Archive for November, 2008

11 Stories about Canadian Design 7

Posted November 27, 2008

So as our neighbors to the south prepare for an onslaught of turkey and cranberries, I’ve started thinking about design in Canada, prompted by a Twitter chat with Nora Young, host of CBC’s Spark.

In 2007, Nora ran a two part series on design on Canada’s heavyweight thinking show IDEAS. Called By Design: The Politics of Everyday Objects, the series focused on the design of everyday things (think Don Norman and Henry Petroski).

I pinged Nora about the possibility of a sequel that focused on design thinking and innovation. She’s slammed, but asked for suggestions for covering Candian design on Spark. Feeling cramped by Twitter’s 140 character limit, I decided I’d collect my thoughts here.

DISCLAIMER: This is not at all comprehensive, and there are many other people who have a broader perspective and are connected to more Canadian design communities than I am. But here’s my $0.02 for what it’s worth. I’d love to hear your comments or your own blog posts about Canadian design and where we should pay attention.

First, some articles of faith that underly any really interesting conversations about design for me:

  1. Design has moved beyond form and function. But people still equate design with style, because that’s what they can see.
  2. Problem solving and Framing are foundations for strategic design investments (see Design Maturity (pdf)
  3. Design and innovation are significant areas to drive growth, diversify the economy, and combat recession. But our national design and innovation policies focus on 1) technology and 2) traditional designers creating graphics and products, instead of systems and services. This is unlikely to change, since we’re even worse off than the US, which held a recent National Design Policy session without folks like the Interaction Design Association and IA Institute who represent an important perspective on interactive products and services.

There are multiple angles (and multiple stories) for Design in Canada. Here’s some quick snippets.

  1. Famous Canadian Designers - Rashid / Mau / Cardinal  / etc. - I think this is in some ways the easiest, but also the least interesting, because they already get a lot of press. Do they really need more? More importantly, do Canadian listeners?
     
  2. The rise of a new kind of design and design thinking in Canada. “Moving Beyond Form and Function” Roger Martin is reshaping business education at Rotman. OCAD is creating some great new programs. ACAD launched the Institute for the Creative Process. This may be too abstract for a brief segment on a show like Spark, and was my original suggestion for a more in-depth treatment on IDEAS.
     
  3. More concrete - the emergence of Service Design. Except I don’t think we’ve seen service design really emerge in Canada yet. Are there any established practices that are based in Canada?
     
  4. Also concrete, with substance to make a Canadian angle - the emergence of interaction design/experience design. Ron Wakkary is doing interesting things at SFU. Bill Buxton is now at Microsoft, but spends a lot of time in Toronto. The Interaction09 conference runs in Vancouver in February. There’s a healthy local community in Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa with growing numbers in Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton. Firms like mine regularly work with the Fortune 500 as well as improving the expereience for national and regional public sector websites and services.
     
  5. The Quiet Rock Stars of Canadian Design - There are Canadians who have done a lot to shape the global design conversation. Dave Shea, Derek Featherstone, Gene Smith*, Michael Dila, Idris Mootee, Matthew Milan, David Crow, Jon Lax and a bunch of others. I’m not tuned into the industrial designor gaming crowds in Canada, but there’s lots going on there too. * disclosure: Gene is my business partner.
     
  6. The Design Drain - there’s plenty of Canadians who make a big contribution to design but don’t live in Canada anymore - from better known folks like Lane Becker, GK van Patter, Steve Portigal to lesser known people like Bryce Johnson, recently moved to Seattle to take a job with Microsoft. UPDATE: I think there’s a negative connotation to drain, and maybe should think of another title - like Expat Design. I’m *glad* Steve and Lane and GK and Bryce are where they are, since they contribute back to the Canadian community along with the global design conversation. 
     
