What the great organisations are able to achieve is the continuous ability to regenerate their own core strategies, based on what they don’t yet know, re-inventing entire industries along the way. They are able to train their cultures to challenge internal and external assumptions all of the time – a circular projection and review of core competencies — to develop a sustainable future. - Anthill
Our children must master systems-thinking to envision multiple methods for addressing complex challenges like renewable energy, world hunger, climate change, and ultimately, the design of a better world. - fastcodesign
My favs for most questionable: Join AIGA and Your Mac is tool.
My favs for most reasonable: Define your Audience and Become Indispensable
The user is king. It’s a phrase that’s repeated over and over again as a mantra: Companies must become user-centric. But there’s a problem: It doesn’t work. Here’s the truth: Great brands lead users, not the other way around.
The Apple and IKEA way
Take Apple. One evening, well into the night, we asked some of our friends on the Apple design team about their view of user-centric design. Their answer? “It’s all bullshit and hot air created to sell consulting projects and to give insecure managers a false sense of security. At Apple, we don’t waste our time asking users, we build our brand through creating great products we believe people will love.” Another hyper-growth brand, IKEA, has the same belief. One of us had the privilege of working closely with IKEA’s global brand and design leaders; at IKEA the unspoken philosophy is: “We show people the way.” IKEA designers don’t use user studies or user insights to create their products. When I asked them why, they said “We tried and it didn’t work.” Of course, neither Apple nor IKEA will say this publicly since they are both extremely closed companies and would risk offending users (and the design community) by speaking out against user-centeredness. And since no one will speak up, the false value of the user-as-leader has spread.
Be a Visionary
If users can’t tell a company what to do, what should companies do instead? The best brands are all guided by a clear vision for the world, a unique set of values, and a culture that makes them truly unique and that no user insights could ever change. They define their own rules.The vision must come first. This could come from the client, designers, a team, an organization, or a design leader. It needs to be clear and applied consistently over the project.
Create an icon
The same goes for truly extraordinary products, the icons of the world. There are three types of iconic products and none of them are made through user-driven design.
Why it’s harmful to listen to the users
But can’t you create radical new products based on what the user wants? Why do the most innovative brands not care about what users want?
Users insights can’t predict future demand
The demand for something fundamentally new is completely unpredictable. Even the users themselves have no idea if they will like an entirely product before they start using it (and maybe, only after years of use). Demand for something new cannot be predicted. The world is driven forward by improbable, high-impact events, both negative and positive: September 11th, the subprime crisis, or the explosive rise of social media. These events completely changed the world and were difficult to predict—perhaps a few individuals saw a glimpse of the future, but the majority of people were totally unprepared. It’s the same with new products and brands—you can’t foresee what will be successful. This is a very scary thought for most business leaders, but the good news is that there are ways to deal with it. All creative industries are dependent on the constant launch of radically new products. And the music, movie, publishing, and fashion industries have tried to find stability in a sea of unpredictability by constantly putting out new products and seeing what sticks. They have learned to hire the best and the most creative people in the world (whether it’s directors, music producers, or authors), worked hard to launch a broad portfolio of products and to speed up the time it takes their products to reach the market.
User-centered processes stifles creativity
Could you imagine Steven Spielberg starting out new film projects with intense user studies and insights? Not really. There is a reason why Spielberg and all other profoundly creative people don’t work in a user-centered way. The user-centered process is created as linear rational process for innovation and that’s why it’s so popular among managers. But as studies of successful innovations and creativity shows, creating something new is a chaotic, unpredictable, frustrating, and very, very hard process. And most of all, it’s the result of extraordinary efforts and visions of a few extremely talented people. These creative people will feel limited and bored, not inspired, if they have to start out a creative process with a lot of user knowledge. Their inspiration comes from a multiple of sources and is highly individual. Creating a formula will always be in vain and won’t result in something really new.
User focus makes companies miss out on disruptive innovations
Focusing on users will lead companies to make incremental innovations that typically tend to make the products more expensive and complicated and ironically, in the long run, less competitive. Radical innovations typically gain traction in the margins of a market and the majority of customers (at least in the beginning) will dislike change. If a company bases their decisions on user studies, they will conclude that most radically new innovations are not rational to pursue. This often means that companies miss out on new growth markets that can end up eventually eliminating their business. The same logic applies to branding. A company will always go for very small incremental changes in their branding efforts if they base their decision on user input. In the short run, minor changes pleases their users. In the long run, it means the big brand will be run over by bolder, often smaller, and more innovative brands that redefine an industry.
User-led design leads to sameness
Even if user insights were useful, it isn’t a competitive advantage. Even the most advanced users studies are now widely available. Most companies have conducted these studies and they have had the same insights about their users as you have. Therefore, product strategies based on studies will tend to be similar to their competitors. The result is a sea of sameness. This isn’t a theoretical point—most industries are characterized by very similar products and brand positions, partially because companies have listened too much to their users. Branding is really about differentiation, about standing out. User centeredness leads to the opposite, similarity.
It’s time for brands to step up and trust themselves again. ***
AUI = Application User Interface
BUI = Browser User Interface
CUI = Console User Interface
DUI = Dynamic User Interface
EUI = Enhanced User Interface
FUI = Fake User Interface
GUI = Graphical User Interface
HUI = Human User Interface
IUI = Intelligent User Interface
JUI = None :(
KUI = None :(
LUI = Local User Interface
MUI = Multilingual User Interface
NUI = Network User Interface
OUI = Operator User Interface
PUI = Perceptual User Interface
QUI = None :(
RUI = Remote User Interface
SUI = Speech User Interface
TUI = Text-based User Interface
UUI = User to User Interface
VUI = Visual User Interface
WUI = Web User Interface
XUI = XML User Interface
YUI = Yahoo! User Interface
ZUI = Zoomable User Interface
No jokes, every single one of them is on: www.acronymfinder.com
http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/116319-autoit3wrapper-console-option/
Fast Company names The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design To Transform Teaching and Learning as one of the best design books of 2010.
BMD co-authored The Third Teacher with OWP/P Cannon Architects and VS Furniture.
More on the article here:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662949/13-of-the-best-design-books-of-2010#12
Learn more about The Third Teacher:
1. Question
2. Care
3. Connect
4. Commit
By David Phillips - August 10, 2010
