1. Hi everyone, can you please introduce yourselves and tell us about your involvement with the original Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 (IME 3.0) and/or the re-released mouse?

Gil Manalo: My Name is Gil Manalo. I am the Lead Industrial Designer for PC Gaming. I arrived just as the idea of re-launch had come about. I helped the product to get new colors and helped with some of the re-launch strategies for the product.

Sarah Fuelling: My name is Sarah Fuelling, and I work in user research at Microsoft Hardware. Although I was not in Hardware at the time of the original release of the IME 3.0, I was part of the team that conceived of the idea to re-release IME 3.0.

Peter Hauser: My name is Peter Hauser. I was the Hardware Test Engineer responsible for validating and verifying the IRIS optical tracking core which became the standard optical tracking engine for Microsoft’s second generation products of which the original Intellimouse Explorer was one of the target products. The testing methods that I helped create are still used to validate Microsoft’s optical mouse products.

Kevin Flick: My name is Kevin Flick and I am a User Researcher in Microsoft Hardware. I am responsible for helping to understand the needs of our customers – both gamers and non-gamers. I’ve been on staff here since August, 2005 so I wasn’t involved with the original mouse. I was part of the team that made the case for the re-release.

Gil Manalo: First of all, it is what the PC Gamers wanted. Secondly, So many recognized professionals use.

Sarah Fuelling: I think it was the perfect convergence of physical design and performance. The physical design is super comfortable for long play time, visually appealing with the red tail light and signature red underbelly, and the performance was totally rock solid, allowing gamers to feel confident that a given mouse motion will translate to a given cursor motion on screen, regardless of the speed at which they move the mouse. Although gamers were not the primary target audience for that mouse, the key features of the mouse were perfect for gaming.

Peter Hauser: When we developed the IRIS optical tracking core, we were determined to create the best optical tracking pointing device core on the planet. To accomplish this, we made every effort to understand the interaction between the user and the pointing device under many conditions. We explored surfaces, tracking speeds, tracking acceleration, and other factors that impact the user experience and sought to optimize each of these aspect so as to greatly exceed the user’s expectations. This meant that the IRIS optical tracking core, when correctly embedded in an end-product, could outperform even the most demanding user.

Kevin Flick: That’s an easy one! Our research shows, and there should be no surprise here, that performance, comfort, and reliability are the most important things for gamers as they consider a new peripheral. This mouse delivers on all three of those in spades.

3. How was the decision made to bring back the IME 3.0?

Gil Manalo: Kevin Flick and Sarah Fueling are largely the drivers of this success. They deserve all the credit for making apparent that this needs to happen.

Sarah Fuelling: When I started in user research in Hardware in the Fall of 2005, there was tentative talk of re-entering the PC gaming business. I was thrilled at the possibility, being a gamer myself, and immediately started planning research to better understand PC gamers--what they need, what they want, what they do. Myself and two colleagues attended the Winter CPL Tournament in Dallas in December, 2005, and it was an eye-opener! The BYOC area was packed full of PC's, mice and keyboards, and as we walked the aisles, taking in the sights, we were surprised to see a number of IME 3.0's. This surprise grew as we noticed the large number of IME 3.0's among the top players. It was our observations and conversations with gamers at that tournament that spawned the original idea of re-releasing the IME 3.0.

Kevin Flick: No secret… Microsoft is back in gaming! As part of our process to understand gamers and gaming, we attended the 2005 CPL Winter tournament. Fourteen of the fifteen finalists were using that mouse. The memory of that mouse as a gaming hit had faded a bit for us here at MS, but that tournament brought it all back. In my mind, there really was no other choice. Oddly enough, we were under the false impression that our original tooling (expensive to re-make!) had been destroyed, so for a while the plan was dead. I actually overheard a phone conversation as I passed an office that the tooling still existed!

