers above the surface on which the device is laid, letting the sound bounce on the hard surface to create superior audio amplification.

Using the Wikipad, with or without the controller, is a very unique entertainment experience: like technology coming to life in your hands.

“The collaboration with Wikipad allowed us to create a device that give gamers freedom. They can take their productivity tools and console gaming experience wherever they go.”
– Young Bang, Designer

The mighty device deserved a visual identity that conveyed the immersive entertainment and gaming experience it provided. RKS developed the logo, positioning, branding, and packaging for the first product of the start-up Wikipad, Inc. After several explorations, the logo ultimately selected was the one that best reflected the duality of the device: sleek tablet versus full gaming device. The logo represents the four directional buttons of a gamepad while drawing the contours of a tablet in the negative space. The design is put in perspective to show the dynamism of the young brand and instill a bold and aggressive edge welcome in the gaming industry.

RKS emphasized the dichotomy of a device that can be used at work during the day and then for long hours of gaming at night, creating a visual identity system that contrasts light and dark color palettes and imagery.

This duality has been thoroughly explored by the team and can even be found in the packaging of the device. The unboxing of the Wikipad consists of two unveilings: first, the tablet, presented as the hero, seems to glow when the box is opened, the brand’s signature blue reflecting on the screen; then, removing the tablet tray reveals the controller nested under a protective layer of foam.

Awards:

Spark Award — Bronze (2012)

Related Links:

Wikipad Website

Creating a Game Changer for Tablet Gaming

Challenge

Process

Solution

“From ambition to execution, RKS has delivered us an award-winning solution both on time and in budget!”

RKS led the industrial design, UI, strategy, branding, and packaging for the first product of the start-up Wikipad, Inc.

“Holding a seven inch screen in your hands creates its own virtual reality effect. Everything but the screen fades into the background, making it like living inside the game. The technology comes to life in your hands.”
– Lance Hussey, Creative Director

Meeting the Lifestyle Aspirations of Users

How do you elevate the gaming experience on tablets?

Creating a Powerful Device that Lets Users be One with the Game

Making Technology Come to Life in the Hands of the User

“The collaboration with Wikipad allowed us to create a device that give gamers freedom. They can take their productivity tools and console gaming experience wherever they go.”
– Young Bang, Designer

Emphasizing an Inherent Dichotomy for the Branding of a Tablet with Two Lives

Creating a Game Changer for Tablet Gaming

Challenge

Process

Solution

“From ambition to execution, RKS has delivered us an award-winning solution both on time and in budget!”

RKS led the industrial design, UI, strategy, branding, and packaging for the first product of the start-up Wikipad, Inc.

“Holding a seven inch screen in your hands creates its own virtual reality effect. Everything but the screen fades into the background, making it like living inside the game. The technology comes to life in your hands.” – Lance Hussey, Creative Director

Meeting the Lifestyle Aspirations of Users

How do you elevate the gaming experience on tablets?

Creating a Powerful Device that Lets Users be One with the Game

Making Technology Come to Life in the Hands of the User

“The collaboration with Wikipad allowed us to create a device that give gamers freedom. They can take their productivity tools and console gaming experience wherever they go.” – Young Bang, Designer

Emphasizing an Inherent Dichotomy for the Branding of a Tablet with Two Lives

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Back to All Work

“Holding a seven inch screen in your hands creates its own virtual reality effect. Everything but the screen fades into the background, making it like living inside the game. The technology comes to life in your hands.”
– Lance Hussey, Creative Director

“The collaboration with Wikipad allowed us to create a device that give gamers freedom. They can take their productivity tools and console gaming experience wherever they go.”
– Young Bang, Designer