As UX continues to establish itself as an integral player in business, there is an unquestionable need for methods, frameworks, and other repeatable/scientific processes. But what do you do when the science isn't working? Or when the rules run out, and there's no clear next step?
Too Much Science in Business?
In a recent interview, Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management, argues that "corporations are pushing analytical thinking so far that it's become unproductive." An over-reliance on science puts businesses in a position where they try and prove ideas through reasoning. This approach leaves very little room for intuition and leaps of faith, which is why, according to Martin, American innovation has become increasingly…
Even though it aired about 12 times too many, I found myself enjoying the Don't Take Chances American Express commercial this weekend:
I love how even the "happy faces" have a air of melancholy about them. Almost as if they realize that even though Amex will fix or replace them, they're still just inanimate objects. The bittersweet mood of the piece seems to affirm the fact that no matter how much stuff you own, or how sweet your credit card company is, it's still just stuff. And it won't make you happy, at least not for long.
I wonder if the anti-consumption mood is accidental, or if some advertising mastermind has deftly implanted an emotional connection to Amex deep within my limbic cortex. Whatever…
A recent BusinessWeek podcast featured an interview with Fahrenheit 212 founder and CEO Geoff Vuleta. Fahrenheit 212 is an innovation consultancy that engages their clients in a unique way by subjecting two thirds of their fees to agreed upon commercial milestones. If they don’t meet those milestones, they lose those fees. As a result the consultancy has a tangible interest in whether or not an initiative succeeds.
KA+A’s VentureSpring program produces similar results. When commercial interests are aligned a truer partnership, with all the honesty and transparency that necessarily goes along with it, is created.
The BusinessWeek interview with Vuleta provided some cool insight into how they work, but I don’t think it did justice…
The visual display of data and information is about to explode — or maybe it already has. It's been an area of design expertise for many years, but we're now faced with more mountains of data than ever before, and they're staggeringly high.
The image above, a visualization of 50 years of space exploration, is one example how data visualizations have risen in popularity. They've gained an aura of coolness, kind of like rock posters (in some circles anyway). Firms such as Visual Complexity focus exclusively on this design niche. And we've seen more and more data visualization websites like We Feel Fine and DAYTUM pop up over the last couple of years and…
We don't typically enter awards competitions, but the Indy chapter of AIGA has put together a competition that we're excited to participate in. PRIME, Indianapolis Design Awards, has issued a call for entries for designers in Indianapolis and surrounding areas to submit work that they created between January, 2008 and October, 2009.
The exciting thing about this competition is that the 50 winning selections wont just get 30 seconds of awards ceremony recognition and a cheesy plaque. Instead, winning selections will be displayed through the month of November at the Dean Johnson Gallery. This will, of course, include all the glitz and glamor that goes along with First Fridays in Indy.
At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, wait, that's not all! The AIGA will…
I'm just now getting around to synthesizing the notes I took at Edward Tufte's course in Indianapolis back in August. If you ever have the chance to attend a Tufte course or seminar, don't hesitate (I was really surprised I didn't see more people from the Indy design community there). Not a moment went by in which he wasn't poignant, concise,and engaging. To top it off, every attendee received a copy of each of his four books.
There were more quotables in that eight hour course then you could shake a stick at. Here are a handful the choicest thoughts I took away:
Don't waste time visualizing information than doesn't need it. People aren't stupid.
Never dumb things down.
Overproducing information is dishonest and manipulative, and reveals a lack of performance.
I spend a lot of time, like any designer worth his or her weight should, watching what the rest of the design world is doing. With the myriad design galleries available online, it's easier then ever to stay up-to-date on the latest print and web design trends.
There's a downside to having access to all of this "inspiration," though. It becomes increasingly difficult to create something genuine and unique. Designers must consciously prevent themselves from turning "inspired" into "copied." And they have to deal with the reality that, if their work is good, it will probably be borrowed. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but if left unchecked it can rob everyone of their unique voice.
Hello?
I've put together a sampling of one of web designs most rampant trends: "Hello." It…
I know it's the designophile in me, but I love seeing before and after brand transformations. There's something simply cathartic about seeing crusty old logos and brand expressions get run through the design ringer and come out the other end all sparkly and full of new life. I suppose, in no small way, it's because designers get to take center stage when they're parachuted in to coordinate a holistic reworking of a brand and identity.
Well, this time I'll be the one sharing a before and after. We recently wrapped work on a brand and UX overhaul for our client Graphite. Graphite provides any easy to use calorie management tool that aims to take the mystery and guesswork out of weight management. If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, you…
There's been plenty of iPhone sunshine-blowing, but the introduction of its touch-based UI really was a leap forward. I'm ready to see that kind of thinking applied in more circumstances. I work on, work with, and review a myriad user interfaces every week, and I find myself anxious to see more fresh and exciting approaches. I'm interested in moving beyond the "page." 15+ years into the web, and 5 years into web 2.0 and we're still using a metaphor that's hundreds of years old. We largely think of and experience the web in a linear fashion, even though it is in no way limited to that approach.
My thinking about this was jump-started when I stumbled across the online presentation tool Prezi. The best presentations are rarely linear, and Prezi breaks…
Out With The Old In a recent BusinessWeek article, Shoshana Zuboff, a former HBS professor, argues that the old school focus on financialization and administration is an ineffective and downright problematic way of doing business. For decades, the accepted response to shrinking margins has been to create internal efficiencies and cut costs. While this approach creates short-term relief, margins continue to shrink, while the value customers receive remains stagnant, or even recedes.
The alternative/new approach is customer-centric. Businesses should be focused, first and foremost, on the needs of customer. According to Zuboff:
Business is no longer just about the product. Now it’s about solutions for the individual. Economic value is hidden in consumers’ unmet needs and is released by providing people with the
