Photos
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
A serendipitous first dinner with some GREAT people: Lisa Lundstrom, Annette Taranto, Lisa Brochu and Tim Merriman. One of those special evenings where conversation and friendship flowed from the outset!
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
The people-centred design of the Swedish Exhibitions Agency, where the conference took place, impressed me greatly. Here's a social/work space with different types of seating for different kinds of human interaction.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
... and for those who prefer to chat standing up ...
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
... and for those who want to be on their own, cocooned in a little world, enveloped by their music (check out the speakers!!), there are these.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Visby Library ... large, light, spacious and with a cafe to die for. There's even a Grand Piano there. Again, buildings that are people-centred and experience-focused ... and there's more ...
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
... here's a GREAT hang out area for teenagers in the teen books section ...
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
... but not sure creating a hidey-hole for teenagers is such a good idea.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Lisa probably regretted offering to help set up my workshop - not knowing my penchant for balloons!
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
A good time was had by all in a Experience Design workshop I ran entitled Visitor-topia.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Sharing the results of the workshop.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
There's me (on stage) taking people on a guided visualisation ...
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
... and here they are, drawing what they saw in their mind's eye. Rich pictures and red wine, a marvelous combination.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Visby is a medieval walled town on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea - views like this make me want to time travel.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Street full of beautiful old timber houses that look too small to live in.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Sooooooooo Scandanavian, I love it.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Hardy lot these Gotlanders - its -3C and the cushions are out for pancakes al fresco.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
One of the magnificent 'Picture Stones of Gotland' - a Viking-age treasure and one of many such stones from the island of Gotland, redolent with history, mystery and meaning.
-
Conference trip to Visby, Sweden (November 2011)
Lisa Lundstrom and her paper lantern. A lovely ending to the conference.
Books (Internet reviews)
-
-
David Sibbet - Visual Meetings
Use eye–popping visual tools to energize your people!
Just as social networking has reclaimed the Internet for human interactivity and co–creation, the visual meetings movement is reclaiming creativity, productivity, and playful exchange for serious work in groups.
This dynamic and richly illustrated resource gives meeting leaders, presenters, and consultants a slew of exciting tricks and tools, including graphic recording, visual planning, story boarding, graphic templates, idea mapping, etc.
-
John Grand - Brand Innovation Manifesto
In The Brand Innovation Manifesto, John Grant redefines the nature of brands, showing why old models and scales no longer work and revealing that the key to success today is impacting people's lifestyles (think Starbucks, iPod and eBay). At the heart of the book is the concept of the 'brand molecule' to which new cultural ideas can be constantly added to keep pace with change.
-
Tim Brown - Change by Design
The myth of innovation is that brilliant ideas leap fully formed from the minds of geniuses. The reality is that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination through which great ideas are identified and developed before being realized as new offerings and capabilities. This book introduces the idea of design thinking, the collaborative process by which the designer's sensibilities and methods are employed to match people's needs not only with what is technically feasible and a viable business strategy. It's a human-centered approach to problem solving that helps people and organizations become more innovative and more creative.
-
-
-
Seth Godin - We are all weird
We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.
-
Gregg Fraley - Jack's Notebook
Jack's notebook manages to combine: a workable, understandable creative problem solving model; an engaging novel; practical worked examples of the model being used; a technical summary for practitioners to use. This novel+business style was a first for me and worked brilliantly - I purchase lots of business books but never get engrossed sufficiently to do more than dip into them, whereas this book ensured that I followed the whole creative problem solving process and also that I was inspired to work through my own goals along the journey.
-
Michael Michalko - Thinkertoys
In hindsight, every great idea seems obvious. But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas?
Creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life.
-
-
-
Nancy Duarte - Resonate
Reveals the underlying story form of all great presentations that will not only create impact, but will move people to action
Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they′ve wasted their time? All too often, presentations don′t resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action.
-
Video
-
On Music and Passion
by Benjamin Zander
Inspirational talk from Benjamin Zander on awakening people to the relevance, power and beauty of classical music. In what ways might we enhance the impact of the experiences we offer by creating points of emotional connection as he does?
-
A little talk about Experience Design
by Tedde Van Gelderen
A nice simple intro to experience – you will know all this already, but as you watch it think about the experiences you are responsible for at work, write them down and afterwards, evaluate them. Are they perfect? If not, let’s talk …
Quotes
-
“Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.”
Jonathan Swift
-
“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo
-
“A good user experience will directly affect customer acquisition, retention, word-of-mouth, referral and loyalty.”
Cennydd Bowles
-
“A mind stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
-
“User insight establishes a human context for innovation and value creation.”
Heather Fraser
-
“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”
Albert Einstein
-
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Malcolm X
-
“Brands have the ability to influence and enhance people’s lives. They provide a means of personal association, of internal reflection as well as of outward projection of self-image. Emotional brands not only support who we are, but also provide a tangible means of transformation into what we aspire to be.”
Jerome Kathman
-
“If you don’t have a clear articulation of what you want your customer experience to be, how do the people who are delivering it know what to do?”
Colin Shaw
-
“Creativity is not an escape from disciplined thinking. It is an escape with disciplined thinking.”
Jerry Hirschberg
-
“Trying to quantify abstract concepts is like trying to weigh love.”
Carolyn Chandler
-
“Some men see things the way they are and ask, “Why?” I dream things that never were, and ask, “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw
-
“… success in our business, professional and personal lives is less a matter of what we know than of how we think.”
Tim Hurson