Shades of Gray

idea: recipe in a box delivery, subscriptions. includes all ingredients needed to cook that meal.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:21:43 -0500

idea: recipe in a box delivery, subscriptions. includes all ingredients needed to cook that meal.

2012 resolutions

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:38:53 -0500

1. shower as soon as i wake up
2. catch up with an old friend once a week
3. take guitar lessons
4. exercise daily
5. go on vacation
6. read one book a week
7. make wine
8. run a 5k
9. practice meditation daily
10. never eat dessert alone

best practices - walkthrough videos

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:59:45 -0400

some top examples of software walkthrough videos i gathered up for a client. all do a pretty great job of balancing playful humor, brevity, visual style, and functionality details w/ strong / selective benefit statements.

Mint

https://www.mint.com/

IA Writer for Mac

http://vimeo.com/24156534

Foursquare

http://www.howcast.com/videos/386406-How-To-Unlock-Your-World-With-Foursquare

Virgin America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyygn8HFTCo

Spotify

https://www.spotify.com/us/hello-america

Skype for iPad

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-mobile/download/ipad-for-skype/

Due for iPhone and iPad

http://www.dueapp.com/

Barclay Card

http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/freedom/about-barclaycard-freedom/how-it-works.html

Things for Mac

http://culturedcode.com/things/screencast.html

Google+

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/

denver has a big kiddie pool (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:05:29 -0400

denver has a big kiddie pool (Taken with instagram)

the amex nest on sunday night (Taken with Instagram at CP+B...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:02:51 -0400

the amex nest on sunday night (Taken with Instagram at CP+B Loft)

seeking ltr with apartment

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:52:57 -0400

slightly scruffy food, music, design lover is looking for a long term relationship with an apartment in nyc. must be 20 minutes from work (80 franklin street), gym (crunch), supermarket (let’s shoot for whole foods), and have laundry in building. your building must be quiet at all times after 9pm. plus points if you’re close to a park, coffee, the number subway lines, great takeout under $10 per meal. preferably no broker fee and you can’t cost more than a decent macbook pro per month. interested apartments should get in touch with a little about yourself. thanks.

idea: how many hours of the day do software licenses sit unused, like photoshop? what if someone...

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:35:10 -0400

idea: how many hours of the day do software licenses sit unused, like photoshop? what if someone could remotely access specific applications in a totally secure sandbox? rent it out for a nominal fee, like a few cents a minute. could add up…

idea: connect people who want to try before they buy with people who have things. option to set...

Tue, 31 May 2011 21:52:52 -0400

idea: connect people who want to try before they buy with people who have things. option to set thanks with money, kudos points, a beer/coffee, etc.

more musings on a good ipad weather app. variable temp on the y...

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:03:00 -0400

first sketch

second sketch

third sketch

more musings on a good ipad weather app. variable temp on the y and next 12 hours (maybe 16?) on the x. plot temp over time, overlay precipitation maybe right on the line. line thickness represents humidity - too much? touch a point in time to see a pop over w/ wind, cloud cover, and humidity details. does this exist already? seems like something i could code.

Idea: Inspiration canvas tablet app. Hang photos, videos, audio,...

Fri, 06 May 2011 13:02:02 -0400

Idea: Inspiration canvas tablet app. Hang photos, videos, audio, text, chats. Sketch directly on the layer. Infinite zoom, pan, and scroll. Next iOSnproject maybe.

Idea: Words with friends meets jigsaw puzzles.

Tue, 03 May 2011 21:30:36 -0400

Idea: Words with friends meets jigsaw puzzles.

Idea: Arrange the who of eating out. Coordinate meals with people: group preferences and schedules....

Sun, 01 May 2011 16:02:00 -0400

Idea: Arrange the who of eating out. Coordinate meals with people: group preferences and schedules. Discover and reach out to new people for a bite to eat. Pull info from Foursquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp to generate recos and such. And/or: Chatroulette for lunch?

Inspiration: grubwithus, ohours, doodle.com, chatroulette

Idea: Mobile app that displaces loyalty punch cards. Customer app generates QR code on load that...