4. How is the re-released IME 3.0 different from the original mouse?

Gil Manalo: Originally this was an ergo-mouse designed for productivity. At the time there were no really comfortable mice. Now there are lots of ergo-mice. This time we wanted to recognize PC Gaming and its root players. We also wanted to enjoy the inherent nostalgia for this particular design.

Sarah Fuelling: There are some small changes, such as a new paint job and updated software, but it is essentially the same mouse as the one that originally shipped in 1996.

Kevin Flick: New paint, new feet, same reliable guts and performance. We didn’t want to mess with it.

5. What were your first impressions of the idea to re-release the IME 3.0?

Gil Manalo: Microsoft huh. Wowe…Very Kewl.

Sarah Fuelling: I remember Kevin and I excitedly talking about the possibility of a re-release while still in the hotel in Dallas, but we both knew it would be a challenge to convince the business that "outdated" technology could sell. But to the credit of our marketing and sales team, they quickly got on board with the idea and were able to convince the sales channels that there was a waiting audience for the re-release. To our great delight, the IME 3.0 was reborn.

Kevin Flick: I was on fire about the idea. The user research team knew it would be a hit and that we would make thousands of gamers happy if we could pull it off. We’ve done research with nearly a thousand gamers in preparation for getting back into gaming. My sense is that most gamers think of MS as the company that lost its gaming mojo, and that they are just waiting and hoping for us to get it back.

6. How long will the IME 3.0 be around this time? Do you have any ideas about improving it in the future?

Gil Manalo: There is always room for a nostalgic product but now that there all of these new technologies and hipper and stronger understanding of what gaming has evolved to over the past ten years, there is definitely a bright future.

Sarah Fuelling: I don't know how long IME 3.0 will continue to be available. As a user researcher, I'll let the business make that decision :) As for how to improve it, I think the IME 3.0 is perfect as it is.

Peter Hauser: I think that the product, per se, has clearly met a market need. It continues to sell well, to the best of my knowledge and should enjoy a good re-release. As with all products such as this one, it may be best to “tweak” the product by perfecting small aspects of the product that users are not 100% satisfied with. My recommendation would be to look into customizing the product to the user versus changing the fundamentals, and pulling any additional cost out of the product without changing the product’s winning characteristics.

Kevin Flick: We know the IME3.0 isn’t perfect (what is?) but it would be hard to make *any* changes without making some gamers happy and other ones unhappy. How long will it be around? Who knows? Hardcore mountain bikers still ride singlespeed so maybe there will always be a place for a killer low-tech gaming mouse in among the bazillion DPI megamice.

7. What do you think of using professional players to help consult on products for gamers? Have you ever done this?

Gil Manalo: You would be a bovine headed fool not to consult with those who have a passion and an energy for PC Gaming. Yes, we listen to Gamers regularly and in our sleep.

Sarah Fuelling: I think that consulting professional players is necessary to develop certain gaming products, particularly those used in tournament play. If a product doesn't meet muster with professional gamers, that negative feedback can trickle down to the regular "Joe" and "Jane" players who aspire to be as good as the pros. In addition, pro gamers have such a vast wealth of gaming experience that they can provide feedback that a non-pro gamer might be unable to provide. That being said, what a professional gamer wants and needs and what a non-professional gamer wants and needs are not always the same thing. The trick is finding the sweet spot that satisfies both audiences.

Kevin Flick: We have done this and we will continue to do so. We’d be lost without your feedback. I’m a gamer, but I’m only one guy. We have plenty of bad ideas, but testing *all* of our ideas with real gamers (pro or casual) makes sure that our bad ideas do NOT make it to the shelves.

8. Are you happy with the results of the re-release?

Gil Manalo: Right on brutha!

Sarah Fuelling: I am so happy that we were able to bring back a much-loved product to the gaming community. My job is to listen to customers and be an advocate for them within the company, and the re-release of the IME 3.0 is something I can always point to and say "we listened, we heard, and we delivered."

Kevin Flick: Stoked.