Latitude X200T "Speedbot"

Dell, 2003

The Dell Latitude X200T (codename "Speedbot") was the perfect example of a project in which the motivation was purely tactical. This motivation drove the entire project, from goals and success metrics to design process.

 

Dell had no confidence in the viability of Tablet PCs, but needed a product in case the platform was successful- to ensure that its competitors would not have an opening into Dell's prized corporate accounts. The development team’s job was to get a product ready for market fast, with the least amount of investment possible. This goal came with a silver lining- since the product wasn't critically important to Dell, David had far more creative freedom to innovate on Speedbot than on most any other project.

 

To speed development, Dell adopted a product concept from Samsung. David was able to work outside of the primary development process by collaborating directly with Samsung's design team to optimize the design for the unique product architecture. David's design, while maintaining key attributes of the Latitude design language, was a far more distinctive product than anything else developed by Dell to that point.

 

David’s design for Speedbot had a conventional laptop mode, a Tablet PC (slate) mode, and a unique "consumption" mode- great for watching movies or browsing the web while on a long business trip. David worked closely with the engineering team to position sensors, detents and magnets on the chassis to allow the user to easily switch from one mode to the next, and to have the system respond instantly.

 

Speedbot was developed up to the point of tool release, but as Tablet PCs had seen little adoption by businesses, Dell was able to cancel the project without repercussion.

design by David Schultz & Samsung ID under David's direction