Let's learn from the new design of the Square leader enabling cleka settlement with smart tips for product improvement

The function of the hardware is also important, but looks are also anxious, such as color, shape, material, texture. Enable credit card settlement on iPhone or iPad "Square leader」Was released in June 2013 and the range of options for selling items individually expanded but the design was renovated and the Square leader, which was a colon and a thick form, became almost half thinner I understand. Although it is a Square leader that changed greatly in terms of design, what actually happened was not the external design but the approach taken to the essence of the device, and the process of improvement is "approach to one component is It results in many benefits as a result ".

How Apple's Lightning-Plug Guru Reinvented Square's Card Reader | Wired Design | Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/the-new-square-reader-a-look-at-how-gadget-guts-are-designed/?cid=co15491064

It was the team led by Jesse Dorogusker who developed the Square leader. Prior to developing the Square leader, Dorogusker was in Apple's accessory division for eight years and was developing lightning connectors.

One task of the Square leader is to read the credit card. You may think that "Many people can read about reading cards" of course, but a terrible consideration is required to make everything function properly. Users need to prepare for settlement accurately at once, every time, and a satisfactory reading is required for that. What Dorogusker does is to improve this one simple function.

This is the former Square leader


And this is the new Square leader


The new Square leader is 45% thinner than the previous version and the bottom area is a little bigger. Also, although the previous version was composed of two pieces before and after, the new version is one mass, although there is a seam, a mechanism that is harder to break.


In order to make it easier to put the card into the slot from either side, ingenuity is given on the left and right sides of the leader to make the corner a little thinner, and the slot itself is almost at the center of the main body so it can be used intuitively.


Improving the reading function meant throwing out many of the components that we have used to load cards. The most important thing here is the development of a completely new reading head for reading data from credit card magnetic stripe (black band on the back side of the card).

Previous versions of the Square reader used a common reading head used in many credit card readers and tape decks. Although they work without problems, it is not the best. Because the magnetic stripe usually stores information in two bands, but if you use an existing reading head, you only get information from one of these bands and if you make sure all the reads succeed Because I can not say it. Meanwhile, the newly developed original reading head can grasp data from both bands, making all readings more accurate, and making it possible to process successfully with one reading.

Through this redesign, Dorogusker and Apple decided to adjust the readability of the Square leader itself. The feeling when the card is passed through the reader is an important point that the user feels that "Square leader is reliable against its small size". In this regard, the development team has altered the design of the spring attached to the reading head so that when the user reads the credit card, it friction is felt.


Also during development, they noticed that the level of contact for correctly transferring data from cards was too loose. If the contact is loose, the user does not feel that the reader is working properly and will read again. Therefore, the development team increased friction during card reading. This adjustment was overkill from the technical point of view, but it is perfect for the hand that actually passes the card through the reader.

By changing the parts, the development team reconsidered the assembly of the device, and by using the oven instead of the hand to solder the circuit board to the head part, it is possible to make the arrangement of the board uniform and accurate, We realized the manufacturing process.


It is a new Square leader with various improvements, but the center of this is the development of a custom chip built from the beginning to the end.


The size of this chip is about this.


Although it is said that it took a little expensive to build a chip from scratch, it is said that the profit to bring is huge. After all, this little piece is the core of operation. By acquiring the original chip, the Square reader was able to improve some aspects such as size, performance, overall reliability in one reading. With the development of custom chips, the Square reader made it possible to control all the processes of decrypting magnetic stripe signals, encoding electric signals for sending to smartphones, and encrypting them all.

In addition, the custom chip also brought the benefit of eliminating the need for a battery for the reader. The previous version used button type batteries and made the device about 2 mm thick, but by using custom chip Square leader can charge directly from smartphone via earphone jack. "Inside the teamNardFor us, this is wonderful, "Dorogusker says.


In the case of a device with a built-in battery, it is necessary to open the device, take out the circuit board, fight with the two wires, connect it to the battery, solder it, and then return the circuit board again It is a fair effort. By eliminating the need for a battery, the new Square leader has achieved "simplicity" that Dorogusker had hoped since the project began.


The redesign of the Square leader is an essential redevelopment of the product, indicating that "an approach to just one component creates many benefits". Designing our own electronic equipment has improved performance, eliminated the battery, and solved the biggest problem.

Changes in each one, such as 45% thinner body, enlarged footprint, reading head made up of one mass, slot position, etc. are insignificant. However, as these changes gather, the device is shown to be a more essential, pondered, high quality product. Despite these improvements, Dorogusker says that "I want to erase the seams in the new leader next time", and I am keeping in mind the further improvement of the product.