POST DIGITAL

H3: Using Experience Design To Change Our World

Water.
Its refreshing and yet precious.
In 2009, I stood on the border of Israel and Syria and realized that it could end a war and create peace. Today it is what is desperately needed in California to save our fragile source of fresh produce in the Unites States.

So often we take for granted or forget how much water we use and how important it is to our holistic well being. So that led me to an important question. What if we could track our water consumption linking it our health and happiness?  Could that make us more aware of our consumption patterns and get us to become more conscious of how fragile our supply is? 

In a recent interview with Anouk Pappers from Cool Brands I was asked how I have used my craft in Experience Design to make the world a better place. 

Using Interface, Industrial and Graphic Design I have developed an experience meant to make people aware of their personal water consumption patterns.The H3 Experience has just gone from paper to prototype : https://www.behance.net/gallery/12893513/H3-Mobile-Platform-Water-Bottle-System 

This Mobile application is connected to the Internet of Things (#IoT) through a connected water bottle and now in progress an apple watch application which uses your physical activity as an indicator or when you need to rehydrate.

Related:

• Cool Brands / Cool People: http://www.coolbrandspeople.com/stories/joanna-pen%CC%83a-bickley-hydration-health-happiness/
• Around The World In 80 Brands: http://www.aroundtheworldin80brands.com/

 

The Internet of Things: Designing for Magical Moments of Truth

The Internet of Things: Designing for Magical Moments of Truth from IBM Interactive Experience

Five Things You Should Experience This Week: 1.5.2015

Swissed

Swissted is an ongoing project by graphic designer mike joyce. Drawing from his love of punk rock and swiss modernism, two movements that have (almost) nothing to do with one another, mike has redesigned vintage punk, hardcore, new wave, and indie rock show flyers into international typographic style posters.

 

Check it out: http://www.swissted.com

Re-imagining the Affordable Care Acts’s Insurance Exchange

Right as the U.S. government shut down on Oct. 1, the new national health-care exchange went live at healthcare.gov. The digital platform was intended to faciliate 48 million people who want to buy health insurance under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  In the first week nearly 9.5 million people visited HealthCare.gov but only 0.04 percent of them actually enrolled in a health plan through the site. Now after 3 weeks nearly 20 million Americans have now experienced the broken HealthCare.gov website first hand.

From Screens that don't load, to long waits via Web chats and disconnected databases the site is one of the most public technology SNAFUs in recent history.  It's important to note that Healthcare.gov isn’t just a website; it’s supposed to be a platform for building health-care marketplaces. Visiting the site should be as easy as it is to purchase car insurance or even purchasing a flight from Kayak.com


After hearing President Obama’s press conference and conducting an initial heuristics examination of the exchange platform, we decided to put the politics aside and unite our networks of digital professionals to help the administration fix and improve our government’s healthcare exchange.

I invite you to take action and join me and our all-star panel of digital design, user experience, and technology thought-leaders who will share their insights and ideas on how - together - we can improve the https://www.healthcare.gov digital experience for 48 million uninsured Americans.

Mark your calendars: On Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 1PM EST via a Public Google Hangout we will share what we have found and give concrete ideas on who this digital platform should be in service to the american people.

 

Research & Information Sources:

