My Design Notes

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14 May 2012

10 design thinking tools for managers
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A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending an innovation workshop arranged by Tim Ogilvie of Peer Insight. Last year Tim Ogilvie and Jeanne Liedtka co-authored Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers (Columbia Business School Publishing). It was awarded Top Business Management Book of 2011 by leading business book reviewer 800-CEO-READ.

Citing from Designing for Growth, "This book aims to demystify design thinking by translating 'design' from an abstract idea into a practical, everyday tool any manager can profit from. Using a business perspective and business language, we’ll translate the vocabulary of design, unpack the mysterious connection between design thinking and profitable growth, introduce a systematic process (complete with simple project management aids), and teach you the ten tools you’ll need to marry the design approach to traditional business thinking in ways that enhance your ability to profitably grow your business."

The design process presented in the book deals with four very basic questions: What is? What if? What wows? and What works? The process is visualized using two intertwining bands that represent "divergent" and "convergent" thinking. In the early part of each stage of the process we are progressively expanding our vision whereas later we reverse the process by converging, progressively narrowing down our options to the most promising.

The ten tools associated with the design process are:
1. Visualization
2. Journey Mapping
3. Value Chain Analysis
4. Mind Mapping
5. Brainstorming
6. Concept Development
7. Assumption Testing
8. Rapid Prototyping
9. Customer Co-Creation
10. Learning Launch
The book contains explanations of the process and the tools, and several real-life examples. Visit the book's website at designingforgrowthbook.com.
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20 Apr 2012

The Book on service design
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One of the more recent textbooks on service design is This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases. A group of 23 international authors co-created the book that was originally published in 2010. It has become The Book of service design among practitioners, as I've been told.

"This book outlines a contemporary approach for service innovation. This is Service Design Thinking introduces a new way of thinking to beginners but also serves as a reference for professionals. It explains the approach, its background, process, methods and tools — and connects theory to contemporary case studies.

The book trailer video summarizes the basic concepts of service design:

The book's site at http://www.thisisservicedesignthinking.com/ offers a preview of selected pages of the book, a downloadble Customer Journey Canvas, and icons that you can use in your own projects.
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8 Mar 2012

A photo book could be your next portfolio
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Now that you can shoot photos every day, photographs have become a commodity. People are getting used to viewing photos on digital devices, without ever printing them out. The retina display of the new iPad will further discourage printing since it makes photos look sharper than ever. Despite all this, I decided to make a physical photo book.

There are plenty of online printing services available. They let you make a photo book in a few hours if not minutes. This time I tested Apple's service. It works inside iPhoto, which makes it an easy choice for Mac users.

I guess most people make photo books of memorable moments. My book became a haphazard collection of photos that I thought looked good. I took the shots in Finland, Germany and Italy, and the targets vary. Back in my mind I had the idea that I would make a book that could serve as a business gift. So, memorable moments from school plays or family portraits where excluded this time.

I don't have high-end gear; I mostly use a point-and-shoot camera or the one on my phone. However, I pay attention to the post-production of photos. I almost routinely adjust saturation and contrast. In addition I use special software, like Analog and Flare, to play with subtle special effects. When I got the book I noticed that photos with moderately boosted colors looked best on the printed pages.

I transferred all the book photos into iPhoto and started working on the book. Apple has made the process really easy. You can either let iPhoto do the job automatically or you can change page layouts, photo positions and scaling manually. When you are ready, all you have to do is to press "Buy Book" and pay. The cost of the 36-page book, with delivery and sales tax, was 56.85 euros.

I made the book last Saturday and it was at my door on Wednesday. The book, like other Apple products, was nicely packaged in a cardboard folder, which could have been the wrapping for a new gadget (see the attached photos). The book has a dust sleeve with images. They are the same photos that have been printed on the hard covers of the book.

