Picked this up from U101 tutor Clive Hilton's wonderful Creativity and Learning curation, all about switching off 'monitoring of your mistakes' when you want to get downright creative. For the arty in the audience, it is possible to understand this insitnctively. We all sometimes just give up structured thinking and let our minds wander. What might be interesting here is that, just like jazz performance, this is something that can be practised and developed - anyone up for a bit of scatt creativity? For the scienty, what's really interesting about this is that it seems…
Design Thinking
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Switch off your brain for a bit of Design Thinking...
Design Thinking30 Apr 2012 | 9:38 am -
First blog post for Design Assembly NZ
purecaffeine.com28 Apr 2012 | 4:08 amI’ve written a guest article for Design Assembly NZ titled Designers, realise your potential! It is a call to action for designers to stop being suppressed by co-workers and managers who think all you’re good for is colouring in boxes and to realise the true value they can offer. It’s an introduction to the idea of design thinking, with some recommended reading on the subject including Thomas Lockwood, Tim Brown, Jon Kolko and David Holston. I hope you find it interesting, useful and empowering. -
Finding the Social in Social Business
Everyone's Blog Posts - Design Thinking Network15 May 2012 | 7:28 amPeople speak of creating the social business. What does that phrase mean? Do we sip lattes and play foosball in the break room? How does this magical entity differ from its anti-social brethren? In this article innovation architect Doug Collins explores the intent and possibilities that define the social business. Finding the Social in Social Business -
Genius to Scenius
Interaction Institute for Social Change Blog16 May 2012 | 6:36 amPhoto by Brad Coy This post is a slightly edited email message from Bart Westdijk of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF). NEGEF has 16 years experience resourcing the grassroots, thousands of citizen-led environmental and civic engagement initiatives around New England. Bart spearheads some of the amazing work the Fund is doing in the virtual and social media spheres to better connect grantees, add value in new ways, and create a larger sense of movement. Exciting new ventures include an emerging crowdfunding initative with ioby and a grassroots leadership skills… -
MX: Managing Experience 2012 Videos Ready for Your Viewing Pleasure
Adaptive Path14 May 2012 | 12:30 pmEvery March for the past six years, our MX: Managing Experience conference has brought together a growing community of managers, directors, and VPs of experience design teams (and their bosses) to discuss the unique challenges they face. This year's sold out conference featured speakers from GE, eBay, Intel, Flickr, Salesforce.com, Sony, and Forrester Research, representing an excellent mix of examples of the role experience design is playing in the world's largest companies. This year's talks explored a range of topics from the journey to becoming a UX leader,…
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Design Thinking
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Switch off your brain for a bit of Design Thinking...
30 Apr 2012 | 9:38 amPicked this up from U101 tutor Clive Hilton's wonderful Creativity and Learning curation, all about switching off 'monitoring of your mistakes' when you want to get downright creative. For the arty in the audience, it is possible to understand this insitnctively. We all sometimes just give up structured thinking and let our minds wander. What might be interesting here is that, just like jazz performance, this is something that can be practised and developed - anyone up for a bit of scatt creativity? For the scienty, what's really interesting about this is that it seems… -
Design Thinking About Work
10 Jan 2012 | 6:44 amA New York Times article (18-07-11) Beyond the Cubicle discusses the different types of requirement for the modern day working space design. It seems that what people want and need is a focus on quality interactions in preference to the latest office furntiture concpet [be that a cubicle or not!]. This is an interesting article that explores why it's important to meet flexible working needs and effectively apply design thinking to the puzzle of work - what we do, and why and where we do it. -
Change Your Life with Design Thinking
4 Dec 2011 | 5:39 amThis is a link to a nice article from Saturday's Guardian on how Design Thinking can improve your quality of life. The article describes design thinking as "thinking that focuses on creating better things, while analytical thinking, which is standard in business, is choosing between things". I don't think this quite right, as creating better things clearly involves a process of choosing somewhere along the line. But the empahsis, indeed, is on creating things. The concept of 'life kerning' is also an interesting one and the subject of a… -
Paper folding fascination
3 Aug 2011 | 1:53 pmThis series of videos on different paper folding techniques absolutely fascinated me. You can build a great variety of prototypes from paper using these techniques. Different folds give the object different properties, like flexibility or stiffness. My favourite is the crumbling technique, which allows to produce arches and curved forms in no time. Folding Techniques for Designers: Crumpling from Laurence King Publishing on Vimeo. -
This makes sketching really easy and enjoyable
10 Jun 2011 | 8:13 amThere is an abundance of web drawing tools out there. But I like this one. It offers a limited set of options. You really don't need more. The lines and forms produced look really good and this is probably the essence of the Harmony drawing tool. You just save the picture you draw as png. Very simple.