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:49:54 -0400

Idea: Mobile app that displaces loyalty punch cards. Customer app generates QR code on load that vendor app scans. Similar to that AMEX / Foursquare experiment that checked for near-simultaneous credit card use and checkins at the same venue. Would be a sweet Foursquare feature… especially if Foursquare was linked to a credit or debit account. Maybe one flavor of mobile payment.

Idea: I’d love to know who might like the page I’m...

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 10:45:52 -0400

Idea: I’d love to know who might like the page I’m viewing currently. Especially when I’m reading blogs, checking out an event or restaurant, even shopping. It would be great if the pages I view could speak up and suggest opportunities for starting conversations and breaking the ice with people I know.

Photo

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:33:00 -0400

Here's a quick tour of my desk at work..

The stairway to our group area.

Clear desk, clear mind.

Hanging ideas up to dry.

Food vendor spreads love via BBQ smoker.

My toy collection & favorite tea gadget.

Idea: Collect images around the web using a bookmarklet or extension. Scrapbooks. For inspiration,...

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:51:00 -0400

Idea: Collect images around the web using a bookmarklet or extension. Scrapbooks. For inspiration, research, sharing. 1) Click bookmarklet. 2) Select images.

Does this exist already?

OpenIDEO Evaluation Phase: Register While You Wait

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:40:00 -0400

My marrow donor registration idea was short listed for the evaluation phase at OpenIDEO. The community asked great questions about the concept and I wanted to address their thoughts in an update. The original user journey was a blast to explore (waiting for fast food) but I wanted to replace it with something more sensible (waiting for a doctor’s appointment).

http://openideo.com/open/how-might-we-increase-the-number-of-bone-marrow-donors-to-help-save-more-lives/concepting/register-while-you-wait/

Chris F. posted two great inspirations about ways boostrapping could play a role in increasing the number of registered bone marrow donors. What are some prime times to ask people to learn more or register?

Inspiration 1: http://j.mp/gI7JE7
Inspiration 2: http://j.mp/gguOGM

Remember the last time you waited for a service. Maybe you were waiting for prepared food, or for a doctor or hairstyling appointment. Were you bored, anxious, wanting to do something valuable with that time?

Let’s give people a way to make the most of waiting: as time to learn about the bone marrow donation process: who they’d help, why it’s urgent, and how it works. And if they’d like, a sample kit to register then and there — or later is just as cool. Retail or transaction counters would be any-time drop-off points.

What might a high-level user journey look like? This explores one possible setting: waiting for a doctor’s appointment.

1) CHECKING IN: CALL TO ACTION
As Jane checks in for her doctor’s appointment, she’s asked: “Mary is fighting cancer and needs a marrow donation to recover. Would you consider being tested to see if you’re a match? We would just need to swab your cheek while you wait for your appointment.”

Jane wants to help but has some reservations. She replies “What’s involved?”. She’s given a page of information to read over while she waits for her appointment.

2) CONSIDER WHILE YOU WAIT
The page profiles Mary: her life, experience with cancer, and how someone like Jane could help her — or others like her — recover by simply registering.

The marrow donation process is outlined at a high level and its myths are cleared up.

3) SWAB AND REGISTER

Jane swabs her cheek with an attached Q-Tip… perhaps a lollipop / Q-Tip combo ala the Sweeten The Deal concept? After all, everyone hopes for a lollipop when they visit the doctor… :)

http://openideo.com/open/how-might-we-increase-the-number-of-bone-marrow-donors-to-help-save-more-lives/concepting/sweeten-the-deal-the-swab-becomes-a-lollipop/

Jane hands off her sample when she’s called for her appointment. That’s it!

—

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WAITING LINES

While I was researching this update I stumbled onto an an awesome Don Norman paper… It’s called “The Psychology of Waiting Lines” and it’s free:
http://j.mp/enm0Dj (Google Docs)

He explores eight design principles for creating a waiting experience that reduce uncertainty and enhance positive emotions. Two of the principles might be most useful for us:

The Wait Must Be Appropriate
In the original user journey, I explored using waiting time in a fast food service setting. While I had a blast playing with this idea, it likely isn’t the most appropriate time for an ask - fast food is all about instant gratification. Considering registration requires a bit more time and a different perspective for empathy, learning, and reflection.

Keep People Occupied
Don writes “Parks operated by Disney are famous for how they handle lines, curving them around so that they are visually short.”

