Innovation

“Designers shouldn’t accept false suggestions from the market. The market never suggests anything good.” — Michele De Lucchi

What is innovation?
It seems that everyday new products and services are being touted as innovative, but are they really?
I would like to propose a framework to understand and recognize innovation.

Innovation should be: 

Useful
It solves a real problem.

Cultural
It needs to change the prevailing culture, allowing people to adopt a new set of behaviors.

One way
Once you have used the innovation you cannot imagine going back to the way things were. 

The Washing machine.
The first washing machine was invented around 1800, and 1858 saw the introduction of the rotary-powered washing machine. It has changed the lives of millions maybe even billions of people by taking something that was incredibly laborious and making it relatively easy. Yet the innovation of this product did not stop there. It had a tremendous cultural impact; by reducing the extraordinary time and labor of keeping clothing clean (time and labor almost always belonging to women) the washing machine enabled​ more women to enter the paid labor force, and by doing so was part of constructing the culture we live in today. (See Ha-Joon Chang’s book for more.) The humble washing machine had effects way beyond its function and has in some ways completely changed the world. 

This collection of articles critically looks at our current culture of innovation. 
 

The Army of Technological Slaves

That is Benedikt’s call, cited above: take advantage of the machines, they are made for this! And that means: also creative professionals, mind workers, editors, journalists, should think like hackers. Hacker for me is a neutral to positive term. Hacker make use of technology as completely as possible. Like the famous investigative journalists, they don’t let themselves hold up by arbitrary rules which are supposed to tell us, how we should use information.

Read more

Source : Slow media

iOS app success is a lottery: 60% (or more) of developers don’t break even

“The App Store is very much like the lottery, and very few companies are topping the charts,” Kafasis told Ars. “It’s a hit-based business. Much like music or book sales, there are a few huge winners, a bigger handful of minor successes, and a whole lot of failures.”

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Source : Ars Technica

The One Thing CEOs Need to Learn from Apple

Jobs said in an interview with Betsy Morris in 2008, “People think focus means saying ‘yes’ to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.”

Read more

Source : HBR

When Will this Low-Innovation Internet Era End?

Then there’s another view, which I heard from author Neal Stephenson in an MIT lecture hall last week. A hundred years from now, he said, we might look back on the late 20th and early 21st century and say, “It was an actively creative society. Then the Internet happened and everything got put on hold for a generation.”

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Source : HBR

Redefining Development through Innovative Governance

by referendum — of a new Constitution that approaches development not as an end, but as a means of achieving a collective state of “Buen Vivir” (Good Living), or “Sumak Kausay” in Kichwa. The concept is rooted in aboriginal philosophy, emphasizing environmental conservation and social organization based on mutual solidarity. It is evident in Ecuador’s constitutional support for human rights and nature’s “right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate.”

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Source : Polis

Function, Feel, Form

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” 
– Steve Jobs

Making high quality interactive experiences has always involved a sequencing of function, feel and form. Designers and technologists have often built prototypes of small portions of products to see what works and what doesn't.

In recent years, the improved usability of prototyping tools has allowed more people to create more fully-realistic experiences which can be built in a relatively short period of time. Both designers and users are able to see a high fidelity interpretation of what might eventually get made.

With these new tools, prototypes have become a blend of the three core elements of function, feel and form. While this might seem optimal, in reality this melding often produces results that do not fully explore any one of those core areas. This lack of focus can lead to ideas being executed too quickly, with less than desirable results. As designers we need to understand what it means to prototype for these three areas so we can refine each to make more coherent designs.

Function (Flow + features)
Function helps us see the inner working of an idea; it reveals an idea’s basic nature and allows us to satisfy the primary product use. For example, a skeleton of a car can still serve to move you from place to place.

Feel (Interaction)
What is the tactile quality and emotion you feel when you pick something up for the first time? Feel helps us understand much of what is unsaid: does feeling soft, hard, hollow or solid make a product feel satisfying, familiar, approachable? In both the physical world and the digital, much experimentation is needed before an idea “feels” right.
 
Form (Language + Interface)
What strikes you when you look at a fully executed idea? How does the visual form or language change your relationship to using the product or service? Form often guides how a particular idea connects with how we see ourselves and our taste. For example, in a sea of black headphones Beats headphones come in multiple colors and connect with popular culture and the desire for individuality even though they are mass-produced. 

