book

Design Thinking For Organizational Innovation

April 10, 2018 Design

An insightful quote from the Innovation by Design book caught my attention at a local bookstore and luckily I was able to find it on the author’s blog through some rigorous Googling. It gains prominence especially since in my experience, some experts have associated with the design thinking (DT) methodology as a UX design activity referring to its iterative design activities. Hence it was important to make a note of its broader value in innovation here.

The criticality of using DT or ‘human-centred’ design in enterprise software development has been documented in an incisive paper by IBM, but the frameworks also stimulate the transformation journey in combining the organization’s strategic vision involving various inter-organizational initiatives as listed below. Essentially, if you are a practising consultant at the intersection of business design & digital IT in your organization and believe that your role is limited to software consulting, you could expand the scale of your engagements and contribute to the maturity of your institution in more than one ways.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]

  • The influence of design thinking at scale on the organization’s culture
  • The creation of new products, services and experiences
  • The design organization processes, systems, and structures
  • The creation and leadership of long-term strategy to distributed innovation
  • The functioning of teams, decision-making and conflict resolution
  • The design of collaborative environments
  • The use of external design thinking experts and consultants
  • The training and development of employees in design thinking

[/perfectpullquote]

via How to multiply creativity | Lockwood Resource

The Facts vs Fiction In ‘Steve Jobs’

March 30, 2018 Movies

Steve JobsHaving enjoyed Walter Isaacson’s insightful book ‘Steve Jobs’ ages ago, and after amassing enough confidence, I was left disappointed watching its cinematic version recently. Especially after a feeble attempt was made in the ‘Jobs’ movie wherein Ashton Kutcher helmed the legendary Apple founder’s role my expectations from the official film had peaked. In the book, Isaacson has detailed the vibrant journey of Steve Jobs; personal and professional, and his varied mix of emotion, passion, vision, and an unfettered streak of wisdom which distinguished him from his contemporaries and enabled him to build Apple and NeXT. As a long time devotee of Steve Jobs one thought that the biopic written by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) failed to do justice not just to the Isaacson book on which it was purportedly based but to Jobs as well who continues to captivate the industry even today, pathetically reducing his awe-inspiring story into a dramatized narrative.

The movie outlines 3 events which shaped the life and times of Jobs beginning with the launch of Apple’s flagship Macintosh computer in 1984, Steve Jobs’ famed departure from the company after his tumultuous association with CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), and his grand comeback to Apple with the iMac launch. Throughout, the film captures the complex relationship with his estranged daughter Lisa and his colleagues all of which was truthfully captured in the Isaacson book though regrettably, that content has been sensationalized on the big screen. For instance, scenarios such as Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) having an argument with Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) and Jobs’ badgering of Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg) 40 minutes prior to the launch of the Mac to fix the voice demo never happened in reality, likewise there is a list of instances where the movie deviates from the book itself. Alas, with a personality such as Steve Jobs, the film could have ended up becoming a splendid saga of triumph & trials, instead, the makers could only manage a burlesque version to keep the audiences entertained.

The Design Experience Dilemma

February 18, 2018 Design

I read an excerpt from Don Norman’s revised classic book on UX ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ that pointed at the cognitive functions of the human brain in the context of good vs bad design experience.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.   [/perfectpullquote]

When you think about software and “bad” user-interfaces for instance, consistent periods of exposure to a clunky task flow in a working environment per se forces the human brain to adjust to the flawed experience, and the pressure to meet those goals increases the cognitive efforts towards learning those relevant skills quickly despite the experience being unwieldy in gaining familiarity with the UI for accomplishing those recurring tasks. It might be termed as “efficient” but leaves the user in a quagmire. Such onerous yet persisting functionality naturally forms a so-called ‘blind spot’ preventing its users from judging the experience as ‘good’, ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ since they have now settled into a comfort zone in this burdensome journey. In my experience, I have seen its effect leaving a huge mark on their individual productivity, moreover in some cases, it even compels the users to thwart attempts to bring any positive change to the system. This is one reason why design thinking and user-centred frameworks fundamentally emphasize on ‘observing’ the users in their natural surroundings rather than ‘interviewing’ them to test their inherent judgement in relation to the tasks which they undertake. It could be, that in this context, Dr Norman is mentioning the human experience from the point of view of ordinary systems which are unrelated to the hurdles of technology, because the “inadequacies” which stem from a bad UI may not be necessarily perceived by the end-users for the reasons that I mentioned above, and also because they are committed to achieving those goals regardless of the quality of the UI or experience.

