Design limitations?

Design is undoubtedly a tremendous force for value creation. What piqued my curiosity is the following question - "Is there a limit to what design thinking can help?" My first reaction was no, how could design thinking help someone get through calculus? Personal experience kicked in here, as I (and I'm sure most of the class) came up with a clever way to help remember the anti-derivatives of sin functions. I wrote out the functions and their anti-derivatives on paper, and posted it up on a wall in my dorm. It became part of my life, I couldn't avoid learning them if I tried. But is there some situation, class, job, or anything that can't be helped by a little right-brain help? Any situations I can think of can be at least ameliorated, if not resolved. The only exceptions are where you have no control over the issue, e.g. an apocalypse. Thoughts?

Innovation

This most recent Christmas, it seemed like every mac-head got the iPad, Apple's new tablet. Just three months later, the iPad 2 is born. That means those tech-obsessed, need-the-latest-and-greatest Apple customers only got to enjoy their "new" gadget until March and now their being told through advertising that their toy is obsolete. The same thing has been seen with the iPod. Apple seems to put out a newer, better version of their products every few weeks. It raises the question of why? Why would a company keep their customer in a perpetual state of frustration? Because by creating new versions of their products so quickly after everyone buys the older version, Apple keeps customers on a string. They make their customers feel inadequate and jealous of the new products, making them go out and buy the slightly newer version, even though it only has a couple new features. In this case, innovation is good for the company but maybe not the for the consumer. I use a PC in part because of this business tactic. I find it sneaky and wrong to trick your customers who trust you to give them the best product for their money. Thus, because of the same business tactic that may be increasing their revenue from loyal Apple customers, they've closed and locked the door to me and my money. Innovation is supposed to be the ideal for the consumer - a way to better society as a whole through the betterment of products. Instead, Apple has used this to isolate their customers from going elsewhere and creates a rift between PC users and the insufferable mac-heads. Save your money and your frustration - buy a PC

Marcus Lancaster

Larry Miller

I recentley read the book Driven an auotbiography about Larry Miller, I was really captivated by the book and its teachings, Larry Miller was an extremeley good buisness man, no so much a good father and husband, but the story of how he got to were he finished life was remarkable, It motivated me a lot more then some of the books we have read in this class, A part that really stood out to me was how Larry was able to out work his compition, no matter the project or assignment he reached the success that he has obtained by working harder then anyone else, every one has some skills but its what you do with those skills that count, Larry found ways to really expound on his entrepreneur skills to there fullest. As future buisness students or just in life in general we must find what skills we have and then work to there ability. Anouther quick point Larry loved learning new things, skills and ways of doing things he always asked other how they got to were the are and then took there advice to heart and applied to himself. In order to be successful we to must be able to humble our egos enough to be taught what works and what doesnt for ourselves and others.

other-focused

During my presentation I talked about becoming more "other-focused" rather than "self-focused." I mentioned that I was much more self-focused at the time, but that I planned on working more to incorporate others more in my life. Since our presentation I have made a lot of progress in living the other-focused life. I worked to become more social with individuals outside my circle of friends. I have tried to help others whenever the chance would arise. I focused to be aware of others feeling and thoughts. I can look at myself in the mirror every morning and say that I have lived a more other-focused lifestyle since the challenge presented itself.

The Four Pillars

As we have been learning about the 4 pillars, I've been thinking about how I can improve in each of these areas. In these days, if you don't have global vision, you're in trouble. Everything that happens in the world will in some way or another affect you. Ethical leadership is key. People who aren't ethical may profit from it in the short run, but eventually it will catch up to them and they will be exposed. Analytical rigor, the drive and know-how in every successful business. Businesses that don't know how to manage employees, time, and resources will not succeed in any environment. The last pillar, Entrepreneurial spirit, is probably the biggest one in my opinion. You have to want to succeed or nothing will be achieved. Yes, knowing what you're doing is a major part in that, but you can have people help you. It's the drive to keep trying to succeed even with the poor economy that makes the entrepreneurial spirit the most important.

Lemonade Stand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUcpCB7Wls8&playnext=1&list=PL4F871E5EF59082FB

I've seen this commercial several times on TV, and I think it applies really well to what we talked about in class last Thursday.

The dad in this commercial gives his daughter the smart phone thinking it will be useful as a calculator. The little girl, though, is an innovator, and see's an opportunity. With that opportunity, she gets others to help her, and in a very short time built this huge corporation.