  7. Design Super Stars - instead of focusing on personalities, focus on products and services designed in Canada. RIM and the BlackBerry. Flickr. Games at Bioware/EA Vancouver. Freshbooks. Wild Apricot. Four Seasons. MEC. Lulu Lemon. Tried but true approach, and I like that it avoids the cult of personality established by Rashid et. al. Could easily be a short segment in regular rotation on shows ranging from Spark to Q.
     
  8. Design Failures - one Toroto company hired the famed team at IDEO and invested a ton of money only to launch a product that flopped. I’m not privy to the details, but it’s an interesting direction. Design is not a silver bullet. Maybe not the story to start with in renewed coverage of design…but I like pulling back the curtain on the design hagiography crafted by firms and a press that loves to create a hero myth.
     
  9. The Design Deficit - to follow that thought, why are Canadian companies hiring US firms for innovation and design consulting? Do we not have the talent? Or is it the thought that expertise is a function of distance? Funny story on that - at a 2005 library conference in Edmonton, one of the attendees commented that the organizers were very forward thinking to fly in Gene Smith, who publicized the term ‘folksonomy’. It’s true that Gene is a great speaker and sparked the folksonomy conversation that pushed a flurry of buzz about tagging. But he didn’t fly anywhere, since he’s local.
     
  10. Historical exposition of Canadian designs - dig into some of the things showcased at The Canadian Design Resource not just contemporary design.
     
  11. Designing Growth - look at the economic contributions and opportunities offered by design, both for innovation, growth, and opening up new areas like service design. Tuned to the economic uncertainty of today, growth in times of change is a challenge that can be met by design and innovation. This is the most timely of all the story ideas here. (See Richard Florida’s creative class riff, though he was just on CBC).

So there’s eleven ideas for covering design in Canada. I’m sure there’s lots of others, and apologies in advance for not mentioning people, products, or perspectives I should have…please let me know what I should add by dropping a comment here or posting a link to your own blog. And thanks Nora for the invitation to put in my 2 cents!

Success and Failure in the Apple Ecosystem 4

Posted November 24, 2008

As I cursed iTunes during my third attempt to download the iPhone 2.2 update, I asked my Twitter peeps what they would consider the weakest link in the overall Apple experience, and started off by nominating my nemesis iTunes. People nominated MobileMe, iCal, and the Genius Bar (Apple’s support section at the Apple Store). Apple has an amazing hardware + operating system bundle across Macs, iPods, and iPhones. But when it comes to adding software on top of that, there’s some fumbles. iTunes could well be named iKitchensink for all the pieces that have been crammed into what was once a pretty decent media player. And I grimace every time I launch iTunes, knowing I’m handcuffed to it for iPhone updates. And iCal and MobileMe are both frustrating attempts to provide basic calendaring options (thanks Scott and Niti)

But the biggest gap, suggested by Russ Unger, is the support (or lack of) offered by Apple. I’m typing this on a Dell right now, not because I like the oh-so-svelte feel of corporate bricks laptops, but because Dell has the best support options for small business, bar none. If I drop my machine, it’s covered. If I spill my drink, it’s covered. And if it breaks, someone arrives the next business day and fixes it. And that kind of peace of mind trumps the far superior hardware/OS offering that Apple has. I can’t afford to leave my machine in the shop or shipped off for weeks. Having a local Apple Store and Procare just isn’t the same. Dell can offer this kind of support because of two things - business customers demand it (and pay for it) and they have the volume to justify an outstanding ground support force across the globe.

I’ve started digging into Best Buy’s support options to see if I can duplicate Dell’s coverage for a MacBook, but have yet to finesse it the same level of care. Any time that there’s a gap in an ecosystem, third parties will look to fill it, and I’m curious if Best Buy can get the support in place to let people like me buy Macs with confidence.

This support failure is true for the iPhone too, in Canada at least. If you accidently break your phone, we’ve been told that the only way to get a new phone is to *buy out your contract* and then sign up for a whole *new 3 year contract* with Rogers or Fido. Ouch.

