Redjotter


Guten Morgen
February 28, 2009, 9:39 am
Filed under: Red Jotter Work, master of design | Tags: , ,

It rained every day and the sky was gray and bleak but Berlin proved to be a thought-provoking city. The day spent at T-Labs was fast-paced. It was an important milestone in the project – relaying our findings. We are now focused and ready to begin phase two of the project! You can see all my photos here.

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I discovered a tool for measuring emotions that was created as part of an MSc graduation project, the interactive survey measures the emotional reactions people experience whilst staying in a hotel.  There are some good images that trigger memories on the site!



Berlin Calls
February 25, 2009, 7:44 am
Filed under: Red Jotter Work, master of design | Tags: , ,

I am flying to Berlin this morning to spend three days at T-Labs, I’ve never been before so really looking forward to the experience. I have been working as part of a multi-disciplinary team on “Transferring today to Tomorrow” since January. We are flying over to relay our findings to our Berlin counterparts. Wish me luck :) Lots of Flickr photographs on the way.

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Rethinking Banking
February 25, 2009, 7:44 am
Filed under: made me think, service design | Tags: , , ,

“Researchers at the Center for Future Banking, in collaboration with Bank of America, will explore how emerging technologies and insights into human behavior can transform the customers’ experience and elevate the role of the bank in their financial lives. We seek to invent new ways to anticipate the needs and desires of customers down to the level of the individual, to put every customer in total control of his or her own financial futures, to rethink the experience of customer-bank interaction as virtual and physical reality become increasingly intertwined, and finally to leverage the unique position of a bank to make people’s lives simpler and more fulfilling.”

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The Studio Unbound

Today I am giving a presentation to University staff and students on the power of social networking.

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“MDes student Lauren Currie explores the power of online social networking, and demonstrates the tools students at Duncan of Jordanstone are using to move ideas forward, form networks with practitioners around the world, and build a reputation before and after graduation.

“For the designer to become a producer, she must have the skills to begin directing content, by critically navigating the social, aesthetic, and technological systems across which communications flow.”

(Ellen Lupton, 1998)

In highlighting the creative people all over the world using social networking to their advantage, Lauren will discuss the dynamic, conversational value of online networking and show how ideas of teaching and learning need to move away from the confines of the studio towards other, often ad-hoc and virtual, venues.

Joining from London via video conferencing will be Kate Andrews, design writer and networker extraordinaire, who will share her own insights into the potential offered by new technology.

Focusing on the new possibilities and opportunities the digital world presents, this talk will demonstrate that the world has changed and is changing, and that design courses must change with it if they are to stay relevant.”

Thank you to everyone who sent me links and shared their story with me. Jonathan will be twittering during the talk starting at 12.30pm so tune in! Photographs and feedback coming soon...



we20 introduction
February 23, 2009, 8:27 am
Filed under: people I like, service design | Tags: , , , , ,

Paul Massey from  we20 has released an introduction video.

we20 is a collaborative neutral platform aimed at creating ideas to assist individuals, companies and communities in the recession. They will help you run your own we20 meeting to untangle issues that effect you and your family. All of us can hold meetings; designers, bankers, charity workers, farmers…

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we20.org will be up and running soon. Really looking forward to following this….how has the crisis affected you and how would you change things?



Mindapples takes centre stage
February 22, 2009, 11:13 am
Filed under: Red Jotter Work, people I like | Tags: , , ,

Andy Gibson (our head gardener) works for School of Everything: http://schoolofeverything.com/ and in his spare time works on Mind Apples: http://mindapples.org/

Mindapples is a social movement to promote individual social management of well being. Last week I posted my first post as part of the Mindapples team :)

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The Short and Simple Story

The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated.

This video is a fantastic example of the power of visualisation and story telling.

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Watch the video created by Jonathan Jarvis here.



Would you ban kissing in public?

kissMills & Boon came out in protest today against Virgin’s ban on public displays of affection in UK station.

“Romantic embraces and passionate kisses are a vital part of life and should never be discouraged. We believe that attempting to restrict passion to certain times or areas is a denial of the human right to express love” says M&B spokeswoman Sarah Ritherdon.

The Virgin move outraged Cheshire travellers who are denied the right to kiss goodbye to their loved ones.

Outraged commuter at Warrington Bank Quay Station said: “There’s enough doom and gloom around at the moment, why are Virgin trying to impose more misery?”

If you’re outraged by the breach of our fundamental right to kiss in public, change your facebook profile picture to the poster shown here and spread the word!

Read more here.

(Via The School of Life)



Personalised Newspaper
February 20, 2009, 9:45 am
Filed under: reading and writing, service design | Tags: , , , ,

Tabbloid.com enables you to turn your favourite feeds into a personal magazine. It is free and does not require an account. You simply select your delivery options and on schedule you receive a printable PDF.

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This is a really nice idea, and I like the layout although there are some elements that still need refining. The ability to click the title of the blog post and then read the text would be more appropriate then displaying all the text of every post.

Try it out!

