Design Workshop

FA/YSDN 4004 3.0 Section A

Fall 2010 / Winter 2011

York University, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

Course Director: Graham Huber

Email: ghuber@yorku.ca
Telephone: 416.668.1463

Design Workshop

YSDN 4004 6.0 2010/11 | Section  A  B  C  G  H  I  K

December 11th 2010

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Futuristic Concept Camera Captures Entire Perspectives at Once

This camera doesn’t exist yet. But… it could. And… probably will. Very soon. 

It’s always fun thinking about what photography will be like in the future, and the direction camera technology will go. What’s even cooler is seeing these ideas turned into concept drawings or videos. The Capture180 is a concept camera by Lucas Ainsworth that takes a 180° hemispheric photograph with each exposure in addition to the ordinary, framed photograph. When viewing the photographs with the camera, you can “knock” the camera into a viewing mode in which it acts as a small window into the giant scene that was captured.

Posted by ghuber at 5:36pm

FutureTechnologyConcept

December 11th 2010

33 Major Fail Tales From Startups That Died →

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Posted by ghuber at 2:47pm

December 11th 2010

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Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology

Can the Bartle test apply to gamification of ideas and services?

The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences. 

The result of the Bartle Test is the “Bartle Quotient”, which is calculated based on the answers to a series of 30 random questions in the test, and totals 200% across all categories, with no single category exceeding 100%.

For example, a person may score “100% Killer, 50% Socializer, 40% Achiever, 10% Explorer,” which indicates a player who prefers fighting other players relative to any other area of interest. Scores are typically abbreviated by the first letter of each category, in order of the quotient. In the previous example, this result would be described as a “KSAE” result.

Posted by ghuber at 11:16am

GamificationPsychology

Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology Can the Bartle test apply to gamification of ideas and services? The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences.  The result of the Bartle Test is the “Bartle Quotient”, which is calculated based on the answers to a series of 30 random questions in the test, and totals 200% across all categories, with no single category exceeding 100%. For example, a person may score “100% Killer, 50% Socializer, 40% Achiever, 10% Explorer,” which indicates a player who prefers fighting other players relative to any other area of interest. Scores are typically abbreviated by the first letter of each category, in order of the quotient. In the previous example, this result would be described as a “KSAE” result.

December 8th 2010

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Project Magazine’s iPad Cover Contest

Aside from the evil spec nature of this “contest”, the Project format is an interesting concept. Check out the demo video and project assets for inspiration in how mobile media is changing editorial. 

As part of its launch on Tuesday, Virgin’s first iPad-only magazine, Project, announced a contest to redesign the magazine’s animated cover. In order to get ahold of the brief and assets for the contest, however, designers (or their unemployed friends) had to locate one of four paper mannequins (with Sir Richard Branson, pictured above) touring New York and San Francisco, each of which held the coordinates of USB sticks containing the brief, earlier this week.

I’ve since gotten ahold of a .zip file containing the outline and assets for the cover contest, which you can download from my personal Dropbox account here. You can watch a video outlining the challenge below, and enter your design at facebook.com/project.

Posted by ghuber at 7:44pm

Design ProposalFutureiPadMobile

December 7th 2010

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Offermatic: Credit Card Based Deals

An interesting startup called Offermatic launched today: 

Offermatic is launching today to provide consumers with a more automatic way to earn deals and discounts. The rewards come in the form of instant rebates, discounts and points targeted to users based on their credit and debit card transactions.

New users will need to link a debit or credit card to get started, but once they do they’ll start earning points and become eligible for rebates and deals that the service sends via e-mail. Essentially, users need to provide the startup with direct access to their spending history — a big barrier to entry for some — so that Offermatic to serve up rewards.

What I find interesting about this model is the use of motivation (in the form of deals & saving) to verify customer behaviour. Although there are already cries of privacy infringement, the same criticisms were once levied at points cards. In fairness, the value of your privacy is the exchange you make to receive the deal. 

What do you think? Will people go for it? Would you go for it? 

Posted by ghuber at 9:35am

StartupWebBusiness Model

December 6th 2010

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Is Gamification the Future of Marketing?

A modern Shakespeare would claim that, “All the world’s a game,” then it might be time for us to collectively revisit what we mean by ‘game’ and extract the concept of ‘fun’ from the pastimes of our youth. If sending out invoices can be fun, why can’t your customer interactions be fun? With a few exceptions I think it would be a mistake to brush off the concept no matter what business you’re in. Customer experiences – even the most mundane – can be more rewarding and pleasurable (for all involved) if you think differently about your customers’ motivations. Help them do what they already want or need to do and if you can make it fun or pleasurable and social – even better.