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purecaffeine.com
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First blog post for Design Assembly NZ
28 Apr 2012 | 4:08 amI’ve written a guest article for Design Assembly NZ titled Designers, realise your potential! It is a call to action for designers to stop being suppressed by co-workers and managers who think all you’re good for is colouring in boxes and to realise the true value they can offer. It’s an introduction to the idea of design thinking, with some recommended reading on the subject including Thomas Lockwood, Tim Brown, Jon Kolko and David Holston. I hope you find it interesting, useful and empowering. -
Your emotional arc in creative projects
27 Apr 2012 | 9:46 pmThis chapter reproduced without permission. Please buy the book so they won’t hate me. The book is about collaborative space design but this chapter applies to all creative endeavours. It really resonated with me so I wanted to share. But seriously, buy the book – I gave it 5 out of 5 stars. Creative projects have an emotional frequency. Being aware of this can help you successfully navigate the tricky peaks and troughs. You will likely encounter the following phenomena. If you know how to recognise them, you can at least reconcile how you are doing with how the project is doing. -
West Coast Glaciers
21 Apr 2012 | 9:57 pmFor Easter this year we headed over to the glaciers on the West Coast, namely Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. Both glaciers have townships of the same name at their feet; tourists spots where you can organise your ground and air adventures. The Southern Alps are much closer to the West Coast than the East and it’s amazing how you can see Mt Cook (Aoraki) rising out of the peaks 150km to the south as soon as you exit Arthur’s Pass and hit Kumara Junction. Our camp site for the first two nights was by Lake Mapourika: After setting up camp and dinner we drove to Franz Josef and… -
Moeraki Boulders at sunrise
21 Apr 2012 | 6:06 pmIt was her idea. I had little interest in getting up while it was still dark outside, trudging down to the beach and sitting on the cold wet sand for hours in the hope of getting some decent photos of the popular Moeraki Boulders. We had just the weekend, driving down there on the Saturday and back on the Sunday. I fought the steering wheel most of the way down thanks to a strong west gale that blew across the Canterbury plains. It did make for some beautiful cloud photography so I can’t complain too much: The plan was to camp in nearby Hampden but the weather decided to go to downhill… -
Redesign your job: Worksheet
18 Mar 2012 | 11:00 pmWhat do you do day-to-day in your job? What are you responsible for? Is it what you want to be doing or think should be done? Are there things you’re doing you don’t think you should be? How could you create more value for your employer and clients and why aren’t you doing it already? This worksheet is the first draft of a template I’ve put together based on similar questions I’ve been asking myself over the last month. My thinking culminated in a Venn-like diagram which then resulted in negotiating for a change in role description, responsibilities, objectives…
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Everyone's Blog Posts - Design Thinking Network
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Finding the Social in Social Business
15 May 2012 | 7:28 amPeople speak of creating the social business. What does that phrase mean? Do we sip lattes and play foosball in the break room? How does this magical entity differ from its anti-social brethren? In this article innovation architect Doug Collins explores the intent and possibilities that define the social business. Finding the Social in Social Business -
me-designer
10 May 2012 | 9:34 amWe all want superstars, supermodels - or an 'idol'! Millions of TV-viewers are following seemingly ordinary people in their battle against competition and aim to shine in the limelight - and with that to gain fame and fortune! It seems to be irrelevant what these people actually do, they just have to convince 'the jury' with features others don't have: if you're not the prettiest, then be the ugliest; if you can't sing like Pavarotti, why not name the cat food brand by sniffing at your kitties poo? To be at the top of the ladder, it's essential to be unique and to deliver uniqueness - and… -
