Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Notes from: SXSW 2013


Content from SXSW Interactive 2013

Workshops 

  • "We teach design thinking at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, aka “the d.school.” Our process is user-centered and prototype-driven. As a bootcamp participant, you will be part of a small multidisciplinary team and work through a hands-on creative challenge from start to finish. You will gain a strong grasp of the key tenets of design thinking and be able to execute them within your organization."
  • Bootcamp Bootleg  is an introductory experience to design thinking.
  • Empathy is important- first you figure our need then figure out solution. 
    • Needs=What
    • Insights = Why
    • Synthesize
      • User------>Need--->Insight
      • Persona-->What--->Why
      • Ask "How might we......"
  • During Brainstorm (flaring/diverging  process)
    • ask How? 
    • defer judgement
    • Use Yes AND statements
    • be visual
    • be collaborative
    • build on others ideas
  • during Design (focusing/converging process)
    • choose an idea
    • prototype (quick prototype, less emotional investment)
    • fail early
    • fail often
    • create experiences
    • prototype, and have users actually go though experiences
    • vote on most innovative, most likely to delight
    • go though multiple cycles quickly, rather then spending a long time on one cycle 
    • process is iterative
  • If you already think you have a solution going in, you might not be addressing actual needs, less likely to innovate. 
  • Design Thinking for Educators
  • Creative Listening "I’m convinced that creative breakthroughs and innovative solutions require creative listening. Unfortunately, it’s an all-too-rare skill in many organizations. In fact, just the opposite happens. When someone shares a “crazy idea,” the instinct is to cite all the reasons why it wouldn’t work—shutting it down with a “No, but” response.  Imagine how much untapped potential could be released into the world if more of us opened our minds—and ears—and responded with a “Yes, and” to wild-eyed outliers like Jorge Ordon." via

  •   Social culture integrated across departments
  •   When people interact, collaborate, sparks innovation
  •   Failure is not an F word, have after action review.
  •   How does you organization react to failure?
  •   Social Media is collaborative, need buy in from everyone (curation approach). 
    • Inspire sessions, group training session.

Presentations
  • Paul Valerio, 10x10 Method series 
  • Baratunde Thurston Cultivated Wit
  • Create innovative services that engage people. 
  • Innovation  & Comedy are not random, but they are also not linear, nor are they run on certainty. 
    • Business run on process and certainty. 
  •      What's So Funny About Innovation? 
    • 1. Know Your Audience, Then Ignore Their Advice 
      • know the room, know the context
      • familiarity tests well
    • 2. Data Does Not Replace Insight 
      • more data ≠ more truth (Nate Silver)
      • algorithms can't solve for poetry, magic, jokes, insight, but data does make it easier to pretend to have insight.
    • 3. Keep It Fresh 
      • audience likes familiarity, but that prevents innovation. (Louie C.K)
      • Improv keeps it new every time, also builds trust between group.
    • 4. Develop Your Own Point of View 
      • audience does not always know what they want until they see it, risk of too much research.
      • what is your metric for success? 
    • 5. Create a Story Around the Material 
    • 6. Even Friendly Audiences Need to Be Won Over 
    • 7. Don’t Expect Everyone to Get It 
      • have goals but not expectations       
    • 8. You Can’t Test Your Way to a Decision
      • Standup, test by doing, iterative,
      • Too much data can result in confusing brand
      • Quantitative data is good for identifying patterns

  •  “A “DEO, or the “Design Executive Officer”, is a hybrid of a strategic business executive and a creative, problem solver who places design and creativity at the center of their organization.”
  •        DEO treats everyone =
    •  Focus on people, be empathic, be accessible.
    •  Recognizes importance of design.
    •  Design is an active verb à change, ideate, innovate
    •  Groups need to ideate together
    •  Be open to change, accept failures
    •  Design thinking = iterate àprototype àtestàfailàrepeat
  •        Catalyst for transformation, champions creative work culture.
  •       Build space where people can self-organize and collaborate.
    •    Make surfaces writable
  •  We not me, collaborative.   
  •        System thinkers (non-linear)
  •       Get just enough research to build a hypothesis
  •        Feedback loops, always beta
  •       Types of DEOs
o   The Artistic DEO “Be Bold”
o   The Maker DEO “Be Ambitious”
o   The Hacker DEO “Be imaginative”
o   The Strategic DEO “Be Strong”
o   The Founder DEO “Be Persuasive
o   The Starter DEO “Be Brave”

  • DJ methodology of learning ßcreative learning process/experiences ß DJ set ≈ writing a research paper
  •  Too much information, need to manage that complexity, new methodology for learning. 
    • tech gives you access to so much information it can be overwhelming
    • tech can mediate that experience (but over reliance on tech to make judgments can be a danger)
  •     Quotes= samples àmash up
  •    DJs improvise, but that improvisation requires planning and knowledge of database.
  •   Remix (Lawrence Lessig) is an act of synthesis.
  •      Imagineàcreateàplayàshareàreflectàimagineà
  •      Sampler: conceptual constructions for creating regenerative remixes of content, remixes identify formal or conceptual connections
    •   Idea that limits facilitate serendipity
    •  limits can engender creativity & innovations
  • Concern: we invest computational data with power to make meaning (stats, big data, metrics like grades badges, testing) . We value data that is machine readable, what about information that is machine readable? 
  • data that is machine readable   Vs  Critical thinking (difficult to quantify, more holistic)
  • Argument: sampling and mixing creates human readable meaning. Deep learning requires deep synthesis. 
  • Education should be designed to make meaning, but it is designed for machine readability.  
  • Cultural studies approach to teaching fictions/technology
  • Science fiction portrays today tomorrow
  • In Utopian/Dystopian fiction,writers/designers engage in design thinking (SciFi World building), extrapolate today out to tomorrow and examine issue of unintended consequences. 
    •  dystopia you start with object
    • Utopia you start with concept
  • Speculative design: start with today --> project into future-->world building--> infuse with absurdity and satire 
  • use technology to interrogate texts, not to mediate experience. challenge apparatus by counter program 
  • information design confers false authority, it is its' own legitimizing force.
  • form ≠ content
  • theory<-->practice
  • technology<-->humanities
  • technology is neither good or bad, it is a tool.

Why We STILL Love the Honey Badger
  • people respond to information presented in authentic, distinctive voice. 

Talks/Keynotes 

  •      Clash of equals --> Better arguments = better policy outcomes
  •      Find your voice
  •      Art not formed in vacuum or tornado 


Reoccurring themes

http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/






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