design that resonates

  • 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…

  • Customer Experience Map – Redux

    At last I have updated the high-res version of my take on a customer experience map. Prompted by a request for a high-res copy (a proper high-res, mind) I decided to review and update the original customer experience map I posted in June 2010, based on my original how-to customer experience map. Much time and…

  • A state of service design (view from the top of the world)

    This top of the world! It’s been a busy month of many dialogues, conversations, presentations, seminal decisions, great client work, painful service design moments, great service design moments. That means this post has gone through some incarnations: From love letter To surprised yet slightly reserved observation To rant (strewn with swears galore…galore I tells ya!)…