There they were again. In the “tactics” section of the strategic brief for my client's new project were two headings I'd seen many times before. User-friendly and intuitive. They're common enough goals. No one could blame the ...READ MORE›
Imagine it’s 1997 and you’re sitting in a small room in Los Gatos, California. You’ve decided that you are going to get into the movie rental business. That’s right, you want to dethrone a huge entrenched competitor that has ...READ MORE›
Today, many lament that the United States used to make great things but seldom does any longer, believing it’s no longer a major source of manufacturing and creation. One need only open the October issue of Fast Company, titled ...READ MORE›
Whether they’re dealing in cars or cookies or computers, companies typically struggle with how to effectively and reliably create innovative products and services. Often, they discover that the greatest challenges aren’t in coming ...READ MORE›
[This is the first in a series of posts drawn from a sprawling survey we conducted about the state of American design.—Ed.]
This question has been troubling me for some time. Have we lost our edge at a particularly dynamic (and ...READ MORE›
Earlier this year, Co.Design published a provocative, sometimes comical, and overall insightful infographic by Jessica Hische, “Designers, Should You Work for Free?” The dizzyingly intricate flowchart immediately went viral among ...READ MORE›
I’ve lived about a mile from Apple campus in Silicon Valley for over 20 years. In my early design life, I even helped design some Apple products and advanced concepts. From that time until now, whether it was via my neighbors or ...READ MORE›
At a time when we are constantly being told to value the new and the different, it may come as a surprise to learn that the standard, the shared and the common can be strong drivers of transformation. In fact, many of the innovations ...READ MORE›
[This is the fourth post in a series by Smart Design. Click here to read the introduction. -- Ed.]
Last week, I wrote about how to evoke personality through design to help satisfy the contradictory, natural preferences in each ...READ MORE›
Before we announce the death of Design Thinking, we ought to at least agree on what it meant -- or rather, what it means, since, although maligned, the practice is alive and well and continues to help churn out innovative solutions to ...READ MORE›
Rumors of the failure of design thinking appear to have been somewhat overblown. At the recent Design Research conference in Seattle, the consensus reportedly held that whether or not you like the term, design thinking is here to ...READ MORE›
My colleague and I are from Denmark. We, along with much of the world, admire the United States’ relentless pursuit of the Next Big Thing, its inherent optimism, and its go-getter attitude. Other parts of the world should learn to ...READ MORE›
[This is the second post in a series by Smart Design. Click here to read the introduction and here to read the first post. -- Ed.]
To connect with women, companies often create separate “women only” products. This can have ...READ MORE›
[This is the first post in a series by Smart Design. Click here to read the introduction. -- Ed.]
The tagline of a Dos Equis ad reads, “Approach women like you do wild animals, with caution and a soothing voice.” I have to ...READ MORE›
[This is the introduction to a new series by Smart Design. For the first post, click here. -- Ed.]
“Girls like dolls and pink. Boys like fire trucks and blue.” The differences were obvious to the five-year-old who recently ...READ MORE›
Ebay's scrappy startup days are years behind it, and like any other billion-dollar company it faces distinct challenges that stem from being ginormous: How can it launch new products that don't get nibbled into oblivion by ...READ MORE›
Facebook and Twitter profiles are, to a degree, reflections of who you are -- from the friends you choose to the topics you follow. Likewise, what you watch on TV represents personal choices: Are you a Dexter fanatic? Maybe more of a ...READ MORE›
As an industrial designer and the CEO of a design agency with experience across many fields, I am struck by how difficult it has been for the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry to successfully innovate to meet the needs of the ...READ MORE›
Fail early and fail often. I use that phrase over and over again in teaching the design process. Borrowed from the world of computer programming, it expresses the urgency of getting iterations out into the world early in the process ...READ MORE›
Brands today exist in multiple mediums, defined by multiple voices. The media brands inhabit is iterative, with no beginning, no end, and little permanency. In that context, adherence to a big idea and endless repetition of ...READ MORE›
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