The Blog

in fact, I double dare you!

This summary of an excellent article I found on Co.Design will help you successfully complete the dare:

First and foremost, your manager is not the boss. THE CONSUMER IS THE BOSS.

Secondly, innovation means finding problems customers can’t successfully solve today.

“The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it sells him… nobody pays for a ‘product.’ What is paid for is satisfaction.” Companies think they are selling products and services, but in reality people hire those products and services to get jobs done in their lives.

Most beneficial way to spend time in the marketplace in order to identify innovation opportunities? Lets break it down.

• Get to CONTEXT

Next, it’s very important for companies to spend time in the marketplace in order to really learn who the consumer is because “even the most well-intentioned people lie”.

Know your customer better than they know themselves.

• Watch for WORKAROUNDS

If consumers are going out of their way and inconvenienced by a product (i.e. a particular jean fits different in every size, thereby forcing them to try on at least 10 pairs) DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

“Carefully studying current and potential customers often highlights workarounds that customers create to make up for the limitations of existing solutions.”

• Focus on NONCONSUMERS

Identify and key in on people who encounter constraints “that inhibits their ability to solve a pressing problem they are facing in their lives.”

Too many good quotes in this article, I can’t help myself:  “It takes some mental discipline to look to markets that don’t exist. But that discipline can pay off in the form of growth opportunities that are hidden in plain sight.”

Check it

I’m going to add my two cents and say I’m not a fan and agree with the supporting reasons (many of which I’ve listed below)

“The publishers are placing ad revenues above the user experience, which is a risky strategy”

Concerns with this, you ask? It’s pretty obvious…

• Obnoxious amount of ads results in VERY slow page load speed
• By clicking on a link, which in return takes you off the page, you better be taken to a page that’s clean and strictly content. Nope, not the case… many sites will take you to pages with huge ads, everywhere
• It’s difficult to read the content because the ads distract users’ eyes
• Overlays… enough said
• Auto play videos drive users nuts. Unless you enjoy hearing random voices while trying to enjoy some excellent tunes on Spotify (personal experience, sorry)
• Pagination- having to click an incredible amount of pages to view one medium sized image
• there’s more- click the link below

When everything is said and done, it comes down to money. Agree? Don’t agree?

please read

Generation of Innovators, at your service!

Many young people say they aren’t considering careers in these fields: science, math, engineering, and technology.

Why not? See above!!

Article

In response to our many internship postings, I arrived to the office this morning with a few internship submissions in my inbox.

And then I found this as I was browsing around on GOOD and LinkedIn News

Apparently, according to top Executive Recruiters, there are “only three true job interview questions”:

1. Can you do the job?

2. Will you love the job?

3. Can we tolerate working with you?

In regards to #1: Kevin Kelly, CEO of an Executive Search firm called Heidrick & Struggles, states “…it’s not just about the technical skills, but also about leadership and interpersonal strengths.  Technical skills help you climb the ladder.  As you get there, managing up, down and across become more important.”

STRENGTHS

#2: This is linked with motivation claims CEO Bill Guy.  Employees (such as myself, I might add) value a company’s environment and the challenges associated with their work. If both align, they will work extremely hard, despite the monetary incentive.

MOTIVATION

#3: Again, Kevin Kelly provides insight on this topic. He claims that cultural fit is of great importance and whether or not a prospective employee fits into an organization, should be a determining factor as to whether or not some one gets hired.

FIT

In in interview, you have an assortment of questions to ask or maybe you’re on the other end being asked a bunch of questions THAT ALL REVOLVE AROUND THESE THREE WORDS: STRENGTH, MOTIVATION AND FIT.

Final insight from the article:

“If you’re the one doing the interviewing, get clear on what strengths, motivational and fit insights you’re looking for before you go into your interviews.”

“If you’re the one being interviewed, prepare by thinking through examples that illustrate your strengths, what motivates you about the organization and role you’re interviewing for, and the fit between your own preferences and the organization’s.”

really, it is.

“Society is simply better when we pool our resources and skills together”

this post is not only an opportunity for me to introduce a new arm of motivate design, JAM SESSIONS, but also a chance for me to comment on a great article.
follow along here: http://mashable.com/2012/02/07/sharing-economy/

the main theme throughout is the concept of collaborative consumption and how it’s all about value.

online peer-to-peer marketplaces are making it simple for people to share and reallocate resources, in return lessening waste.

of course, with everything, there are pros and cons. so, lets discuss:

pros include making money in a fulfilling way, meeting super people, borrowing instead of owning (which costs more money), interacting with various people by sharing stories and in return impacting one another, enjoying life, and even making a difference in some way.

cons include the fact that currently the peer-to-peer marketplaces don’t communicating with each other. The experience between one good and another is “fragmented.” Think about it… GetAround, RelayRides, Airbnb, Wimdu, etc. Phew!

Lets not forget that trust is very important when considering this idea of collaborative consumption. I think its pretty self-explanatory.

“The collaborative consumption space is young, though, so we’ll have to wait and see whether the cultural differences between transaction-based and borrowing-based marketplaces survive.”

Alright, now we’re down to the good stuff. JAM sessions here at Motivate Design will happen once or twice a month. I’d rather break it down in bullets.

- FREE

- specifically for start-ups and nonprofits

- one hour of consumer advising/user experience advice

- “guest jammers” will be in attendance, providing A-MAZING advice

- opportunity to have research conducted (thats not free, sorry)

- chance for you to check out our sick space in TriBeCa

more details to come.

