MJB\HAM

Hey, I'm Markus. An independent digital creative specialized in automotive and user interface design. Take a look at my work.

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The 10 biggest announcements from Google I/O 2016

At this year’s Google I/O, Assistant got chattier and found its way into several new Google products: the messenger Allo and the Echo-like speaker Home. Android N also got some improvements and a mobile VR platform called Daydream.

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Meet Liam

11 seconds to disassemble an old iPhone. That’s insane! Well done Apple.

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Agilität in Unternehmen

Menschen & Interaktionen sind wichtiger als Prozesse und Werkzeuge.

Funktionierende Software ist wichtiger als umfassende Dokumentation.

Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kunden ist wichtiger als Vertragsverhandlung.

Reagieren auf Veränderung ist wichtiger als das Befolgen eines Plans.

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Was macht eine gute Unternehmensphilosophie aus?

Um diese Frage beantworten zu können, muss man zwischen dem Unternehmenszweck und dem Unternehmenssinn unterscheiden.

Beginnen wir mit den Big Five der Unternehmensphilosophie:

Qualität als oberstes Gebot

Kundenorientierung als zentraler Wert

Innovation als entscheidender Wirtschaftsfaktor

Passion als großer Motivator

Der Mensch im Mittelpunkt als ethischer Kern

Diese fünf Punkte sind zum einen Mittel zum Zweck und zum anderen Instrumente, um ökonomischen Erfolg zu erzielen. Die Big Five stellen jedoch nur den Unternehmenszweck und noch keinen Unternehmenssinn dar. Der Unternehmenssinn ist der Grundimpuls und die tiefste Verpflichtung für das, was die Organisation treibt.

Daraus resultiert: Unternehmenszweck ≠ Unternehmenssinn

Zwischen einer echten, guten Unternehmensphilosophie und den Big Five muss man sich unter anderem folgende Fragen stellen:

Warum existiert die Organisation überhaupt?

Was macht das Unternehmen für einen Unterschied in der Welt?

Und warum lohnt es sich, sich dafür zu engagieren?

Eine Unternehmensphilosophie dient erstens zur Identifikation und zweitens zur Orientierung!

“Just do it” von Nike oder “Think different” von Apple sind Sinnformeln, die den Existenzgrund mit dem Geist der Organisation verbinden und hierdurch eine Chiffre zur Einordnung ihres Wirkens erzeugen. Eine Unternehmensphilosophie ist somit als Mutter allen unternehmerischen Wirkens zu definieren, als Offenlegung der DNA, aus der sich alle Aktivitäten in Ihrer Besonderheit ableiten lassen können.

Der Existenzgrund reflektiert für die Mitwirkenden Teil eines Großen, Bedeutsamen und Wertvollen zu sein.

Steve Jobs stellte John Sculley einst die Frage:

“Wollen Sie den Rest Ihres Lebens Zuckerwasser verkaufen, oder wollen Sie die Chance ergreifen und die Welt verändern?”

Betrachtet man diese Frage so erkennt man darin zwei Dinge. Limonade zu verkaufen ist ein Unternehmenszweck um Geld zu verdienen. Die Welt zu verändern hingegen eine unbescheidene Ambition etwas neues und bedeutsames zu schaffen.

Menschen, die einem Unternehmenszweck folgen sind nur Erfüller vorgegebener Anforderungen und Maßstäbe.

Menschen, die einem Sinn dienen, haben die Chance, von diesem erfüllt zu sein.

Die Orientierung zu einem höheren Sinn erlaubt es, die vorgefundenen Anforderungen und Maßstäbe immer wieder infrage zu stellen, sie zu verändern und neu zu definieren, weil sie in gewisser Weise über Ihnen stehen.

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Skeuomorphism vs. Flat UI

Why Skeuomorphism is like a classic car. Take a look on the video below. Such a great comparison!

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Apple & Flat Design...

Jony Ive has produced some of the best industrial design in the history of consumer products. He’s done it by cutting out all the extraneous parts. By eliminating edges, by smoothing and streamlining.

But what works beautifully for hardware does not work for software.

The “purity” of Jony’s designs inspired a lot of reflection in the software design community. A few critics got their panties in a twist over the software that ran on those pure devices. The faux leather, stitching, and colored backgrounds. Because it was “skeuomorphic.” Because software isn’t “real.” This kicked off a witch hunt against anything that is remotely “real” in its style — stitching, yes, but also buttons, outlines, and shading. There was never any evidence that a few decorative pixels hurt the user. But based on the saber rattling of a few, Apple killed it all.

Read the whole article at Cheerful! There are some interesting thoughts!

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Craft by InVision LABS

Craft is the first product of LABS by InVision. It’s a plugin suite for Sketch and Photoshop that lets you design with real data in mind. Best of all, they integrate directly into both Photoshop and Sketch via a panel interface.

Craft is comprised of 3 plugins: Type, Photos, and Duplicate, available directly inside Sketch and Photoshop on installation.

Download it for free!

