Logic+Emotion

Blog(s) of the Day: IDEO

The thing I Iove about the Web is that it levels the playing field. Novices and professionals each have equal shots at being heard. So when a company like IDEO launches official blogs (later in the game compared to many), it really doesn't matter because the Web thrives on quality of content and interactions. Everyone has a chance.

IDEO brings us two blogs worth checking out.  The first is IDEO Labs, which is described as follows:

"IDEO Labs is a place where we can show bits of what we're working on, talk about prototyping, and share our excitement over the tools that help us create."

While IDEO Labs is not posting in large volumes, it does offer some behind-the-scenes glimpses into their process and how they work. Check out this video of an IDEO team as they play around with their own multi-touch experiments.

Next is Design Thinking by IDEO's Tim Brown, an outspoken evangelist of the design thinking movement.  Design Thinking has more of a personal touch (I'm sure this is by design) compared to IDEO Labs as it offers direct perspectives from Brown on topics such as optimism and critique,  and  asking questions about the differences between product + experience.  Tim is in th process of writing a book and has positioned his blog as follows:

"This is a blog about design thinking. I am in the process of writing a book on the subject and this is the place I would like to share ideas and have a discussion. If you want to get an overview on how I see design thinking then check out the article I wrote for Harvard Business Review here.

As you will see as you read the posts, I have lots of questions. If you can help me with any answers or perspectives I would be very grateful. If you let me know who you are I will also do my best to acknowledge anything that makes it into the book."

Both blogs support comments, and both are worth checking out. IDEO are master marketers and intelligent self-promoters. In addition to learning about design methods and thinking, you might learn something about how to market your own organization from them.

Blog of the Day: Inspire UX

There couldn't be a better time to innovate in the blogging space than now. The blogosphere is saturated with chatter, and some have complained that the once celebrated "A-listers" have moved on to better things like writing books and speaking leaving their blogs malnourished.  Then along comes a blog like Inspire UX by Catriona Cornett.  Inspire UX is a collection of nicely designed quotes such as the image you are seeing above.  I think it's a strong and simple idea.  We all need some inspiration and the blog not only serves it up, but you can discuss the content of the quotes in the comments area.

Catriona also goes to great lengths to provide instructions on how you can download and print the inspiration cards.  And she'll even convert to vector and go "poster size" for you upon request.  Not a bad business model if you ask me.  And one of the coolese (and smartest) features is that you can submit your own quote for consideration.   Who doesn't want to have their name in lights?

Inspire UX is a simple, smart idea and I think a promising blog.  Inspiraiton = value, and we all know that blogs which offer value tend to stick around,  If you need a little experience design inspiration, this might be a good place to start.

Blog of the Day: Pleasure & Pain

I first met Whitney Georgia Hess at Digitas about two years ago. We had the "pleasure" of collaborating on one of the most innovative projects I've had a chance to play a role in (a prototype for realizing a new way of getting an insurance quote online).  Whitney is currently the sole author and curator of a fine up and coming blog called "Pleasure & Pain".

Pleasure & Pain covers the worlds of interaction design, technology and life as viewed by Whitney.  She'll often analyze what makes an experience great or not.  Check out her post on 9 Reasons Why I Love the Roomba Whitney will also occasionally do in-depth evaluations such as her Bloglines vs. Google Reader where she methodically breaks down the pros and cons of each service.

Pleasure & Pain is a relatively new blog and Whitney is a new voice in the blogosphere.  She started her blog this past January and it's been evolving rapidly.  I predict good things for it—it's definitely worth checking out.  Previous blogs of the day have been Conversation Agent, Disambiguity, Innovation Playground, and even Adaptive Path as it first launched.  See all blog of the day entries here.

Blog of the Day: Campbell on Branding + Innovation

This blog of the day comes at a good time.  With BusinessWeek's listing of the top design schools (yes, both Pratt + IIT's Institute of Design both made the cut)—Jon Cambell's brand spankin' new blog and and his fairly new status as a design student provide the perfect opportunity to get an insight into what this whole design/business thing is all about.

Though still new, Campbell on Branding + Innovation provides a student's eye view on topics such as "down and dirty prototyping", Twitter as a research tool, and he laments over the reactions he got when going public with his news to leave Harley-Davidson in the pursuit of a Masters of Design Methods.

I met Jon briefly at the Design Strategy conference a few weeks ago and we talked about the need for marketers to better understand a design philosophy that blends a comprehensive understanding of both business and human behavior.  Sadly—I rarely see marketers attend these types of events, though occasionally they'll get invited to speak at them.

Jon also played a role on the Harley-Davidson widget—which I still feel is a great example of how a brand can distribute it's content on the Web in an engaging fashion.  So check it out—at the very least, you might get a virtual crash course in "design thinking".

