My Curious Life

Well, I went and did it. I entered the contest to design the cover for Jeff Howe’s new book, Crowdsourcing. There are a number of fantastic entries, my favorites being AceJet170’s, Vitorious’, and skforlee’s. I just didn’t see any that really tied into the sub-title of the book: “How the power of the crowd is driving the future of business.” There’s so much in there between the lines … and the piece I grabbed hold of was directionality … the crowd driving business in a particular direction.

So, concept in hand, I went looking for good artwork or photography that embodied that idea. And one of my favorite haunts is Stock.xchng. There I found a photo by Sanja Gjenero, a.k.a. “lusi“, that seemed perfect. Great primary colors to make it pop and a crowd of ambiguous persons surrounding a compass. Fantastic!

A quick bit of Photoshop work and I had what I think is a pretty nice cover, though we’ll have to see what the wisdom of the crowd has to say about that.

Anyone interested in voting, go here to rate it and comment.

Reading about the healthy and growing European rail system the other day made me get a bit misty-eyed and sentimental. I have many fond memories of the convenience of rail travel throughout Europe from my days living in Vienna, Austria. Since then, the Channel Tunnel has opened Paris to London travel, even bringing with it a renaissance for some previously deteriorating train stations.

Jump over the pond to the U.S. and you have essentially one rail option, Amtrak: slow routes that only cover a few major areas of the U.S., worn out rails and trains, and customer service that’s none-too-stellar. Yeah, that’s enticing. (Don’t even get me started about local mass transit … that’s something else lacking in the U.S., especially the West Coast.)

In fact, many of the Amtrak routes are at least partially served by bus and not truly rail at all. Amtrak’s only true recent success has been in the Northeast, where population density has made it more financially advantageous to make frequent rail trips, even quasi-high-speed rail reaching speeds in some sections up to 134mph (over about 18 miles of track).

Even given Amtrak’s rocky history and their current financial stats, I think that a few truly high-speed regional rail lines built with the financial cooperation of the cities, counties and states they would serve might turn around the aging giant and bring to the U.S. some of the class and convenience of the European railroad. Take into account soaring gas prices, frustrations with current airline service, and extensive security measures and the number of reasons to revisit rail as an option start making sense.

Even U.S. juggernaut GE could be called in to develop a new, more eco-friendly high speed locomotive based upon their Evolution^TM series engines. Or we could simply adopt Bombardier’sthe ICE train, as Germany and the Netherlands have, built by Siemens AG and Bombardier. Or settle for the not-quite-as-fast JetTrain.

Alstom, maker of Europe’s successful TGV train, already has a very high speed train that has set a speed record of 574.8 kph ( ~ 357 mph ). Getting reliable high-speed service up around 180 mph should be feasible and attainable.

Amtrak takes over 40 hours to travel from Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, the first 4 hours on a bus. What would happen to travel along the U.S. West Coast if high speed rail served the region? You could ride in an incredibly comfortable rail car for the same (or less) time and money as taking a flight. Would security have to be as tight? Would we be able to do high-speed cargo as well? Perhaps maximize the necessary infrastructure investments by taking fresh local goods and services from one region to another faster and more efficiently than by truck or conventional rail?

Admittedly, nationwide high speed rail might be a fantasy at this point, but isn’t a high-speed regional system possible?

It’s approximately 1400 miles from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, CA. The trip by a conventional airline flight averages about 5.5 hours — 1 hour in flight from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, WA, then a 1.5 hour layover and another 3 hour flight to San Diego, CA. This doesn’t include the additional time necessary to check-in at the airport and go through security or pick up your bags in luggage claim.

What if we had a high-speed rail service that traveled the West Coast and stopped in these cities:

• Vancouver, BC
• Seattle
• Olympia
• Portland
• Salem
• Eugene
• Sacramento
• San Jose
• Los Angeles
• San Diego

A high-speed rail line operating at about 200 mph and making 20 minute layovers in each metro area, could make the entire trip from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, CA in just over 10 hours (caveat: heavily averaged math). That’s about 1/4 of the time it takes now. That may still seem like a long time, but rail can offer things that air travel can’t, like dining cars, sleeper cars and no limitations on electronic devices (bring those laptops and iPhones). I know I’d gladly spend the night on a train in comfort on my way to California rather than waste an extra day at the airport on either end of my trips. Or gain the ability to actually get things done during the course of my trip, as well as eat a decent meal.

