From the category archives:
Some really great bits in here:
“We nail facts into students’ heads and there’s nothing wrong with it if the goal is to employ someone for 40 years in a Ford Motor Company Model A factory.”
“The A students work for the B students, the C students run the businesses, and the D students have the buildings named after them.”
“Never ever hire someone who had a grade point average of 4.0.”
I highly recommend you take 4 minutes and 12 seconds to watch/listen to the whole thing.
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The team at Panic have rigged up this amazing (and beautiful) real-time display of the data immediately relevant to their team. Projects that fall in the cross section of dataviz and productivity really interest me. It reminds me a bit of the dashboard that Crispin Porter + Bogusky set up to visualize the health and status of their ongoing projects.
Here’s some info from the team at Panic:
What’s on the board?
The idea quickly grew beyond “Project Status”, and has become a hub of all sorts of internal Panic information. What you’re actually looking at is an internal-only webpage that updates frequently using AJAX which shows:
- E-Mail Queue — number of messages / number of days.
- Project Status — sorry for the heavy censorship — you know how it is!
- Important Countdowns
- Revenue — comparing yesterday to the day before, not so insightful (yet).
- Live Tri-Met Bus Arrivals — when it’s time to go home!
The Panic Calendar
- Employee Twitter Messages
- Any @Panic Twitter Messages — i.e., be nice! They go on our screen!
I highly recommend you head on over to their blog and read all about it.
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I’m happy to announce that Tinker Studio will taking part in the Square beta program so as of today, I’m ready to accept payment for services via my iPhone + my Square. I also plan on making Square central to the massive stoop sale Karen and I are planning for when the season turns.
Not familiar with Square? Check out the excellent demo and you’ll know exactly why it’s important:
Learn more about Square
Follow Square on Twitter: @square
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A couple of weeks ago, New York City-based online grocer, FreshDirect launched their iPhone app (iTunes link), enabling their customers to easily shop for groceries in a way that caters to the needs of an audience that is increasingly mobile.
This is doubly exciting for me: first, as a huge fan of the brand and weekly FreshDirect customer for the past 7+ years but secondly as a mobile designer as it was the last project I had the amazing chance to lead while I was at Schematic.
FreshDirect.com occupies a very unique place in the world of online shopping for many reasons that I’m sure you can imagine. At a high level, it presents a fundamentally different shopping experience because a) many of their customers shop weekly and b) those shopping experience involves building a cart with many more items than most other cart-based online shopping sites. This creates very specific interaction needs that that the team at FreshDirect has spent the better part of the last decade honing and improving on their website. Solving the problem of taking the relevant parts of that experience and making them mobile was a really exciting one to tackle and this app is the result of that process.
We focused on designing an experience that complemented and enhanced the primary web experience while always remaining cognizant of the mobile medium – giving you quick access to previous orders and custom shopping lists you’ve created on the site, browsing your favorite items and weekly specials, updating your delivery times or searching for any item in the store for those times when you remember that one thing you neglected to throw in your cart.
Working on a mobile product for a local brand like FreshDirect that, if done right, could make a weekly routine that people undergo more pleasant, efficient and rewarding, was one of the best professional opportunities I’ve had as a designer. I couldn’t be more proud of the team I got to work with on the project and I’m so excited that everyone’s work is now out in the world for people to use. Also, FreshDirect has a history of listening to its customers to continually enhance their products so know that any thoughts/feedback you have on the app. will be welcomed by their team.
If you’re in New York and you feel that you’ve got better things to do with your time than spend hours each week combing the aisles of your local C-Town, check out FreshDirect and make sure you give the new iPhone app a spin (iTunes Link). Hope you like it!
Update from the comments: Also, wanted to let everyone know Fresh Direct just launched a contest to promote the app. Grand prize winner gets $500 Apple Store credit + $500 Fresh Direct credit, check it out: http://bit.ly/FD_AppContest
Check out some screenshots:
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The team at Made by Many is building a neat little visualization tool for SXSW to give their readers a simple + visually compelling way to keep up with the team’s activities while they’re in Austin.
Not only is the mini-product idea itself clever but they’re also exposing their ongoing iterative design process to their readers as they build it. Great stuff.
Read about it here
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As far as design and product development goes, how can this list not get you totally fired up. Pow!
Nooka speaks of a world of the tomorrow that is happening right now. It seems gloriously unattainable but is here in the palm of our hands. It is optimism, it is progress, and it is our future.
Universal Communication
Nooka believes in the power of universal languages like those used in math, science and commerce to increase understanding and enable diverse groups of people to work together. The universal visual language of Nooka creates a communication tool for all, promoting the exchange of ideas across the globe through great design.Passion
Nooka believes that constant advances in technology and cultural change necessitate originality in design. Our lust for innovation through technoculture and our childlike belief that anything is possible drive us to constantly strive for the perfect design.Interaction
The alternative approach to everyday objects in Nooka’s designs triggers thoughts of new possibilities and examination of our surroundings. Nooka products change the brain state of anyone they touch.Purpose
Every Nooka object is designed with intention. It has the power of clarity, the power to reach the heart of everyone who interacts with it. Nooka is committed to the belief that anything is possible. It is only through a truly open mind that we may face the challenges ahead of us.Inspiration
Nooka sees the whole world as inspiration; it absorbs energy from it and creates new forms.Futurism
Nooka changes how we experience technology by placing it in new contexts. The futurist believes that this process always results in progress. Nooka is a futurist brand.
Check out the nookafesto (via Michael Surtees)
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| I love design. I'm particularly partial to the intersection of mobility & social behavior. Years ago I co-founded dodgeball. I currently run a little shop in Brooklyn, NY called Tinker Studio. |
| Want to work together? You can reach me at hello@tinkerstudio.com |
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