Blog of the Day: Innovation Playground

As personal publishing becomes more pervasive and mainstream—the thoughts and POV's from senior folks in various organizations are becoming more commonplace.  Point in case, Idris Motee's Innovation Playground.  Idris is a senior VP at consultancy Blast Radius.  He's also a published author.  Innovation Playground covers a variety of topics from a customer experience and innovation perspective.  Idris' posts are pithy and to the point.  His "five things a company can do to unlock creativity post" is brief but actionable.  And his recently uploaded sideshow on fashion innovation is forward looking and thought provoking (and written in 2005).  Idris started blogging in May, but most likely has content built up from his previous writings.  Point in case, see Marketing of Innovative and Distruptive Technologies which includes a downloadable PDF.

At month 2—Idris seems to be off to a good start.  If you're interested in innovation and business strategy, it's worth checking out.  Tip of the hat to Daive, who brought it to my attention.

Blog of the Day: Innovation Ecosystem

According to Technorati, Blogs aren't growing at the blistering rate previously anticipated.  So what?  As long as there are quality blogs out there spreading insight and knowledge—that's all that matters.  And that's what Innovation Ecosystem is all about.  Part innovation thought leader, part strategist and part planner, Julie Fleischer  serves up bite sized nuggets of brainfood covering the gamut of topics from marketing to design to innovation and business.   She also has some great observations on everyday life.

Julie recently wrote about her contribution to "The Age of Conversation" e-book.  It's called Visualizing the Threads.  I was actually fortunate enough to see an early draft.  It's great stuff.  Here is a preview:

"In the beginning, advertising was a conversation. In the early 1920’s, manufacturers created characters to humanize their brands. Betty Crocker was a fictionalization, invented so that women could relate to and interact with the brand. Her radio show was the highest rated in the land. Betty spoke to consumers and they spoke to her. They asked questions, she answered them. Together, these threads invented the brand."

Innovation Ecosystem's archives are worth perusing—with goodies in pretty much every nook of the blog.  So check it out.  On a related note, Innovation Ecosystem joins The Curious Shopper and Design Thinking Digest as yet another Chicago based blog featured here.  Proof that not all the action happens on the coasts.  :)

Blog of the Day: Design Thinking Digest

What is a "User Experience Evangelist"?  Ask Chris Bernard—Microsoft Employee, blogger and of course evangelist.  Chris blogs over at Design Thinking Digest.  We've met a couple of times which seemed only natural as we both have a love for design and current residence in Chicago on common.  But here's why Design Thinking Digest is worth checking out.  Recent posts like "What's it like to work at Microsoft Anyway" reveal a nice dosage of transparency, honesty and realism.  And, in my opinion—I think Chris is smack dab in the middle of "finding his voice".  Whenever you have the opportunity to follow a blog in this stage—it's worth it.

Design Thinking Digest is also going through changes, in a recent move one of the co-authors of the blog left to start a Microsoft "meta-blog".  Since this move it's been Chris Bernard at the helm and I like where it's been going.  In addition to the "Microsoft work" post, Chris has been sharing snippets of his life like where he talks about his kids taking his Ball of Whacks and scattering the pieces around the house.  I can relate to this in a big way.

In short, if you want to keep tabs on how Microsoft's user experience journey is going (through the eyes of an employee/blogger) this might be for you.  Just come at it with an open mind because in Chris's own words...

"Remember this is a journey for us. A new market, new customers and new tools. We'll get there."   

Blog of the Day: Conversation Agent

Every once in a while, a voice emerges in the blogosphere which breaks through the clutter and makes a near instant connection with those who are willing to listen.  I believe Valeria Maltoni, author of Conversation Agent is one of these voices.  Valeria is a self described "extrovert", feeding off of the energy she gets from connecting and conversing with people.  Chances are if you haven't visited her blog, you may have seen her commenting somewhere doing what she does best—taking conversations to the next level.

Conversation Agent is hard to put a finger on—that's another good sign.  One day Valaria maybe be talking about passion and emotion, and the next day she'll be talking about  the design of conversation, or something I can really relate to—liberating your inner Italian (or in my case, just letting the outer Italian take over).

Stop by and have a read.  Better yet—start a conversation.  As Valeria once said in a comment here "The new marketplace is the conversation."

Blog of the Day: disambiguity

Funny how when you sit down to do a post and you think you are going to write one thing, but you end up writing another.  Leisa Reichelt recently sent me a note to draw attention to Making Life Easy, a project for world usability day.  Go check it out as usability is underrated and it's something we take for granted (but shouldn't).

But I really want to point out Leisa's disambiguity blog.  Leisa is a wonderful writer and tells stories that draw attention to the value of her craft (User Experience Design) as well as getting you to think.  I've followed her blog for a bit, but lately I've been keeping up on bloglines.  And as a result, I only recently noticed that she's re-designed it.  And here's why I think this is significant.  For a long time, Leisa has had this disclaimer at the top of her generic looking blog template: (pretty design pending).  And I always hoped that Leisa would make good on adding that "pretty" part because her content is so good—it seemed only fitting that her blog should feel differentiated.

