Thunk

This is a collection of things I have thought, things I have written, things I have helped to bring into being, and things that I like.

[charlottefereday]

Time to reflect

At some point in the next 6 months I need to write a thesis for my masters and I've been playing with a couple of ideas that I might want to pursue.

One of them is about the role of self-reflection in the design process. 

I've spoken to a few service designers about this (as well as some project managers, architects and other people who get involved in co-creation) and their response has been unclear. 

Some of them say that they don't build time for reflection into their co-creative process because it's never occurred to them. 

Others say that the whole process is reflective anyway, so there's no need to add more complexity.

And some said that they make sure there's time for reflection, but they call it incubation, (which I don't think is the same thing).

So is there any value in building structured self reflection into the process? The academic literature suggests that it has a positive impact on most things - from learning to teamwork to problem solving and management skills, but people working on co-design projects don't seem to be embracing it?

So what's my hypothesis?

"Structured self-reflection has a positive impact on outcomes of the co-design process". 

Because it's not just about making the process better (reducing conflict through empathy) I'm interested in the quality of the output. 

And, if everything else stays the same, is "structured self reflection" any more effective than unstructured contemplation, incubation, or a brisk walk? 

I'd welcome any thoughts about how I can build an experiment to test my hypothesis?

[charlottefereday]

three minute discovery

I have a new favourite way to ease myself into work (and play):

The 30 circle test was invented by Stamford's Bob McKim as a way of encouraging students to think more broadly.  I think it's meant to be a one off but I've fallen a little bit in love. 

Take a sheet of paper.

Draw a grid of 30 circles (or download this one) 

Start a stopwatch.

Draw as many pictures using the circles as you can in 3 minutes.

The first time, you'll do a few smiley faces, some balls and (maybe) a pair of glasses. The second time you'll remember there are lots of animals with round-ish bodies. And then fruit. And planets...

My sheet almost always contains variations on all these - but I still never get to 30.

Here's this morning's attempt. 3 minutes.  30 circles. Featuring my first Victoria Sponge.

[charlottefereday]

Belated Buzzzz

Everyone loves to win awards. But there's something particularly nice about winning an award long after the project has launched.

O2 Priority Moments for Independent Business picked up 2 golds at the Social Buzz awards this week.

I'm belatedly delighted.

[charlottefereday]

Building a case for story design

Story Design is something I've been thinking about for a long time and am slowly beginning to work out what it is and how it might work.  This article sets out where I've got to so far...

[charlottefereday]

Forget coding – this app turns sketches into working computer games

Pixel Press allows people of all ages to create a computer game with only pencil and paper.

This is the most exciting app I've seen for a long time. Draw your own platform game.  Scan it, and turn it into a working shareable game for phone or tablet.

[charlottefereday]

I always liked Smarties...

I just heard that we won silver at the MMA Smarties awards last night for the O2 Priority Moments for Business project I worked on last year.  

Woo hoo.

[charlottefereday]

Photography + Cookery + Ovaries = Typography.

This font by Handmade Font is a beautiful thing (via visual news)

[charlottefereday]

In March I ordered a pair of Jeans from Hiut Denim.  

There's barely any choice (2 cuts, 2 denims) and you have to wait 4 months for them to arrive.  When you get them they're stiffer than cardboard and you're strongly advised not to wash them for at least 6 months.

I love them. They're already my favourite jeans. But it has very little to do with how they look or feel.  And everything to do with the story they're telling.

hiutdenim.co.uk

[charlottefereday]

When work goes wrong

This week I did a bunch of interviews. I met some interesting people who have worked for good agencies but have decided 'it's time to move on'.

What I found interesting was they all cited not being able to get their work made as their biggest frustration.  They would have 'great' ideas, and often sell them to the client. But at some point in the creative process, the ideas would stumble and eventually get killed off in favour of an inferior idea.

So who's fault is that?

According to these guys, the blame lays squarely with the client, client services and internal politics.

Now, I've been there many times and I've cast my fair share of blame. But  over the years I've come to think that when an idea doesn't make it over the line, it's probably because it was the wrong idea (or at least the wrong execution).

It's our responsibility as creatives to sell, shape and nurture our ideas all the way to the door. And to accept that sometimes - however great the idea - we just have to let them go.

