IDEO worked with NEC not only to design specific products but also to create an overall style or "design language" that NEC could apply to a wide range of upcoming new products.

Explaining why the company selected IDEO, NEC's Corporate Design Division Manager was quoted by Japan Airlines' magazine: "We were looking for a partner who would understand NEC and think of our products with the same vision we do, not from the viewpoint of an individualistic artist but as someone who can see products as a total system."