I like the look and feel of the end result. The paper quality is good and the photos have been nicely reproduced. I would certainly be able to give this book as a gift. I would imagine that this format would be great for the portfolio of a designer, architect or artist. You can add text to the pages, so why not make a hardcover visual resume next time?

(download)

Click here to download:
a-photo-book-could-be-your-next-portfolio-qGsrlgikgpBaxyeyxdhB.zip (1.57 MB)
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30 Apr 2011

New ways to interact with a book
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A short demonstration of an interactive book that's made with the tools that Push Pop Press develops.

"Software developer Mike Matas demos the first full-length interactive book for the iPad -- with clever, swipeable video and graphics and some very cool data visualizations to play with. The book is Our Choice, Al Gore's sequel to An Inconvenient Truth."
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8 Mar 2011

How to achieve enchantment
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I have a considerable collection of business books. Only a small fraction of them are what I call handbooks. I won’t lend them. I reread them. And I have added Enchantment to that special collection.

Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, communicates the same feeling of humanity and business acumen that Guy is known for. He writes, “If you need to enchant people, you’re doing something meaningful. If you’re doing something meaningful, you need enchantment.” Enchantment is not manipulating people. It transforms situations and relationships, converts hostility into civility, and reshapes civility into affinity.

Enchantment is a practical guide and a great storybook at the same time. The book takes us on a journey through the development of things that people will love. You’ll have to achieve likability and trustworthiness before you launch. You’ll definitely need to overcome resistance. And you’re not there until you make enchantment endure. Enchantment is a process, not an event.

The book demonstrates how to use today’s technologies for enchantment. There are two ways of doing that: “Push technology brings your story to people. Pull technology brings people to your story.” Guy gives practical examples and tips on enchanting ways to use presentations, email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. He hopes that Enchantment remains relevant for decades, so he lists general principles that should apply, even if technologies evolve.

Enchantment does not limit itself to creating new business. You can enchant your employees. You can even enchant your boss. But beware: the techniques of enchantment can be used for both good and ill. Robert B. Cialdini wrote in his bestseller, Influence, “how to say no” to those who use weapons of influence in a questionable way. Following in Cialdini’s footsteps, Guy calls his last chapter, “How to Resist Enchantment”.

Guy uses stories, images, and research results in a personal, entertaining and educational way. This book really makes you want to read it in one sitting. On the other hand, it contains so much wisdom that you’ll certainly want to keep it close at hand for a reread!

Amazon affiliate link: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
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13 Nov 2010

Reading a 3D ABC book – video
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Marion Bataille's ABC 3D book presents the alphabet in a pop-up format. This is something that an e-book cannot do!

I bought the book from Present&Correct http://presentandcorrect.com/.>

ABC 3D Book from Aarni Heiskanen on Vimeo.
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9 Oct 2010

Are my paperback days over?
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My bookshelves are full. What to do next: buy more shelf space or throw away some books? I recently got my first ebook reader ever, a Kindle. I must say I like it, even though it is surely not the last word in e-publishing. I'm now convinced that I will buy new business books and novels as e-books in the future.

An iPad would offer a great user experience but they are still unavailable here in Finland. I've heard from some iPad users that they still prefer to read books on their Kindles. E-paper is more comfortable to the eyes, they say. I'm sure that the development of display technologies will fill the gap soon.

Not all books are available in digital format. Still, the sales of ebooks will eclipse the sale of paperbacks in 9 to 12 months, Jeff Bezos of Amazon predicts. Amazon sells 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover book.

It doesn't require too much effort to transform a business book or a novel into a digitally delivered product. Magazines are another thing. For them the delivery medium is a part of their product experience: the look and feel of different paper stocks, glossy photos, the smells, the size and weight of the publication. A magazine is a visual-tactile experience.

The way to deliver a magazine digitally has to be more than just a pdf version of the original. It seems that magazines will become digital apps, as the following video demonstrates. Will the printed magazine survive when these become mainstream? I'd switch to digital for sure.
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