For now, I’ll just have to wait and dream. Amtrak’s FY2008 request makes it pretty clear that they are still trying to revitalize their fleet and bring the overall system into “a state of good repair” at this point, and they make no mention of the West Coast at all. Maybe, just maybe, their success in the Northeast can translate into something good for us in the West. And if you start looking for a place to start new experimental service, Mr. Kummant, we’d be happy to oblige.

I have a confession to make. My son, Caleb, is from Mars. Or maybe Pluto. He doesn’t have antennae or a glowing finger, nor does he live in an egg-shaped bed. He does, however, live in a world all his own and only occasionally in this one. It’s those rare moments when he’s here with us, though, that make it all worthwhile. You see, Caleb has autism.

Not only that, he also has pervasive developmental disorder — a form of mental retardation.

A couple of months ago my wife and I went to see the latest John (and Joan) Cusack movie, Martian Child. The simple story is about a boy who’s different. Very different. A boy who believes he is from Mars. A boy whose needs and differences challenge and inspire his widower foster father (John Cusack) to come to grips with his own differences. A boy who exposes how cruel the world at large can be to those who are truly different from the norm.

Shortly thereafter, I heard a story on NPR about a film being released that tells one child’s story of special needs and inclusion.

As an interaction designer, I’ve found it particularly meaningful to have a child with special needs. I think it makes you even more sensitive to the world around you and how those of us who fit the norm so unknowingly take simple things for granted. I find it amazing to watch my almost 8-year-old son work through problems that my “normal” 3-year-old breezes through with ease.

Small buttons that require excellent fine motor control (remotes/telephones), handles and knobs that operate counter to their purpose (car doors and 3-way switches), and frustrating tools that expose rather than hide their underlying complexity (AV systems). These are just a few of the many things that confound my son day-to-day.

It’s an adventure that is constantly changing the way that I interpret the world.

So, as we start 2008, what (or who) has caused a change in the way you think/act/perceive over the course of the past year?

About a month ago I got on my soapbox and made some suggestions about how Detroit needs to turn itself inside out and start anew.

Recently, though, I was reviewing concept designs and auto show prototypes from some of the big three U.S. auto makers (Chrysler, Ford and GM) and I’m feeling even more inclined to think that a newcomer to the industry is more likely to turn things around than an entrenched giant.

A couple of years ago Freeman Thomas, designer of the Audi TT and New Beetle, joined the ranks of Ford and there were several predictions that his design prowess could bring the company back from the brink. I had hopes that Ford would pull a miracle out of its hat with the hiring of Thomas, but alas, no. Instead, it seems to be pushing it’s more innovative designs into Europe and neglecting its U.S. audience and the growing need for smaller, more versatile and economical vehicles in the States. Ford’s U.S. auto designs are relatively stagnant, while Europe gets the Kuga and Mondeo and we in the U.S. get what? The Edge? The Flex?

Not surprisingly, Chrysler may be the one to actually make things happen for the U.S. auto market. It sounds like the privatization of Chrysler is bringing with it a new way of doing things. At least there are some tough decisions being made quickly at Chrysler, like paring down its lineup to reduce overlap, and a returning commitment to quality, even when this means taking an initial financial hit to do so. A glance at their current auto show vehicles still brings caution — there isn’t a lot of inspiring new design among the vehicles they’ve displayed so far. The Firepower is like a larger version of the Crossfire. The Imperial looks like a modernized K-car. The Nassau shows some promise as a smaller mid-size sedan, but takes a lot of design cues from existing Honda or Toyota models. Without something more exciting, Chrysler is doomed to repeat its recent past even with all its cost-cutting.