Continue reading…

‘The Kite Runner’ Is An Adventure of Emotions!

October 28, 2017 Movies
“The Kite Runner’ portrays a present-day saga of friendship, redemption, and sacrifice against the backdrop of strife-torn Afghanistan.

I had come across some rave online reviews about the movie ‘The Kite Runner’ based on the namesake book authored by Khaled Hosseini, and when it finally released on Netflix I watched it this weekend. To put it mildly, I was blown away by the casting and characterization of the script! ‘The Kite Runner’ is a saga of brotherly relationship between juvenile buddies Hassan and Amir set in the glorious backdrop of the city of Kabul in the 70s, mired in catastrophic events that unravel the true characters of the young boys as they grapple with forces of time. It’s a beautifully crafted screenplay directed by Marc Foster which released in 2007 and nominated in several categories at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

‘The Kite Runner’ paints a poignant portrait of Afghanistan in its esteemed history, characterizing the capital Kabul as I have never seen before on screen, and will probably won’t for a long time. It left me gasping in surprise and wishing to visit Kabul. In the midst of a nation moving towards destruction lies the innocence of 2 young boys, Amir, and Hassan the son of a servant, who would selflessly scale any height to fulfill the ambitions of his affluent bosom buddy. Until political disturbance ravages their beautiful hopes and separates them for eternity. The gruesome ‘Talibanisation’ of Afghanistan and its fall from grace is metaphorically visualized through Amir’s innate emotional battles which result in his quest to take up a perilous journey to his native land to redeem his past.

The movie is a bestowal of faith in human ethos and celebrates the virtues of emotional bonds that are unfortunately shattered in the suppression of freedom, in that, I found ‘The Kite Runner’ as a perfect narrative for today’s microcosm of human suffering through its message of faithfulness, love, and the price that we must pay to keep our dignity in strife. Also, against the grim betrayal of human values, ‘The Kite Runner’ succeeds in delivering the message of redemption in a heartless time that we find ourselves entangled today. It’s a must see!

A Momentous Day

November 8, 2006 General

Birthdays are a special reason to celebrate and most of the time I would prefer to do it alone within the confines of my humble abode. I would watch movies, eat junk, surf the net for all kinds of foolish things, shop for myself, receive birthday wishes on phone, mails wherever; yes that’s special for me.This time I ventured away from my 5 year tradition of not working on my birthday and considered celebrating it with my colleagues and friends. 2006 in many ways has been a “year of big changes” for me.

The day always starts with a visit to the Ganpati temple to offer my prayers and seek blessings for the next year. Then the heavy lunch at the India Tea Center, here in downtown Mumbai (with 16 of us) was amazing. If you decide to visit Mumbai, do plan a visit at this place in Churchgate for its traditional Indian interiors and good food but be aware of the slow service that they offer. Nevertheless, the highlight of the day was a book on the dutch graphic artist M C Escher gifted to me by the team, which contains some of his rare works and his “puzzled” artworks. The cake cutting ceremony in the office was made momentous by the laughter and the chatter over some silly innuendos. Someone was generous to shoot a video and I would see if I can share it here. Lastly it was my meeting with an old friend Randhir in the evening which bought some old memories back. At the end of this as I had anticipated, the celebrations and the joy had bought me crashing down on my bed too fast.

Check out the events that took place on 7th November, back in time.