All of this goes back to our discussion on entrepreneurial spirit, something that Susie, the little girl, had plenty of. She saw a need, had an opportunity present itself to her, and took full advantage of the situation. Most little girls, and most people for that matter, would have used the phone only as a calculator. That's what her dad told her it was for, so maybe that's all she would recognize it as and that would be the only way she would use it.

How often are we presented with a "smart phone" and only use it as a "calculator?"

There are so many opportunities around us, as well as people and things to help us realize those opportunities, but too often we are stuck in the mindset of following what other people tell us. If Susie had just used the phone as a calculator, maybe she would have had a little success, but when she used it to it's fullest capacity and was innovative, that is where she saw huge leaps of success.

People present us with innovative opportunities and ideas all the time, but we need to make sure that we don't settle for less then their potential. Lets use our smartphones as smartphones, not just as calculators.

Mark Israelsen

While we have been doing our IDEO projects with the public bathrooms, it has shifted my way of thinking about how everything in general could be improved to make things a better experience for people. In other words, making the design more human-centered. It is as simple as taking a step back during the design process and actually thinking about how the design could benefit consumers and how even that could be improved. I think in today's culture, everything is centered around money. The only reason someone puts out a good product is to make money. They don't create it in order to make an actual influential product. This is when things need to change. Why not become a trustworthy company that people can rely on to make a great product?

Now, concerning the video, I think this is an amazing product. They definitely had the consumer in mind when they were designing this. They saw the problem, which was people waking up to the terrible sound of an alarm clock every morning, and fixed the problem by using technology and light to make waking up a more pleasurable experience. I can almost guarantee that this product was not the first thing they came up with. They, more then likely, came to this design as a result of many brainstorms and ideas. This is something that needs to happen all over the market. Not just with Philips.

Logan Drake

Living outside the box

Leadership and self-deception, living outside the box was the book that my group did our class project on. Monday was the first time I had something that was taught in the book apply to my life. One story that was told in the book was about 2 lawyers; one was new and trying to get a feel for how things were supposed to work, the other was a veteran with a lot of experience. They both were in charge of putting together a legal brief for their boss. In the book the boy that was just starting out forgot to check for new updates made to the laws they were using. When the veteran lawyer found out right before the brief was due, she was cool and collected; she also took full responsibility for the mishap. The reason why she took full responsibility was because she had thought to ask if the new lawyer had checked for updates but didn’t. When the young lawyer asked her why she took the blame for the brief she said that she was teaching him how to do the brief and when she didn’t ask she betrayed herself.

Now, the story that happened to me that applies to this book was this past Monday my roommate and I were supposed to do a paper for our sociology class. My roommate was in charge of printing it out and bringing it to class. The mourning it was due I woke up with the thought that I should remind her to bring it, but decided against it. Needless to say she forgot it and we had to take zeros on the paper. I wanted to be mad when she came to class without our assignment, but I wasn’t. I thought back to the story above and remembered that I had gone against myself and it was no one else’s fault but my own. The major thing I took away from the book was to always act on your impulses and do what you think you should. If I would have done that it would have saved me from stressing out to make up for the zero I now have on my grade.

Kate Kendrick

The Broken Window Fallacy

This video is pretty funny and interesting at the same time. It is a great example of how we can do our part to help stimulate the economy..haha..Though it may make some sense in a way I don't think breaking other peoples property is the way to do it. I do think there are ways for the economy to be better, this is not the ideal way to do it though. I think there are better and more productive ways to stimulate the economy. This may make sense and work but you may get caught for it. It's Probably not the most ethical way either.

Jared Spackman

Design thinking, in the classroom

Design thinking has been a central focus of our course, and the emphasis has always been on applying this thinking to the world around us. What inspired me to write this blog was not something I saw, but something I didn't see - A laptop with an outward facing camera.Now that even cheap laptops can store massive amounts of information, why not keep a library of lectures? Nothing written on the whiteboard or projected onto a screen would ever be truly lost, at the cost of adding one small camera to the backside of the screen. Not only would this be useful in an educational environment, but it could bring efficient recording to the business world. But has it been done? Is the extra camera economical?
Food for thought - an audio recorder could be incredibly useful, but also seems much more difficult to integrate. I can't help but feel that if built-in microphones were viable, it would have been done. Thoughts?