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Future Things at CES

It’s CES time and so there are also some new innovations from many car manufacturers. Head over to YouTube and enjoy some recaps from The Verge.

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Watch a man released from prison after 44 years react to today's technology

Otis Johnson was recently released from prison after being locked away for 44 years. He was 25 when his sentence started, and 69 when he was released.

On the outside, he quickly realized the world was a very different place — downright futuristic compared to the world he left behind back in the late 1960s.

In an interview and video for Al Jazeera, Johnson recently visited Times Square in New York City, where he was surprised and confused by the modern technology surrounding him: People "with wires in their ears" listening to music who looked like CIA agents, pedestrians "talking to themselves" on their iPhones, and neon video billboards illuminating storefront windows.

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Faraday Future: The Mysterious New Car Company

“The mysterious new car company making big promises” is something we’ve heard many times before with no result, but this particular new company is making big hires and even bigger commitments, including a brand new billion dollar factory.

The Verge’s Tamara Warren sat down with Faraday Future’s Senior Vice President and co-founder Nick Sampson, who worked with Tesla early in its successes, to discuss his secretive emerging company which has hired 400 workers in just a year from all corners of the technology and engineering industries, as well as BMW and Tesla.

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Present-Day Hobbies

Many breakthrough technologies were hatched by hobbyists in garages and dorm rooms. Prominent examples include the PC, the web, blogs, and most open source software.

The fact that flip-flop wearing hobbyists spawn large industries is commonly viewed as an amusing eccentricity of the technology industry. But there is a reason why hobbies are so important.

Business people vote with their dollars, and are mostly trying to create near-term financial returns. Engineers vote with their time, and are mostly trying to invent interesting new things. Hobbies are what the smartest people spend their time on when they aren’t constrained by near-term financial goals.

Today, the tech hobbies with momentum include: math-based currencies like Bitcoin, new software development tools like NoSQL databases, the internet of things, 3D printing, touch-free human/computer interfaces, and “artisanal” hardware like the kind you find on Kickstarter.

It’s a good bet these present-day hobbies will seed future industries. What the smartest people do on the weekends is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years.

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10 Bullets. By Tom Sachs.

"Working to Code" is a movie series designed for members of the Tom Sachs studio team. Required viewing for all employees and studio visitors.

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Spec | #SayNoToSpec

Architects don’t give away their blueprints. Diners don’t fork out free meals. Personal Trainers don’t sign over their intellectual property on spec. This video pokes fun at the speculative creative bidding process in new business pitches. We believe there's a better way for agencies and clients to find the perfect match.

Find out more at Zulu Alpha Kilo.

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The Result Optimisation Model

There are many project management models and methods. Most of them are based on the premise that there is a fixed amount of time in which to carry out a project. Generally, within this time, ideas are gathered and consolidated, and a concept is selected and implemented. In real life we all know that we never have enough time. And the little time we do have is reduced by unforeseen events like a printer breaking down the minute you want to use it.

The result optimisation model divides the available time into three sequences (loops) of equal length, thereby forcing the project manager to complete the project three times. The idea is to improve the outcome in each successive working loop. This method leads not only to improved output quality but also to a more successful final outcome: at the end of a project, instead of simply being glad that it is ‘finally put to bed’, the whole team has a threefold feeling of achievement.

Beware! Be stringent when carrying out this strategy: work in such a way that each loop is properly completed before embarking on the next. Otherwise this model loses its dynamic.

With development processes, it is important to clearly separate the three stages, of gathering, consolidation and implementation.

To achieve an optimal result, you should plan your project so that it is ‘finished’ three times. After the third time it really is finished.

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The Not-So-Secret Formula

The following text is an excerpt from the book 'Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative' by Austin Kleon. I love this book and I really can recommend it to everyone out there! Go & get your copy!

There's only one not-so-secret formula: Do good work and share it with people. It's a two-step process. Step one, 'do good work,' is incredibly hard. There are no shortcuts. Make stuff every day. Know you're going to such for a while. Fail. Get better. Step two, 'share it with people,' was really hard up until about ten years ago or so. Now, it's very simple: 'Put your stuff on the internet.'

Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonder with you. You should wonder at the things nobody else is wondering about. If everybody's wondering about apples, go wonder about oranges. The more open you are about sharing your passions, the closer people will feel to your work. Artists aren't magicians. There's no penalty for revealing your secrets.

People love it when you give your secrets away, and sometimes, if you're smart about it, they'll reward you by buying the things you're selling.

When you open up your process and invite people in, you learn. You don't put yourself online only because you have something to say — you can put yourself online to find something you say. The Internet can be more than just a resting place to publish your finished ideas — it can also be an incubator for ideas that aren't fully formed, a birthing center for developing work that you haven't started yet.

A lot of artists worry that being online will cause them to make less work, but having a presence online is a kick in the pants. Most websites and blogs are set up to show posts in reverse-chronological order — the latest post is the first post that visitors seem so you're only as good as your last post. This keeps you on your toes, keeps you thinking about what you can post next. Having a container can inspire us to fill it.