 

So how does Apple succeed when pieces of the puzzle are plainly lacking? I’ll chalk that up to experience amnesia. For many people, the overall highs far outweigh the lows.

Have your own spectacular successes or failures in the Apple ecosystem? Let me know.

Bookmarks for November 19th from 12:06 to 12:06 Comments Off

Posted November 19, 2008

These are my links for November 19th from 12:06 to 12:06:

  • Flashbulb Interaction | Working through Screens Book - Jacob Burghardt offers an online book (in PDF and HTML) with 100 ideas about how to create applications for knowledge work. Beautiful illustrations and useful patterns abound. I'm considering printing it.

Bookmarks for November 14th from 17:07 to 17:07 Comments Off

Posted November 14, 2008

These are my links for November 14th from 17:07 to 17:07:

10 Cameras for Design Research 7

Posted November 14, 2008

People getting into design research often wonder what gear they need. While there’s some interesting concepts for dedicated research hardware, a camera and a notebook are enough to do great things. You may not be tackling complex ethnographic study, or a granular time and motion analysis, but for gaining insight into real world context, getting out of your office and being with your users is fundamental and isn’t rocket science. Like many dedicated research consultants point out, being *good* at field work takes practice and dedication. But getting started just takes getting out the door and looking at the world in a different way. And sometimes, to capture that different way, you need a camera. But which one? As a photogeek, I follow camera hardware, play with new models in the store, and own a couple of my own. This roundup isn’t meant to be definitive (and like all things gear related, it will change in a month or three). But I hope you find it useful thinking about your own work and the kind of tools that will best suit you as you go out into the world and start to gain the insights to design things better.

While many researchers use camcorders to capture their work, video analysis is a huge time suck, and often yields similar insights as you’ll get with a camera, notebook, and sometimes an audio recorder. So for this summary, I’ve focused on cameras that are primarily still cameras, though most of them also do double duty and can capture short video segments.

With the multitude of choices and situations, there’s no such thing as the one best camera (though I have a favorite that I’ll share in a minute).
A camera for design research has to meet many needs (sometimes contradictory needs).
  • Discreet: you will get a more authentic record of your observations when people are not overwhelmed by a huge camera. Discreet cameras lend themselves to more candid photos.
  • Compact: A camera small enough to carry easily with you everywhere. Lugging kilos of pro photo gear may get beautiful quality images - but any camera will take a better photo than all that pro gear left in a hotel room because it’s so heavy.
  • Image Quality: A picture of use in context is indeed worth a thousand words. It helps when the picture is sharp, has low noise, good contrast, and great color. Even more true if you will use the images to print large posters or other empathy tools for the team.
  • Works in the Dark: A camera with high ISO, or light sensitivity, and a fast lens can get you usable pictures in dimly lit rooms, from clubs to night time streets or houses without lighting. Note that having a high ISO listed as an option doesn’t mean much. Look at sample images for actual performance. Lens speed is how fast a lens captures light, and lower numbers are better.
  • Wide Angle Lens: A lens that can cover the whole scene in one or two frames. A wide angle lens gets the big picture.
  • Telephoto Lens: A lens with a long reach can pull in the details of a scene, or capture an intimate moment from across a street.
  • Cropability: Megapixels are often a marketing trick, but a high megapixel camera gives you more wiggle room to crop a detailed section of a picture while keeping image quality. Unfortunately, adding megapixels often decreases photo quality, so check sample shots before buying.
  • Shoots Video: As mentioned above, a camera that can do double duty and shoot video significantly expands your options for data collection by just adding a few extra memory cards. Keep in mind that video takes a lot of time to analyze. A lot. Hours of video can mean days of analysis.
  • Inexpensive: you should be concerned about your research topic, not whether or not thousands of dollars of gear will go missing. Gear anxiety sucks.
  • Rugged: Speaking of gear anxiety, research cameras get dropped, sat on, and have to stand up to less than ideal conditions in rain, dust, & dirt. Weather sealing and metal bodies are your friends.

