Thoughts by Tim Brown
Now that government data is becoming more readily available, there are lots of interesting uses. Here’s one that we worked on with the Sunlight Foundation. Sitegeist is a mobile app that helps you access US Census data and other public details about a neighborhood. This means you can check on everything from average rent prices to how people commute—in seconds.
Try it on a local neighborhood. What did you learn?
Last month I had the good fortune to join Yves Behar, founder of fuseproject, in conversation at the Commonwealth Club for a wide-ranging discussion about how design thinking can help leaders collaborate and tackle the world’s smallest and greatest problems. To listen to audio of the event, tune in here at KALW 91.7 FM.
A recent article on the freelance workplace refers to an Intuit study that predicts 40% of the workforce will be freelance by 2020. To many, this is an exciting idea where talented and creative individuals get to leverage their skills free from the tyranny of the “boss.” To others, it is a scary proposition where individuals work crazy long hours with none of the traditional perks and protections of employment. What interests me is: How might we be intentional about the design of a freelance life such that we get more of the former and less of the latter?
What are the tools that we need to manage freelance careers? What are the new behaviors amongst individuals and corporations that might make freelancing sustainable? How might our social structures and education systems have to change to accommodate this shift in work style?
I would love to come back to this topic from time to time. What are the questions we should really be asking? Where might we look for insights and inspiration?
How have you designed your freelance life?
One of my all time favorite design films is Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames. Apart from being beautiful and technically ingenious, it is a wonderful reminder of one of the most important principles in design—reframing the question. Often the quickest route to new insight is to take a step back and look at the problem from a broader context, or to take a step closer and look at it in more detail. If I am struggling in a project I push myself to explore the system that surrounds the product or service I might be interested in. Or I might dive into one detail of the experience and see where that takes me.
One place I wish designers would do this more often is in the design of mobile apps. In my March 21 post, I commented on the sheer number of apps available today. Many, if not most, of these apps are quite well designed—at the level of the application. But all too often, the designers have not applied the principle of the Powers of Ten. I want apps that make my life simpler—not apps that are just simple to use themselves. I wish designers spent more time thinking about how the app fits into a person’s life as a whole, or how it fits into the ecosystem of apps someone might already be using.
This principle can also be applied in the struggle to decide what to do about your career. If you are considering looking for a new job, or redesigning a role you already have, then think about stepping back or diving in. Step back and think about how you want your job to fit into your life as a whole. Look for the interrelationships that may reduce conflict or increase purpose. Similarly, dive into the experiences you have had at work and seek out the places where you have experienced ‘flow’, that amazing sense of engagement and achievement that many people find to be one of the most rewarding aspects of work. Imagine how a newly designed role might result in more of those moments. Apply the Powers of Ten to your own life.
Can you recall moments when stepping back—or diving in—helped you look at a problem differently?
(Powers of Ten image under Creative Commons license via Carolyn Williams.)
In 2011, OpenIDEO launched a social business challenge focused on improving the lives of people living in places like Caldas, Colombia, where one in four people live in extreme poverty. During the challenge, The Grameen Creative Lab provided local insights by interviewing the community on the ground, and the global OpenIDEO community shared innovative lessons and examples from the health sector.
The winning ideas were taken up by a local doctor and entrepreneur named Jorge García. Jorge formed a business plan based on them and received funding to found a social business in Caldas called Bive. He has been prototyping ideas from the challenge starting with one called ‘Madre Cuidadora.’ This concept creates a network of community ‘mothers’ who are trained in basic health promotion and prevention. Using these skills they resell basic health products, provide trusted advice, and offer health checks biannually.
Bive has seen impressive growth. They already have 700 users in two cities and aim for 6000 this year. Jorge and his team’s ambitions don’t stop there. Their plan is to develop another idea from the challenge and create an SMS health advice service.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the collaborative effort of this OpenIDEO challenge, and especially to all the winning concept authors who helped to inform Bive’s social business that is having a vital impact on the underserved population of Caldas and nearby communities.
How might you create positive impact today?
(Posted also on my LinkedIn Thought Leader blog)
Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation
Published by HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061766084
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