[charlottefereday]

More women than men play casual games between the ages of 24-35

Lady Geek / You Gov 2011

[charlottefereday]

"I just got divided and conquered on my own" 151 Rosebery Ave, London

Join me while I eavesdrop on the world around me.

www.twitter.com/i_heard

[charlottefereday]

Keith Weed for President

A few weeks ago I went to a D&AD conference about creativitiy and sustainability; Unilever's Keith Weed was one of the key speakers.

His passion and integrity for making Unilever a force for good was compelling (although don't tell my boss that - I'd be switched onto a Unilever account faster than you can say Ben and Jerry's).

A lot of the discussion was about packaging and relevance and fairness, but one thing he said has stayed with me.

As part of their efforts to make all their raw materials sustainable and traceable, they have been working with the Indonesian government to change legislation around palm oil production. Because Unilever uses a lot of palm oil.

Years of green campaigning and protesting has achieved increased awareness but no actual progress. This is an area where Unilever (along with other mega-brands) has real power.

But what does that mean for politics? When big business is more effective at driving change than the democratic process, why vote?

Big business getting involved in politics isn't a new thing. But in the past their interest was solely in protecting business interests. Often to the detriment of the planet and people.

So, this new era of mega-brands using their power to effect change for good is a good thing, right?

I don't know.  It makes me nervous.

I think (and I'm still working this through in my mind) that what worries me is the abdication of personal responsibility.

If Keith Weed is going to go into bat against unsustainable palm oil production (among other things), then we don't need to worry about it anymore.  And we don't need our democratically elected governments to worry about it either.

I don't need to recycle or campaign or vote for change, I can just buy Unilever products and trust them to get on with looking after the world for me.

It's tempting. But at the end of the day Unilever answers to its shareholders.  And I don't trust that they will always be as responsible as they are today. 

(As a side note, it Keith Weed is a far more compelling speaker than any of our politicians. If he ever decides to go into politics I'll vote for him.)

[charlottefereday]

A thousand little heartbreaks

We talk a lot about how great it is that the internet is always evolving.

We embrace the iterative process.  

We even tell clients that when their projects go live they are only 90% finished because we'll continue iterating and optimising long into the future.

But we don't talk about how it feels to go back to a site that you launched a year ago.

It's a little bit like dying.  

A lot of the time we've wept, fought, dreamed and deserted our families in the process of getting a new site live.  And then we have to let them go.

And then the client makes a few updates to keep maintenance costs down. And then a few more. And then you're left with a massive typo on the homepage. 

I know it happens.  But it doesn't get any easier.

[charlottefereday]

Christmas Zombie Love Story

Last week, I watched these two videos back to back.

 It was emotional.

And the stories are surprisingly similar.

In both, the hero wants to make a loved one happy so goes on an epic journey to make it happen.

1. World War Z (the trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md6Dvxdr0AQ

2. The John Lewis Christmas Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N8axp9nHNU

[charlottefereday]

Disclaimer: This is a rant

Competitions are no substitute for engagement.

If the only reason people will participate in your campaign idea is to win prizes - then I think you need a better idea.

If you look back over the last few years of digital campaigns, how many memorable activation ideas have been competitions? I can only think of one -  The Tourism Queensland 'Best job in the world' campaign.

How many have been utterly pointless but massively successful? Most of them. Including this piece of nihilistic genius from Old Spice: 

http://oldspice.com/explosion/

So how do you get people to participate?

- Let them think the'yre part of a bigger story.

- Make it about something they care about, not something you care about.

- Make it so easy, that it would be churlish not to.

If people don't care about your brand, giving one person a money can't buy experience won't make the rest of them start caring. 

Don't buy people's attention.  Earn it.

[charlottefereday]

Bring back the banner

No one wants to make banners.  No one wants to see banners. No one clicks banners.

But, if you're going to create an amazing, engaging, inspiring campaign experience (whether that's a site, a Facebook app or a YouTube channel) you're probably going to need to knock out a few banners to drive people to it.

So you end up advertising the advertising. Which is boring, because when things are treated as a 'hygiene factor' no one puts any passion into them.  And it feels like a waste of time. 

So, why not cut out the middle man?

If no one clicks banners - why do they need to go anywhere?  

Why not take that whole amazing, engaging, inspiring campaign experience and put it in a banner?  

Let's take all those mobile first design principles and use them to design contextually interesting, dynamic advertising experiences in miniature.

After all, if your banners aren't worth clicking, they aren't going to drive people to your awesome but hard to find Facebook app, are they?

[charlottefereday]

Huffington Post on O2's Priority Moments for independent businesses.