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Life Inside A Power Socket!

This walkthrough of a ‘secret’ room behind a power outlet is literally the most astonishing and cutest video I’ve come across this year. The level of detail crammed in such a narrow confined space is on a whole new level altogether. There’s an AirCon, a red clock signifying an evening time, a refrigerator with a microwave sitting on top, and a table with a PC (that’s actually a Mac) and leaving just enough space for a mouse to fit in. There’s even frame displaying a Diploma in Karate above the desk!

Besides, the desktop lamp there’s another computer right in the front as you enter the ‘room’ with some sort of a game in progress. This set up’s so cool! Who wants bigger desks with dual monitors when we can own two PCs and in such an innocuous place; trust me, it’s like going back into the 90s! The best part about this interior is the miniature Mac on the table with an OS9 splash screen, upon pursuing some information online I found it could either be a PowerMacintosh 4400 or a Macintosh II.

It totally baffles me as to how the pieces have been constructed with such pristine detail — the table, toys, the chair, the lamp, even the blinking light on the CPU (or is it an Internet router), and everything is skillfully assembled inside the narrow interiors, behind a power socket, but looking extremely comfy! In reality, not an inch to stretch your arms but still a decent example of efficient use of the location. Like a perfect world within a tiny world.

It’s a creation of a young Japanese artist called ‘Mozu’ who designs such handmade miniature splendours. This latest build is called ‘The Secret Base of Kubito’ and the time he spent to complete this masterpiece was 4 months! It’s a personal space / an office room together, and away from the glare of the outside world. It’s a truly magnificent work of art!

YouTube Started As A Dating Site

When I read this for the first time I cringed. It sounded unnatural that YouTube, the world’s largest online video streaming company with over a billion users each month, was conceived as an online video dating site! So here’s some back story. In March 2016 at the SXSW festival, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen revealed the actual predicament surrounding the launch of their streaming service in 2005. He said…

“We always thought there was something with video there, but what would be the actual practical application? We thought dating would be the obvious choice.”

Source

From Video Dating To Video Sharing

YouTube - Mobile

YouTube was conceived in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in 2005 while working for PayPal. The entrepreneurs initially found a market in matchmaking through video, even taking out ads on Craigslist in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in which they offered to pay women $20 to upload videos of themselves to the site. No one took the offer seriously. It didn’t matter to the founders, because by then, users had begun uploading all sorts of videos from dogs to their vacations and they began pondering over a fundamental question “why not let users define what YouTube is all about?” so they completely revamped their website, making it more open and general. By 2006, YouTube was already the fastest growing website on the Internet hosting more than 65,000 videos. Then on October 9, 2006, Google dropped a bomb by announcing they were acquiring YouTube for US$1.65 billion in stock. It was the second-largest acquisition for the search giant at the time.

Co-Design And User Innovation

Although it might seem like a case of ‘serendipity’ in the first instance with YouTube going from a video dating site to a video sharing one, here’s why I believe it was really a case of oversight. The founders formerly developed a vision to devise a product or service using online video streaming tech as a platform for matchmaking, but in that their vision of connecting with the users was grossly miscalculated because users just weren’t looking at video as a dating tool. Their initial concept could have been refined if they’d involved users in the conceptual stages of design iteration. The involvement of users early on provides the creators with an advantage at mobilising resources towards a focussed area of user’s concerns prior to the launch, although their open-mindedness did save them the day. As opposed to co-design or the user-centred model, it seems like YouTube followed a Linear Innovation Model consisting of research and development of product or service, which is then marketed and sent out to the users.

Speaking of which, co-design or the user innovation process is the act of designing concepts with the users (co-design is often referred to as participatory design by the design community) involving the intermediate users or direct consumers.

In other words, it’s not enough to involve engineers, designers, managers and other project owners into the creative process rather they need to be active co-designers in channelising energies into building actionable plans and implementing prototypes. That’s the way forward to meet some of the biggest challenges we face as humankind.