Milan in Perspective 2012
9 May 2012 | 7:30 amFor designers and trend researchers alike, all roads lead to Milan. A lighthouse which illuminates the future of design, Milan is both geographically and aesthetically the centre of the emerging design universe – the cultural zeitgeist forms here first. In the report below, Mariel Brown and Karen Rosenkranz from Seymourpowell’s Research, Trend and Strategy Team, take a wide-angle look at the highlights of Milan 2012 and explore the broader relationships between cutting-edge design and the cultural trends which surround them. Click here to read the report. If you have any… -
Reimagining Media & Entertainment through Collaborative Innovation
1 May 2012 | 7:31 pmThe Digital Age challenges established media & entertainment firms. New business models, enlivened by technology, erode traditional sources of profit. What possibilities for reimagining the business exist? Can collaborative innovation help? Reimagining Media & Entertainment through Collaborative Innovation -
Opportunities for Innovation in the Airline Industry
24 Apr 2012 | 10:30 amSeymourpowell’s Head of Transport, Jeremy White, recently delivered a keynote presentation at The Cabin Innovation & Strategies for the Future conference, part of the Aircraft Interiors Expo. Jeremy’s speech addressed the future expectations and trends shaping the consumers of tomorrow. “You can’t research the future, but you can research emergent behaviour. If you watch carefully you can begin to prepare for the consumers of tomorrow and predict their expectations.” – Jeremy White Click here to read more.
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Interaction Institute for Social Change Blog
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Genius to Scenius
16 May 2012 | 6:36 amPhoto by Brad Coy This post is a slightly edited email message from Bart Westdijk of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF). NEGEF has 16 years experience resourcing the grassroots, thousands of citizen-led environmental and civic engagement initiatives around New England. Bart spearheads some of the amazing work the Fund is doing in the virtual and social media spheres to better connect grantees, add value in new ways, and create a larger sense of movement. Exciting new ventures include an emerging crowdfunding initative with ioby and a grassroots leadership skills… -
Connection, Attention and Trust
15 May 2012 | 10:39 amI’m just coming out of a mind bending, heart expanding retreat with Orland Bishop, Rachel Bagby and the Barr Fellows Network. It was one of those experiences that is hard to put into words. For lack of a better word, and I hope Orland doesn’t mind this, it was more like being with a shaman than with a facilitator. Orland led us in an exploration of intention and attention as he invited us to question how we relate to reality itself. He led with the idea that our relationships – and therefore our human experience – can be radically redefined if we make it our purpose to truly… -
Connection by Design
14 May 2012 | 9:15 amTwo things reminded me of the power of design and physical space this week. First, in a workshop for Juvenile Justice leaders, the 12 participants were seated at three tables. It was a cozy arrangement and the tables were useful for handling the volume of materials they were using. After a morning focused on race, class and culture dialogue skills, we brought the chairs together in a circle in the front of the room to close a segment of the conversation. I asked folks how that arrangement felt and they say “Good!!” There’s nothing like removing physical barriers and enabling everyone to… -
Being and Measuring Whole
11 May 2012 | 6:10 amThey say being a change agent is an inside job. This summer, we invite you to sharpen your tools and rejuvenate your capacity for leadership through a values-based professional development opportunity in a beautiful retreat setting! Center for Whole Communities (CWC) and Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) are collaborating to offer a four-day residential Whole Measures Workshop July 10 – 13, at CWC’s retreat center at beautiful Knoll Farm in Fayston, VT. Whole Measures is a values-based, community-oriented approach to planning, implementing and evaluating… -
Imagine a New World . . .
