5 things you didn’t know about the BlackBerry Q10

What goes into designing a successful smartphone? Turns out there’s a lot more to the design process than many realize.

Take the BlackBerry Q10 for example. The design appears to be quite simple. In fact, some may say it shares the same design as the Bold, or any other classic QWERTY-style BlackBerry device. Take a closer look.

“There are millions of decisions that go into every Blackberry.” says Todd Wood, SVP of Design for BlackBerry as he sat down with me at BlackBerry Live, the annual developer conference in Orlando, Fla. “It’s a creative process. It’s about teamwork. It’s sort of a village raising a baby.”

More than 100 people helped design the latest BlackBerry device, spending countless hours discussing the shape, form, look and feel. A lot of thought went into every single aspect of the device. Wood let me in on some of the secrets of the BlackBerery Q10’s design. Here’s a few things you may not know about the Q10:

1. You helped design the BlackBerry Q10

BlackBerry likes to listen to customer feedback on its devices. If you’ve ever reached out to BlackBerry to complain about a feature you didn’t like on one of its smartphones, there’s a good chance the company listened carefully to what you said.

“We involve a lot of customers. We do a lot of interviews with end users. We do a lot of testing” Wood tells me.

Waterloo is home to BlackBerry’s head office, but hidden away on campus is a facility many people don’t know about. BlackBerry has a production line where it creates first run handsets right on site. BlackBerry can physically create each prototype for testing, and then not only gives them to engineers to test in the field, but also to avid BlackBerry users who agree to help in the testing process under strict non-disclosure agreements.

“The first run is always internal but we do bring in end users. They have to sign a non-disclosure and all that stuff.” Says Wood. “There’s always some glitches or bugs and you can run down to the production factory and deal with it right away. Once it’s mature, we can hit the send button and send the [final design specifications] to manufacturing plants all around the world.”

2. The keyboard frets play tricks with your mind

Nestled in between the rows of keys on your keyboard are metal bars BlackBerry refers to as frets. While many would guess these are placed there for aesthetics, these frets actually play a trick on your brain, making you think the keys are further apart on the phone than they really are.

“They separate the rows of keys. That visually makes it simpler. It’s like putting a bunch of books on a shelf,” says Wood.

One way to think about it is like frets on a guitar. Wood says guitarists find it easier to play music with an instrument with frets. However you take the frets away and it becomes much more difficult to play. The same goes with typing on a keyboard — whether it’s physical or virtual.

“There are 35 keys but the graphic read is quite simple. That makes it much more approachable.”

The frets on the BlackBerry Q10 also act as a structural component. If you look at the side of the phone you’ll notice the frets intercept with the outer frame. This is known as a “dovetail,” a common technique in furniture making.

“One of the designers who worked on this is a wood-worker and he was thinking of the structure of this and how we can get these edge-to-edge keys to work together to create a strong and efficient structure. It’s jewellery-like detail.”

You may also notice there is a fret on the rear of the phone. While you may think this is for design, the fret serves a purpose. Wood says the fret actually keeps the lens of the rear camera off the surface you place your phone on, helping to prevent scratches. Who knew?

3. The Mystery Behind the Font

A lot of thought went into the font you see on the keyboard on the BlackBerry Q10. It’s known as Slate Pro and it was developed right here in Canada by 66 year-old Rod McDonald, who lives in Lake Echo, N.S..

“It’s a sans serif font if you geek out about fonts. It’s a very functional font but it’s also humanistic. It has these very subtle lines and curves to it that you might now notice at first but after you live with the font you begin to notice these things.” says Wood.

The font was originally created back in 2008 and was one of two typefaces BlackBerry considered for the Z10 and Q10 smartphones. Slate Pro is also used on the virtual keyboard of the Z10, giving users a seamless experience.

4. The Back of the Phone is made from Glass

One of the first things I noticed when I picked up the Q10 was how it felt in my hand. The device is not only comfortable to hold, it has an unmistakeably silky, smooth grip.

But it almost didn’t turn out that way.

“The first prototypes were made with carbon.” says Wood. “We tested the carbon and it turns out it interfered with the radios. So we said, ‘we like the look, can we do a material which still has all those properties?'”

Wood says engineers at BlackBerry spent years developing a special type of black glass which was woven to create the back panel you see today. It was inspired by Formula One racing, boat paddles and skis.

“Structurally it’s like re-enforced concrete. The fibres create the tension…so all the forces are managed in a very sophisticated system.”

5. Startup Screen Easter Egg

Like any computer, you have to wait for smartphones to boot up once they are turned on. Wood let me in on a little secret. BlackBerry has baked a tiny Easter egg into its start up so you can get an idea of how long the start-up process will take.

“When the system boots up it’s actually going through all types of sophisticated things, checking it’s secure, decompressing data to boot up.” says Wood.

If you place your finger on the BlackBerry logo you will see a percentage show up on the screen, letting you know when the device will be ready to use.

“We made it entertaining. It’s like being in Disney Land and you’re waiting in line for a ride and a band comes along or some sort of entertainment comes a long to help you pass the time.”

If you look at the shape of the logo, you’ll also notice it resembles that of the trackpad used in the latest Bold devices.