The story behind the creation of the Voopoo Drag Nano 2 from the team behind it.
22, 31, 571, 8, 1.
This confusing string of cold numbers makes up the most vivid images of the Drag Nano 2 R&D team, and these numbers give us a glimpse into the birth of Drag Nano 2.
A team of 22 members makes collisions of inspirations as well as clashes of ideas possible.
Drag Nano 2 was initially positioned as a strategic product of VOOPOO in 2021, whose development drew the majority of the company’s resources before its development.
To create an amazing Pod parallel to sublime work of art, the development of this product has brought together the top talents from the VOOPOO R&D team, bringing together a team of 22 members from their respective fields involving initial market research, product strategy, CMF, technology development, preference adjustment, packaging design and so on.
Undoubtedly, the “strongest team”, consisting of 22 members, needs to not only give full play to their respective professional skills but also tolerate and compromise with each other on product definition.
From an industrial design point of view, artistic creativity can be added in many situations, but from a product manager’s point of view, some bold designs may make users feel less comfortable. We may be able to strike a balance between user experience and aesthetic inspiration in the process of product development, but more often than not, we still clashed violently on our sides.
Drag Nano 2 industrial designer Steven said resignedly.
Even under the same situation, sharp see-saw can also emerge frequently among the R&D colleagues.
The acknowledgment of a high-quality electronic product by the market is inseparable from the enabling technology developed by the R&D team.
While tactile materials, slim appearance, shape design, and use experience of products pursued by the R&D team need the empowerment and support of scientific research and technology.
However, in this process, technical limitations often restrict the implementation of mechanical products.
Suppose the actual technological means really cannot meet the current product demand.
In that case, the contradictions between the two will intensify, and the R&D team will have to compromise the objective conditions to some extent while sticking to their product concept.
Sometimes, we argue over a few tenths of a millimeter.
From the perspective of the ultimate product, we can indeed understand the strict requirements of the R&D team.
Still, the premise is that the final implementation of the product can not affect the quality of the product because of the design concept.
However, in the long run, there were times when we had to upgrade our technology because of the insistence of our colleagues.
In particular, during the development of Drag Nano 2, a lot of technological changes were made because of the pressure from them.
It may have been a small change, but it made a qualitative leap in our technology.
Louis, a fellow researcher, recalled.
Voopoo Drag Nano 2 – 31 new starts only for perfection.
The definition of a good product varies from person to person, but from the perspective of VOOPOO, commercial success has never been the guiding principle of product development.
This concept echoes with what Joseph Everest, Founder, and CEO of VOOPOO, usually says:
Do the hard things, do the right things, and do the things that stand the tests of time.
In this spirit, Drag Nano 2 R&D team held themselves to the highest standards from the start.
Drag Nano 2 presents itself as compact, beautiful, stylish, and user-friendly, but what is hidden from the public are many failures and innovations during the development process.
As long as one team member disagrees with one of the aspects of design or users’ experience, the previous solution has to be overturned, and the product has to be redeveloped.
According to team members, one version of the product was already in the prototyping stage, but it did not meet Everest’s criteria, so it was redeveloped.
Initial labor, time, R&D costs, and supply chains all came to naught.
The redeveloped product is not the final version, and even a single component and millimeter change can start the project from scratch.
The team members pulled back and forth 31 times before the final product came out.
These 31 attempts striving for perfection make Drag Nano 2 an artistic competitor that meets the needs of all parties.
Voopoo Drag Nano 2 – Team members share weal and woe during 571 days of hard work.
It took 571 days from Drag Nano 2 in April 2020 to the end of product development in September 2021.
This process was fraught with quarrels, frustration, staying up, and tears.
Nevertheless, the R&D team worked together to complete the product development and finally gained sincere “comradeship”.
Because the team members come from different places, differences in culture, personality, and working styles will inevitably cause frictions in product development.
However, due to the strict pursuit of quality, Drag Nano 2 products have been improved several levels of quality in leaps and bounds compared to the first version in the process of building consensus.
Apart from maintaining the appearance of the first version, they also thoroughly overcame the oil leakage problem of the first version.
The successful settlement of this problem served as a foundation for understanding, trust, and even deep affection among team members.
In the victory banquet, Drag Nano 2 R&D team threw themselves into binge-drinking, completely letting out their sufferings and sorrows in the past 571 days.
Based on this successful cooperation, we promise to cooperate again next time, and we will definitely create an excellent work of art again!
There is always one color scheme favored by users
The R&D team conducted a lot of user researches on the color schemes of the body, and Drag Nano 2 has eight selected color schemes to meet different customer preferences.
Three of Vinci Pod’s “monochrome, mono-plated” PC-textured patch elements are integrated into various color schemes for light and style.
The other five are a bold combination of the Drag S Pro’s leather materials, allowing the hard metal to go hand in hand with soft, comfortable leather.
Unlike previous VOOPOO Drag series products featuring a tough style, the design team allows full rein to features like youth and fashion, which are closely related to the design philosophy of Able, the product development director of Drag Nano 2.
As a woman, she brings a feminine aesthetic to the product’s design with a bright, stylish design style that subverts the stereotype of the industrial ruggedness of the Drag series products.
Painstaking efforts precipitate in 1 product to complete redemption
In late October, Drag Nano 2 was picked up by vertical media and reviewed, acclaiming widespread praise.
It also caused a heated discussion among network bloggers around the world.
After experiencing the product, they generally praised it highly. However, we do not see that the R&D team invited lovers of electronic atomization products from all walks of life to complete thousands of blind tests of the product.
Only after adjusting the product to the best effect can we have absolute confidence to launch.
The biggest problem with the first version of Drag Nano is oil leakage.
The R&D team came up with revolutionary ideas for this “stubborn problem” and humorously summed up the change in oil leakage as “modern pentathlon”.
First of all, the way of filling oil at the bottom of the first version is changed to the current top filling.
The use of silica gel plug in line with the engineering structure takes advantage of the gravity and elastic silica gel to lock the injected smoke oil firmly.
Besides, the R&D team used the middle double-layer sealing silicone in the oil tank to further block the “leaking oil”.
The bottom product team and the R&D team, after several times of collisions, finally tackled the oil leakage problem again through the “bottom three-hole air intake”, “bottom sealing silica gel and oil bin bone sealing”, and “bottom oil storage cotton”.
After tests for long time use, there was no sign of oil leakage in the finished Drag Nano 2, in which “modern pentathlon” played a great role.
Even though it is hard for users to see these technological adjustments directly, it takes tens of thousands of trials, running-ins, and even fierce arguments for the R&D team to reach a consensus.
The R&D team said that the birth of a product is like that of a baby. 571 days of “pregnancy” is indeed a long time, but they all hope that the baby can be recognized by the market and grow up healthily.
There is no doubt that the VOOPOO team’s commitment to the user-centered concept has enabled them to refine their products with craftsmanship.
Time and effort resulted in a product like Voopoo Drag Nano 2 that combines quality with artistry.