10 May 2012 | 7:22 amIt’s been my pleasure over the last few years to have been of service to and learned from Antioch New England students and staff. The video above is the product of Antioch graduate student Emily Read Daniels, who has been in some of our discussions about networks.
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Adaptive Path
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MX: Managing Experience 2012 Videos Ready for Your Viewing Pleasure
14 May 2012 | 12:30 pmEvery March for the past six years, our MX: Managing Experience conference has brought together a growing community of managers, directors, and VPs of experience design teams (and their bosses) to discuss the unique challenges they face. This year's sold out conference featured speakers from GE, eBay, Intel, Flickr, Salesforce.com, Sony, and Forrester Research, representing an excellent mix of examples of the role experience design is playing in the world's largest companies. This year's talks explored a range of topics from the journey to becoming a UX leader,… -
Signposts for the Week Ending May 11
11 May 2012 | 1:24 pmThe UK has come up with design principles for their government services. Progress is afoot. DIY kits to build web-connected things. Neato: responsive wireframes. A tool to pump out models digitally. Information is food. Welcome to the era of design. Fun cross-platform interaction, the concept. And the real deal. Can continuous improvement be hazardous to your organization's health? Cue sad trombone. A sad lesson in collaborative innovation. User experience is strategy, not design, says Peterme. What do you… -
UX Intensive Amsterdam 2012: Service Design Day Snapshot
3 May 2012 | 1:34 pmLast Thursday, April 5th, we capped off our four day UX Intensive training with the Service Design day. Jamin Hegemen lead the activity-packed day, introducing principles and methods designed to help organizations orchestrate cohesive cross-channel experiences for products and services. Just a couple of the highlights included developing service blueprints and mapping customer journeys. Much fun was had in the service prototyping portion, as participants used acting as a means of prototyping service experiences. Jamin lead the group through a full day that included introducing Service… -
UX Intensive Amsterdam 2012: Interaction Design Day Snapshot
26 Apr 2012 | 4:52 pmAfter two days of fast-paced learning and making at our UX Intensive in Amsterdam, our attendees jumped into the deep end of Interaction Design. Chris Risdon used every minute of the day to pack in valuable concepts and useful tools that we use at Adaptive Path to quickly identify a large number of ideas and then turn the best ones into successful products and services. Here's a few highlights from the day: Chris takes a question from an attendee. Attendees learned how to quickly generate design concepts and how to communicate them effectively. Some tools of the trade. -
UX Intensive Amsterdam 2012: Research Day Snapshot
25 Apr 2012 | 4:06 pmContinuing our coverage of UX Intensive Amsterdam, day two featured Design Research (see Day 1: Design Strategy here) taught by Paula Wellings. Paula led the group from start to finish on defining research goals and objectives, methods to collect and analyze data, and how to effectively communicate findings to clients and stakeholders in order to move research toward design. Exercises included field research using methods learned throughout the day. A wall full of stickies shows the findings. The importance of organizing data into useful clusters. Making…
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Core77
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Putting Dead Tree Branches to Good Use as Household Hooks
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amYou can never have too many wall hooks in your apartment, and mine are always full. But given that your average piece of bent metal will run you $5 a pop at a Manhattan hardware store, I've limited my urge to line my walls completely. If only I lived out in the sticks, I could use sticks. Etsy seller Gabriel Rutledge makes hers out of green maple twigs mounted to a distressed wooden board. John Robohm's Live Wire Farm is a Vermont-based outfit that manufactures goods from local hardwoods, and judging by all of the SOLD stamps on their website, does a brisk business in hooks. (more...) -
Visualizing Criminal Networks to Help Police Solve Crime
16 May 2012 | 9:00 amGraph of the Internet. Law enforcement is an extremely complex line of work, as police officers have to keep up-to-date with events and people in the community, but usually from the sidelines or through second-hand information. Tools that can augment police officers' mental models of the communities they serve, especially in an ever increasing information-rich world, are critical to the future of policing. And that's where graph theory comes in. Graph theory looks at objects (nodes) and the relationships (edges) between them. These objects could be people, computers, or buildings, while the… -