It's useful to look at industrial design, which has extensively used prototyping that splits apart the three ideas, treating them as distinct parts of the overall concept. 

An industrial designer would never initially try to address all three facets in the same prototype because too many concessions would have to be made in the manufacturing of the prototype. Take, for example, a cell phone: To make the electronics necessary without mass manufacture the electronics would be too large to create the right form and feel for the prototype. Making three separate prototypes makes it easier to explore each of these core areas in more detail.

• A simple but functional prototype which can test the core feature set and make sure they work at a basic level. 

• A number of prototypes made from different materials to explore the possibilities of feel.

• A simple and elegant solid model of the phone to see its form to understand its aesthetic value. 

Splitting the process into core elements allows it to move more quickly while allowing for a deeper exploration of each core element of the design. As the design process moves through the initial phase, the function, feel and form are fused together into more and more elaborate prototypes. Yet still, at any stage in the journey it might be necessary to decouple a single core element (Function, Feel or Form)  to try out a new idea without having to stop the progress of the overall design and production process. 

In the digital world some physical realities do not apply, but can be reinterpreted in conceptual and workflow ways. If from the outset of a project you are constantly trying to make something look pixel perfect while testing its function you will compromise both function and form, and take twice as long doing it. 

So what does this all mean? Do you need to build three different prototypes every time you want to make a digital product? I think the answer is NO; yet, you do need to be ready to quickly create additional prototypes during any phase of the design process. You do this to see how the core elements of Function, Feel and Form effect your overall design, so that you can integrate the results into your main prototype process. Today we have better tools than ever to quickly make and test ideas in any one of the three core areas, so why not do just that? Branch off when it makes sense and then bring it all back together quickly and efficiently.

As new platforms and forms of interaction become mainstream, like voice & chat interfaces or augmented / virtual reality, the principles of function, feel and form actually become even more important. When the interface for a product or service is not readily apparent, as in the case of voice interfaces, it is important to understand the functional elements, the feel cues for a conversation, and the form of the language used to help the user understand the nature of the interaction and activity.

Working more quickly and focusing your efforts on each of the core elements allows you to make the best thing instead of just the next thing.

Think like a designer

Design can be seen as a method: a method to join together separate ideas, information, emotions and organize them to develop a thought. None of the books listed below have any real examples of what is traditionally thought of as design. There are no glossy visuals or “concepts”. Instead these are books which develop a way of thinking, a method which realizes that what is made is only as good as the way an idea is framed. They provide different ways to help you see the world you live in and how to rearrange the complexity of that world in a way that makes sense of things.
 

Book 1 : What Customers Want - by Anthony Ulwick

"Why does traditional brainstorming often fail to produce breakthrough ideas?Most brainstorming and idea generation efforts yield poor and unactionable results for three key reasons. The first is because managers rarely know how or where to direct employee’s creative energy. The result is much wasted energy, hundreds of useless ideas, and unfortunately, few ideas that are truly worthy of of pursuit. Consider the typical pattern. In most firms, when employees are asked to come up with new ideas they are not directed to focus on specific outcomes; rather, they are asked for ideas to improve the company’s product in general (functions, ergonomics, fit and finish, distribution and packaging), leaving the direction for improvement open to interpretation. In the absence of a specific target, employees in turn focus on what they themselves want to improve rather than on what customers want to see improved."
 

Book 2 : Design Driven Innovation - by Roberto Verganti

"Alessi knows that if all his new products are successful, the company has been too conservative and has stayed away from the borderline. This is not good, because it opens the field to competitors. So the company periodically pursues more-radical projects. And even when these efforts apparently fail (proposing products that are too extreme-beyond the borderline), that failure is the revealing moment in which the firm finally sees where the borderline was and is in the best position to make a breakthrough with the next project, before and better than its competitors."
 

Book 3: A Technique for Producing Ideas  - by James Young

"What is most valuable to know is not where to look for a particular idea, but how to train the mind in the method by which all ideas are produced and how to grasp the principles which are at the source of all ideas."
 