Similarly, engaging people with inspirational stories about bone marrow patients — and how they can easily help — will make waiting times seem much faster.

That’s one big win for any organization that participates. Some other wins are:

- People prefer to support and advocate for businesses that support social causes.
- Supporting social causes increases employee morale.

What I've Learned From To-Do Lists

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:34:15 -0400

A few weeks ago I tweeted some love for the to-do app Strike. The creators at Zurb, an interactive agency in San Francisco, got in touch and asked if I’d write up my thoughts for their product blog. A huge chunk of my life is made possible by to-do lists so I jumped at the chance to explore this one. Below is the full manifesto-length post I wrote for them, their edited version is here: http://www.zurb.com/zurbapps/article/599/ad-agencys-designer-raves-about-strike

What I’ve Learned from To-Do Lists

What do you do?

I’m an Experience Designer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which is an ad agency in Boulder, Colorado. My role is a dash of information architecture, a scoop of interaction design, topped with design strategy and research. The documents my team and I make get people talking about considerate ways to shape the user’s path in future products.

How do you manage and prioritize your tasks?

My to-do lists come across like a bossy parent: “Do laundry!”, “Go food shopping”, “Start taxes” (a to-do list in itself!). Listing what and when to do things — and giving those things order — is how I balance all my responsibilities, chores, and aspirations. To-do lists free my attention to focus on the moment. They help me clear the path ahead and ensure all my other bases are covered. Past-Me may sound like a bossy parent, but really, he just wants the best for Future-Me.

So what’s the deal with making lists? Why are they so magical and revolutionary? I think it comes down to three things:

Reminders

“Gurhkas”. This word — the name of an Indian restaurant near where I work — is scheduled to pop up in my to-do list next month. The place came up over drinks with co-workers in early February. As in “Yeah, let’s go sometime!” Anyone familiar with “we should do ___ sometime” knows these statements, while genuine and well-meaning, are pretty much destined to be forgotten (especially after a few drinks). Enter my mobile to-do list app (Things), which I launched to record this idea. Then I kicked the “due” date about a month in the future. To-do systems enable a super-human, infallible memory. So long as I keep checking my list. =)

Clarity

Building a design strategy preso was a new challenge. Most of the time, my client-facing thinking takes the form of docs like user flows and wireframes, but this was a chance to help define the vision of a pretty complex feature from the ground up. Feeling a little stuck in my tracks (a great place to be with an open mind, because it signals there’s learning up ahead) I made an exhaustive list of all the ideas I could think of. After much editing and reordering, an outline emerged, and I was on my way. Shaping the path is messy work. Lists are a means of cleaning house.

Direction

“Research guitar lessons” speaks to me from the bottom of my master to-do list. It’s been there since last November. Important enough for daily reminders — but I don’t have the time or energy to act on it. Lists have a beautiful structure: stacked objects in a single column. Actions come one after the other, never to the side, which demands the author take a stand and rank the priority of each item. As long as “Research guitar lessons” stays at the bottom, I know other things come first. Knowing what’s next keeps the momentum going.

The main software I use for all my to-dos is Things for iOS and Mac. The app corrals to-dos into a few helpful buckets:

Inbox: Freshly captured, not categorized yet.

Today: A to-do that’s due today, or in the past.

Next: The “Master” list. To-dos with or without a due date.

Scheduled: Any to-do (or repeating item) kicked down the road to a later date.

Someday: To-dos without a due date or scheduled due date.

Projects: A folder with one or many to-dos.

Areas of Responsibility: An area of responsibility has one or many projects, or free floating to-dos.

The bulk of this mental model comes from David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” — a must-read for any productivity geek. Though I’m probably preaching to the choir. =)

How does Strike help you?

Strike is a to-do reboot. It strips away the categorization and scheduling features of conventional apps and approaches list-making with a new set of values. There’s a lot of vicarious projection in list making: “Whoa, Future-Me is about to do some impressive stuff!” And the folks at Zurb designed an interface that brings the message of each to-do item front and center, clearing the mind to envision all kinds of future accomplishments.

I like how the update and delete functions are given gestures instead of buttons, or text links that compete for your attention. Since even the blinking text cursor in Word distracts me, I really appreciate tools that hide as much under the hood as possible. And Strike’s great interactive walkthrough takes care of discoverability issues.