I’ve made a quick, fairly arbitrary pass as showing ten different options for cameras for design research and ethnography. The really important part is not which camera you choose. It’s that you choose, and then get out and *do* design research. Most links go to Amazon, because it’s convenient (I haven’t set up any affiliate payback, so please don’t feel obligated or encouraged to buy).

Discreet Compact Img. Quality Low Light Wide Tele. Zoom Video Megapixels Cost
CELLPHONES
iPhone ++++ ++++ - + 45mm?? none none None 2 $199 with contract
ULTRAZOOM
Panasonic FZ28 ++ ++ +++ +++ 27mm 486mm 18x + 10 $270
Canon SX1 (not yet released) ++ ++ ++++ ++++ 28mm 560mm 20x ++ 10 $799
COMPACT RAW SHOOTER
Canon G10 ++ ++ ++++ ++++ 28mm 140mm 5x + 14.7 $460
COMPACT SUPER ZOOM
Panasonic TZ5 +++ +++ ++ ++ 28mm 280mm 10x + 9 $242
DIGITAL SLR
Nikon D300 w/ 18-200mm VR Lens + + ++++++ +++++ 27mm 300mm 11x None 12 $2200
ULTRACOMPACT
Canon SD880 IS ++++ ++++ ++ + 28mm 112mm 4x + 10 $260
Interesting Options
COMPACT WATERPROOF
Pentax Optio W60 +++ +++ + + 28mm 140mm 5x + 10 $230
VIDEO ONLY
Flip Video Mino ++++ ++++ - ++ 45mm?? none n/a +++ 0.3 $179
BUILT IN PRINTER
Tomy xiao TIP-521 with Zink Printer (Spring 2009 in N. America) ++ ++ + + 45mm?? none none ? 5 $320

  1. Cellphone - The camera you have with you takes a better picture than the camera you don’t. Sometimes, your iPhone will be all the camera you have, and it’s better than nothing. People are often somehow less threatened by cameraphones. Of course, if the actual camera itself is the focus of your phone purchase, then Nokia and Sony Ericsson both have better choices. But I own an iPhone as a mobile device first, and camera second.

  2. Ultrazoom - point and shoot, but with amazing reach from wide to tele. Nothing else in the industry can match that zoom range in such a compact package. If you’re wanting to take photos of street vendors from across the street, these are your cameras. The Panasonic Lumix FZ28 is the latest in a long line of Panasonic’s class leading ultrazooms. The upcoming Canon SX1 offers improved image quality and a longer zoom, but Panasonic can be counted on to counter with their own new release next year.

  3. Compact RAW Shooter - I’m not sure there’s a really good name for this category, which is compact camera for people who own SLRs. The G10 shoots RAW files, which allow more quality in postproduction processing of your images (but more work too). It also handles relatively well in low light shooting. For the best image quality short of an SLR, the G10 is the backup choice of many professional photographers. The G10 has a nice wide angle lens, but doesn’t have much zoom reach. As an all around camera, it’s going to produce great quality images.

  4. Compact Super Zoom - Panasonic pioneered the “travel zoom” camera, with 10x zoom lens in a package not much bigger than a typical 3x zoom. The current release, the TZ5, boasts a 28-280mm zoom lens, offering both wide and long zoom in a package that can easily slip into a pants pocket (provided you’re not into skintight pleather).

  5. Digital SLR - The king of image quality in this roundup. SLR’s feature bigger sensors for better image quality and better low light performance. They also have the ability to swap lenses, so you can have wide or tele capabilities on hand. Lenses can make as much difference to image quality as camera bodies, and can cost as much, too. Here I’ve called out the Nikon D300, which is Nikon’s semi-pro camera body. Further up the quality chain include the D700 or D3 in Nikonland, and the 5D Mk II in Canon’s line. A DSLR is overkill for someone starting out. If you already shoot with a DSLR for your own photography, then by all means consider using it for design research. But even if you’re comfortable handling the complexity and bulk of an SLR, keep in mind that it’s hard to be discreet with a soupcan size lens aimed at someone.

