One of our favourite winners in this year’s dba Design Effectiveness Awards is BT’s redesigned router box ‘Hub 5’. Instead of needing a courier, Hub 5 can go by post, cutting the obvious expense, the carbon miles, and also the frustration of failed delivery.

Here at James Good, we think it’s a corker. What we love is the way every element of BT’s redesign – the device, the packaging, the delivery and the router’s ongoing use – has been modelled on user-experience; some bright spark, who was able to see wood for trees, came up with the perfect solution – one with radical impact. 

Most of all we’re loving the golden communication opportunity spinning off this fantastic yet simple innovation. Easier to install, cheaper to run, better for the environment, fewer junctures for customer disappointment: they’re all excellent reasons for communicating. BT hasn’t just provided better means of communication for customers; it has harnessed the chance for brilliant communication for itself, a reason to talk. Because there was a time when it was good to talk.