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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 11 jun 2015

Companies are targeting their product and service offerings to the growing Millennial market. Pew Research predicts that this year Millennials, with 75 million people in US under 34, will overtake the Baby Boomers. But the question is: Should the companies consider Millennials as homogeneous entity and design their products and services accordingly? Authors, Timothy Morey and Allison Schoop of frog (a global product and strategy design firm), argue that to design offerings with exclusive focus on generational cohorts will result in meaningless or potentially damaging outcomes. There is little that unites them totally. According to them, 'A better approach is to design for archetypes that are representative of certain attitudinal and behavioral traits, and then combine these with social, market and emerging technology trends-all things that transcend age or generation. Defining an ideal customer for a potential product or service using broader human themes allows you to create solutions that resonate with a larger group of people.' They further explain, 'Far too many companies take a "product-out" view of segmentation, where they essentially ask their customers to line up around their products by demographics such as age or income. They should take an "outside-in" view that orients its products around their customers' attitudes and behaviors instead. Meeting the functional and emotional needs of a group of people is much more likely to generate transformative results than targeting a generational cohort with tenuous links.' Read on...

Harvard Business Review: Stop Designing for Millennials
Authors: Timothy Morey, Allison Schoop

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 mar 2015

In the world where products and services are designed to be simple and bring ease in human lives, Brian Millar, head of strategy at Sense Worldwide, brings out a contrarian view. According to him difficulty can sometime make lives and jobs more meaningful. To explain his perspective he mentions an influential book 'Drive', in which author Daniel Pink argues that humans are motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose and when things are designed to be simple, it takes away the fulfilment and satisfaction that come from mastery. He cites example of phishing scams that prey on trance-like state of people where clicking a link to reset password is not always thought about well. He also provides a case of shared space movement, a successful road safety design campaign, where ambiguity is brought back into road use at certain points, by making unclear who has right of way, for both padestrians and drivers. This resulted in slowing down of traffic and subsequent 43% fall in accident rates. He talks about his experience of an unsuccessful risk assessment sofware product that was designed to be very simple but since complexity was prevalent in investment banks for decision-making at that time, it was rejected. He argues that by incorporating a little difficulty in the design of that sofware might have resulted in a better outcome as the industry's practice relied on it. Read on...

the guardian: Why we should design things to be difficult to use
Author: Brian Millar

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 sep 2014

'Design Thinking' is being applied by professors at University of Michigan's Ross School of Management to develop and enhance leadership capabilities of participants in their Executive Education programs. The programs are developed by using design thinking approach to seek and understand perspectives of potential candidates and fulfill their expectations and aligning theory with practice. In today's business world innovation is a critical component of leadership and competitive advantage. According to Professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks of Ross School, 'The design thinking approach shrinks innovation to something that doesn't require a massive strategic change in an organization, but can be applied every day; from how might we better communicate within a team to how might we increase our ability to identify new market potentials and trends.' Professor D. Scott DeRue, associate dean of executive education at Ross, explains that, 'We had a program in place, and it was doing well, but we weren't sure it was the best we could offer. We went out and immersed ourselves to understand the needs of high potentials in today's world.' Read on...

Talent Management: Use Design Thinking to Develop Better Leaders
Author: Kate Everson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 sep 2014

Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University, has been conducting research on eating habits and behaviors of consumers through his Food and Brand Lab, which he founded in 1997 while being at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His new book 'Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life' is just published and focuses on understanding surrounding and environment at five places - home, favorite restaurants, favorite grocery store, work-place, children's school - that influences eating behaviors and find solutions by designing them in such a way that encourages healthier eating habits. According to him, 'It's easier to become slim by design than slim by willpower.' Here are nine recommendations from him while doing a kitchen makeover - (1) Move healthier foods to visible spots (2) Make tempting foods invisible and inconvenient (3) Declutter your kitchen (4) Make your kitchen less friendly for lounging (5) Think twice before buying big packages of food (6) Use smaller serving bowls and spoons (7) Use smaller, narrower drinking glasses (8) Serve food from the counter or the stove (9) Avoid doing other activities while eating. Read on...

USA TODAY: 9 ways to lose weight by rearranging your kitchen
Author: Nanci Hellmich

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 may 2014

The design of student learning programs, especially for young children, should be based on their age and mental development. In the article, Priyakorn Pusawiro of King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, explores the importance of Brain-Based Learning (BBL) in creating a better learning environment. BBL is one of the approach that brings concepts and research from neuroscience, biology and psychology, and defines relationship between learning and brain, to keep students motivated and inspired to learn. The pace and complexity of lessons that are taught should be balanced according to the student's capacity and maturity to assist them develop confidence and improve their learning ability. While designing the learning environment, both inside classroom and outdoor, educators should focus on enhancing learning experience and exposure to new things. Moreover interaction between fellow classmates should be encouraged to imbibe social skills. Emphasis should be given to hands-on learning and the discovery process. Media and learning materials should include concepts and examples from daily lives that children can relate to. Technology assisted learning should be encouraged and incorporated in the curriculum. Read on...

