[In] a classic psychological study on group norms … students assigned [randomly] to … liberal dormitories became less conservative as the group’s norms seeped into their consciousness, [and vice versa.] …

Participants [in another study] equated creativity with following the group norm… The unwritten rules of the group … determined what its members considered creative. In effect groups had redefined creativity as conformity. …

When people’s individuality rather than their …

Someone in one of my MBA classes (years ago now) once asked me if I freely give away all my ideas and thoughts to each client, suggesting thus that holding back may be more beneficial financially in the long run.

I said yes. Every idea that comes is shared. He was not convinced of the prudence of that action. That question was raised again recently …

A friend recently asked me: “you can help others see patterns in situations, and find clear ways through difficulties. So how come you can’t do it for yourself?” (I am going through a what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life phase…)

Many designers find it hard to design for themselves. The removal of many of the constraints associated with clients, plus working with personal, emotionally-charged requirements, can be debilitating for a designer.

The same situation exists …

“[In service design] the only one to see the big picture is the client.” said John Holager, Senior Service Designer, live|work at the Innovation and Service Design conference, 29 Jan 2010, Malmö, Sweden.

This is a wonderfully simple and revelatory observation that made so much immediate sense!

Most businesses are divided into specialised departments and divisions, each focused on their own little specialisation. Service design is an activity …

We take one of two approaches to buying something – need or want. Each approach taps into a different psychological mindset, and requires a different way retail experience and process.

Consider:
Buying ShoesBuying Gadgets
MenNecessityInherent value
WomenInherent valueNecessity

This is why you conventional electric/electronic retail outlets don’t generally work for women customers. And vice versa for shoes and men.

There are untapped opportunities for retailers to create different experiences …

Services are seldom valued properly, especially when it is provided as part of a product which is bought on a cost vs benefit basis.

Consider the technical advice provided by reviewers and shop assistants. Customers don’t value this – they will buy from the cheapest online retailer. Similarly, few clients will willingly pay for the technical support and education provided by web developers. Or the business consulting ideas …

As I have spent several days thinking about and talking to people about service design, I thought it timely to highlight a post I wrote several years ago about attention and services.

A service business is not really about the quality of service, but rather the quality of the attention paid to customers. … the demand for quality attention giving services will increase – therapists, counsellors, escorts, personal assistants… …

I upgraded to Picasa 3 recently and was shocked to discover it’s Face Detection functionality crawling through my photos and pulling out faces – without my knowledge and without my permission. And I had to struggle to find out how to stop it.

The technology is impressive of course. But I found the whole thing rather invasive and nasty for some reason. Faces are …

The vagaries of what we as consumers want, and what we as producers produce, run in cycles.

The fashion industry understands and leverages this well. On a larger and less vacuous level, societies’ values/moral codes swing between conservative and liberal too.

A cycle change seems to be happening now with some products and services, which opens up great new opportunities for smaller specialised businesses. Here are two I have …

Conventional businesses are designed from the ground up to run gravy trains. Research and development is kept as short as possible. It’s primary intention is to quickly developing a gravy train to run.

Once a train is up and running, all new thinking stops. The default behaviour is keep things running as smoothly and consistently as possible. Occasional incremental improvements aside, changes are kept to a minimum. “All aboard…” …