2016:32 What I learned this week

The rise of educational escape rooms. I can see this as an immersive experience for clients too. Or a fun way to trap my colleagues in a room..
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/07/the-rise-of-educational-escape-rooms/493316/

NFC temporary tattoos turning your skin into interfaces.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/12/duoskin/

Sounds of the 90s digital era - Museum of endangered sounds
savethesounds.info

Museum of future government services. This is super interesting! Also check out the 2014 one. Covers topics in healthcare, education, travel, government services and cities
http://museum.governmentsummit.ae/

2016:30 What I learned this week

This week, I am going to focus on an "Attitude of gratitude"
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/three-a-of-building-employee-self-esteem-and-self-confidence/

"The mind of an architect." A study from 1958 trying to understand creative individuals and their personality traits. (Podcast and transcription)
http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-mind-of-an-architect/

2016:29 What I learned this week

RFID nails!
http://nerdist.com/student-embedded-subway-chip-in-her-acrylic-nails-swipes-in-without-card/

Elon's manifesto part 2 - Elon is impressive, as usual his goals are high and ideal, but he works hard and is thoughful in his approach. Here is the second part of his work goals.
https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux

We as humans are constantly observing the world and interpreting it according to our own bias
Experience nature and its paterns as a way to design objects and spaces for others to experience nature and all it has to teach us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13RRPOAZg4g

2016:16 What I learned this week

An ad about "Leftover women"  by SK-II (beauty products) is on point with the culture in China around women choosing to be single and independent (vs marriage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irfd74z52Cw
You can understand more about it here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35994366

This is an art piece. But a peculiar one, since it's a brick wall made of jello!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQhlp0w1Vr8

Thoughts on snapchat
http://justinkan.com/why-i-love-snapchat

Leading by design vs strategy

I was thinking about this today. We have a new project for the team and there are two individuals leading it: a strategist-thinker and a designer-thinker. Not to say they are very different, because the truth is that at my place of work, a strategist-thinker and a designer-thinker has many overlapping skill sets and are very similar people. In fact they can do the exact same work, but I think their approach may be a little different.

Let's say the project is an open ended blue sky project with a corporate strategy component to it.
This is how I imagine each of these individuals to tackle the project:

The strategist-thinker would approach the project solution as a series of frameworks pulled together from a human-centered design approach: understanding needs and values. This means the final result is made up from co-creating, empathy building, prototyping etc. and all this creates a few example communication pieces and one big communication piece in powerpoint for the executive level.

The designer-thinker would approach this project using the same human-centered design methods, but create artifacts (communication/education) along the way as needed and would also create communications for the executive level, but may not settle on what that modality will be until closer to the end.

At firsthand, it seems like the strategist-thinker and designer-thinker are exactly the same except the designer-thinker is a little less planful in his/her approach and makes more work for themselves, and does not give in to powerpoint.

However, I think the difference is significant. It means that a designer-thinker doesn't really have a solution approach to begin with, but rather uses a as-they-see-fit approach to a solution. They leave it open for experimentation and constant inspiration which makes it a potentially scary non-linear path but the approach is applied to the entire project. As a result the solution is designed just as much as the process is a human-centered one. Whereas a strategist-thinker begins with an understanding that the human-centered design approach is a means to an end which is a powerpoint presentation and a framework for understanding a future strategy.

I am not saying that a designer-thinker works without a plan. A strategist-thinker uses all the same methods as the designer-thinker; they just work differently. So the strategist-thinker is not incapable of creating design or using it and the designer-thinker is not incapable of creating a robust strategic framework. Not only that, but it isn't unlikely that if we were to give a designer-thinker and a strategist-thinker the exact same project they would come up with the same solution, just not the same delivery.

And does delivery matter?
Yup. I think it does.

OK so at the very end, what am I saying? Is the designer-thinker better than the strategist-thinker? No, they are both excellent. I think the better answer is found when you ask what your clients want and are open/comfortable with, and go from there. If they are asking for what's familiar, and most commonly used (a.k.a. the powerpoint deck) then walking through a strategist-thinker approach makes the most sense because you'll already be pushing their boundaries with the applied human-centered approach, and they will still feel comfortable with what's familiar.  If they are really open and say "surprise me" and are your friends, maybe take a risk and try the designer-thinker approach (Even better if the client is a designer, they'll get it/expect it)

2016:10 What I learned this week

- Chatting with friends outside of the realm I work in, I realised I am actually good at what I do. I work at a place where the work and people are of such high calibre that I am constantly being challenged, so I never feel like I'm on top of my game, rather just constantly struggling to learn more, do more, impress more. I should stop and take time to give myself a pat on my back.

