This site is a work in progress. But aren't we all?
A rolling blog of up to 101 design critiques: things that could be (or maybe already are!) better than we expect – thanks to a bit of Design Thinking. There’ll be UI, UX, CX; signs, services, systems; playgrounds, objects, and more – you name it, I want it to be better.
So I was using this salt, and I spotted this sticker on the lid, and I grimaced. Salt doesn’t expire; it’s almost literally a rock. There’ll be a process behind this sticker. It didn’t arrive on my salt by accident. My inner empath says it’s a sad result of tens of people rolling over and … Read moreHow long do you plan to be in business?
Good question. Who knows?! To help my teams find out, I designed the “22 Minutes” training and inspiration tool* – a short and sweet way to explore and integrate the new and weird into our thinking, every couple of weeks. Importantly, it’s a regular thing – not a once-a-year visit from an interstellar messenger… *two … Read moreWhat is 22 minutes into the future?
Happiness by design – or by accident, late on a Friday after a beer? I’d hope it was the former: a simple tweak of boilerplate copy, plus a bit of fun with perspective (safety stripes never made a delivery bay look so biiiiig) – equals a fresh way to get busy tradies to notice and respect safety signage. Wonder how much effect this kind of gentle engagement has on keeping the place in order? How would you know?
GRAND EFFIE – Most Effective Campaign 2017. There’s often magic buried in the data. This four-year project demonstrates that, in spades. Two or three years of watching the way customers behaved “better” when offered emotional experiences (vs rational monetary rewards) lead us to an award-winning strategic approach. Here’s how the story goes: Rebranding a company … Read moreEnergy made Wonderful
“We all have something we know should probably be a bit more of a priority. Something we know is quite important, but maybe don’t want to think about too much right now. Maybe it doesn’t look like it’d be much fun, or maybe we’ve told ourselves it’s not urgent. “So we do what someone else … Read moreHey, sheeple!
No reason a strong, simple input field can’t have a sense of humour, too… From https://uimovement.com/ui/5963/input/ – via the wonderful Stephen Anderson.
Ever been 5 minutes late for school? What did you do? I bet you didn’t slow down, and look more carefully for cars. That’s why this example of poor design bugs the shit out of me. Yes, the sign is visually clear about its main message – 40km/h – but the system design behind the rest … Read moreThe semiotics of signs
In what universe is this even remotely acceptable? I’m so grumpy about this I might have to go for a walk to calm down, then come back later and critique what’s going on – and how it might be fixed with a teensy bit of thought.
Kickstarts. Pitches. Workshops. Brand support. There’s a hell of a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, lead by asymmetrical systems-thinkers like, well, me for example. Check this lot out: Kickstarts – strategic, creative, CX, innovation; a kickstart is typically a formal, four-hour session designed to extract and define the issues and ways … Read moreThe CX-y stuff behind the work…