design that resonates

  • You’re so design, you probably think this post is about you

    Reader warning: I’m not even sure what this post is about. I’m categorising it as ‘captured musings’ that seem to go together 😉 Let me just say at the outset, when I thought about doing this post the other week I thought it was a riff on research, listening and hearing. On Feb 19 I…

  • Six Principles of Principles

    I love a good principle. They’re fundamental in nature. Sometimes simple, often deep. They guide behaviour. They help make decisions in the complex world of multiple decisions required. They’re better when there are more than one – because nothing is ever black and white (if is it then they’re rules not principles). So when I found this…

  • Baking is to Design Process as The Simpsons are to Research Observations

    At work we’ve been out in the field researching with users. I’ve talked before about research before on here. Again it’s a topic in government and I can’t share details. But this time, from a design process perspective I’ve played the Second Chair role – take care of everything (finding the place, confirming anything with the…

  • To finish, you must start* NB: This is unlikely to be at a ‘beginning’

    Lately at work we’ve been busy. Three jobs finishing around the same time, development work for projects starting up at the same time. That’s meant two things: I love designing, but you gotta capture the design in a concrete way which means a lotta synthsising of key elements, features, contextual linkages, pattern ah-ha’s which all needs…

  • A True Story of Design Collaboration (in 16 sentences)

    I present to you the regular verbal punctuation of a typical design conversation – after each passage analysis, synthesis, tension, delight, creativity, and often, solutions ensue. Please, to enjoy: It begins Occasionally Last afternoon, before self-imposed deadline Finally, next day, when it’s committed to paper *Based on a true events in the DMA office.

  • Not a year in review, because it’s nearly February…so it’s more an annual post! (Still with the long titles though)

    Jiminy wowsers! It’s been a long time since I last published a post here, huh?!. That’s not to say I haven’t been doing, thinking and writing design. In fact, I’d say just about every week I come to desonance to reference something I’ve written or thought through here. So it’s serving exactly the purpose I’d…

  • Sometimes You Just Have To Shut Up

    Sometimes you talk too much and you just have to shut-up. Sometimes you don’t really know what you’re talking about so you just have to shut up. Sometimes you just have nothing to add; you just have to shut up. Sometimes, if you’re having a one-sided dialogue – that’s actually a monologue, because people can’t…

  • Protos Typos: When first impressions don’t need to last

    NB: A version of this post, written with Justin Barrie, is also published at DMA/We Think Recently at work we did some service prototyping with a public sector client. We wrote about it on our blog. It’s a topic I’ve often wanted to capture here because, in my experience, prototyping and service prototyping in particular…

  • What has two thumbs (down) and doesn’t care

    This designer! I recently saw Design & Thinking, the movie. Warning: if your life changed from seeing this movie don’t read on. My life didn’t change. In fact, I’ll never get those 75 minutes back. Some of my favourite things in the world are documentaries and design. I previously waxed lyrical and was genuinely energised…