The Nation: Design media technology and learning space in brain-based learning
Author: Priyakorn Pusawiro

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 feb 2014

China's manufacturing goods industry with its modern mass production factories and cheap labor is one of the most dominant and competitive in the world. Will 3D printing affect and transform Chinese manufacturing? In the article, authors of the latest book 'Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing', Melba Kurman and Hod Lipson, share their insight and opinion on how 3D printing technology changes the dynamics of the Chinese manufacturing sector. Among the skeptics is Terry Gou, the CEO of one of the largest manufacturer, Foxconn. But the industry is now adopting the technology, although a bit late as compared to US and Europe. There are now seven 3D printer manufacturers located in China and the world's largest 3D printer manufacturer Stratsys, based in US, planning to open its office there. Moreover the technology will also assist China to evolve into high-end manufacturing and related services. Chinese government is considering it as priority and mentions it in their 12th Five Year Plan. The key goals include - investment in R&D; move up the value chain and focus on high-end & high-margin manufacturing in biotech, IT, innovative materials etc; upgrade skills of the labor force. During the course to achieve the goals there will be challenges. 3D printing technology may not totally displace the current mass manufacturing but it has the potential to find its own niche for premium custom products and services, both for the domestic and global markets. Read on...

Yahoo News: How 3D Printing Will Transform Chinese Manufacturing
Authors: Melba Kurman, Hod Lipson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 03 jan 2014

Wearable technologies are finding prominence in the human-centered technology ecoystem with devices like smart watches, smart glasses, smart textiles etc. The article provides an interview with Oliver Stokes from PDD, a design consulting firm, where he explains the current and future prospects for the wearable and embedded devices. He mentions that more advancements are required in wearable technologies so that they blend seemlessly in human ecosystem without specifically affecting their body language and social behavior. Moreover healthcare is one of the areas where these technologies will get early adoption. Smart textiles, in addition to healthcare and fitness, may find use in fashion clothings where they can change color and patterns providing them more versatility or they can be used in cars for shape and color variations and changes. Considering the present research advancements, smart textiles will find commercial use in 5 years. Read on...

Shiny Shiny: Forget smart watches, are smart textiles and implants the future?
Author: Ashley Norris

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 dec 2013

'Design Thinking' is becoming a critical component of innovation strategies implemented by companies. According to Professor John Caruso of Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD), design thinking is all about process and openness to exploring innovative ideas, and through creative problem-solving process that seeks to make lateral connections between seemingly disparate ideas, provide customer centric products and services. The interview with John Caruso provides his views on design thinking concept, the process, the problems that can be solved, the risks involved, the cost factor and its overall impact on companies. He mentions that every company can utilize the basic principles of design thinking, customize them based on their specific needs and apply them as part of their problem solving strategies. According to him the fundamental aspects of design thinking are - problem identification; evaluation of user's needs; establishment of product criteria; exploration & development of ideas & concepts; evaluation of these concepts; implementation through drawings, plans, physical models & user testing; and a further evaluation step before getting realization in the product market. Read on...

BizTimes: Design Thinking can change your company
Author: Erica Breunlin

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 dec 2013

'Emotional Design' concept was introduced by Donald Norman and it proposes that people find aesthetically appealing product much more functional and useful because it connects with the person on an emotional level. He mentions three levels of emotional and visual design - Visceral (instant and instinctive first impressions after interaction with product); Behavioral (user experience based on functionality, simplicity, intuitiveness and usability); Reflective (leads to overall impression of the product and involves reasoning, logical thinking and analysis). The article utilizes these principles to suggest a designing process for apps. It mentions ways for incorporating positive emotions in the app design - surprise users with something unexpected and new; use humour; make it attractive and good looking; make people feel special by offering something extra to exclusive groups; consider users needs and incorporate helpful tips and guides. Some more suggestions for app designers - imitate human emotions, use music and be playful and edgy. Read on...

CMS Wire: How To Use Emotional Designs In Your App To Engage Users
Author: Jessica Davis

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 01 dec 2013

Jonny Ives of Apple, acknowledges the influences that Dieter Ram's (of Braun) work has on his designs. Often these influences are visible in his designs for Apple's products. Article explores some of the comparisons of the works of both designers. Jonny Ives considered Dieter Ram's designs as 'bold, pure, perfectly-proportioned, coherent and effortless'. The ten principles of 'Good Design' described by Dieter Ram are - (1) It is innovative; (2) It makes a product useful; (3) It is aesthetic; (4) It makes a product understandable; (5) It is unobtrusive; (6) It is honest; (7) It is long-lasting; (8) It is thorough down to the last detail (9) It is environmentally friendly; (10) It is as little design as possible. Read on...

Forbes: Jony Ives' (No Longer So) Secret Design Weapon
Author: Anthony Wing Kosner

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