Themes are a neat addition that let me set the mood to my taste. The first crop has some good ideas in the mix (soothing sky, textured wood, favorite colors) and it’ll be neat to see other possibilities.

Adding a social layer via shared lists might be the feature with greatest ripple effect. Collaborating on to-dos with other people adds a totally new perspective. It affects each of those “magical” properties of to-do lists I mentioned earlier.

Reminders —> Reputation

Putting to-dos in front of people is a sure fire route to kudos points. Wouldn’t you think better of me if you knew “build stone pizza oven” is the top item on my list? (it’s not, but someday!)

Clarity —> Conversation

The ability to easily share to-do lists and collaborate is a great conversation starter. Working in a team, it’s a way to catch missing, incomplete, or controversial / unsettled items early on.

Direction —> Status

Shared to-do lists provide a look into how things are progressing in a group. It’s cool to see what other people have done — and vice versa — without needing to interrupt them and check in.

Strike a lot going for it, but of course there’s room for improvement. If I want to access my lists again, I have to remember to bookmark my lists or hunt through my browser history. Keeping a record of my lists is a task the app should take care of. And I’m puzzled by the pillbox used to change completion styles. (just a toggle would do the trick imho).

Overall, I think Strike is the most exciting to-do app to come out in a long time. I’m looking forward to using it for quick to-do lists, and for shared lists with coworkers and friends.

Thanks for reading my two cents on to-dos. I hope you’ll say hey on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jonathangcohen

OpenIDEO Concept (Bone Marrow Donors) - Register While You Wait

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:38:44 -0400

This is a concept I added to the OpenIDEO challenge about increasing the number of bone marrow donors. It’s “Register While You Wait” - http://bit.ly/eaJjiz

Description: Leveraging retail and other transaction spaces for bone marrow donor education, motivation, and registration.

Chris F. posted two great inspirations about ways boostrapping could play a role in increasing the number of registered bone marrow donors. What are some prime times to ask people to learn more or register?

Inspiration 1: http://j.mp/gI7JE7
Inspiration 2: http://j.mp/gguOGM

Remember the last time you waited for a service. Maybe you were waiting for prepared food, or for a doctor or hairstyling appointment. Were you bored, anxious, wanting to do something valuable with that time?

Let’s give people a way to make the most of waiting: as time to learn about the bone marrow donation process: who they’d help, why it’s urgent, and how it works. And if they’d like, a sample kit to register then and there — or later is just as cool. Retail or transaction counters would be any-time drop-off points.

What might a high-level user journey look like? (the image I posted explores this in a quick-and-dirty whiteboard sketch)

1) AWARENESS
At Burger World, Jim ponders his order while waiting in line. Also posted on the menu: “Bone Marrow Information Kit - Free” He’s intrigued… what’s that all about?

2) CALL TO ACTION
Mark takes Jim’s order. After the transaction is complete, he asks Jim if he’d like to read over a Bone Marrow Information Kit while he waits for his Mega Burger. Jim’s had enough of Angry Birds and takes him up on the offer.

3) SWAB WHILE YOU WAIT
The one-page information kit first appeals to Jim’s heart: a story about a person in need of bone marrow. Next, information about how donation works allays Jim’s fears about the process. Last, an envelope with a sample kit is attached to the bottom of the page. Jim swabs his cheek and writes in his contact information while he waits.

4) SAMPLE HAND-OFF
Mark calls Jim’s order. Mark gives a burger to Jim, and Jim gives a sealed sample kit to Mark. Mark adds Jim’s envelope to Burger World’s pile of outgoing mail.

5) THANK YOU (not sketched)
A few days later, Jim receives an email from the Bone Marrow Registry. His sample was received and he’s been added to the list of potential donors.

—

How does this feel to everyone? It feels promising for promoting awareness and education, as well as making registration as easy as possible. But I suspect people might feel rushed (would need to emphasize they could drop-off the kit later) and all these kits could be expensive…

Would love to hear your thoughts on this! Thanks for reading.

Which barrier(s) does your concept address?

Misunderstanding
Time

Which step(s) of the journey does your concept apply to?

Awareness
Registration
Spread the word

return of mail this later? for ios

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:27:28 -0500

return of mail this later? for ios