Posted by ghuber at 11:08pm

FutureMeta

Is Gamification the Future of Marketing? A modern Shakespeare would claim that, “All the world’s a game,” then it might be time for us to collectively revisit what we mean by ‘game’ and extract the concept of ‘fun’ from the pastimes of our youth. If sending out invoices can be fun, why can’t your customer interactions be fun? With a few exceptions I think it would be a mistake to brush off the concept no matter what business you’re in. Customer experiences – even the most mundane – can be more rewarding and pleasurable (for all involved) if you think differently about your customers’ motivations. Help them do what they already want or need to do and if you can make it fun or pleasurable and social – even better.

December 3rd 2010

Top Ten Wireless Predictions 2011 →

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Research company Juniper has drawn up a list of predictions for the mobile and wireless industry for 2011 and they portray humanity hurtling headlong towards a mobile-centric lifestyle. Juniper sees 2011 as a year where we’ll see increasing use of Augmented Reality, the first Cloud-Based Operating Systems, Mobile Banking becomes a must, the beginning of the demise of the credit card, the rise of Mobile Lottery Tickets, biometrics coming to mobile and Social Purchasing moving to a whole new level.
Download Juniper’s full report.
Here are Juniper’s top 10 wireless predictions:

  1. Surging Mobile Data Traffic
  2. Augmented Reality to Enhance Mobile Games and Retail
  3. Cloud-Based Operating Systems are Launched
  4. Mobile Banking will become a “must-have” when opening a new account
  5. Mobile Devices Begin to Replace Credit Cards
  6. Mobile Handsets Become Even More Sensitive
  7. Mobile Lottery Tickets Sales to Soar Fuelled by Deployments in US, Europe, and China
  8. Mobile-Specific Threats Lead to Demand for Mobile-Specific Security
  9. Buyouts take Social Purchasing to a New Level
  10. More Vendors Develop a “GreenHeart”

Posted by ghuber at 8:52am

MobileTechnologyFutureTrends

November 29th 2010

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3D Video Capture with Kinect

Imagine the implications of this with a dozen cameras in a room. 

If Oliver Kreylos’ Kinect 3D video capture work was amazing already, his hack to use two Kinects to eliminate shadows and fully capture reality in 3D space is just crazy.

In Oliver’s previous experiment, the 3D video capture was limited by Kinect’s single point of view. This point of view created shadows of nonexistent data, since Microsoft’s camera can’t see behind objects. To solve this problem, he added a second Kinect at a different angle to capture what the other Kinect couldn’t see. By combining both video signals and three-dimensional information, he was able to fully recreate three-dimensional reality, with no shadows.

Posted by ghuber at 9:26pm

FutureTechnology

November 25th 2010

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“Readers on the web want a quieter, less hectic news experience with a clear beginning and end and a vetted choice of news,” says Pontus Schultz of Bonnier R&D. “We’ve listened to how readers prefer getting their news. They expect an innovative experience that uses the format’s possibilities fully, not just a PDF of the newspaper or another window to the online version.”

In December 2009, Bonnier launched Mag+, a format that quickly set a new standard for digital magazines. Mag+ got a lot of attention worldwide in the trade press and was called “King of the Hill” by Steve Jobs when Apple launched the iPad.

The lessons learned from Mag+ have shaped the development of a new digital format for tomorrow’s newspapers: News+. News+ combines the depth and editorial choices of a daily newspaper with the web’s possibilities for interaction and quick updates.

Browsing News+ and absorbing the content comes naturally, making readers feel close to the articles and photos. You can follow the most important news as it develops in a special section that is continuously updated, so News+ keeps you on top of the news all day. Subscribers get a daily newspaper with well-qualified and in-depth analysis, and the possibility to follow the most important events of the day – live.

The format was developed by several of Bonnier’s daily newspapers along with Bonnier R&D. Readers have also been involved and had their say on the new format during development.

Posted by ghuber at 10:31am

FutureLayoutDesignInteractive

November 18th 2010

Global Mobile Statistics, 2010 →

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The essential compendium of need-to-know statistics – global mobile subscribers, 3G, mobile Web, mobile advertising, mobile apps, consumer mobile behavior, SMS, m-commerce, m-banking, handset share and much more. Beware of media hype and mobile myth – put your mobile strategy on a sound footing with the latest research from credible independent experts.