Learn to code. Figure out how to make a website. Figure out blogging. Figure our Twitter and social media and all that other stuff. Find people on the internet who love the same things as you and connect with them. Share things with them.

You don't have to share everything — in fact, sometimes it's much better if you don't. Show just a little bit of what you're working on. Share a sketch or a doodle or a snippet. Share a little glimpse of your process. Think about what you have to share that could be of some value to people. Share a handy tip you've discovered while working. Or a link to an interesting article. Mention a good book you're reading.

If you're worried about giving your secrets away, you can share your dots without connecting them. It's your finger that has to hit the publish button. You have control over what you share and how much you reveal.

'Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.' 

— 

Howard Aiken

Text & Illustration Courtesy: 'Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative' by Austin Kleon

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Milestones

For most people a startup looks as if it must achieve a seemingly unlimited number of goals. However, out of these goals are come that stand head and shoulders above the others. These are the organisation's milestones — they mark significant progress along the road to success. There are seven milestones that every startup must focus on. If you miss any of them, your organisation might die.

Prove your concept.

Complete design specifications.

Finish a prototype.

Raise capital.

Ship a testable version to customers.

Ship the final version to customers.

Achieve breakeven.

Text Courtesy: 'The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything' by Guy Kawasaki.

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What are Google’s next steps?

Google is one of the most impressive companies in the world. Thousands of employees are working on new inventions and trying to make the world easier, smarter und more comfortable. But did you already thought about what Google is planning next?

Let’s see what already happened and what probably will happen next. French doctor, scientist and author Laurent Alexandre defined Google’s evolution in 8 phases. Based on this we’ll go to each step in this article.

1. Orientation With Google Search and Maps it’s already done.

2. Addition to the human memory For example Gmail and Picasa.

3. Augmented Reality (AR) Through Google Glass and Google Lens.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Through Google Now and many other projects.

5. Robotics Due a range of takeovers Google is already the world’s largest producer of robotics.

Step 1 – 5 are already completed but now it’s getting exciting. What are Google’s next steps?

6. Brain 2.0 We can expect the sixth step to be the extension of the brain with implantations until 2035.

7. Bringing down the human death & Eternal Life Google founded a company called Calico (California Life Company) in Mountain View in september 2013. Head of the company is Bioengineer Arthur D. Levinson, who is also chairman of the board at Apple and Genentech. Calico’s task is the exploration of aging and age-related diseases as well as developing strategies to extend life.

8. Eternal Consciousness The eighth and final step shall be eternal consciousness. An upload of the human mind.

You don’t need a wild imagination to recognize this strategy. You just have to take it seriously what Google’s masterminds are writting and what the management explains.

If Alexandre is right, the future of the clients rights looks bleak. Google is known – just like Facebook – for its strict terms and conditions. Who wants to use any Google product has to give control to the company.

You can apply this to the upload of your mind. With one click we would leave the full and unrestricted use of our mind to Google. In this scenario, we sign our own self-sacrifice for the economic exploitation by companies. In this scenario adverts would probably be imported directly into our consciousness, perfectly tailored to our interests. Our preferences can be read easily. The mind is indeed in the cloud.

‘The other thing in my mind is we also haven’t built mechanisms to allow experimentation. There’s many, many exciting and important things you could do that you just can’t do because they’re illegal, or they’re not allowed by regulation, and that makes sense, we don’t want the world to change too fast.

Maybe we should set aside a small part of the world …

You know, I like going to Burning Man, for example. Which I’m sure many of you have been to. Yeah, a few burners out there. That’s an environment where people can try out different things and not everybody has to go, and I think that’s a great thing too.

I think as technologists we should have some safe places where we can try out some new things and figure out what is the effect on society, what’s the effect on people, without having to deploy kind of into the normal world. And people like those kind of things can go there and experience that and we don’t have mechanisms for that.’

— Larry Page 2013

Laws are being undermined as much as possible. If there is no other way, vanishing points will be activated. For example by using servers on ships in international waters or Internet connections via satellite and drones. It fits the picture that Google has just announced that they’d send 180 communication satellites into space. With this infrastructure, the company will be independent from other providers and eludes state control. The universe and the high seas are largely lawless areas. Companies can mostly do there what they want.

Google has set itself the task of actually becoming that company, which turns singularity into reality. The massive investment of the company in biotechnology, genetics, pharmaceutical, robotics, nanotechnology and related fields follow exactly the version that Ray Kurzweil (Singularity University) has shown.

Kurzweil speaks of the GNR-revolution and shows the exact strategy, which is converted by Google at the moment. With GNR he is talking about the most important key technologies of the coming decades: “The first half of the 21st century will be characterized by three overlapping revolutions: genetics, nanotechnology and robotics.”

It does not take a conspiracy theorist to recognize this connection. With GNR Google’s investment program of recent times is circumscribed aptly. Humanity 2.0 – The singularity is near.