Time in the Jungle

The longer I practice as a designer, the more value I place on what IDEO calls cross-pollination. I have learned many times over that I am incapable of becoming an expert on everything, so I try to make it a point to seek out folks who are experts to work with. Tom Kelley's Seven Planting Tips in The Art of Innovation are really great reminders to always be observing and learning to recognize opportunity. His statement to "become an expert at watching people perform even the smallest tasks," is something I must continually remind myself to do. Busyness always creeps in and tries to steal my ability to observe my surroundings, so I'm trying to be more mindful of that. I also really enjoyed advice he gave under the CHANGE HATS section. "The best new products are like shoes someone else has broken in. Smart folks have already anticipated likely problems and opportunities." I must make certain that my product goes through testing by all the different "hats" possible before releasing it to the world.

My big plan for research these past two weeks was to go out and interview chefs, restaurant owners, and kitchen and wait staff for one side of the issue, and fellow gluten-free diners for the other side of the issue. I sat down multiple times to develop some questions for each group and gradually realized that I didn't know WHAT to ask them. I wasn't really even sure where to start with my research, despite being so close to the problem. Or maybe BECAUSE I'm so close to the problem. I frequently have to remind myself that many people have no idea what it means to follow a gluten-free diet, and most folks have no reason to know that or feel that it is an important issue.

Task #1 then, seemed to be giving folks a reason to care - particularly the chefs, restaurant owners and staff. With that in mind, I decided to leaf through the IDEO method cards to see if David Kelley & Co. could provide other ideas of where to begin with my research. Naturally, they came through. Here are a few of the cards that helped me get started this week.

Secondary research really began a few weeks ago when I was trying to decide between three items on my bug list. At that point, I checked into many of the options currently in the market to assist gluten-free diners. There were the chemical test strips and a wide variety of apps and websites designed to help the gluten-free make informed choices when dining out. I continued that research this week by searching for certification programs that restaurants can participate in to gain endorsements from certain gluten-free/celiac advocacy groups.

Although I really didn't need to conduct any anthropometric analysis (yes, I did have to Google that word to see exactly what it meant) this IDEO card did inspire me to conduct some demographic and market research to get back to the idea that restaurants are going to need a good reason to care and to want to participate in some type of change. While I'm sure that many of our local restaurants would love to help every special interest group, change has to make sense when it comes to the bottom line for any business. Hopefully they show concern for the triple-bottom line, but asking restaurants to make adjustments will have to make financial sense for each of them. When I finally sit down with restaurant owners, I KNOW that catering to gluten-free diners is important and a good idea, but the intuition of a complete stranger will likely not inspire great confidence. I'll need real evidence. Here are some highlights of the research that I'll expound upon in class:

• 1 in 133 Americans has Celiac disease
• An estimated 1 in 20 Americans has Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
• 15-25% of consumers are currently looking for gluten-free products
• Currently, only about 5% of celiac sufferers are diagnosed. It is expected that the level of diagnosis will reach 50-60% by 2019.
• The National Restaurant Association named gluten-free one of the top 10 industry trends of 2010
• The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness and the Gluten Intolerance Group are two major organizations that provide training and grant seals of approval to restaurants. Between these two organizations, only one restaurant (chain) in the state of West Virginia has sought and received approval.

Finally, I used a combination of Activity Analysis and Flow Analysis to map out the average experience of a gluten-free diner and the restaurant personnel that they interact with. Currently, this experience varies quite a bit from one restaurant to another, but I tried to find the average or the most likely experiences and map those. I used social media to request general input from fellow gluten-free diners when it came to the existing environment, but so far I've received very little feedback. I plan to make another attempt and readjust my map if necessary.

My hope is that analyzing these pieces will start to shed light on the best opportunity for improvement, as well as arm me with solid information and questions that I can discuss with local restaurants.

Beginning with an Eye - Part 2

With my bug list narrowed to three complaints that I was most interested in and felt had the most potential, it was time to do some research. I started this stage of the process by asking:
What products or services currently exist in this market?
Who is using this product or service?
What is missing or lacking in the selection of existing products?