Cookies and Business

Cookies were brought up in class the other day by our TA. Not the type of cookies that you eat but the ones that are related the the internet and your IP address's site history. It was fascinating that this was brought up and being used for business applications. The example was that of an airline company keeping track of how many times one would look at a particular flight plan. The price would go up time after time because the cookies being saved showed this airline company just how interested the potential buyer was. this is the fascinating part, the ironic part is that this would be brought up in a negative light. As business students in a business class, we should be learning how to properly apply things like technology to a business setting. If this is part of what leads to success in an industry, business students should look into it on a less than critical note. Business is business and the farther one goes into studying this field the more they will realize that it is necessary to do what it takes, just as the aforementioned airline company understands. Still, delete your browsing history once and a while.

Communication Tips

A couple of weeks ago I was watching a talk show that had a segment on how to better communicate with someone. They talked about how someone can tell if the person they are talking to is a “thinker” or a “feeler”. When you ask someone a question, if they look up during or before they respond it means they are a “thinker”, so you should direct questions to them like, “What do you think about that?” When the person looks down after you ask them a question, it means they are a “feeler”, so a question to them would be more like, “How do you feel about that?” Being able to read someone’s body language can help to really understand what they mean, and can also help you to better connect to them and make them feel like you understand. This segment reminded me of Pink’s book, in the Empathy chapter where he talks about artificial smiles vs. the “Duchenne smile”. This segment also reminded me of “Seek first to understand” in Covey’s book. I’ve tried to test out this process in conversations I have had, and I think it really does help to watch these clues when you are talking to someone. The conversations that I have had while I was trying to implement these ideas were much more meaningful and understanding. This segment was another great tip on how to read people and better direct questions to them that goes well with the points that Pink and Covey make.

Jaimie Beazer

The upside of $5 gas prices?

As summer approaches I am sure we are all finding ourselves looking forward to some sort of vacation and in most cases this will be done by car. Just this last weekend I was filling the tank on my average size gas tank and found that even the $30 I put in just barely put me at 3/4 full. Given the coming of warm weather, increased travel, and a whole plethora of worldwide problems that negatively impact our gas prices I found myself hoping that maybe there is some good that can come out of these sky high prices. It really seems that so many of the economic problems our country faces as well as the military and political troubles we are enduring all revolve around this one topic. For instance, one website I was reading on http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2010/April/Pages/HowMuchforaGallonofGas.aspx stated that bringing a single gallon of gas into a warzone can cost our country's military, which is of course really just our tax money, up to $600 to be delivered. Has it really not yet come to a point in our civilization where its obvious we need to find some safer, cheaper, and cleaner means of fueling our engines? I remember quite clearly a few years ago when it seemed that everyone had a desire to produce a better engine or perhaps find a fuel made from some better material like biofuels using corn biproducts. What happened? I am praying that in light of these rocketing gas prices we will find ourselves again on track where our economy dictates that change is needed. It seems pretty clear that we are not going to stop driving cars as much as we can in this country and even the rest of the world. If the market finally shows that there is vast quantities of cash to be made in cleaner and cheaper fuel that might make this whole nightmare worthwhile.

Even aside of the possibilities of future super clean cars that run on super cheap fuel, there seems to be one other side effect of this gas cost problem we face that I can't help but view as a positive thing, that being the possibility of less people driving. Imagine for a moment if you would how amazing it would be if there came a day when we actually had traffic figured out to some degree. Not because we all start flying cars but because we finally find a way to get less people on the road. I have always been a fan of mass transit but one of the big draw backs has always been implementing the infrastructure to run those systems. If these gas prices continue to rise we may find ourselves in a situation where it really is cheaper to work together to put these systems in place than to fuel our own cars. And this just opens up a veritable cornucopia of benefits that we would experience. Traffic fatalities from mass transit are a fraction of what they are from single person driven automobiles. More people on busses or trains means less cars so there is a smaller ratio of automobiles to people than there is now which would naturally reduce pollution and refuse generated by old unwanted cars. Finally, if we all start putting greater stock in mass transit then there would be more incentive for the companies that produce these machines to produce faster, safer, and better versions of them which would further increase our dependance on them. I had an opportunity to experience the mass transit system in England a few years ago and I must admit I was jealous of what they have there. Having the option to get on a train to quickly and cheaply ride anywhere in the country was amazing. Although our country is much larger and certain parts of country just don't make train travel very easy, I still feel like there is a ton of room for improvement in our train system. I would be beyond happy, as I'm sure many people would, if we were able to adopt something that more closely resembles a train system from some of the European or Asian countries.