Book 4: How Designers Think - by Bryan Lawson

"Classifying design by its end product seems to be rather putting the cart before the horse, for the solution is something which is formed by the design process and has not existed in advance of it. The real reason for classifying design in this way has less to do with the design process but instead a reflection on our increasingly specialized technologies. Engineers are different from architects not just because they may use a different design process but more importantly because they understand about different materials and requirements. Unfortunately this sort of specialization can easily become a strait jacket for designers, directing their mental process toward a predefined goal. It is thus too easy for architects to assume that the solution to a client's problem is a new building. Often it is not!"
 

Book 5 : Designing Programmes - by Karl Gerstner

"To describe a problem is part of the solution. This implies: not to make creative decisions as promoted by feeling but by intellectual criteria. The more exact and complete these criteria are, the more creative the work becomes. The creative process is to be reduced to an act of selection. Designing means : to pick out determining elements and combining them."

Competition

“Competition holds us back from doing our best work” 
- Alfie Kohn

How often have you heard that competition in a free market leads to innovation and better ideas and products? Alfie Kohn, a well-respected educator and psychologist, suggests instead that "competition holds us back from doing our best work," making me think more critically about the value placed on competition. 

10 years ago Apple released a new phone and it changed the world of mobile technology, putting a very powerful computer in everyone's pockets. At the time the “competition” were not what you would call the best, they were companies that had competed with each other (Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft…) to make what were fairly mediocre products. They were making products that allowed you to make good phone calls and that’s about it. 

Apple came along and didn't compete with them; they solved a completely different problem. They looked at what people really wanted to do--consume and share media--and then tacked a phone onto it to make something that really is the way you want to communicate. This different approach was not caused by competition but almost the opposite. It was caused by Apple wanting to go their own way, to, as they said, “Think Different”. 

Another clear example of this is Nintendo. For a long time Nintendo had been out-played by Sony, which kept making more and more powerful games consoles. So, instead of competing with Sony, Nintendo decided to play by their own rules and create a low-powered games system that was fun. At the time no one thought this would work, and on paper they were bound to lose, but in fact the opposite happened, the Wii was a massive success.  

A final example from an entirely different field: Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors couldn't compete directly with LeBron James’ speed, size and ability so instead, they invented a completely different strategy of 3-point shooting to win.

In these examples, the “players" didn't compete but instead rethought the problem space and played by their own rules to win. Competition for the most part only leads to incrementalism; for truly breakthrough ideas you have to walk your own path which can be scary, but can have huge advantages. If by following your own path you create an innovation, in the marketplace you will have no competition. No competition allows you time and space to build your advantage. It took the Android ecosystem almost 3 years to catch up to Apple and by that time Apple had established a brand leadership position in the space that meant even though Android far outstripped Apple's sales and numbers the iPhone is still seen as the gold standard. 

To describe a problem is part of the solution. Competition stops you from fully describing the problem because it forces you to play by set rules that narrow your view. I would urge you to examine how some rules can be bent, while others can be broken, to create your own unique ideas. 

Action

I have had the opportunity to work with a number of talented creative people and there seems to come to a point where they ask the question: How do I think more strategically? As I have come to understand it, this question means they have realized that much of the creativity and innovation in a project happens in the strategic / concept phase. To have a seat at the table in such a discussion, you have to think strategically. 

Up to a certain point in most creative people's careers, especially in the digital space, they have been judged on their craft skills: how quickly and with how much quality can they make things to support an idea. But what happens when you want to be the one coming up with the ideas, how do you develop those skills? 

To answer this I created a simple framework that allows anyone to grow their own life-long creative personal culture. For the most part, I don’t like using exceptional people as examples because it can set other people up for failure. But here I'm using Picasso’s life and work to illustrate the framework, and am interested in looking at not what he did but how he did it. There are two key strategies:

Be prolific 

Picasso in his lifetime created more than 50,000 pieces of work. That is an amazing amount. But the act of making, failing and making again is one of the things that drives creativity and knowledge. One of the biggest hurdles most creative people face is the inner editorial voice that stops them from making things because they think it's not good enough or there isn't enough time to do a great job or…. The only way to get better is to practice, and by making mistakes you learn and get better.
So make things, many things
 

Be experimental  

Picasso experimented in a wide range of media and conceptual areas, which allowed him many ways to explore his ideas--even becoming a poet for two years before coming back to being a visual artist. Forcing yourself to feel like a beginner can broaden your thinking, which can sometimes be too narrowed by what your expertise in one medium tells you is possible. 