I started with Bug List item #6: Dining out for the gluten-intolerant.
Surprisingly, there are a large number of apps and websites designed to assist the gluten-intolerant when it comes to grocery shopping and dining out. Most are relatively recent developments, and the majority have received mediocre reviews at best. Here were just a few products and services that stood out from the others.
EZ Gluten. This is not an app or website, but rather portable test strips that diners can use to test foods and beverages for the presence of gluten. Downside: you have to keep purchasing test strips.
iEatOut and iCanEat OnThe Go apps. Gives diners advice for eating in ethnic restaurants (iEatOut) and fast food restaurants (OnTheGo). The benefits of these apps are that they do not require an internet connection, there are numerous restaurant menus in the database, and there is also advice for talking to your server or chef included to achieve the best possible experience. According to reviewers, the downsides are the speed of the app, the lack of up-to-date information, and the fact that cross-contamination issues have not been considered.
Allergen Menu. This app allows users to input multiple allergies (because celiacs are often sensitive to other ingredients) and the results are filtered based on the combination of allergies. This app only includes 85 chain restaurant menus however, there are no restaurant reviews, and users must subscribe (aka pay) yearly to receive updates.
GlutenFree Restaurant Cards from CeliacTravel.com app. These digital cards contain explanations of celiac disease and the associated restrictions that can be shown to a server or cook to better articulate a diner's needs. The cards are translated into numerous languages, so they are quite useful for international travel.
FindMe Gluten Free. This was, by far, the best solution of all the ones I evaluated. This app is free and lists restaurants and/or individual menu items that are gluten free. Although a relatively small number of users have rated this app, it is highly recommended for being user-friendly, for providing reviews, directions, and the ability to call the restaurant for reservations if using an iPhone or Android. The app also indicates if a particular place or item has been recommended by The Celiac Diva. Users can also recommend new restaurants, search by address or chain name, or use location services to find the nearest options. The main downside to this app is that it is only as good as the people who use it and contribute to the reviews. I'm not sure that I could develop this type of application in a way that is significantly better than FindMe Gluten Free.


Bug List item #7: Buying a car.
deCapo Software Car Negotiator app. Provides a step-by-step checklist of the entire car buying process from when to buy a car to the closing of a sale. This list seems to be relatively generic, but it does help provide some sense of organization and process for new buyers. The main feature of the app is a financial calculator that allows terms of the sale to be entered in order to calculate the "Out-the-door" price, the total lifetime cost of the vehicle, as well as the monthly payment. Lets users save various purchasing scenarios and take photos.
Edmunds app. Allows users to search for new and used cars, locate them at a particular dealer, get a price quote, read specs and safety and consumer ratings for the vehicle. Recent searches are automatically saved. iPhone users are able to search using multiple parameters to filter results. According to some reviewers, the app is designed for users who already have significant knowledge about cars rather than newbies. The latest version of the app has received very low ratings, seemingly because of usability.
CarSoup Car Shopping app. Allows users to search for new and used cars based on their location, as well as by make, model, price, year, color and other features. CarSoup also finds and lists cars for sale by individuals. Full screen photos, including interior shots, access to free CARFAX reports if available, information on local special and promotions, and the ability to share information make this an extensive car buying app. The app is relatively new and has few ratings.
Women's Automotive Solutions.com. This online service will actually help users choose a car, will handle the negotiation of both buying and selling/trading, and then delivers the new vehicle with keys and paperwork to be signed. Car buyers are independent business owners who basically buy-in to a franchise. The service charge is a flat fee, regardless of car price.