• Key Facts about the Uninsured Population: http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
• Percentage of Americans Lacking Health Coverage Falls Again:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/percentage-of-americans-lacking-health-coverage-falls-again.html
• US Census: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb13-165.html
• 48 Million Americans Are Uninsured Ahead Of Obamacare Changes:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/census-uninsured-2012_n_3941339.html
• Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/business/health-law-fails-to-keep-prices-low-in-rural-areas.html
• How to navigate the Healthcare Marketplace website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXf55gQibdk&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Problems with healthcare.gov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsC7J7oTE-s&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Congress investigating Obamacare website problems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIYpcZQ8rvc&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Obamacare technical problems continue beyond sign-ups:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3jCZWLJv8&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Weekly Address: Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o1N3ko4wPE&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• The Obamacare Website Didn't Have to Fail. How to Do Better Next Time: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-16/open-source-everything-the-moral-of-the-healthcare-dot-gov-debacle
• Traffic Didn’t Crash the Obamacare Site Alone. Bad Coding Did Too. http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/24/traffic-didnt-crash-the-obamacare-site-alone-bad-coding-did-too/#ixzz2j5P9oHWG
• FEDERAL OFFICIALS PREVENTED LENGTHY TESTING PROCESS OF OBAMACARE WEBSITE: http://www.fastcompany.com/3020204/fast-feed/federal-officials-prevented-lengthy-testing-process-of-obamacare-website
• CRITICAL HEALTHCARE.GOV DATA CENTER CRASHES:http://www.fastcompany.com/3020746/fast-feed/critical-healthcaregov-data-center-crashes
• OBAMACARE IS HERE, BUT FOR MANY, HEALTHCARE.GOV IS NOT:http://www.fastcompany.com/3019012/fast-feed/obamacare-is-here-but-for-many-healthcaregov-is-not
• U.S. Government Fixes Copyright Violation in Healthcare.gov Code:http://mashable.com/2013/10/24/obamacare-code-copyright/
• Obama Plays Tech Support for Healthcare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/obama-healthcare-glitches/
• White House Recruits Tiger Team to Fix HealthCare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/healthcare-gov-fix/
• LESS THAN 1 PERCENT OF HEALTHCARE.GOV VISITORS SUCCESSFULLY ENROLLED IN AN INSURANCE PLAN: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/10/less-1-percent-healthcaregov-visitors-successfully-enrolled-insurance-plan/72041/

 

Video & News Coverage:

 

 

 

BE TRUE 2012 - Nike Takes Pride in it's LGBT Community

Just in time for the NYC Pride parade - Enter the Nike Pride Pack.  Be True 2012 celebrates the achievements of the New York City, San Francisco and Portland communities as progressive leaders of LGBT life with city-specific footwear releases and accompanying hat and tee.  

[Via Nike]

The 21st Century Beetle – Rock 'n' Scroll

Many of you know I love my Beetle.  I was jazzed to see the Webby for Best Automotive go to Tribal DDB Berlin's website for VW. The site uses nifty design to give a history of the iconic car.

What makes this one of my favorites it it's innovative use of video.

Visit The 21st Century Beetle – Rock 'n' Scroll at http://www.beetle.com/

 

 

We Are Music

Here is a comprehensive overview of the 2012 Grammys effort.

Work by: TBWA\CHIAT\DAY, Los Angeles

Does A UCD focus make companies miss out on disruptive innovations?

Fast Company’s Co.Design blog published a controversial post that triggered a lot of discussion. In their article provocatively titled User-Led Innovation Can’t Create Breakthroughs; Just Ask Apple and Ikea, Jens Martin Skibsted and Rasmus Bech Hansen wrote:

“[User-centered design] doesn’t work. Here’s the truth: Great brands lead users, not the other way around.”

Skibsted and Hansen cited Apple and IKEA as some of the most innovative brands that don’t follow the user-centric design model. They say that the Apple design team spoke out against user-centric design because it’s “a waste of time”. Similarly IKEA claimes, “it doesn’t work.”

They argued that brands have to take the lead in innovation with a strong and consistent vision, and outlined several reasons why it’s actually detrimental to listen to your users.  Without vision and innovation we begin to create a sea of sameness.

I must admit, their points are compelling...[sigh] but are they correct?  Where does the user fit in?  After the innovation or to inspire the innovation?  How might we reconcile their claims with the value of design research and user-centered design?

You can read the article at http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663220/user-led-innovation-cant-create-breakthroughs-just-ask-apple-and-ikea

Are they right?  Sound off.  What do you think?

 

The Anatomy of Typography

For Print Only shows off, what they are calling, the Ligature, Loop & Stem poster.  It breaks down typography to their very essential parts and provides a beautiful teaching tool for how typography can impact our lives and how designers can make it better. [via Dooby Brain]