Sonya Yong James Puts the Wool in Front of Your Eyes
16 May 2012 | 8:00 amAtlanta-based Sonya Yong James is the textile designer and fiber artist behind Modern Fiber Lab, which produces handmade, sustainable goods from animal fibers. I work primarily with wool fibers and various felt techniques. Felt offers an extraordinary range from two dimensional design to sculptural forms for both interiors and personal ornament. No other material is as versatile. Felt is utilitarian, decorative, and completely renewable. I source all of my fiber from shepherds primarily in the United States. Everything here is a direct link to the natural world. It's safe to say James has a… -
Digitas is seeking a Senior Art Director US in Chicago, Illinois
16 May 2012 | 7:00 amSenior Art Director US DigitasChicago, Illinois Digitas—one of the world's leading digital marketing and media companies—is seeking a Senior Art Director, who will be responsible for the conception, design and execution of innovative visual materials for integrated, cross channel initiatives including: large web initiatives, online advertising and digital marketing. Individuals should possess strong conceptual and design skills and assist the Creative Director in improving the conceptual, technical and creative performance of staff within his or her group. » view The best… -
OMA completes the Syracuse Greek Theatre
16 May 2012 | 5:00 amRem Koolhaas led OMA's recently completed scenography project for Teatro Greco, or the Syracuse Greek Theatre, a historical landmark in Italy that dates back to the 5th century BCE. Every summer the theatre stages three classic plays, and for this season's cycle they commissioned OMA to design a temporary stage that will remain up for Aeschylus's Prometheus Unbound (directed by Claudio Longhi), Euripides' Bacchae (dir. Antonio Calenda) and Aristophane's The Birds (dir. Roberta Torre). The stage—aluminum scaffolding clad with multilayer marine plywood—was designed in three parts,…
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Tripp Babbitt's Blog
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Jet2.com – This is One Airline to Avoid
12 May 2012 | 5:47 amBoeing 757-200 takes off at Manchester Airport (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Airlines have generally been poor performers in the customer experience. Pretty much every airline can not get it right. I was going on a trip to Portugal and found Jet2.com and thought, “OK, budget airline . . . how much worse could it be?” The answer is somewhere between a lot and criminal. The website showed the really low fares, but there are fees for just about everything from breakfast, luggage and my personal favorite . . . checking in on-line. You see if you fail to check in on-line you have… -
The Secret to Great a Customer Experience
6 May 2012 | 2:31 pmI have been reading a lot of customer experience articles and posts. Most of it is softball stuff, lots of syrupy language and like love your customers and think about the customer experience in all you do. Unfortunately, as I dig deeper the traditional design and management approaches make all this stuff a real yawner. Yet, people make a ton of money telling you obvious things with speeches and writing. Traditional approaches still are based on incentives and having the “right” data. One is based on the flawed thinking that performance is down to the individual. And… -
The Sales Prevention Team
15 Apr 2012 | 9:37 amI was talking with a colleague regarding past experiences with clients and he came up with a beautiful explanation for sales with some companies he had worked with in the past. The “sales prevention” team was the label given. Both a humorous and sad label. Organizations are desperate for revenue in these economic times and push methods reign to “get the revenue.” Some times organizations use manipulative methods to up-sell or convince the customer of an “unrealized” need. Most of this stuff is BS and actually can work against you in raising costs. … -
The Road from Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence
14 Apr 2012 | 7:15 amOn occasion I go back and read some old favorite books that helped shape my thinking. Peter Scholte’s book, The Leader’s Handbook, was one such book that gave a me pause. The history of what became known as the Quality Movement is well-described. One such concept from the book is for whole management to move from a state of unconscious incompetence to a conscious competence. Too many executives do not understand how poor their systems are performing. One of the great breakthroughs in service industry (my perspective) is the John Seddon described failure demand – a… -