So if you find yourself like I did, being a little upset about these gas prices, take a step back and think for a moment about the possibilities that these may encourage. The greatest inventions throughout human history have always been born out of necessity and it seems pretty plain to me that it is necessary for a change in the world's use of fuel. I just hope that this is finally the time that this happens. I guess it really just boils down to when is enough, enough? Are you tired of paying these huge prices? If you are, stop paying them. If we all stop buying gas tomorrow then oil companies would have no choice but to adapt. Supply and demand people, supply and demand. I know I have been trying to drive as little as possible since this last time I got gas, maybe it's time you all do the same.

Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame: a college course.

Yes, you heard right, 24 year old Joanne Angelina Germanotta, AKA Lady GaGa now has a university course dedicated to her and her remarkably quick journey to worldwide fame."Lady Gaga and the sociology of fame" is one of the latest courses to be added to the curriculum at the University of South Carolina for the spring 2011 semester. She is often heard quoting her "Obsession" and non-stop study of the topic. Her debut album in 2008 sold over 15 million albums worldwide, placed, number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and nabbed six Grammy Award nominations.

Seeing this blow up of a worldwide pop star in a matter of years has to make you wonder this chick might know a little something on the art of fame.

And any business entrepreneur can only dream of this kind of sensation for their business,

Lady Gaga has not been far from the headlines this year. Which I think we all know. At the MTV awards in September she strutted onto the stage wearing a "meat dress" - made entirely of raw steak!

I believe we can learn something from every single person we encounter and I feel we may even be able to learn a little marketing skills from this 24 year old, non-conforming, shock value loving girl from New york.

So in conclusion, Maybe putting on a metaphorical "meat dress" on your business tonight may catapult your business into the mornings headlines.


Plus she has an amazing PR team who works for free. An organizations dream marketing team.

Jacquelyn KC Walbom

Design Thinking About Sustainability

I'm interested in knowing if there have been any instances where design thinking has been applied to sustainability issues?

Here's a video of a design idea incorporating new design methods with a simple thing such as the pizza box and creating making it multifunctional. Tacky, unattractive dining ware? Yes. But this cuts down on the use of water to wash the dishes after your meal and also can be thrown into the recycle bin when you are threw with your left overs as well.

Personally I believe that in the next 20 to 30 years or so the world will undergo a revolution in thinking about environmental sustainability and design thinking could be a key tool in driving that change. In particular with rapidly increasing populations in city areas, I think there will be a drive towards integrating the notion of sustainability with urban living.

So I'm wondering if anyone out there is , at the moment, doing any kind of work or brainstorming where design thinking meets environmental sustainability.

Jacquelyn KC Walbom

Out of Date Ideas

I was reading this talk given by John Von Achen. In it he gave a great insight to many of the topic that we have been talking about in class. One story he told was of coming across a cassette tape one day in his house. Wanting to listen to it, he looked and looked for something to play it on. But couldn’t find anything. Even his car didn’t have a tape player. In its day, the cassette was revolutionary and the high tech item. It use to be very efficient and useful. But in todays world it is rendered almost useless. You can hardly even find something to play it on. This principle can be applied to the business world. Old ways of doing business where, in their day, amazing and got the job done. But with the market that we have today, those ways are out of date. We need not to be stuck in the past; using Covey's and Pink's models, we can think of new and innovative ways of doing things.

Utilizing and Valuing Technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk
I like this guy. His paradigm on our world and all the technology and resources we have is very refreshing to hear. The world and all the opportunities we have are so priceless. A successful business shows gratitude for the resources available, and then utilizes them to their full potential. We have so much to be grateful for, and our capabilities have come a long way in such a short amount of time. This man has a fresh perspective on life and is able to realize just how amazing things are and that things have been much harder in the past. People have so much more now but yet they are unhappier than people who had to deal with harder circumstances with less resources. Businesses should take advantage of the resources they have, and an advantage to a U.S based business is the mass production and availability of technology. Take a couple minutes and watch this video, you wont regret it.

Sanitation in Public Restrooms

There are definitely many objects in the bathroom and aspects about the public restrooms people want to change. I would like to point out though, not all public restrooms SUCK as some would put it. I have used a few public restrooms that if those could be replicated everywhere……well then many people wouldn’t mind going to the bathroom in them but, I know that it would cost a load of money to replace and duplicate these types of restrooms. One of the biggest issues I have seen and that others complain about is sanitation. There are definitely areas in the restrooms that can be improved but some of the issues at hand lie in the beholder. Meaning, there are many people out there that simply just don’t care to wash their hands or make the trash go in the garbage can. If bathrooms were nicer, maybe just maybe more people would feel the need to respect the public restrooms a little more. All in all, I think a big issue is that many people don’t want to take the time to wash their hands (or don’t think it necessary, which is gross) or want to make sure their trash goes in the garbage can. In stating this, how much of an affect would changing the public restrooms have on making them nicer, if people continue to trash them? I think in general more people would respect a more “elegant” bathroom, taking better care of it, and making it a more “pleasant” experience when one uses a public restroom. Although, we will still have those who don’t care to take better care of them.