Motivate Design is looking for A-M-A-Z-ing interns in the fields of Graphic Design and Social Media.

We want someone who has a passion for design, technology, trends and innovation in the digital and social space. Oh, and you should be proficient with Adobe programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).

Got it? Great, continue reading on.

Who we are and why you should intern here:

• Motivate Design is a consumer research and design firm.
• We conduct research to help our clients make decisions about how to engage their customers.
• We understand what users need and want, design a solution, and validate it.
• We are set apart by going beyond exposing usability issues and uncovering what users need both rationally and emotionally in order to feel engaged and satisfied.
• Motivate Design aims to assure that the user experience practices have momentum within an organization. Training, workshops and stakeholder interviews all contribute to this goal.

Expected responsibilities for Graphic Design internship:

• Creating infographics
• Project sketches
• Press kit design
• Client identities and personas
• Modifying client deliverables
• Proposing design solutions for Motivate Design and UX Hires
• Performing above tasks and others for projects

Expected responsibilities for Social Media internship:

• Create and maintain a content editorial calendar
• Campaign development on social media platforms
• Day-to-day community management, fan engagement, page and content moderation, monitor and engage on various social media platforms
• Monitoring key online conversations and events to make sure brands (Motivate Design and UX Hires) participating effectively and are being well-represented. Seeding approved content and editorial pieces to key influencers and other identified sites and blogs
• Assist with basic research as needed in order to engage the community and to investigate any trending activities
• Keeping the team informed, and generally helping the Manager complete necessary tasks
• Pull periodical reports on social media & eCommerce statistics
• Perform above tasks and others for projects

This is a start-up, so the ideal candidate also needs to be a person who is very persistent and dedicated. The candidate needs to be self-motivated and ready and willing to do what it takes to make this company successful.

Benefits


• The internship is unpaid, but college credit may be awarded where applicable
• Working alongside intelligent, witty and high-energy individuals (we like to toot our own horn)
• Potential hire (if you impress us, of course)
• Estimated weekly hours are at least 15 hours per week (unless you have more time than that!)
- Minimum 3-month commitment
• Interns can work remotely, on his/her own computer
• Opportunities for increased responsibility, including writing and sales
• Learn social media from someone knowledgeable

Interested? We hope so! Talk to you soon.

Best Practices. What does that even mean?
Even I overuse the term, but when I really think about it, what is a best practice? Who decides that it’s best? How do you define a best practice? Is it just what’s common? Is common good?
I don’t think I want to follow best practices when it comes to UI design. Or, anything for that matter. Because, given the speed of innovation and change today, the best practices of today are kind of already outdated. If you think about the sites that made an impression and drew your attention, they probably did NOT follow best practices.
I was on a website a few weeks ago where the site had a glitch and I landed on an error page. Annoying and a bit worrisome, but the way the site handled the error was with a cute, funny joke. Not a best practice, but it stuck in my mind as a smart way to handle a UI/UX problem.
Even in how we approach research—my friend Katie and I were talking about when we first learned about the usability research, we were taught to be VERY careful in closed ended questions in interviews. There were many rules in moderating research—from the importance of being consistent in your opening to the types of questions you should not ask. But, in the moderating workshop we did today, it was amazing to see how informal communication and practices really got participants to open up and be honest. We debriefed with one of the younger respondents, and she pointed out that when the interview felt like a conversation, she felt OK to be open.
So, what should we be shooting for? Maybe it’s just better practices. I’m thinking we approach each design opportunity with the question, “How can we do it better?” Just because everyone is doing it one way, doesn’t mean we have to. Maybe it means we DON’T have to.

Above is an interactive tool that depicts the 500 companies on Fortune Magazine’s annual list of America’s largest corporations.

I encourage you to click and drag the mouse around to see how a company’s rank has changed over the years from 1955 to 2010.

I just had to share it, it’s so neat!

Here at Motivate Design, we value the concept of brainstorming. Not to mention, we just got this cool new space with an “inspiration area”. Nice, right? We think so. Yet, this article opened our eyes to the concept of brainstorming and having an effective workspace to properly support it.

Let’s first chat about the history of brainstorming. It was invented by Mr. Alex Osborn, one of the founders of BBDO, in the 1940′s. Ten years later, an experiment surrounding the concept, was conducted.

In the 1950s, an experiment tested found that when test subjects attempted to solve a complex puzzle, they actually came up with twice as many ideas working alone as they did when working together in a group.

For instance, “people in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this ‘the pain of independence’.”

“The most productive groups were those with a baseline of familiarity but just enough fresh blood to make things interesting.”

For better brainstorming:
1. might work better if its focused on identifying problems, instead of just finding solutions.

“people are usually better at finding fault than they are at finding answers.”

2. The smartest office isn’t perfect, as sometimes chaos can provoke creativity.
Designers really can make a company smarter, if they embrace the chaotic reality of creativity, rather than trying to create spaces where every last function and possibility is perfectly assembled and placed.

In summary, if you want to rock out an awesome idea, throw some pillows on the ground, grab a large group of opinionated (yet respectful) individuals, and start sharing thoughts.

bravo! http://www.fastcodesign.com/1668930/the-brainstorming-process-is-bs-but-can-we-rework-it