July 2010
1 post
Better Ideas Faster | Blog | design mind →
Just sharing another great piece of thought leadership from my idols at Frog. A large portion of my job is dedicated to leading and participating in brainstorming sessions, and the subsequent idea synthesis, so I’m always looking for different (or tried and true) ways to frame the activities and the output. Here’s a tip: sketch more. ‘Nuff said.
June 2010
2 posts
“What we need from research is more than description, and especially, more than a...”
– Rick Robinson at IIT Design Research Conference 2010 on Vimeo
I’m just now catching up on this years’ recent DRC, which I sadly missed for no really good reason. Always a sucker for the antics of an agent provocateur, I was immediately drawn to Robinson’s presentation based on a...
“2. “You should never just read for ‘enjoyment.’ Read to make yourself smarter!...”
– Flavorwire » John Waters’ 10 Best Pieces of Advice for Functional Freaks
May 2010
25 posts
“We believe every purchase is an act of citizenship. It amplifies something in...”
– I love this idea. I mean, really love it. I’ve been thinking an awful lot about our stuff-driven lives: where stuff comes from, where it goes and what it means (and I think it should *mean* something) when it’s in our possession. From shopping local, to exploring the crafty world of...
Mental Health Apps: Like A 'Therapist In Your... →
Very interesting application of the Experience Sampling Method. I’ve been steadfastly collecting materials on mobile experience sampling…stay tuned for some cohesive thoughts and maybe just maybe some experimental app design.
“The biggest drain on momentum and brainpower in change efforts today is...”
– I challenge anyone to disagree with this. Now how do we fix it?
Project Planning Can Be a Costly Diversion | Fast Company
“Currently, all Americans are thrown into the same system. Both light users and...”
– An intriguing and perhaps provocative idea for applying design thinking to the healthcare system, as well as healthcare experiences and delivery of care processes.
The Future Well | We design services and products that create health and happiness.
“…I would say Shakespeare is a really good therapist,” he says. “His...”
– Just caught this interesting and inspiring story on my way in this morning, and was reminded of the impact a great teacher could have on young lives, even it’s just in one small context.
As the Shakespeare & Company co-founder and educator Kevin Coleman states, this program may not be...
Facebook | THREElittleSTEPS →
Social. Action.
This has the legs to start an interesting phenomenon, where simply clicking the “Like” button confirms and publicizes your commitment to a cause to your social network. Will it actually work? Research on motivation has frequently pointed to public broadcast of one’s goals and accountability to commitment as being successful motivators of behavior. One reason why...
“Sometimes the most familiar ingredients are the ones with secret lives.”
– A Good Appetite - How to Roast Radishes - NYTimes.com
tedPAD - create millions of amazing and really bad... →
Create your own TED talk with this amazing new interactive tool!
http://www.ted.com/talks/lies_damned_lies_and_statistics_about_tedtalks.html
“This is how life works: you plunge your hands into the bowl, pick up a shrimp,...”
– This is the most awesome fucking thing ever. Since yesterday.
Ruth Bourdain
“When you write compelling content, you’re pulling your readers into the...”
– Normally, I avoid these sorts of “Top Something or other” list posts, but as I’m currently working on an editorial strategy for our internal social media program, this one really popped out at me. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for a Dan Pink reference…but...
Bobulate: A canceling culture →
No matter how hard we try, we’re guilty of it. Promises to meet friends, family, and colleagues for lunches, coffee and tea, dog walks, play dates, and dinners go unmet. “Let’s get together soon!” we agree each time there’s a chance encounter. But words fall empty as we realize, somewhat…
As guilty as this makes me feel for its weighty truth, I’m also reminded that Adam Gopnik made...
“If you don’t understand statistics, you don’t know what’s going on — and you...”
– This line of thinking may have been a more effective way of promoting American participation in this years’ census.
On the point of stats being included in general education, I wholeheartedly agree, and not just because I’m a sociology grad AND a data visualization geek. We need...
April 2010
32 posts
Palo Alto Researchers Create Tool for Dealing with... →
The application, called “Eddi,” automatically groups tweets for you into topics mentioned either explicitly or, unlike most Twitter clients that also provide topic browsing, implicitly. The end result is a Twitter app you can use to quickly find the popular discussions within your own personal Twitter stream, either by search, tag cloud, timeline or category list. It even suggests...