Michaela Ferguson

Importance of Entrepreneurship

I really appreciated Dave Clark coming in to speak with our class. He helped me realize that being an entrepreneur isn't just starting a small business with a creative idea. It's much more than that. Equally as important are the entrepreneurs that work in larger businesses. I also loved his explanation of 1.) Thinking 2.) Reasoning 3.) Acting. These words all sound easy enough. It's the implementing of these in greater depth that lead to being an entrepreneur. While they don't always lead to success that is also part of being an entrepreneur-- taking risks. One of my favorite things that he told us in class was that entrepreneurs take risks. Not being risky, but they also don't wait for success to be 100 guaranteed, or even 90 percent. Sometimes you have to trust that your hard work, diligence and passion is enough. I looked entrepreneur up in the dictionary and this is what I found: "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk." So not only does an entrepreneur need to be willing to take needed risks, but to also have the initiative needed to run a business. Dave Clark really has made me look at all aspects of my life about where I can apply this principle of entrepreneurship and realize why it is one of the fundamentals of the Huntsman school of business.

Winners Truly Never Cheat

As i was thinking about the book "Winners never cheat" by Jon M. Huntsman, a personal experience came to mind that reenforces the the value of being honest. Back when i was in high school one of my summer jobs was working for a car wash. It was far from an enjoyable summer employment but in high school that would be hard to accomplish. But i was able to pull a valuable lesson from it. We were given minimum wage and we split the tips. But the problem with this system was that a portion of the employees were less than reputable kids. Some of the kids pocketed the tips and still took their portion of the tips that the rest of us pooled together. This was really hard to put up with but i did not want to be the kid that snitched. But one day one of the managers caught an employee walking away with pocketed tips. The employee was let go and the rest of the employees at the car wash were more careful and the pocketing of tips diminished quite a bit. This was just one situation that reenforced Huntsman's principle of Winners Never Cheat. I was also able to see how my own choice to not pocket tips left me able to work worry free. While those that were pocketing were constantly looking over their shoulder, making the end of everyday of work a stressful experience. Winners truly never cheat
Tyson Andrus

They can put a man on the moon but they can't figure out public restrooms?

In the past couple decades we have accomplished a lot of incredible stuff. We invented rock and roll. We have hybrid cars, Skype, Facebook, reality tv... etc. The world is such a modern place, I can talk to my friends without opening my mouth through texting. We have done so much but yet we have failed to update the public restroom. Of course, we do have automatic toilets and sinks but overall I think the feelings about public restrooms have remained the same, THEY SUCK! Nobody likes going in there because they are afraid of what they will see, smell and even touch. But the world better step back and make room for the USU Business by Design teams. We are going to reinvent the public restroom. Putting a man on the moon was easy compared to the task that lies ahead...

Employer-Employee Relationships

 My mom worked for a company for the past five years designing lightning protection systems for comercial and private buildings. Although there were a set of rules for the lightening protects systems it took a lot of creative ability to design a plan for each individual building and fit the plan into the budget of the client. Over those five years she became extremely skilled at her job, and built up a very profitable client base. But not once, over those five years did my mom receive a raise, and at times she was screwed over by her boss, who would fail to deliver projects to her, or leave out important pieces of information and then in front of higher up management blame problems on her "incompetence".

Eventually my mom got fed up with this behavior and started working doing freelance projects, she took many of those clients with her, and now works not only doing lightening protection systems, but solar panel design for roofs and private architectural design.

Her experience taught me about the importance of an employer and employee relationship. I don't know what made my mothers boss act the way he did, but in the end it did not benefit him, or my mother at all.
It is important as an employer to treat your employees like people and not objects. To respect and try to understand them. But, as an employee it is also your responsibility to give your employer something to respect. Many of us will work as employees before or if we become employers and I think it is important to be the kind of employee that you would someday like to employ. This will not only help you within the company, but also later when you are seeking to hire employees, it will be much easier to spot the traits you would like in your employees. When a company is filled with good management and good employees; that is a win-win situation.