Bug List item #12: Lack of a flat surface when backpacking.
Smokeeater 908 Lightweight Cook Table. This small table appears to be little more than a flat piece of aluminum with one curved edge to allow it to fit snugly against a tree trunk, cord to anchor it to the tree, and a hiking pole to serve as a leg. Interesting setup, however the sheet of aluminum does not fold down to a smaller size, a hiking pole is required (I do not use hiking poles, I suppose a branch could work), and the curve of the aluminum could be a problem if only very large or very small tree trunks are available. That seems a bit of a stretch, but Norman says to assume every mishap will happen. :)
snow peak Ozen Solo Table. This aluminum alloy table seems to be a relatively good solution. There are minimal parts and setup required. The downsides are that 12oz is still a fairly significant amount of weight for an item that most wouldn't consider a necessity, and the table appears to have no other use or function beyond being a table top.
Aluminum slat tables. There seem to be no shortage of small aluminum tables created by assembling slats and small poles. While it is nice that these break down and nest (as seen in this YouTube video), the amount of assembly required and the weight (typically in the 20 and 30 oz range) do not make me want to spend the money or allow the backpack space and weight for these.
I do think there is room for innovation around this particular product. The key, in my opinion, will be creating a product that can be multi-functional and more than simply a table. Although many "purists" will likely not purchase any table simply because it isn't a necessity, creating a delightful product may encourage many backpackers to make a little extra space for a table.

Choosing between these three categories is a tough decision.

Beginning with an Eye - Part 1

In preparation for narrowing the Bug List down to one topic for semester long research and development, the readings this week provided good information on forming a great team, prototyping, and designing to eliminate potential human error when using a product or service. I'm very interested in the crossover between design and business leadership or creating a culture within a company. Tom Kelley's discussion of "hot teams" is one of my favorite chapters of the entire book. It seems so simple to foster a fun, collaborative environment and motivate employees to do their best work and be invested in their work, yet so many small businesses fail miserably at this task and endure the struggles that come with a divisive, unmotivated workforce. With the plethora of books and articles touting servant leadership and collaboration, how is it that so many business are still getting it wrong?

I'm endlessly fascinated with the connections between compensation (both money and fringe benefits) and motivation. I don't believe there is any magic formula for compensation, but aside from money, creating an environment similar to that of IDEO seems like an achievable task for any company. I'd like to think that - given the opportunity - I could try and emulate at least some of IDEO's strategies for building a hot team. First and foremost, getting buy-in from team members is crucial. When discussing the shopping cart project, Kelley says that the team members "were totally dedicated to achieving the end result [...] everyone was enthusiastic." I feel this is the first misstep for most companies. If a team member doesn't feel valued and important, it is not likely they will pour 110% effort into any project. IDEO's lack of permanent hierarchy gives all employees an opportunity to play "the expert." Furthermore, Kelley states that "The right team and leader can create their own energy around the task at hand." Innovation is not something that can be achieved through rote memorization of a process or by following a book. Inspiring leadership and dedication are vital to innovation. One more word on inspiring hot teams. I love Kelley's statements about morale. He says, "You can't worry about how much time or money the fun costs. You'll get back whatever time the team lost in the next week and quickly move into the black. After all, morale isn't something that can be measured or planned." Such a fantastic statement, but apparently harder for businesses - particularly small businesses on a tight schedule or budget - seem to embrace.

In his advice about prototyping, one sentence really spoke to me this week, as it is something I have always struggled with...this week's assignment no exception. "Think about tackling problems when you don't have the answers." Even as I made my Bug List last week, I found myself already trying to solve the problem that I couln't even articulate. I had to constantly prod myself to add a problem to the list or research the problem further even if I had no worldly idea what I might be able to do to solve that problem. In a society that is so results-driven, so much emphasis is placed on success. Success in worldly terms. Making more money. Saving more money. Winning awards. Even knowing that greats like IDEO have created "failures", it's difficult to embrace the process and the experimentation without having the answers already. And risking failure. Maybe more than once. I know numerous inventors and entrepreneurs have failed numerous times and later gone on to be a great success, but that is a huge barrier to cross, even in a school environment. I must keep reminding myself that there is still learning in "failure." :)

I continued to be fascinated by Norman's discussion of errors and mistakes (two completely different things that I'm sure I have used interchangeably by "mistake"). The entire chapter boiled down to two simple sentences advocating for user-centered, empathetic design. "Think of the user's point of view. Assume that every possible mishap will happen, so protect against it." One funny side note about "every possible mishap will happen"...

