Ok, ConceptShare has launched now, so there’s no more excuses to send designs by email anymore right?. (Free to try)

I have learned alot watching people using ConceptShare what I found most intriguing is that the design is now being used to initiate conversations. People now are just getting an invitation with a link to a workspace with a bunch of visuals and then they just start talking. – no verbal cues – no phone calls – Its an interesting thing to watch. If you show any one that walks by a few logos and ask what do they think, you will get an answer. For some reason people feel very comfortable giving opinions on visuals rather then obligatory politics or world issues. Visual feedback is usually easy for people because it is in their gut, it’s personal, yet they know they won’t be judged by it. And it’s faster for them to point out what they don’t like about something rather than write a story about it.

A lot of people from an outside perspective that hear about ConceptShare in passing like to say, “It’s neat but not sure I would use something like that, I’m not a designer…”. Trust me I have invited alot of these people into a ConceptShare workspace, and they have ALOT to say once they are in there. Almost anyone can make comments about usability of both interfaces and objects. Comments about color choices, ease-of-use, hard to read text, wrong language. You don’t have to be a designer to play, just a human. Sure, designer to designer feedback is always good but remember wisdom of crowds?.With email alone people are reluctant to share early designs or concepts. I say screw that. Put stuff up early and often. Scan sketches and post them. Do anything… just start a conversation. You would be amazed and how fast and how far you can take simple ideas when you have the frequent evolving feedback of others.

Have fun,

Bernie

Posted in Ideas, Innovation, Product Design, Usability ~ No Comments
Written by Bernie

No turning back now …..http://www.conceptshare.com is now live for everyone to see.

Of course it is not finished …..it will never be finished …it is growing ……We will be adding lots in the coming weeks.

cheers

Scott

BTW: Demo videos are hard to do in one take. Pardon my mistakes.

Posted in ConceptShare, Innovation, Product Design ~ 5 Comments
Written by Scott

I was very impressed with the new menu graphics a few days ago on a random visit to Harvey’s. (That is a well know fast food chain in Canada.) This is one of those rare times that you see that alot of thought and design has gone into the design of the new menu’s. They are simple, elegant, visual and to the point. This photo is just of the drive thru, yet it still managed to say everything it needed to say. I commend the use of spacing and vibrant colors and imagery in the design. It breaks up a typically cluttered text based menu system you see everywhere else with a natural visual selection experience. Check out the condiment area near the bottom right. Such a visual design also transcends language barriers. The prices are simple and to the point as well.

I also noticed they did not give a lot of attention to the fast food staples such as fries and soft drinks, but theres no mystery there anyways. Showing a plastic cup with condensation on it doesn’t do much for my thirst anyway. They captured their core essence, their marvelous tasting, custom topping burgers. And did so in a way that makes you wonder what they filled all that space up with before. It’s nice seeing UI design thought in other places.
Good job,
Bernie

Posted in Business, GUI, Innovation, Usability ~ 1 Comment
Written by Bernie

Shel Israel …..good guy.

No seriously ….Anyone who puts nice guy on the business card…that is making a statement. But I can’t disagree. I had the opportunity to chat for a while with Shel before the talk …we had run into each other at TC7. He is a real person …no airs about him. You know in this world of BS it is cool to talk to someone like that. It makes the information he shares all the better.

I got to talk to Chris Clarke, who I had originally met at Mesh and who was responsible for my finding out about this event. It was great to hear that Thornley Fallis has an eye for talent. I think that he is going to be a person to watch as PR turns the corner on this social media thing. I remember being really impressed with the fact a PR student found out about mesh and made his way there. Great to see that good guys getting good jobs.

I met Jeremy Wright who I must admit I didn’t immediately recognized. Once introduced I had recalled reading many articles by him. It was very interesting to have the opportunity to talk with him, I would really like to talk more with him, great ideas and an interesting past which i think makes him what he is. Cool dude. Also ran into Mark Evans, who ironically has just left his post at the post to join forces with the the B5Media team ….sounds like a great match. I wish them lots of luck!

Donna Papacosta was there, who I had also met at Mesh. We had a great chat and I have been invited to do a podcast with her. I will besure to line that up when I have a chance the next time I am in TO.