  6. Ultracompact - cameras are getting smaller and smaller. The limits are much more about ergonomics than components, and todays ultracompact cameras can slip easily into a shirt pocket. The Canon SD880 offers a 4x wide angle zoom and a fairly sturdy body. Other compacts include Pentax Optio M series, Casio Exilim, and Panasonic FX. For a dedicated, discreet camera, an ultracompact is the way to go.

    I’ve called out some interesting choices that may be worth looking at in your particular situation.

  7. Compact Waterproof - The Pentax Optio W60 is interesting because it can stand up to dust, water, and cold better than the cameras we’ve already touched on. If you’re going to be on the beach, looking at resort or adventure travel, or other messy environments, the Pentax may be worth a look. Olympus also makes a similar ruggedized waterproof camera, but it takes their proprietary, slow, and relatively expensive memory format, so I’ll give the nod to the Pentax here.

  8. Video Only - maybe you want to focus on video, despite the added work of analyzing the clips. The Flip Video Mino is a super compact, high quality flash video recorder. It doesn’t have a zoom, but it’s easy to keep on hand and easily transfers files to a PC for editing or analysis. Depending on your budget, you could give Mino’s to participants for longer video diary studies or similar longitudinal research.

  9. Built in Printer - This is included as more of a novelty than a real recommendation, and is only being released in Japan this month, but I think it would be useful for storyboarding, affinity diagramming, or other visualization to be able to quickly choose pictures to print on demand. Of course, you can do this with a dedicated photo printer too, but I think these Xiaos would have been great when I was teaching design students about field research (we used polaroids).

So, there’s my round up of cameras, combining my photogeek and ux design worlds. And my favorite? The Panasonic TZ5, which is really very small and discreet but still offers an astounding zoom range for the package. Did I miss a significant camera, or kind of camera? What kind of gear do you use in your design research? I’ll turn comments on so you can let me know.

Bookmarks for November 13th from 15:27 to 15:27 Comments Off

Posted November 13, 2008

These are my links for November 13th from 15:27 to 15:27:

Bookmarks for November 12th Comments Off

Posted November 13, 2008

These are my links for November 12th from 11:27 to 11:27:

  • Creating a Dutch Coin Design - Not the usual bplusd fare, but a great story about the conceptual design behind a commemorative coin. Architecture and algorithms aplenty.

Bookmarks for November 6th from 15:55 to 16:44 Comments Off

Posted November 6, 2008

These are my links for November 6th from 15:55 to 16:44:

Wired to Care - a Strategic Empathy Book Comments Off

Posted November 6, 2008

This week, Jump announced their upcoming title, Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy. Available in January, Wired to Care tackles one of the big problems with innovation—it’s not about technical superiority, innovation is about application. Empathy is key to seeing how new technology or process can improve people’s work, play, relationships, and lives…that fit with people is key, and the more widespread empathy is within an organization, the better it will be at identifying innovation opportunities.

I haven’t had the chance to read the whole book, but I’ve enjoyed the sample content, interviews, empathy ratings and other goodies on the companion website. For the user experience and design crowd there may not be extensive new insights - the Jumpsters are good (very good), but their work isn’t based on alien methodology recovered from Area 51. The real thing I’m excited about is looking at the book for elements that I can use to share with business people. Selling design research and human-centered empathy as a critical business skill is something that is really useful to me and my company, and I’m looking forward to adding Wired to Care to the resources we share with prospects and clients as they adopt design.

Why an Obama Administration Needs Design 0

Posted November 4, 2008
Warning: politics ahead. You’re welcome to stop reading now. Living in Canada, I’m more of an observer than a participant in the current American contest. I have four siblings living in the US, I’m a US citizen, and if I were to describe my politics, I’d say antipartisan (or maybe jaded). The bickering on both sides, Democrat and Republican, is  wasteful and shortchanges the country. Obama has been the first national leader in my generation who looks to transcend polarized politics. Like most of my northern neighbors, I hope we see a real change in Washington, with a bipartisan Obama administration instead of four more years of failed policies and misguided good intentions. 