But how can you be prolific and bring more experimentation to your work? I’ve found three simple tactics that support both key strategies. 

Make your own tools

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." - John Culkin

Everything from having your own way of creating a meeting agenda to the way you generate ideas is personal tools that help create your creative culture over the years. By documenting your own tools you create a distinct method that becomes valuable in a world of uniformity.

A fascinating example is Picasso’s unique way of setting up color palettes. Years later people are making exhibitions around the tool that was his way of creating a distinct culture for his work. 
Why Picasso's palettes were a work of art in themselves

"It is in the palettes that Picasso’s experimentation has its origins, and in that sense, they have a magical dimension.”

How do I apply this idea in my own work? In "Playing by your own rules" I explain a tool I developed: a logical framework to solve problems. 

Build your knowledge 

Writing about what you do and sharing that with your friends or the world is a way to build knowledge. Only then can you test your ideas and help others understand them. Building a knowledge base of books is good but building a knowledge base of your own writing helps you create your own personal culture around how you think. In Picasso’s prolific correspondence with his friends, he experimented with form and content, so much that these are now a key part of his legacy. See this Illustrated Letter to Jean Cocteau

An example of a knowledge resource from my own practice is collectedreading.com Over the course of a year I created a series of blog posts, each with a single focused idea and five articles or books to support the idea. 

Grow your network

“But the greatest benefit is to be derived from conversation, because it creeps by degrees into the soul.” - Seneca

This quote sums up what I mean by "network"; it’s not how many people you know but the kinds of conversations you have with them, the ideas passed back and forth over the years and the concepts which creep into your own personal culture. 

I am often asked by co-workers or friends how to learn a new skill that will take their career to the next level. I offer these suggestions: 
1. Make a list of the people you know who have the skill or experience you desire. This usually results in a fairly long list. 
2. I then ask, “When was the last time you talked to any of those people in a meaningful way about that subject?” The answer is usually never!

The point of this example is to show that most of us have a network of people that have the knowledge, it is just a matter of asking. Most people are more than happy to share knowledge when there are no strings attached. Looking at Picasso’s list of friends you can see that he carefully cultivated conversations with some of the world's most famous thinkers, writers, and artists. (Andre Breton, Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre...) He created this network so he could build his own personal culture. 

The idea of the framework I'm talking about here is, for companies or individuals, to create an atmosphere in which creativity can flourish and be sustained for many years. No one but Picasso could be Picasso, but you can create your own unique personal culture in your own field. The ability to create and adapt I hope will serve you well. 

Digital Strategy ?

When someone says “digital strategy”, or just “strategy,” what comes to mind? You might think of strategic roadmaps, strategic pillars, ROI, KPI’s or a whole range of other deliverables and concepts that create a strategy.

Yet, today many of these tools are based on a foundation that is no longer true. Assuming consumer and business behaviors and activities are not going to change for 12 months is a vision of the past. In reality, the only constant is change and the rate of adoption of new forms of technology and consumer experiences is way in advance of any roadmap that tries to predict the future. So what can you do? This collection of articles looks at ways to become more agile, critiques what have come to be seen as best practices, and tries to help you avoid doing things that are actually destructive to your own success.

The SIMPLE Answer to Digital Strategy
“Most of the challenges you’ll face will be with folks trying to make this bigger (because that’s easier), slower (because that’s easier too) or stalling (because that’s easiest).”
Thought Works


Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It.
“The idea of purposefully introducing into my life a service designed to fragment my attention is as scary to me as the idea of smoking would be to an endurance athlete, and it should be to you if you’re serious about creating things that matter”
New York Times


Digital Strategy is Dead
“By learning to act and iterate quickly in small ways, companies build their most sustainable competitive advantage: agility.”
Thought Works


IBM is gearing up to become the world’s largest and most sophisticated design company
“Designers bring this intuitive sense for what it [the assignment] means. They understand the power of delivering a great experience and how to treat a user as if they were guests in their own home,” says Gilbert, who’s also the company’s designated chief design evangelist.”
Quartz


Why “Agile” and especially Scrum are terrible
“The worst thing about estimates is that they push a company in the direction of doing work that’s estimable”
Micheal O Church Blog