Increasing Sales is About Changing Thinking
9 Apr 2012 | 7:26 amWhether you live in the US or not, the thinking about how to increase sales seems universal. Hiring sales type personalities that can overcome objections and hit targets. This thinking has been repeated so often that organizations have come to believe it . . . if it were only true. The service that most organizations achieve for their customers is horrendous and poor service leads organizations filled with revenue targets to “hit the number.” Incentives and training to overcome objections is the recourse. No one addresses the main thing that prevents sales, namely, bad…
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Visual Business Intelligence
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Information Technology and the Loss of Common Sense
16 May 2012 | 1:00 pmI have a low tolerance for stupidity and waste. For this reason, I oppose unnecessary bureaucracy whenever possible. For instance, when a potential client asks me to review and sign a lengthy contract before accepting their invitation to teach a course or speak at an event—typically a one to three day engagement—I tell them “No thanks, I’ll pass.” Experience has taught me that, in addition to the time it takes to read the contract, revisions are always required. One size fits all service contracts, usually written for long-term software development engagements,… -
Confusion in the Age of Data
1 May 2012 | 3:41 pmContrary to popular opinion, we do not yet live in the Information Age. At best, we live in the Data Age—a time when bits of data constantly zoom past our eyes and buzz past our ears, yet few of them inform us meaningfully and usefully. We’re spending millions to put all of that “Big Data” into “The Cloud” without first learning how to separate the signals from the noise. A storm cloud of our own making is already raining confusion down upon us. Last week I gave a keynote presentation and taught a course at the Teradata Universe conference in Dublin, Ireland. -
The Gullibility of BI Professionals
17 Apr 2012 | 3:01 pmIs the ability to think critically too much to expect of business intelligence (BI) professionals? How about BI professionals who support institutions of higher learning? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect high levels of critical thinking from them? Unfortunately, a recent experience has called this into question. I’m currently in Austin, Texas where I’ll be teaching one of my public workshops this week. On Sunday, I taught a visual data analysis course here on the campus of the University of Texas at the annual conference of HEDW (Higher Education Data Warehousing). I… -
In Memory of Andreas Lipphardt
3 Apr 2012 | 12:43 pmEarlier this year I was saddened to learn that Andreas Lipphardt, the co-founder and chief executive of the business intelligence software company BonaVista Systems, died tragically on January 27. With a team of never more than three or four people, BonaVista Systems made useful, affordable, effective, and desperately needed data visualization tools that functioned as add-ins to Excel. The company’s first and best-known product was MicroCharts, which added to Excel the ability to embed sparklines and bullet graphs into cells of a spreadsheet. Andreas was the heart of BonaVista Systems. -
Dashboard Insight and the Objectivity of Sources
26 Mar 2012 | 10:32 amWhen you’re looking for reliable information—especially guidance—pay close attention to the sources. Experience has taught me to approach information with a skeptical eye and to always identify and scrutinize the source. This has become especially important since the advent of the Internet. The anonymity of the Web makes it easy for people to claim expertise or to feign objectivity that is lacking. Organizations often publish information that is tailored to serve their own interests, and their interests are often not ours. When you know the source and are aware of its motives and…
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Google News: Design Thinking
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Lyn Atelier and Studio Tilt work on Southbank Festival Village - Design Week
16 May 2012 | 5:30 amDesign WeekLyn Atelier and Studio Tilt work on Southbank Festival VillageDesign WeekHe adds, 'There was a desire to make the space totally original in its design thinking but ultimately it's a public space. It's a really interesting experience to allow that sense of freedom but it'll look very utilitarian with lots of concrete. -
Can "design thinking" create a community of innovators? - thelinemedia.com
15 May 2012 | 11:03 pmthelinemedia.comCan "design thinking" create a community of innovators?thelinemedia.comBut for the last decade, Stanford University's design school (“d.school") has been teaching design—or more specifically, Design Thinking—as a means of innovation. Using empathy as a starting point and radical collaboration as an organizing principle, Design Thinking and Culture of CollaborationInfoQ.comall 2 news articles » -