And now it is.  Leisa offers up "good blog experience" through her insights into the profession—her stories and now her unique-looking blog which is easy on both the eyes as well as the functionality.  Be sure to check out posts like "There are three kinds of bloggers"

And best of all, Leisa is a practitioner.  She does this stuff for a living.  Go ahead and dive in (unless you are already reading it).  Oh and Leisa, congrats on the sorta new design.  You've got great blog brand.

Attack of the Summer Blogs

I didn't really get a chance to catch up on reading the books I wanted to.  And Summer is almost over.  But on the bright side, I did get a chance to catch up on some blogs that were new to me.  They're worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamela Slim's musings on going from a corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur.  Pamela shares all her knowledge + experience in being liberated from the corporate world and she keeps it entertaining.

Ideavault
A nice collection of ideas, thoughts, techniques and planning fodder.

Presentation Zen
A MUST READ for anyone who gives presentations and wrestles with the PowerPoint.  This blog does a great job of blending visual design with communication strategies.  Perfect for the "A-Lister in the making".

Bad Language
Matthew Stibbe is a Pilot.  And he's a writer.  Apparently he's pretty good at both.  Matthew provides some really valuable nuggets on good and bad writing for the Web among other things.  His 25 reasons for why he loves writing is a keeper.

Living Brands
If you like Russell Davies, then you may like Jon Howard's collection of thoughts on brands, life, "comms" and stuff.  A good read before heading out to the beach.  :)

Diablogue
Creative Directors and Planners blogging together... the end times are upon us.  Diablogue serves up a healthy dose of digital culture and agency related happenings.  And they keep it pithy.

Summer's not over yet, so if you haven't checked out any of these—then bust out the wireless, your favorite lawn chair and camp out in the back yard for as long as your battery lets you.  (Dell owners, do so at your own risk)

Blog of the Day: Chroma

Chroma is a blog that I’ve been keeping an eye on lately.  The author is Dino Demopoulos, he’s a Planner.  What I really like about Chroma is that in my mind, this is what a planner’s blog should look like.  Chroma is doing an excellent job of tracking trends and interesting stories that provide insights into the minds of consumers and customers. 

“this is the place where I post some thoughts and share clips of interesting news and ideas that I come across.  My main interest: trends shaping the relationship of culture, media, communications and brands.”

I really like what Dino has been covering and I also appreciate how he has designed the blog.  It’s simple, contains some nice content on the side rails and you can see Dino’s virtual “library” at-a-glance.  Planners, take note of this blog and what Dino is doing.  You should really think about starting a blog yourself—especially if you are the traditional type that tends to shy away from technology.  And if you do start one, be sure to check out Chroma for reference.

PS, Dino is on the job market, so if you need a savvy Planner—look him up.

Blog of the Day: Experience Planner

Q: What do you get when you blend a designer, information architect, planner, and anthropologist?
A: Experience Planner

“Experience Planner is a blog written by Scott Weisbrod, Senior Information Architect and a Practice Lead at Critical Mass in Calgary, AB. Experience Planner is devoted to customer insight, experience planning, and information architecture for the web.”

With Experience Planner, Scott Weisbrod explores the intersection of account planning, and digital experience design with an acute focus on the interactive medium and how it’s evolving.  Experience Planner blends useful links and resources with in-depth thoughts on where the industry is heading.  Scott also has his ear close to the ground concerning all things Agency 2.0. 

Experience Planner provides a glimpse into the emerging skills needed to drive marketing 2.0.  It’s a T-shaped blog, written by a T-shaped author.  Planner embodies key thoughts captured by Cathy Clift in The New Age of Customer Centricity. “

“As the power of the image makers is eroded, we now have an opportunity to re-invent ourselves as “experience planners” and borrow new tools of insight from the worlds of anthropology, psychology, biomechanics and similar disciplines to power our success.”

But aside from this—Experience Planner serves an an effective signpost, pointing out how the marketing landscape is changing into a customer-centric discipline which blends user centered design+strategy with big ideas.

Blog of the Day: The Curious Shopper

The Curious Shopper by Sara Cantor explores retail experiences.  What makes them work, or not—and how understanding the shopper is key to the success of any retail experience.  In her latest post, Sara ponders over how Peets Coffee uses Polaroid's to entice customers to engage in the activity of providing creative feedback and commentary.  Sara makes some interesting comparisons to the digital space:

“We all share an innate human need to be heard. If retailers want to stay relevant, they can start by listening.
But how to listen in a physical space? It's not as easy as clicking on "Comments." Retailers need to get a little more creative.”

Good stuff.  Be sure to check it out.  On a personal note, Sara and I connected at last year’s IIT Strategy conference after she gave one of the best student presentations I’ve ever seen.  No surprise that she’s behind this blog.

Blog of the Day: Adaptive Path

Adaptive Path has joined the ranks of companies that blog.  But what should be special about this blog is the depth of expertise it promises to bring to the industry.  Adaptive Path is well respected in the fields of user-centered design, interaction design, usability, general research methodologies and experience design among other specialties.

This will be an interesting blog to watch—the folks at Adaptive Path do great work and have some really insightful thinking behind what they do.