Adaptive Path Blog

An interview with Scott Berkun, author and public speaker on
Show Length: 20 minutes

In 1956 a documentary called The Mystery of Picasso was released, showing two hours of Pablo Picasso doing what he did best: making paintings. This film gave the public a first-hand glimpse directly into this infamous artist’s creative process. Public speaker and writer Scott Berkun and I got together for tea to talk about the film and our own experiences around creativity. As both managers of creative teams and creators of work ourselves, we looked at how our processes aligned with Picasso’s…or where we could learn from him. As the discussion unfolded, we came up with an interesting set of guidelines that enable creativity to flourish.

Listen to podcast on www.TeaWithTeresa.com

(Why Mobile Phones Don’t Make Sense To Everyone)

A “Tea with Teresa” podcast with Natasha Alani, Researcher for Adaptive Path’s Mobile Literacy Project

Download podcast here

By now you may have heard about the release of research and designs from Adaptive Path’s Mobile Literacy project. If you haven’t, here’s the gist: In and effort to understand how mobile technology can work more effectively in emerging markets, Adaptive Path went to rural India to investigate the impact of mobile technology and developed concepts for new mobile devices for this market.

I interviewed Natasha Alani, one of the researchers, about her trip and what she witnessed in India. It’s an interesting conversation that will give you some insight into the obstacles that those in rural and highly illiterate societies confront when trying to use something many of us take for granted as simple: a mobile phone. Natasha talks about how the basic assumptions underlying most mobile phone designs (ie: literacy, numeric literacy, and an understanding of basic computer functions) can quickly become obstacles for communication. She also poses an exciting challenge for mobile phone designers everywhere: step back, break apart foundational assumptions in mobile design, and explore new possibilities. The result could be an opportunity to make mobile communication truly accessible to a much wider global audience.

To see the designs that came out of this research visit: http://www.adaptivepath.com/mobileliteracy

(Sharing my latest podcast…Thought you all might find this one interesting [particularly those into environment design and/or education]…it’s a look at how digital technology is busting open the possibilities in the planetarium field. Enjoy.)

When you think about planetariums, you probably think about craning your head way back looking up at a sea of stars spread across a dome ceiling, right? Well, something is changing in the planetarium world. With the introduction of digital projectors, planetariums are evolving into 3D spaces that are being used for much more than star-gazing. I learned about this revolution through Rachel Connolly, Director of the Rauch Planetarium at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. We had a long distance tea and she told me about all kinds of possibilities for planetarium use in the future and potential impacts upon scientists, astronomy, and education. Imagine if, while learning about molecules, you stood inside one, for example…

Listen to the podcast at www.TeaWithTeresa.com

(And I’d love to hear what you think)

My colleague Teresa recently began a podcast series titled Tea with Teresa. In it, she talks to folks about their passions, getting them to explain the ins and outs of what excites them. I was humbled to be included in her latest podcast, on The History and Evolution of User Experience Design.

You can listen to it here:

or download the audio file.

Some describe it as making things easy and enjoyable to use. Others describe it as all the elements that impact someone’s perception of a product or system. Jesse James Garrett says it’s a lot like going on a great first date.

For those who haven’t heard of it before: You’ll be surprise by how much it impacts your life.

For those who know it well: Believe it or not, the complexity made simple. You’ll finally know what to say in the elevator when someone asks you what you do for a living.

Have a listen to my latest podcast on www.TeaWithTeresa.com.

The Latest “Tea with Teresa” Podcast

We’ve all had those awful experiences like getting lost within a badly designed website (Why can’t I add another item to my shopping cart?), confusion around using a new product or device (Where in the world is the ON button?!), or losing our cool after an awful customer service experience (Did they really send me to five different people?). In my latest “Tea with Teresa” podcast, I talk with Todd Elliott, Project Manager at Adaptive Path, about how how user testing helps minimize the angst we all feel when confronted with a poorly designed experience.  Have a listen…and I’d love feedback as this podcast is still evolving!

www.TeaWithTeresa.com

I recently sat down to talk with Raphael Grignani who leads the Nokia Service and UI Design team here in San Francisco. I spoke with Raphael about his involvement in Homegrown, an umbrella project whose goal was to create sustainable, ethical, and desirable communication solutions for Nokia. Raphael shares the journey of this grassroots project that started out as ten inspired individuals within Nokia looking at the topic of sustainability evolved into product and service concepts and eventually found it’s way to Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the CEO of Nokia, and the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona.

Read more…

I recently sat down to talk with Scott Hirsch, principal of the Management Innovation Group and MX conference speaker, to talk about using UX and design sensibilities to solve the problems of business strategy. Scott shares his experiences on where UX outperforms and compliments typical business functions like financial analysis, and how UX can be used to tackle problems differently—from how much is Google worth to how telecoms respond to the iPhone.

Download the MP3 of our conversation, and come join Scott at the MX conference next week to learn more about “what’s wrong with strategy!”

Earlier today I had a delightful chat with Julie Peters, Brand Manager at Virgin USA, and speaker at our upcoming MX San Francisco 2008 conference. You can listen to our conversation (45 minutes, MP3), which addresses topics as varied as: the Virgin Brand; the importance of hiring the right people; how Virgin incubates and spins out businesses; what “innovation” means for Virgin; the challenge of delivering the Virgin experience; and plans for traveling on Virgin Galactic. She provided fascinating insight into how Virgin operates, and I hope you appreciate it.

And don’t forget, one lucky person who registers for MX San Francisco by Friday March 14, 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time will be chosen at random to receive their choice of either one round-trip ticket wherever Virgin America flies (in honor of Julie), or a spa/massage package at the conference hotel, the Mark Hopkins.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending an hour chatting with Chip Conley, CEO of boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre Hotels, and keynote speaker at our upcoming MX San Francisco conference (April 20-22).

You can listen to the interview (MP3). Be warned that it doesn’t have a formal introduction. It begins with us kind of mid-conversation, and just goes from there. In the interview, we talk about recession planning, service design, systematizing experience design (JDV uses a tool called “experience report cards”), team dynamics, succession planning, and all manner of things. It’s a bit free-wheeling, but I think you’ll enjoy it.

To provide some context for the interview:

Chip has just written PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow, which you can see me reading on BART here:

I hate business books. They’re typically trite, self-serving, and poorly written. At best they have one good idea that takes 10-15 pages to explain, and then another 200 pages of filler so that it warrants being sold at Barnes and Noble.

PEAK, and I’m not just saying this because he’s a speaker, is actually worth reading. I’ve been a fan of Chip’s for a while, and one reason is his honesty, forthrightness, and, as a CEO of a $200 million company that employs over 2,300 people, his willingness to engage with the emotional, squishy, unmeasurable. Actually, not just willingness–he recognizes how essential such things are to achieve long-term success. His book gets at this by way of Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, which Chip translates into serving employees, customers, and investors.

When Chip talks about engaging customers, he sounds very much like an experience designer — he discusses ethnography, and the importance of satisfying unmet needs. He also has fantastic ideas for maintaining not just employee satisfaction or loyalty, but deep engagement. Ideas that I could see working for our 35-person firm as well as larger enterprises.

If, after all this, you’re hooked, don’t hesitate to register for our MX Conference (and use the promotional code BLOG for 10% off). You’ll get a chance to meet Chip, and many other interesting folks as well!