Lastly we come to poor, poor GM, whose almost complete and total dependence upon truck and SUV sales is contrasted by its relatively successful Flex Fuel vehicles. There seems to be an utter lack of anything inspiring coming from the GM fold, though. It’s all blocky and sharp edges.

With all this market turmoil, dissatisfaction with fuel economy, style and quality, I’m still anxious to see if some young upstart company will swoop in and come up with something inspired and take the U.S. market by storm. Now seems like the perfect time to do so. Otherwise, we might as well just ship our auto manufacturing to Asia with the rest of our goods. [Just watch out for a Chinese recall on carcinogenic parts.]

Streetsblog.org posted some information last week about the new sidewalk compasses that New York will be using at select major intersections and metro stations throughout the city.

Despite posing some potential pedestrian traffic flow issues, I think this is one of the more creative and useful ideas for navigating a town that I’ve seen in a long time. This just further influences my opinion that New York, for all its size, wants to be as friendly to visitors as it is to locals.

Tara Hunt (a.k.a. Miss Rogue) made a request yesterday on her blog asking for answers to five questions she has about government. The answers so far, while few, are definitely interesting, and I hope that more people will comment (hint: that means you, dear reader!).

For those of you too lazy to link to Tara’s post, here are the questions she poses:

1. Do you trust government services? Local (municipal)? State/Provincial? Federal?
2. Can you name 5 government services? 10? Are they local, state or federal? (not a test)
3. Do you think it is more important for people to trust their government or for a government to trust its people? Or both? Why?
4. If you contribute to projects voluntarily, why? Would anything lead you to wanting to contribute time or effort towards government services projects?
5. What do you expect out of a government website?
6. What do you think Government Services 2.0 looks like?

So, what do you think? Please let Tara know. Oh, and if you work for a government agency, here’s an additional question that I’d love to hear the answer to:

What do you think is keeping government (local, metro, federal) from becoming Government 2.0?

I’ll forward any responses I get on to Tara in the hope that they add more character to her musings.

Oh, to have been at Ben’s talk at the Applied Green conference last week. Aside from all of the interesting facts and ideas about “going green”, he wrapped it up with a statement that I think gets to the essence of my frustration with both my current work environment and various industries in general:

I’m a designer. Use me better.

So many issues facing companies these days are due to a lack of design thinking … it’s too easy to either squeeze more profit (or fewer losses) from an existing process or make small, iterative changes to an existing product in order to make more money or grow an organization. The problem is, the increase in profits or growth is insanely small. You don’t get big benefits without stepping back and re-evaluating all that you do and why you do it. More often than not the answers are surprising. I’d bet that at least half of the time, the answer is, “Well, we’ve always done it that way.” A close second might be, “It’s too difficult (or costly, or bothersome, or risky, or … ?) to change that.”

The sad reality is that the costs up front to remake your process, service or product would most likely be recouped tenfold by re-envisioning the whole thing with good design in mind.

Anyone know a story of a company that’s done this well, especially if they’ve had to take apart the prior structure to do so? I’d love to have a couple of little-known, real world examples to delve into here.

For those of us in the design field, this should be a call to arms. I’m going to start finding more ways to tell others, “I’m a designer. Use me better.”

First the GM strike, now Chrysler. Huge pension plans, guarantees of employment, and a market with a glut of new and used vehicles. Auto designs that haven’t inspired for years. Vehicle prices that seem to have shot through the roof. Fuel efficiency ratings that haven’t improved much in a couple of decades (at least). A lack of truly practical alternative fuel vehicles.

It’s time for a massive overhaul of the U.S. automotive industry.

I’m no expert in the issues surrounding the U.S. automotive industry, but from what I can tell, the current thinking isn’t working any more. The industry grew up in a time when the market was growing faster than production could keep up with, as more and more Americans came into middle-class incomes. The idea of a car (or two) in every driveway has, essentially, become a reality. In very simple terms, the market, at least here in the U.S., has reached capacity. The only thing left is to bank on vehicles becoming “lifestyle” items and being swapped out on a certain cycle in order to turn over your inventory and continue creating newer, more enticing vehicles. That might work in current culture if the designs coming out of Detroit every year were new, fresh and unique, but alas, they are usually minor iterative versions of past designs, tweaked for the next model year.