The innovation process comes with ambiguity and it’s often derailed due to several reasons, notwithstanding management oversight (like in the case of YouTube), misconceived notions about product utilization by end-users and last but not the least, being blinded by or trying to resolve the problems and challenges from a single spectrum thought process. In that, YouTube was created on the basic idea of connecting people through video streaming at cheaper rates but then it ultimately led to overlooking the users’ latent needs, a basic ingredient at shaping customers’ experience.

It’s quite likely, in a participatory design method, and by involving all the stakeholders of the soon-to-be-launching service the founders could have discovered to their surprise that instead of recorded videos users preferred to date using other discreet tools wherein their identities aren’t compromised or misjudged in the first impression. It’s dating after all. Lastly, the participatory design process should not be mistaken for crowdsourcing in which groups of interested parties contribute to the creation of ideas in an open forum, such as the Internet, in achieving a cumulative result. Imagine how different our world would be if end-users were involved as co-designers in every project, end-to-end, not just as research subjects but as an important aspect with any product or service design business. That’d be the true essence of any user-centred design methodology.

Airline Safety Videos – Here’s One Creative Approach!

Airline safety demonstration videos shouldn’t feel lifeless. With some ingenuity, they could be designed to keep the users engaged. We all agree that safety demos play a critical role from the perspective of passenger safety and I have flown quite a bit to tell that the audience generally looks the other way. However, I stumbled upon a creative approach in connecting entertainment with information, in which British Airways partnered with a UK-based charity Comic Relief to create a unique airline safety demo video featuring British celebrities.

In a nutshell, it’s a compelling shoot, with the presence of prominent celebs lending their unique acting talents in conveying the pitch. Besides, the perceived gravity of airline safety being delivered using wit and humour which also adds to its overall recall value. Not to mention that the presentation also does a fantastic job of promoting a good cause for a donation. In contrast, the prevailing airline demos continue to be monotonous either through its use of deadpan animation or short films with actors as flight attendants, with absolutely nothing that grabs our attention. Kudos to British Airways, not just for the entertainment value but in inventing a template for the airline industry to emulate.

Jimmy Kimmel On Mass Shooting At Las Vegas

I don’t think anyone could have articulated the emotions of this tragic incident in words that Jimmy has managed to do. It’s not just the mass shooting at Las Vegas which is a horrific incident to recount but his profound use of words that brought tears to my eyes. He’s just brilliant!

Apple Is Changing User Behaviour, Not Just User Experience

The iPhone 7/Plus launched without the standard 3.5mm audio jack creating a storm on the Internet. The problem isn’t about the missing elements from a traditional user interaction perspective with a device such as the iPhone as it is about changing a user’s perception. It’s indeed very courageous of Apple to remove the audio jack completely replacing it with the lightning connector which means you cannot listen to music while charging (it’ll require a new $40 accessory). Simply put, we can’t charge AND listen to music or take calls simultaneously and we have to keep the iPhones charged. Suggesting that Apple wants the AirPods as your default hearing device regardless. Apple’s users have often had to reluctantly change the way they interact with devices based purely on how Apple defined its product line so ‘courageously’ and regardless of how frustrating it was. The astonished fans complained but eventually caved in. Now, this isn’t the first time that Apple has done something ‘courageous’ with its product line by removing a standard feature or software – the iPads didn’t support Adobe Flash (they still don’t even today), and yet if the sales numbers are correct the audience seems to have loved the iPad! From a product design standpoint with its power to innovate Apple really at the helm of changing user behaviour of this generation unquestionably. Perhaps Apple did contemplate the backlash of its decision to remove the 3.5mm audio jack from the iPhones and the ‘courageous’ comment from Phil Schiller is proof of defending itself from its perched place. So if there’s one product company which is going to affect our lives within the realm of technology and design innovation it’d be Apple.

Here’s Steve Jobs explaining ‘courage’ perfectly with Apple’s products.