During my first year or two of college, my grandmother came to stay with me for a weekend and we made an outing to the new Target store. Although she normally still wrote checks for most purchases, she was paying with a credit card this time and had her first opportunity to use the point-of-sale card reader. She slid her card to pay. Then, despite the special stylus hanging from the display, my grandma carefully used her ballpoint pen to sign for her purchase and permanently etched her first, middle, and last name in beautiful cursive on the digital screen. Don Norman is right again!

Now, to narrow down that Bug List to one single problem...

Bug List | Part 2

My original Bug List, plus some:


1. I never have a camera handy when I run. ( I have a little point and shoot, but it's still too clunky to take on a run. I don't take a phone on runs, and typically don't take an mp3 player either.) I constantly see interesting things when I'm out running on both trails and the road.
2. Most measuring spoons won't fit down inside store-bought spice and seasoning bottles. I bake a lot, and because I am impatient, I typically remove the "cap" that has small holes for sprinkling or a larger opening for pouring so that I can pour faster straight from the bottle. Also because I am impatient, I usually over shoot and spill said spice into my mixture of ingredients with no good way of retrieving it. Then I just have to guess how much more of the spoon's contents I need and return the rest to the bottle.
3. My driver's license gets stuck in the clear window pocket of my wallet and I break fingernails and get frustrated when trying to fish it out.
4. When I remove the lint trap in the dryer to clean it, a fine "mist" of lint goes everywhere! The screen scrapes against the edge of it's special little compartment, sending a cloud of lint all over the floor in front of the dryer. My old dryer had a lint trap on top that was really long and fit into it's compartment quite snugly. It created an even larger mess when removing. I had to wipe down the top of the dryer each time and hold my breath while I was removing the lint trap.
5. I get tired of having to scoop two bowls of dog food out of the stinky dog food bag morning and evening. Self-feeding bowls are nice, but the dogs could keep eating from these continuously if they wanted.
6. I follow a gluten-free diet. Because of that, eating out in restaurants tends to be more work than it's worth. I either have to try and guess the ingredients in a dish or I have to be a pain in the neck for some busy server by asking a million questions. Some restaurants have a dedicated gluten-free menu, but they are few and far between. I don't always have the luxury of going online to check ingredients or allergy information for a restaurant before going. It would be nice if there was some sort of universal standard for allergy labeling...I'm sure there are many folks out there allergic to nuts, dairy, eggs, etc that face these same obstacles.
7. I HATE, Hate, hate the process of buying a car. I shouldn't have to pay more for a car just because I'm not a very good negotiator. I can't imagine how many people are taken advantage of each year when purchasing a vehicle. Buying a car should be like going to Walmart...you see the price of each item and you decide if you're willing to pay that or not.
8. When I need to refill my CamelBak water bottle, I have to unscrew the lid and either hold it in my mouth or find some odd way to hold it in the same hand as the bottle to keep both the straw and the mouthpiece from touching anything while I fill the bottle. If I'm trying to carry any other items like books or a purse, I'm sure this all looks ridiculous.
9. When I floss my teeth, I wrap the floss around my fingers 800 times to keep it from slipping off my hands when I apply pressure (my teeth are really close together). This means that my fingers are blue by the time I finish.
10. I am terrible at polishing my nails. Polish ends up all over my skin and my cuticles.
11. My headphones get incredibly tangled when they are tossed in my bag or floating around at home. I like to have a long cord for them so that I can move around easily if need be, but the longer the cord, the more tangles I have.
12. When camping (backpacking), it would be great to have some type of flat surface to sit things on. I normally use rocks, or just the ground, but the uneveness combined with the dirt can sometimes equal problems. My water jug, a container of food, utensils, etc would be better off on a nice flat surface. Camp tables exist, but I need something super light-weight, compact or foldable, and preferably dual-purpose. Space is limited in a backpack, so each item has to earn it's keep.

more to come I'm sure...