Via Edmund Gropl



Co-creation communities

Redesignme.com celebrates  co-creation communities. The web site is difficult to navigate and I am still a little confused although there are some interesting snippets:

“Through Redesignme Challenges companies ask for your help in making better products or services…”

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How it works

1. Create an account
Everybody can join as a Redesigner. Maybe you are a young designer or professional or just someone who likes to brainstorm about products & services. Just create and account and earn credits with your creativity.

2. Join RDM Challenges
On RedesignMe.com companies post RDM Challenges. Basically they ask you to brainstorm about one of their (new) products or services. You can help them by uploading Redesigns. A Redesign is a visualized idea in response to their challenge.

3. Earn RDMs (our online currency)
All of your Redesigns are rated by the rest of the community. After a couple of days, the company will also rate your Redesign. If they like it, you earn RDMs. Redesigns with a high rating have a bigger chance of generating RDMs.

4. Buy products
You collect RDMs by joining as many RDM Challenges as possible. You can also make multiple Redesigns per RDM Challange. If you have enough RDMs then you can buy products with them in our online RDM Shop.

Another example of a solution celebrating the power of the crowd is Kluster.com:

“Kluster is a collaborative decision making platform, a turbo-charged collective wisdom machine that turns questions into answers, ideas into opportunities, and analysis into action. Unlike conventional “crowdsourcing” that pits people and ideas against each other, Kluster brings them together. Our approach is based on real-world group decision-making models, taking into account individual influence and participation. Not only does Kluster identify the best ideas, it actually improves them in the process.”

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Read more in the New York Times : Putting Innovation in the hands of the crowd.

I must admit I am still getting my head around these ideas. Mike Press said to me recently “every service designer should know everything there is to know about crowd sourcing”…so here I go!

Please share any links you have!



Beware of interruptions

Watching this video was like a breath of fresh air this morning. In collaboration with the Creativity World Forum John Cleese tells us how he perceives creativity.

So, none of use know where we get our ideas from…but “we certainly do not get them from our laptops”… Cleese argues we get them from “our unconscious”. So for those of us who are always busy making lists and meeting deadlines…we need to slow down!

If we can get in the right mood we will be more creative. Cleese suggests we do this by creating our ‘little tortoise mind’, this happens when we create boundaries of space and time. You define a start and a finish time for your boundary of time and only then can you truly ‘play’.

“Most people who have absolutely no idea what they are doing, have absolutely no idea they don’t know what they are doing” since hearing this statement this morning many things in life have become clearer.

Observe what is happening round about you when you are at your most creative. Where are you when this happens? The most dangerous thing is interruption – it is destructive.

This video was introduced to me by Mike Press who spent this morning tell us about the best way to write. It appears the way to be most productive, creative and mentally stable :) is to write away from all books/notes/ technology/noise; interruptions

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I am now going to think…



Conference Reflections

This week’s Space & Place will be on today, February 18th in the  Reception Room at the University of Dundee.

I will be presenting alongside Qin Han who will discuss her experiences at the Design Research Network symposium in Berlin last year, as well her attendance at the Service Design Conference enable.student workshop in Amsterdam.

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I will be reflecting on the conference, sharing my insights, and encouraging the University to enable more students to attend such events.



Tulips blossom
February 17, 2009, 1:53 pm
Filed under: amsterdam adventure, people I like | Tags: , ,

Back in October I planted tulip bulbs given to me as gift from Arne and Marjo at DesignThinkers.

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It really made me smile this morning to see they had appeared after all these months…more pics will be coming soon as they become colourful :)



The first Nordic conference on service design.
February 17, 2009, 9:56 am
Filed under: people I like, service design | Tags: , , , ,

The Oslo School of Architecture and Design presents the first Nordic conference on service design.

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Day 1: The business case for Service Design

The first day of the conference will focus upon the businesss case for Service Design, showcasing projects, results and potential. It will include keynote speakers from the design industry and from service driven industries – both public and private sector.

Day 2: A crossover day, encouraging dialogue and learning, through workshops and tutorials

The second day will offer workshops, tutorials and an exhibition to encourage dialogue between disciplines and industries. This gives the opportunity to discuss the area of service design and to learn from others – design professionals, researchers or service providers.

Day 3: Research papers highlighting Service Design research

The third day will present completed and ongoing research projects that relate to Service Design. The Nordic countries seem to be taking a leading role in researching the relation design has to services, and several large scale projects will report their findings on this day. Read more about submitting papers here.

“We strongly believe that Service Design can improve the competitive ability of the Nordic service sector, and have established this conference to show how this can be done. The Nordic countries have contributed in a major way to  the recent development of Service Design, and there are several consultancies, courses and projects that are already established in the area. We feel that it is time to bring together key people, to showcase results and establish a dialogue, so that we can accelerate its growth.

We see the potential to create a Nordic Service Design network, that brings together business, marketing, design and technology expertise with a common goal to create better services and service experiences. This conference takes the first steps towards this.”



The Future Within
February 16, 2009, 6:35 pm
Filed under: made me think, people I like | Tags: , , , , ,

Consurgo is a new social enterprise scheme aimed a giving young graduates a push in the right direction. It co-ordinates innovative and practical work experience opportunities that aim to get young creatives involved in live projects.

An excellent video showcasing a fantastic idea.

(via Kate Andrews)