Designing Interactions

Designing Interactions is a book put out recently that talks about a variety of topics. The book itself is a set of interviews with people from various companies (like Google). The book is made available online for free, although the physical version does look pretty nice.

I haven’t gotten a chance to read it, but I look forward to doing so given my growing fascination in design.

You can find the online book here, and its official plug over at d.school news.

Getting Real

I am excited to find out that 37Signals’ book “Getting Real” which encompases their philsophy on software development is now available to read online for free. I definitely recommend checking it out. I know I will most likely buy it (when my poor college student status shifts ever-so-slightly to allow).

Road to the elite

Last night as I was reading my advanced review copy of Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnel and Jackie Huba over at Church of the Customer Blog, which by the way has been a joy to read thus far, and their explanation of the “1 Percent Club” and the 1% Rule made me think more about the notion of ‘clubs’. That is to say, the desire for people to be an expert, or the elite, and how that ties in with accomplishment.

I personally believe the majority of people in the world have the desire to be an expert or “elite” in regards to something- or more fundamentally, to accomplish something. I would also venture to say that those who are against “elitism” (not the singling out, so much as the concept of the elite) are those who are against experts, and further stated are those who are simply against what they are afraid they cannot become themselves- or cannot accomplish. And a fear it is, as they have fallen victim to their own perceptions, becoming shaped by them instead of shaping them.

What slows any one person to accomplishment is the perception of what they wish to accomplish balanced by their perception of how likely it is for them to obtain it. If the boundary of perceived accomplishment is lowered as to reduce the risk of failing – the underlying deterrent – then many more people would strive for that accomplishment irregardless of whether the amount of time required achieving it actually ever changed. That is to say, if the strength of the vision is strong enough and the perceived road to achieve that vision is created in such a way that the chance of success appears high, then more people would be striving and succeeding in accomplishments.

I would like to go further to say that I think a varyingly large part of this road lends itself to perception. A person who has heard “You can accomplish anything you put your mind to” all of their life will have a much smaller boundary to accomplishment than someone who has heard “Don’t try at what you know you can’t succeed in.” or even someone who has heard nothing at all on the subject. This is a shaping of perception, its effects most likely obvious as someone comes to mind during those phrases.

Link 11-24-06: Stealth Disco

Saw this hilarious video over at Jaffe’s Blog. To me, this is what it’s all about (not just the disco, the community with the hilarity of the stealth disco).

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2006/11/stealth_discoin.html

Sorry, We’re Closed

I recently read a post over at Signal vs. Noise (37Signal) that spurred a question that should be asked about any company:

Why does our company close?

Signal vs. Noise has the example of a sandwich store that closes when their fresh bread runs out. Everything a company does is a testimony to their brand. This includes when and why your company chooses to open or close. Does your store close because every other store closes at 5? Or does it close because you have a good reason to close [perhaps] beyond that after 5 your profits aren’t worth being open? I don’t know about you, but this really makes me re-consider the ‘norms’ of business.

For example:
A toy store that aims to supply toys for ages 2-4 chooses to “close” for a period of time during the day when everyone gets out of pre-school. During this time they open up their store as a playground, allowing kids to play in the stores’ play area with various new toys. The registers are closed and staff gets to enjoy simply chatting with the parents and kids. After a certain period of time, the store is ‘re-opened’ allowing people to purchase again.

This creates a nice break for the staff. It speaks to what the store is about- the kids. It exposes the stores’ “customers” directly to new products (you can see what toys the kids liked and didn’t) and it allows you to build a community and honestly get to know parents. And those are just to name a few.

Can you think of a reason your company could close at a different time that speaks to what your company is about?

How to add graphics to your presentation or blog.

I saw this post over at Creating Passionate Users. The post was great timing for me personally as I’ve been getting 2 presentations ready to go this week and was asking myself a lot of the questions proposed here in terms of figuring out what images I want to use and how I want to compare ideas.

Fantastic post. Check it out!

The Rushed Community

“If you’re in too much of a hurry to build a real network, you’re probably in too much of a hurry to get elected.” – Seth Godin

“What at any rate seems certain is that when Friendship bears fruit which the community can use it has to do so accidentally, as a by-product.” – C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves).

The project I was last working on had me spearheading the growth, activity, and general happyness of the community that supported the project. If there was one thing that became very evident to me during that time it’s that you can’t rush the trust that creates friendship which leads to a loyal community. You can only encourage it and try to be a part of it. When you try to rush it, you try to force it. And when you try to force it, you’re not being real. Companies who really care won’t rush relationships, and the people you want will wait for the companies that care. In the end, the results from taking your time are awesome because they’re genuine.

Relationships between people take time. Relationships between companies and people will take even more.