Take a look at what other people have on their home screens /how they organize and prioritize apps 

http://homescreen.is/

http://first-the-trousers.com/2016/02/25/the-four-brains-of-a-strategist-which-one-do-you-use-most/

Google venture discovery sprints - Marty Cagan explains how discovery sprints helped the Google Ventures team solve their product challenges.

http://svpg.com/discovery-sprints/

Epson’s paper lab recycles your paper in-house

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/4/9848244/epson-paperlab-paper-recycling

Mattel has a 3d printer! No longer just a specialized vocational tool, it's an accessible toy for 5 year olds!

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/15/mattel-unveils-thingmaker-a-300-3d-printer-that-lets-kids-make-their-own-toys/

2016:9 What I learned this week

Drawings and annotations of the objects people own in their homes. It's like visiting someone's home and going through their stuff, but through drawings called "soft maps"

Rothuizen's soft maps shed light on individual behaviours and desires, which are crucial elements to understand in urban planning. Rothuizen: "My drawings show how our ideas of what we want and what we have are two different things. I think that in order to plan what we want, we should start with what we have."

http://www.socialcities.org/blog/mapping-the-lives-and-desires-of-shenzhen-residents-from-their-home/

http://janrothuizen.nl

Next big thing in design – IDEO’s next strategy

https://medium.com/ideo-stories/the-next-big-thing-in-design-513522543a6f#.onp1owlfx

UX is not enough

http://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/ux-is-not-enough/

I love these things. A small website that serve a small but specific purpose. 

Frank calls you everyday to collect and record your feedback of your day.

http://callfrank.org/

A (really good!) science fiction future (20 min film)

"In a near future where most people get a "cricket" implanted in their brains that allows them to switch to an “automatic mode,” a cricket repair man is faced with a moral dilemma when the parents of an autistic boy ask him to hack into the chip of their son."

https://vimeo.com/143619244

2016:8 What I learned this week

Nothing crazy insightful this week. Mostly fun stuff

SATs have been revamped, here’s a few sample questions to test yourself

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/07/us/new-sat-quiz.html

Genetic discrimination

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/schools-kicked-boy-based-dna

Escaped Zebra catching drill. Perhaps this is how we take role-play prototyping with our clients to the next level

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/japan-zookeepers-ueno-zoo-stage-escaped-animal-drill-employee-wearing-giant-zebra-costume-1541416

The school of 2050 – kind of strange, but interesting as our future selves constantly shift our views over time

https://medium.com/bright/the-classroom-is-dead-18986bcf5fb0#.jois8s1j1

Ship it squirrel and update the plan

http://www.geoffreywiseman.ca/blog/2013/03/15/shipit-update-plan/

2015:49 What I learned this week

Career advice
https://www.futurerising.com/careers-advice

Detroit 2030. Planning the future of the city together with the citizens of Detroit.
http://detroitfuturecity.com/

IKEA LATTJO collection. Toys! "Play it forward"
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/10312751/

Cooper Hewitt  how design has become more and more user-focused over the past fifty years, and how this shift has affected the daily lives of people everywhere
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/51669015/

2015:46 What I learned this week

camera drone that you just throw and it follows you. It's also cute.
https://www.lily.camera/

Talk to your intelligent robot to assist you. Yes, like Her.
http://motion.ai/

RSID has a design and health program
http://footnote1.com/better-health-by-design/


As I try to understand more about what is a designer, strategist, design strategy, design thinking:

A good article from AIGA about the role designers play in strategy. An excerpt from "Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers" It's not explicit, but it is probably skewed towards graphic designers
http://www.aiga.org/what-aspiring-designers-need-to-know-about-strategy/

IDEO's expertise as Business Design explains what design thinking x corporate strategy is for IDEO, and case studies to prove its value
https://www.ideo.com/expertise/business-design/