Here’s what I’m noticing … People in the U.S. are growing more fond of handcrafted items that are unique and designed to fit their needs. There is a growing subculture of “modders” who customize general mass-market items and make good money on doing so. More and more vehicles aren’t remaining “factory-standard” for long, with custom grilles, wheels, lightcovers and detailing becoming more mainstream (just look at the soccer mom’s with 24″ custom wheels and designer grille on their Cadillac Escalades — who would’ve thunk it?).

So my prediction is this: The next big auto maker in the U.S. won’t be a big auto maker — it will be a small car company that takes a page from Michael Dell’s playbook and starts building custom made-to-order vehicles from off-the-shelf parts with a handful of unique body styles that change every year.

A company that could pull this off would need some strong branding and a chance for consumers to get a hands-on experience with their products, without having a traditional car dealership in every town. Small, select showrooms with an online order and fulfillment system. A great online showroom with virtual models that let me see what I get for my money. A large set of aftermarket parts and accessories that could be used to customize or bundle with each vehicle. There’s a great deal of money in customization, and after-market parts often come with a much bigger markup. Why not get part of that profit in your pocket up front by customizing? It sure seems to help the computer manufacturers.

The pieces of the puzzle are all available now. Online banking and lending exist. Large order fulfillment systems are available. Transportation logistics systems are available. Build-to-order assembly line practices are out there. Parts and inventory management systems are accessible. The big risk is the initial outlay of cash to put them all together and build a brand.

A company like GM, whose attempt to start fresh with Saturn, would be a likely candidate for this type of industry overhaul. The burden of their recent commitment to the UAW and their sprawling investments in factories could shackle them, though. Chrysler, whose new status as a private company and desperate need to turn things around, might prove to be an even better candidate for starting over. Chrysler’s former dependence upon Daimler for design, engineering and parts means that they already have some sense of how to work with a separate entity for supplies and know-how. Their factory presence isn’t quite as great as GM’s, and retrofitting a factory or two to start an experimental new brand under the Chrysler umbrella might not be too difficult. Not too many years ago, Chrysler had some creative designs (PT Cruiser, Pacifica, 300, and some concept cars from 2001) as well.

It will be interesting to see if either company can escape the blinders of their own bureaucracy to start new and build for the future. Heck, even Ford could do something surprising out of a desperate sense of urgency. My bet, though, is on someone with newly minted wealth and a more entrepreneurial spirit to come in and revamp an industry that has been stagnant for too long.

If you’re one of my kids, you’ve heard this phrase a million times: “Are you going to react or respond?”

While the question is a useful way of instructing an older child on decision-making and self-control, it’s also applicable to the world of business, as Clayton Christensen and Scott D. Anthony note in an article Forbes ran in early August.

Christensen and Anthony focus specifically on Sony’s crisis with the Playstation 3 and its lackluster sales as compared with Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s XBox 360. Pushing the technology envelope just for the sake of staying ahead seems to be more of a knee-jerk reaction to the ever escalating war in the game console space, while Nintendo’s Wii is more of a response, opting out of the war and venturing in an altogether different direction. Nintendo made a conscious decision to take this path.

The question now is what Sony will do next … react or respond? The battle now has become a duel with Microsoft, and so far Sony has taken some serious hits. It would be interesting to see if Sony can find new ways to make the PS3 the centerpiece of a home entertainment system and serve multiple needs, thereby justifying its bigger-than-average price tag. Or perhaps Sony can be creative and find ways to let PS3 owners interact directly with Xbox360 owners via some sort of online network? Or build-out online services that meet the needs of various members of a family, again trying to make the PS3 a central home device?

Here’s hoping that Sony takes some time to reflect on what it’s learned and makes a conscious decision to respond.

The Memetic House in Dromahair, Ireland is truly amazing. While I personally think it might be a bit disconcerting to live in, you have to appreciate the creativity it took to create something that really does “blend in” with the environment around it. A very inspiring design by Dominic Stevens.