I finished Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope  Sunday. As the 2008 US election unfolds today, there is a deep-seated need for change - not just abstract rhetoric in stump speeches, but the real day-to-day delivery of programs and services to American citizens, no matter which candidate wins. I think Obama is better prepared to deliver that change, with policy positions that bridge partisan viewpoints and transcend outdated articles of faith like trickle-down economics.

Reading Audacity I was struck by the sheer range of Obama’s interests. These positions have clarified over the 21 months since Obama declared his candidacy for President. Particularly for an Obama Administration there is a radical reconception of public policy and service delivery. The US government doesn’t have the money to launch significant new programs, thanks to demands from Iraq and the financial crisis. But a Democratic White House, Congress, and Senate will be working to set the foundation for a different kind of government service delivery.

Obama touches on multiple issues in Audacity of Hope and on the campaign trail. He’s got big hopes and dreams for things like
  • implementing deeper pay-for-performance for teachers and school funding
  • investing in post-secondary education, technology, and R&D for innovation
  • reforming healthcare delivery, particularly through reliance on electronic medical records
  • investing in alternative fuels and energy infrastructure (though I far prefer Better Place  to subsidized E85 )
  • here’s the rest of Obama’s policy positions  from his website
I’m  concerned that these positions will remain just hopes and dreams, or even worse, get implemented poorly and set up a backlash against further progressive action. And that’s why Obama needs Design. And not just clever posters, or better technology, or slick promotions. Obama’s web efforts have been solid, but encouraging donations isn’t the same class of problems as dealing with Baby Boomers pressuring  Social Security and the healthcare system. To be successful, these new programs will need to look across channels at the whole experience. That’s where Design can make a real difference, particularly the emerging practice of Service Design.

Service Design applies design methods and thinking to service delivery, and uses principles of observation, prototyping, iteration, and human-centered evaluation to minimize risk for new service delivery.
Hillary Cottam is doing great work in the UK  with her firm Participle. Unfortunately, the US doesn’t have the same kind of comprehensive service design practice yet, despite the efforts of frog, IDEO, Jump, and Adaptive Path. But that’s the kind of work that an Obama administration needs to undertake, beyond the usual policy creation and design rooted in government bureaucracy.

Here’s five principles for the new administration (Democrat or Republican) to consider. They should be familiar to regular bplusd readers.
  1. There are no silver bullets. Design is simply another tool that helps you do a better job, with better results and lower risk.
  2. Use better methods for deep citizen insight. Methods like participatory codesign research, ethnography, and conversation analytics provide far better insights than traditional focus groups, surveys, and polls beloved of market research and politicians alike.
  3. Create tangible futures  that minimize your risk by allowing you to quickly experiment with multiple possibilities at low cost. That includes things like scenarios, prototypes, sketches, and artifacts from the future. Then iterate. 
  4. Map the system as a whole. Too often, public service offerings are siloed (e.g. one education unit handles textbooks, another online instruction, and a third curriculum design, while actual classrooms are administered at the local level). While an administration can’t (and shouldn’t) arbitrarily shift jurisdictional responsibility, the process needs to cut across those bureaucratic boundaries.
  5. Finally, create meaningful, measurable human-centered outcomes by looking at people’s goals; their hopes, needs, dreams and desires need to guide the measures in place instead of creating false incentives (like No Child Left Behind, which encourages teaching to the test). Insight needs to drive metrics that matter.

Too often governments pay lip service to being citizen-centered. Obama has the potential to change that if he wins. The full potential of a citizen-centered administration will come from many people working together, across party lines, and across disciplines. I hope Obama wins. I hope Design is at the table.

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