Posted by ghuber at 8:24pm

TechnologyFutureStatistics

November 11th 2010

Hamster Burial Kits & 998 Other Business Ideas →

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Yes, all 999 ideas are listed. 

Ideas are a dime a dozen. The money is in the execution.

Need proof? For Seth Godin’s Alternative MBA program, this week the nine of us came up with 111 business ideas each. But ideas are only valuable when someone (like you) makes something happen.

Moral?

  • Quantity over quality, for the first stage of ideation. 
  • Don’t get too attached to a single idea. Instead, come up with 3 more that relate to it. 
  • Push your ideas hard: choose your most promising thoughts, and evolve them.
  • Breed your ideas. Combine the most unlikely candidates to spawn novel solutions. 
  • Go deep. Consider the problem at the most abstract level first, then brainstorm concrete solutions for it. 
  • Go big. You can always simplify a solution, but it’s much more difficult to add depth or complexity later. Start with the biggest, most grandiose vision, then worry about how you can actually do it. 
  • Don’t worry about answers for now… Just ask compelling questions. 
  • A good question is a dramatic question. Thunder should rumble when you speak it. 
  • If you find something interesting, then it is interesting. Don’t worry if anyone else agrees or thinks so; follow your own passions. 
  • Trust yourself first. You can verify your hunches later. 
  • Find your personal “truth” – choose a problem that is relevant to you. (Remember Hemingway’s advice: “If you get stuck, write just one sentence; the truest sentence you know.”) 

Posted by ghuber at 12:58pm

IdeasIdeation

November 10th 2010

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Studio 7.5, on prototyping the simplest solution.

Posted by ghuber at 12:07am

Design MethodsPrototyping

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We never start with this nice-looking picture of our vision, of how something should look at the end.
”

November 10th 2010

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In his latest book, Drive, author Daniel Pink debunks the power of external motivators, and expands on the intrinsic motivators that inspire us to do great work. Using research from a study out of MIT, Pink argues that traditional rewards – external motivators like a year-end bonus – only elicit better performance from people doing rote tasks. But once the barest amount of brainpower is required, higher financial rewards fail to produce better work. In fact, they actually inspire worse performance.

For creative thinkers, Pink identifies three key motivators: autonomy (self-directed work), mastery (getting better at stuff), and purpose (serving a greater vision). All three are intrinsic motivators. Even a purpose, which can seem like an external motivator, will be internalized if you truly believe in it. 

(Source: the99percent.com)

Posted by ghuber at 12:05am

MotivationCreativity

November 10th 2010

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The Top 5 Qualities of Productive Creatives

The notion of “creativity” can’t be separated from the skills required for creative execution.

Below, we outline five key qualities of particularly productive creatives, followed by some recommendations for how to uncover them in potential hires, co-workers, and collaborators: 

  1. Communication skills
  2. Pro-activeness
  3. Problem-solving
  4. Curiosity
  5. Risk-taking

Read the full article for complete examples.

Posted by ghuber at 12:01am

Design MethodsCreativityLeadership

The Top 5 Qualities of Productive Creatives The notion of “creativity” can’t be separated from the skills required for creative execution. Below, we outline five key qualities of particularly productive creatives, followed by some recommendations for how to uncover them in potential hires, co-workers, and collaborators:  Communication skills Pro-activeness Problem-solving Curiosity Risk-taking Read the full article for complete examples.

November 9th 2010

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The 40-30-30 Rule: Why Risk Is Worth It

Many of the strategies employed in competitive and recreational sports are applicable in business and our personal lives. One lesson I learned from alpine ski racing was the “40-30-30 Rule.” During training, early on, I tried to go fast, and I also focused on not falling. On a ride up the ski lift, my coach told me I was missing the point. He explained that success in ski racing, or most sports for that matter, was only 40% physical training. The other 60% was mental. And of that, the first 30% was technical skill and experience. The second 30% was the willingness to take risks.

Posted by ghuber at 11:55pm

Design MethodsIdeas

The 40-30-30 Rule: Why Risk Is Worth It Many of the strategies employed in competitive and recreational sports are applicable in business and our personal lives. One lesson I learned from alpine ski racing was the “40-30-30 Rule.” During training, early on, I tried to go fast, and I also focused on not falling. On a ride up the ski lift, my coach told me I was missing the point. He explained that success in ski racing, or most sports for that matter, was only 40% physical training. The other 60% was mental. And of that, the first 30% was technical skill and experience. The second 30% was the willingness to take risks.