point of view

Announcing Designer News

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:16:10 -0600

We’d like to introduce you to Designer News.

Once upon a time, there were tons of sites with fresh design-related links. Those sites have either disappeared or gone stale, so we put something together. It’s a rather tiny site, but it does the trick.

A number of people have already made Designer News part of their daily routine — including the team at LayerVault. For better or worse, that means the tab is open all day.

If you have procrastination issues, stay away. We warned you.

Explore. iPhone lock screen I made.

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:58:25 -0500

Explore. iPhone lock screen I made.

How Serial Innovators Find The Best Problems To Solve

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:30:43 -0500

How Serial Innovators Find The Best Problems To Solve:

platformsandpixels:

Summarized from the Fast Co. article, with some of my own thoughts spiced in.

- - - - - - - - -

Serial innovators don’t look for opportunities; they look for problems.

More specifically, problems that meet 3 criteria:

1. Solving the problem has the potential for significant financial impact.

2. A solution likely can be found.

3. The problem and its solution are acceptable to both customers and management (it solves problems and fits strategy).

Methods for Finding problems:

1. Look for where demand exceeds technical limitations (probably time for technology shift or switch)

2. Reframe existing problems (develop a new perspective)

3. Start at the end (work backwards from the future)

4. Find analogs in other industries

Methods for Understanding:

1. *Prepare* to succeed (assemble a team, adopt a novice mentality)

2. Use the 5 Why’s to get to root cause

3. Know what you know and what you don’t know

4. Think holistically - across stakeholders, touchpoints, and experiences over time

5. Balance macro trends with micro insights

6. Synthesize until its simple (the problem and opportunity should distill into a simple, succinct thought)

Value of Interaction Design in new ventures

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:04:03 -0500

Value of Interaction Design in new ventures

Accelerators need to differentiate

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:48:19 -0500

Accelerators need to differentiate

Launch minimum VIABLE products not MINIMUM viable products.

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:44:24 -0500

Launch minimum VIABLE products not MINIMUM viable products.

The Psychologists View of UX Design

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:54:00 -0500

The Psychologists View of UX Design

Assessing a business model

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:35:55 -0500

Assessing a business model

Startups, This Is How Design Works

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:16:39 -0500

Startups, This Is How Design Works

Replacing Requirements with Hypotheses

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:48:09 -0500

Replacing Requirements with Hypotheses

User Experience Vision for Startups

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:32:03 -0500

User Experience Vision for Startups

Incredible Maps

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:37:49 -0500

Incredible Maps:

hat tip: http://illist.tumblr.com/

Strategic Shift

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:08:45 -0500

Strategic Shift

Ira Glass on creative work

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:52:36 -0500

Ira Glass on creative work

"Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced. Invention, it must be..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:42:01 -0600

“Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced. Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.”

- The Ecstasy of Influence : Jonathan Lethem (via echtra)

Killing your startup by listening to customers

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:41:06 -0600

Killing your startup by listening to customers:

Great post by Steve Blank. It illustrates why startups need people who are able to do more than just listen to people. They need people who are able to see meaningful patterns across customers and identify opportunities that fit the overall business goals.

platformsandpixels: Luke Williams by R Smith (by Rachel...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:57:13 -0600

platformsandpixels:

Luke Williams by R Smith (by Rachel Smith)

Very cool graphical recording of Disruptive Logic from Luke Williams.

Luke had an earlier disruptive innovation post that has always resonated with me. To paraphrase poorly: don’t just try to ‘solve problems’ or ‘recognize needs’. Instead, try identifying orthodoxies and questioning clichés.

Solving needs is fine, but leads to incremental innovation in existing territories. You get solutions that are of the ‘better, easier, faster’ variety.

Identifying out-dated orthodoxies and figuring out how to break them opens up worlds of disruptive potential.

Ben and Jerry's vs. Amazon

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:22:05 -0600

Ben and Jerry's vs. Amazon

Chicken and Egg Problems

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:41:05 -0600

Chicken and Egg Problems

A Taxi Driver Allegory

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:24:05 -0600

A Taxi Driver Allegory