Talking with the group after Shel’s talk. It was a real interesting as there was a healthy mix of people that provided for a wide array of interesting feedback in discussion. I am somewhat left with the feeling that there are still alot of people who are saying that they are getting it when they really aren’t. I think that more events like this will certainly go along way to spread the word.

What would be interesting to me is to know how companies broach the subject to clients. Or how they have adjusted the billings for these new services. I also wonder if the PR firms are holding back the reins. This is all very interesting to me and will go along way as i work with the PR program at Cambrian to rejig the program.

Thanks so much for letting in an outsider in to the group and I look forward to the next meet up.

Cheers

Scott

technorati tags:Shel, PRmeetup, Toronto, conceptshare

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Posted in Ideas, Innovation, PR ~ 2 Comments
Written by Scott

Ideas.

Some are crazy and get laughed off.

Some you shelve for later or meld with other ideas.

Some get drawn on paper.

Some get pursued.

The one thing they all have in common is the need to share these ideas. An idea is nothing more then a thought until you share it. Once it is shared the the idea grows, it makes people passionate, it gets better.

It is important for companies to be continually pushing the innovation envelope. I see too many companies that need to innovate.

cheers

Scott

Posted in Ideas, Innovation ~ 2 Comments
Written by Scott

So …..we are ready to launch ….well not today but we will be launching at TechCrunch/August Capital Party August 18th.

The party is being held here….

Stay tuned for more ……

Cheers,

Scott

Posted in Business, ConceptShare, Innovation ~ 8 Comments
Written by Scott

Posted in Innovation ~ No Comments
Written by Scott

ConceptShare was born from our needs as visual communicators. It is a revolutionary new way to share and manage ideas visually. ConceptShare fills a void for anyone who needs to communicate design concepts visually and receive effective feedback.

We are very excited about letting CS loose on the world. Right now we are still tinkering to ensure that your experience is going to be great. Thanks to all those who have signed up for the beta and we haven’t forgotten about you.

Cheers

Scott

Posted in Business, ConceptShare, Ideas, Innovation, Product Design, Technology ~ No Comments
Written by Scott

Seth Goodin wrote in his blog today, about the right process can leveraging intuition and how people are shouldn’t be afraid of process.

“Why are you afraid of process?

Is it because it gets in the way of intuition?

I spend a lot of time railing against organizations and teams that fall in love with process at the expense of innovation. This is not a post about that.”

more

I agree with this post, however I sometimes confuse process with procedure. Some companies try to force a set way to do things. This is probably more procedure or best practices than it is process. I can only imagine their motivation is to prevent screw-ups. To me its like saying A) I don’t trust you to get the job done or understand what has to be done. B) Please dont innovate because we can’t control that C) We need a canned set of hours to get this done don’t go off the path.

Process if fine…I agree that Lots of creative people can have processes they can maximize their producitivity while still keeping their intuition alive and using process to measure or fit within a communication strategy or similar.

We see our product as part of the design process. You use your intuition to design your concepts. You post them for feedback and you rinse and repeat.

Posted in Business, Ideas, Innovation, Product Design ~ 2 Comments
Written by Bernie

If you watch American Inventor last week like me you may have seen the Wacom Cintiq in action. The Cintiq is basically an interactive display that combines a great lcd monitor with a wacom tablet. Basically you can draw on the screen directly with the pressure senstive pen. The Cintiq also has a cool coating on the screen which apparently makes it feel like you are drawing on real paper. On American Inventor, a product design firm handed over the pen to the inventor himself so that he can demonstrate his intentions right on the design they way he would with a sketch pad. It was cool, the guy didn’t have to know how to use photoshop or even a mouse. He just had to know how to use a pencil. Of course he could have just described verbally his corrections to the design but that’s not easy and sometimes not even possible. This is kinda what led us to ConceptShare in the first place. We know that people who are involved in the creation of anything you can see or hold, can really only discuss and or correct the thing using visual tools. Man, the Cintiq would be quite the demo tool for ConceptShare.

Bernie

Posted in Creativity, Innovation, Product Design, Technology ~ No Comments
Written by Bernie