Wicked problems and business strategy: is design thinking an answer? - The Conversation
15 May 2012 | 3:21 pmWicked problems and business strategy: is design thinking an answer?The ConversationWhat are the implications for management, and by extension management education, if you are operating in this “wicked territory” And is “design thinking” really an answer? Design thinking is not new; it can be linked to the work of the likes of John -
Design as an Enabler of Change - Dexigner
14 May 2012 | 4:23 amDexignerDesign as an Enabler of ChangeDexignerIn 2011 Bruce Nussbaum, a passionate advocate of creativity, design, and innovation in business, moved on from the concept of "design thinking" to a new conceptual framework called "creative intelligence/creative quotient" (CI/CQ), the ability to frame -
Swap, Don't Shop: 4 Entrepreneurs Share Lessons From the Access Economy - Triple Pundit
14 May 2012 | 4:07 amTriple PunditSwap, Don't Shop: 4 Entrepreneurs Share Lessons From the Access EconomyTriple PunditThe discussion started with two interesting observations by the moderator, Dr. Cameron Tonkinwise, Chair of Design Thinking and Sustainability at Parsons New School for Design. The first was that the sharing economy offers us a sustainable design
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My Design Notes
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10 design thinking tools for managers
14 May 2012 | 11:27 amA few years ago I had the pleasure of attending an innovation workshop arranged by Tim Ogilvie of Peer Insight. Last year Tim Ogilvie and Jeanne Liedtka co-authored Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers (Columbia Business School Publishing). It was awarded Top Business Management Book of 2011 by leading business book reviewer 800-CEO-READ. Citing from Designing for Growth, "This book aims to demystify design thinking by translating 'design' from an abstract idea into a practical, everyday tool any manager can profit from. Using a business perspective and business… -
Strategic Design Thinking for Innovations
26 Apr 2012 | 1:47 amYesterday's seminar by the Finnish Association of Consulting Firms (SKOL) was entitled "Innovation and know-how as success factors of the future". One of the five presenters was Marco Steinberg, Director of Strategic Design of the Finnish innovation fund SITRA. He talked about the evolving role of innovation in design. Marco Steinberg started by giving three substantial changes in the requirements for innovation: Instead of optimizing one part or entity we need to look at the problem holistically We should have a suggestion-based instead of an analysis-driven innovation process We should not… -
The Book on service design
20 Apr 2012 | 9:11 amOne of the more recent textbooks on service design is This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases. A group of 23 international authors co-created the book that was originally published in 2010. It has become The Book of service design among practitioners, as I've been told. "This book outlines a contemporary approach for service innovation. This is Service Design Thinking introduces a new way of thinking to beginners but also serves as a reference for professionals. It explains the approach, its background, process, methods and tools — and connects theory to contemporary… -
Branding a less known travel destination - Finland
16 Apr 2012 | 5:37 amHow would you promote a country that is not a mainstream tourist attraction? The Finnish Tourist Board has decided to use a conceptual identity to tell what Finland is and why you should come here. Finland was eight in the 2010 Country Brand Index, ahead of the UK, Sweden, Germany and Italy. However, in tourism terms Finland is a challenger brand. Most overnight visitors come from Russia, Sweden, and Germany. "Visit Finland" is the conceptual identity that should attract travelers also from other parts of the world. The new website (now in beta) of Visit Finland wants to communicate Finland's… -
Thinking with your hands
9 Apr 2012 | 7:41 amWould you ask a management team, or a team of employees, to present the future of their company with LEGOs? Some companies and consultants have done that for years. The idea is to get people "think with their hands." Quoting from the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® web site: "LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a radical, innovative, experiential process designed to enhance business performance. It is based on the belief that everyone can contribute to the discussion, the decisions and the outcome. The use of LEGO bricks simply enables you to take a speedy shortcut to the core. The bricks work as a…
