What is the most well-designed tech product you’ve seen recently and why does it stand out or inspire you? The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 1. OCDock This product is a beautifully designed iPhone stand that even Steve Jobs would be proud of. The design is simple, clean and minimalistic — just like a Mac. It allows you to plug your iPhone in to your Mac, which then charges the phone. The best part is the cord is flat so it fits nicely underneath the Mac. – Tim McHugh, Saddleback Educational 2. The New Dyson Fan I love the quote from Technode, “When Tech meets design, it is life.” And I feel that way when I look at the new Dyson fan, which won Best in Category for Domestic Appliances at ICSID. They’ve been innovating for a while, and I’m always excited to see what they churn out. They understand simplicity that doesn’t compromise functionality and quality. I love to apply that to my own work. – Rob Fulton, Automation Heroes 3. ClearCompany As a manager who struggles with staying on top of goal alignment, I really love the design and interface of ClearCompany’s Performance Management System. Managers are able to get a bird’s eye view of every project, stage, success and issue happening in real time. You can align goals with one another and track progress. This software also makes performance reviews a breeze. – Maren Hogan, Red Branch Media 4. Dropcam Within 10 minutes of unboxing my Dropcam, it was up and running, taking HD video — viewable privately on the web and my iPhone. Typically the more complex a technology, the more difficult it is to setup. Dropcam demonstrates that this does not always need to be the case. Tech products that are easy to install and use are always inspiring. – Phil Chen, Systems Watch 5. RelateIQ RelateIQ probably has the best onboarding experience of any CRM I’ve ever seen. – Wade Foster, Zapier 6. LIFX Bulb LIFX began as an extremely successful Kickstarter project that encountered massive delays. Inevitably, many backers didn’t get their bulbs until they were already in stores. However, this doesn’t change the fact that this bulb is an incredible feat of engineering andsoftware. LIFX is an exciting new piece of the internet of things that will continue to gain functionality through the cloud. – James Simpson, GoldFire Studios 7. Poncho Poncho asks you questions about yourself, and then sends daily, timely and personally tailored information about the weather. It’s super focused. It doesn’t provide information about anything but weather and it doesn’t need to. It’s a delightful experience. – Kuty Shalev, Clevertech 8. Uber It works exactly how it should work — it’s intuitive, elegant and so much better than the existing solutions. Unfortunately with technology today, there are so many ideas that are great but still have a few hiccups. Uber doesn’t have any. – Luke Skurman, Niche.com 9. DivvyHQ Nothing is worse than having emails or spreadsheets going back and forth with new versions of press releases, content or data. DivvyHQ’s design eliminates all these headaches. It’s a cloud based, content planning and production workflow tool that makes my life and my company’s life easier. It truly helps orgainzations produce great content and inspires teams to work together more. – Jason Grill, JGrill Media | Sock 101 10. Roku Making something sleeker, smaller and cheaper is always impressive. But perhaps Roku’s greatest achievement is their ability to establish partnerships with competing venues like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go. – Sam Saxton, Salter Spiral Stair and Mylen Stairs 11. Pulse Pulse is a ring that tracks your heart rate to make sure you are in the right fitness zone. Its simple design yet incredible functionality makes it stand out it an otherwise crowded fitness tech space. – Adam Root, Hiplogiq
