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Message My Passport Mp3s, digital photography, and scrapbooking—coupled with the increasing need for mobility—have all lent a hand in building a demand-driven market for affordable and easy data storage. As competitors have rushed in, the market has become increasingly crowded with external drives—many over designed and under-differentiated—that would look more at home in a space shuttle than in front of a computer or in a pocket. As one of the largest independent makers of external disk drives, Western Digital had previously found success with the IDEO-designed My Book and My Book II hard drives. Inspired by these, Western Digital again sought IDEO’s help with a follow-on engagement to design an ultra portable drive that would retain WD’s iconic design language and solidify its brand positioning in the market. The outcome is My Passport, a 320 GB, ultra portable USB-powered hard drive that appeals to the mobile user. Designed to incorporate a high capacity for storage in an aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-carry exterior, the hard drive’s passport-inspired form was conceived to minimize parts and have a small, space-efficient footprint. Only slightly larger than a mobile phone, My Passport can tuck into a pocket or the palm of your hand, yet has 50x greater storage capacity than a thumb-drive and requires no installation out of the box. Assembled from two non-painted ABS plastic shells and free of fasteners, the non-screw assembly is quickly and easily produced, increasing the speed of production while decreasing costs. Being 100% recyclable, with no added environmental contaminants, the drive elegantly expresses Western Digital’s principles of ‘simplicity and clarity.’ These design principles, and the drive’s compact form, have met the brand’s objective to reach beyond the typical ‘techie’ market to a broader audience. Based on the success of the initial launch, Western Digital is introducing an IDEO-inspired extension of the product line with eight new colors, allowing users to further personalize their mobile storage devices. http://www.ideo.com/work/my-passport