Five elements that help define a great wallet
And are we actually asking enough of them?
Most of us don’t ask much of the wallet we carry. So long as it hasn’t yet exploded, we’re kinda content.
But I was kinda content with my mobile phone, until the iPhone came along. And I’m now kinda content with my iPhone, until one that actually works well as a phone comes along.
So here’s our stab at what a great wallet should do. We’ve even tried to make a little poster of it. If we can get this sorted, there will hopefully be a lot of discontented wallet owners…
More discussion after the jump…
1. It disappears until you need it: Small size, soft corners, and all the things that mean it won’t bulge out, get in the way, or create steady employment for your chiropractor.
2. Access vs Storage: Quick access to the things you need frequently. Compact and efficient storage for the rest.
3. The right level of protection: If you cycle to work, the thing should be water resistant. If hang at the coast, the thing should keep sand away from your cards. The wallet should have enough protection that your lifestyle won’t destroy the things inside.
4. It should support your personality: If you go to shout the boss lunch with a velcro surf wallet, it’s a pretty hard act to pull off. Just like socks, wallets don’t often get flashed around, yet you don’t want to be busting out the Mickey Mouse numbers too often.
5. Accommodating: There’s always going to be an impromptu hitch-hiker or two (a new SIM card, a borrowed key, or an urgent shopping list). There should be spaces to deal with these.
What are we missing? In what priority do these elements fall for you?
Go on, inspire and educate us in the comments…
PS: If this is really your thing, here’s some more articles relating to it:
A great post over at Techno Theory.
And a not as insightful post at Life Clever.
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Thinking about wallets from a mom’s perspective probably doubles how long your lists should be:
6. Deals with baby puke (maybe that’s part of protection?)
7. Fits well in any number of different bags, yet can be found real quick in all of them
8. Can be used one handed (or even better would be used with just teeth)
9. Makes your butt look smaller (mine still hasn’t returned to pre-pregnancy)
10. Can hold my cell phone, car keys, and even a latte
I’d like to see the poster for those!
I think this is the greatest comment in the history of all comments.
Thanks for your contribution Soccer Mum – amazing!
I’m going to go with Access vs Storage it’s the element I think about the most
- where do I put the tram ticket .. in case I need to get it out
- where do I keep receipts vs vouchers
- how do I organise high and low priority cards…
(hope that helps with your design and BTW, your graphic on this post is lovely)
Awesome comments guys – thanks for chipping in (I’m still laughing at the baby puke call… every maker should go through that check!).
And I hear Lina on the temp access stuff like tram/train/bus tickets. It’s like a bag having external pockets for when you are on the move (in public), and internal pockets for when you are stationary (more private). A wallet should have a similar split.
Ando,
Loving this site. 1st comment, long listener etc. Going with Lina on the above. Lots of behavioral issues that wallets need to overcome. Much like how crew have simplified picking a good wine, can you turn using a wallet into a poki-yoki no brainer?
Speed. Sick of acting like a nimrod, trying to find my ticket.
- An obvious section for the public transit crew, do they all have little holes in the tickets? (perhaps a simple attachment system the keeps the ticket in focus for the day?)
- towel rack for receipts. Makes it easier to collect & remove for filing
Looks
- Wallets designed for crew that sit on them, left cheek / right cheek – orthepedic approved? Access areas, slighly different – according to biomechanics of removal.
- Wallets for crew that only wear in front pants pocket.
-Consider ways that they make the jeans / pants look better, ie, through the indent (embossing / just of clothes etc)
- Wallets for crew that are always shouting chicks at the bar, you can work that one out.
Device overload – the parasite issue
Can the wallet wrap around my iPhone? and protect it at the same time?
Fun
The magic wallet is fun, it’s unexpected quick and easy. Can it be fun to use your wallet?
Nice thoughts Dave, there’s some gold in there.
We have an idea for the crew always shouting a hotty at the bar, but it’s a bit of work to get an LED lit note section working… either that or we print the lining to look like it’s a wad of $100 bills
We’ll work on them.
Love the ortho approved angle too. You could even get correction thicknesses, like the blocks that chiropractors lie you on to correct alignment (ahhh, chuckle). Or have fun with the whole natural vs goofy that you get in skating and surfing – which side do you play to sort of thing.
Now you’ve got us thinking about enhancement wallets too… if you front pocket carry, we can add some apparent volume (sorry).
And we are definitely working on pocket synergies like iPhone piggy-backing and pocket organisation for other contents.
The fun one is the hardest. It can be like novelty tees that are a crack for the first wear, then become an old joke. If we can nail a bit of poetry instead, hopefully that will last the life of the wallet.
Stay posted and we’ll let you know when we have some stuff that might please you.
unsolicited fan mail here — the Mighty Wallet (http://www.dynomighty.com) is golden. Recycled / recyclable Tyvek so it’s pratcially indestructractable, inexpensive, hip without trying too hard, can still pull it out in front of the boss just because it’s so funky, enough dividers but slim and soft cornered and succeeds one criteria no one else mentioned yet –
let’s all your swipe cards for home / office / mass transit be read right through the wallet since its thin enough for everything to communicate without drama!
Thanks Kevin, good pick-up on the swipe-ability aspect. And having opened my fair share of FedEx parcels, I can vouch for the toughness of that stuff too.
Nice topic! sometimes we don’t give an extra care for our wallet, but when you really think deep, we “must” protect it. Like my precious iPhone, i invest on a reliable case for it’s protection.
Thanks iPhone Wallet person – good call on the iPhone analogy.
It’s funny that we just accept our credit cards will become scratched, our business cards frayed, and our kid’s photo develop a nice scum layer that slowly hides their smiles.
Pockets are pretty amazing collectors of lint, sand, and UPO’s. It would be nice if our wallets at least added a little protection against these things.