The Bug List

I am really loving The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman right now. The book is making me think that taking some sort of behavioral psychology class might be a good idea for improving my ability and intuition as a designer. In chapters 3 and 4, Norman discussed knowledge, memory, constraints and mapping in relation to tasks and objects that we encounter on a daily basis. There were many things in these two chapters that stood out to me, the first of which was the problem with learning through rote memorization. Learning information in school, or learning how to use a product through rote memorization affords the user no reason or explanation for particular actions. With no reason for an action, the user has no understanding of what to fix or adjust if a problem arises. Although I am still not entirely sure how this will play into my responsibilities as a designer, it seems very important to keep at the forefront, particularly where education might be concerned.

Norman's discussion of natural mapping and the four types of constraints (physcial, semantic, cultural, and logical) was fascinating. His discussion of doors, stoves, and light switches made me realize that I have experienced every one of these frustrations in my life. I have lived in 10 different places so far in my adult life, which means that I've used at least 10 different stoves and dealt with 10 different combinations of light switches. All of the stoves had labels for the burner controls. I can't begin to count the number of times I have flipped the wrong light or fan switch because I "forgot" which switch controls which device. Just by reading these two chapters, I will now think about the way natural mapping and constraints have been exploited or destroyed by a design.

While Norman's writing makes me consider how I can be more observant to improve my design, chapter 4 of Tom Kelley's The Art of Innovation had me thinking about leadership. Being able to participate in a great "brainstormer" is one thing, but I think a designer needs to develop the skills to facilitate a great brainstorm. That being said, Kelley's fourth secret in Seven Secrets for Better Brainstorming seems to be the most difficult, yet most important to master: Build And Jump. I think this would be a skill that could actually be practiced though. By having a peer develop a few pre-scripted brainstorms that fizzle at some point, the facilitator-to-be could practice that skill of building and/or jumping in an effort to reinvigorate the session. Maybe this should be an exercise that we build into a class? Just a thought.

BUG LIST
Had I read Norman's two chapters earlier in the week, I might have developed a more robust list of items and tasks that bug me. As usual, I found myself going through the week at break-neck speed and not stopping to observe and contemplate as often as I should have to create a really nice list. Here are a few thoughts that I did have this week however.

1. I never have a camera handy when I run. ( I have a little point and shoot, but it's still too clunky to take on a run. I don't take a phone on runs, and typically don't take an mp3 player either.) I constantly see interesting things when I'm out running on both trails and the road.
2. Most measuring spoons won't fit down inside store-bought spice and seasoning bottles. I bake a lot, and because I am impatient, I typically remove the "cap" that has small holes for sprinkling or a larger opening for pouring so that I can pour faster straight from the bottle. Also because I am impatient, I usually over shoot and spill said spice into my mixture of ingredients with no good way of retrieving it. Then I just have to guess how much more of the spoon's contents I need and return the rest to the bottle.
3. My driver's license gets stuck in the clear window pocket of my wallet and I break fingernails and get frustrated when trying to fish it out.
4. When I remove the lint trap in the dryer to clean it, a fine "mist" of lint goes everywhere! The screen scrapes against the edge of it's special little compartment, sending a cloud of lint all over the floor in front of the dryer. My old dryer had a lint trap on top that was really long and fit into it's compartment quite snugly. It created an even larger mess when removing. I had to wipe down the top of the dryer each time and hold my breath while I was removing the lint trap.
5. I get tired of having to scoop two bowls of dog food out of the stinky dog food bag morning and evening. Self-feeding bowls are nice, but the dogs could keep eating from these continuously if they wanted.

I know there are A LOT more things that bug me that I'm just now slowing down enough to appreciate, so I'm sure this list will continue to grow.