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APHORISMS
Some previous work of ours, written in the spirit of McLuhan’s Distant Early Warning cards and Eno’s Oblique Strategies. Originally published in “Parachutes: Instructions for Landing in the 21st Century.”
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Ten Feet High
Ten Feet High
Rather than simply consider how to guide the user through a series of tasks, service design steps back from the immediate context of…
John Di Palma
May 1, 2017
Glass Labs
Glass Labs
All organizations are in dialogue with their users and make adjustments to their product accordingly. Yet when it comes to tinkering with…
John Di Palma
May 1, 2017
Platform Harmonics
Platform Harmonics
Social networks and operating systems qualify as platforms because they harmonize objects of completely different orders — individuals…
John Di Palma
May 1, 2017
Human-Centeredness is More Than Skin Deep
Human-Centeredness is More Than Skin Deep
Human-centeredness is not merely a front-stage achievement, but a perspective that pervades organizational culture and operations. To…
John Di Palma
May 1, 2017
A World of One
A World of One
Usability studies take a more intimate approach to market research by statistically analyzing such behavioral data as eye movements on a…
John Di Palma
May 1, 2017
IMMATERIAL CONCERNS
IMMATERIAL CONCERNS
Digital technology has helped crystallize principles of design that were abstract and difficult to communicate when the field was primarily…
John Di Palma
Sep 9, 2016
EMBEDDED FEEDBACK
EMBEDDED FEEDBACK
Well-designed companies do not simply solicit input from employees, partners, and end users, but have feedback mechanisms embedded in their…
John Di Palma
Sep 8, 2016
Anxious Logic
Anxious Logic
The issue is rarely that we haven’t been precise enough. More often than not, the desire for precision is a symptom of our nervousness…
Eli Burnstein
Sep 7, 2016
People Don’t Want to Be Happy
People Don’t Want to Be Happy
When people wake up in the morning, they don’t want happiness — they want breakfast. They want to see friends and loved ones. They want to…
Eli Burnstein
Sep 2, 2016
One Customer, Ten Personas
One Customer, Ten Personas
“Since each of us was several, there was already quite a crowd.”
Eli Burnstein
Sep 2, 2016
Terra Incognita
Terra Incognita
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I…
Eli Burnstein
Sep 2, 2016
Skydiving
Skydiving
“Philosophy unravels the knots in our thinking; hence its results must be simple, but its activity is as complicated as the knots that it…
Eli Burnstein
Sep 2, 2016
The Map Is Not the Territory
The Map Is Not the Territory
By omitting unnecessary detail, a map brings certain elements of a territory into relief. Indeed, since territories are infinitely complex…
Eli Burnstein
Sep 2, 2016
Making Sense
Making Sense
“With no effort, he had learned English, French, Portuguese and Latin. I suspect, however, that he was not very capable of thought. To…
Eli Burnstein
Aug 31, 2016
RECONSIDERING GROWTH
RECONSIDERING GROWTH
Organizations grow, not just by extending their reach, but by intensifying their connections. (One zealot, after all, is worth ten casual…
John Di Palma
Aug 26, 2016
CONTROLLING THE FLOODGATES
CONTROLLING THE FLOODGATES
When designing a product or service, nothing is more valuable than the perspective of the individuals who might use it. Yet these…
John Di Palma
Aug 26, 2016
TRUST AS A SERVICE
TRUST AS A SERVICE
From retail (Etsy) to hospitality (Airbnb), there has been a rise in two-sided marketplaces in which trust is outsourced to the platform…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
BETWEEN TWO WEBS
BETWEEN TWO WEBS
People neatly divide the internet into the shiny, big-box mainstream and the shady underbelly of deep web hax0rs. But there are infinite…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
NATURAL HABITATS
NATURAL HABITATS
Content producers face pressure to capture community through native commenting systems, proprietary interfaces, and social strategies. But…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
QUANTIPHILIA
QUANTIPHILIA
Despite our reverence for metrics, algorithms, and observable ROI, we should never forget that before every number a human decision was…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
A CATEGORY UNTO ITSELF
A CATEGORY UNTO ITSELF
Industry commentators like to say that “companies like Google” are all moving in a certain direction, or that certain qualities…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
CONNECTED BODIES
CONNECTED BODIES
The Internet of Things helps establish connections between objects by way of communication protocol. But we should not let this added layer…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
THE EDGE OF WHAT?
THE EDGE OF WHAT?
It is better to be familiar with an older movement or philosophy that embodies the newest ways of thinking than to be up on the latest…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
COMPLEXITY IS INDEPENDENT OF SCALE
COMPLEXITY IS INDEPENDENT OF SCALE
Complexity cannot be reduced by zooming out for an overview or focusing in for specificity. Each scale within a system has a structural…
John Di Palma
Aug 25, 2016
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