Find the friction
A real person has a real, specific annoyance worth fixing.
“I can't get under this tab.”SOLUTIONS TO ANNOYINGLY SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
Annoyingly specific.
Genuinely useful.
Useful things for problems too specific for mass production — but still important to the person dealing with them.
01
WHY USEFUL ODDITIES EXISTS
Kmart is great at making things lots of people need.
Useful Oddities is for the things a few people need a lot.
Some problems are simply too specific for the shelves of a mass-market store. That doesn’t make them unimportant — it just means they need a different way of being solved.
HOW AN ODDITY EARNS ITS PLACE
How products get into Useful Oddities.
Find or make a solution
Sometimes the right solution already exists. Sometimes it needs adapting. Sometimes we need to design it ourselves.
Use what works. Make what's missing.Make + test
Put it in real hands. Learn what works, what doesn't and what needs changing.
Prototype ≠ product.Make the cut
If it solves the problem well, feels good to use and is properly made, it can join the shop.
Useful first. Improvement can continue.WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE
From “that's annoying” to “oh, that's handy.”
Real problems, prototypes and products — because the story of how something gets here matters.
PROBLEMStubborn pull tabs
Small target. Awkward grip.
→
TESTPrint. Use. Adjust.
Does the leverage actually help?
→
SHELFUseful enough to sell
Only after it passes the test.
ONE BUSINESS. LOTS OF VERY SPECIFIC PROBLEMS.
Useful Oddities can turn up anywhere.
Assistive & Everyday is first to the shop. Nails & Beauty, Fishing & Fly Tying, and Personalised Products & Gifts are other places we are already finding annoyingly specific problems worth solving.
SHOP NOWAssistive
& Everyday
& Everyday
Opening, gripping, personal care and everyday tasks.
Explore →ON THE WORKBENCHNails
& Beauty
& Beauty
Storage, workstations and better ways to handle fiddly things.
EXPERIMENTINGFishing
& Fly Tying
& Fly Tying
Useful workshop systems and field-tested ideas.
WHEN THE PROBLEM FITSPersonalised
& Gifts
& Gifts
Things worth making because one-size-fits-all doesn't.
TOO SMALL FOR KMART.