“We are a generation constantly terrified by the idea of someone, somewhere,...”
– There goes the fear. You do realize that:
1) You’re in control
2) You’re already posting some pretty intimate details of your life quite voluntarily and quite enthusiastically right here on good ol’ Facebook. You probably aren’t at all aware of the many and varied methods...
“So‚ here we are‚ America‚ either out of work or overworked‚ and leadership says...”
– I’m just getting started with the much-anticipated “Work-Life” issue of frog’s Design Mind, but this article jumped right out at me, asking to be shared.
Many companies, including my own, are generally flexible to more fluid schedules, especially for families. But being...
Maker's Mark Ambassador-In-Chief at Doe Anderson... →
Doing a little research for an article I’m working on and serendipitously landed at what could only be a made-up fantasy dream job. Hahaha! Maker’s Mark ambassador! GET OUT!
Wait. Really?
“How to Be Good
1. Constant innovation and experimentation
2. Re-imagine the...”
– Obviously I’m loving up on the PSFK world pretty hard these days, but it’s because they sincerely lead by example, and that’s what I’m all about.
Dig on these principles for being a Good Brand. Feels as applicable to how I promote myself as it is for any of the brands they...
“It means ideas that are inherently open, generous and want to include you.”
– This is from wayyyyyyyy back in August ‘09, but still hits the mark on what I consider to be the most inspiring principle of social strategy (versus social media).
Kay continues:
There’s two types of ideas in the world – social ideas and anti-social ideas. And it’s plain to me that those...
“Workers become socially engaged and find that collaboration and their growing...”
– Some related reading on the Social Enterprise from heavy-hitter Dion Hinchcliffe.
I read a comment earlier today that some of this social capital-building stuff starts to sound a little Communist. Since I’ve been spreading the propaganda around the organization lately, have I landed on...
“People, truth, identity, reputation, values are the five elements of an...”
– Haque has added another key piece to the social strategy puzzle with this week’s post. What I’ve really be digging into is the realization that my studies and interests seem to be coming full circle in a sort of unexpected, but ultimately inevitable business application.
We’ve...
Is Jamie Oliver Creating Revolution, or Just Good... →
There’s hope that Oliver’s “Food Revolution” can be more than just the Che Guevara T-shirt of food politics—and more than just entertainment playing at social change.
Unsurprisingly, the critics and cynics have been less than kind, and certainly I understand why. But I’ve seen the program, I’ve watched Jamie’s recent TED talk, read all about his incredibly successful...
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything...”
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir
Another day, another conference →
Who wouldn’t want to attend an event where “Soylent Twitter: The Future is Made of People” is on the roster of presentations. I’ll be live-streaming from mission control.
“True he probably gets tormented by his peers every day, but I could guess from...”
– Why I Don’t Innovate at Work (or Watch Cooking Shows at the Gym)
3 tags
A little help from our friends? →
With the popularity of iTunes, the public is now very comfortable with 99¢ transactions and that acceptance and conversion rate is a key component…Our users can purchase ArmRev’s virtual currency in bulk and allocate micro-amounts to specific projects with the click of a mouse, eliminating tedious multi-step (shopping cart) checkouts. We expect these trends to change the landscape...
2 tags
You are what you eat: Food for thought →
People Who Photograph Food and Display the Pictures Online - NYTimes.com
As a food blogger (ok, well, on the best of days, anyway), this is already a very interesting article, although my own food photography has woefully been relegated to poorly-lit iPhone shots in my kitchen.
But instead of foodie-ness, my brain’s recently been occupied with thinking about social monitoring:...
The 99%: What the Creative World Needs Now is... →
“…your professional life is becoming more nomadic, digital and flexible.”
“If we are to advance we must emerge as a distinctive personality. We must...”
– Defining moments in advertising: Bernbach and his letters — Bhatnaturally
This idea has not gone out of style since it was captured in 1947. If anything, we have to work that much harder to shape our philosophy with real style and substance, to say nothing of authenticity and material commitment....
Avant Garde Preschool: Thurston Moore Teaches... →
Actually, I’m just testing that my Tumblr posts are hooking up with my Twitter stream, but still, this sure is something else.