The Best Planner for Men December 7, 2017 05:00
This blog post is a part of the series "The Best Planner for..." which provides suggestions for ways in which you can use the UPstudio Planner. Each post in this series will focus on a different way to utilize the planner layout. The UPstudio Planner is designed for versatility, and is suited for many uses and not limited to the featured suggestions. Show us how you use your planner by sending us an email at hello@upstudionc.com, or tagging us on social media (all handles can be found on our website).
Before we started designing the UPstudio Planner, we did research to know who we were designing for. Ultimately, we were doing this for ourselves, because we weren't satisfied with planners that we were using, or ones that were on the market. We wanted to create one that worked better for us, with our varying schedules and multiple roles to fill on a daily basis. We narrowed down our main demographic based off of research (basically 18-50 year old women) and then created a focus group to really hone in on the specifics of the design. This focus group included a majority of participants that fell into the above noted demographic, but we wanted to make sure it was looked at by a wider range than that too. Two men participated in this group of 19, and gave us great feedback. Ultimately, we were working to design a neutral, clean, versatile planner that would work for both men and women alike.
Fast forward to today - we are selling UPstudio Planners in just about equal numbers to men and women, and we are THRILLED! Why is this planner so popular with men? Let's break it down:
- It's neutral - the grey and satchel colors and minimal design on the cover are neutral and inviting. The UPstudio Planner steers clear of flowers, patterns, quotes, and "fluff".
- It's leather - the cover of the Planner is a synthetic leather (the grey has a smooth finish while the satchel is more textured) and men are more drawn to this material than say a glossy finished covered chipboard. And also, what man doesn't relate to Anchorman: "I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells like rich mahogany." We can help you achieve this status.
- It's compact - with the calendar in the front and graph pages in the back, the UPstudio Planner serves as a notebook and calendar in one. Perfect for taking to meetings and not having to carry multiple notebooks.
- It's appropriate for the office or classroom - the UPstudio Planner looks professional in any setting.
- It's versatile - schedules that change frequently require flexibility in a planner, and the UPstudio Planner is perfect for that. Weeks can highlight different areas of focus completely defined by the user, and can change from week to week or even day to day.
Don't just take it from us: we reached out to a few male UPstudio customers who gave their feedback.
“I love the blank pages for brainstorming, jotting down quotes, exercise or DIY ideas, references to websites, etc. The small folders inside the front & back covers are great for holding coupons, event tickets, lists. I often toss printouts of news, sports or automotive websites inside the front cover for future reference or end of the week reading. And when I run errands on the weekend I always take my planner with me. That’s usually when inspiration hits!” - Stephen from Vermont
"Becky and Mary Beth have managed to meticulously design an awesome planner that is incredibly flexible -- for anyone! They asked how I thought it would be the best planner for men, and I can't really answer that -- since in my mind it's a planner for *anyone* who wants to DO things with their lives. Women or men, doesn't matter... If *anyone* wants an intuitive, balanced, powerful, well-built, thoughtfully-designed, super-flexible tool that can be used for just about any aspect of life/time/project management, then buy this world-class planner. They've managed to conjure up an amazingly balanced product that can help with anything from planning boring daily tasks to planning exciting massive projects, and from organizing a busy family to helping with a busy business enterprise. They've come up with a design that is structured yet flexible, never forcing their concepts on you, but rather giving you the space and room to adapt it to your workflow, in one hard-bound volume. Just buy the dang thing and get on with your life." - James from Maryland
Thanks Stephen and James, we couldn't have said it better. Get an UPstudio Planner for yourself or for the man in your life today.