Touchpoint Observatory: Velobox

February 6, 2012

My home town of Offenburg has a whole load of Veloboxes at the station (at both entrances on both sides of the tracks). On one side they even have a Velobox and Lufstation (air station, where you can pump up your tires). The boxes are pretty large – the biggest of bikes would fit and [...]

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The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

February 5, 2012

The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying is the result of an Australian palliative care nurse who interviewed her patients over the years. Number two from men? “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

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Interaction Awards 2012 Winners

February 4, 2012

Sadly I couldn’t be at Interaction ’12 in Dublin this week, so I’ve been vicariously soaking up the vibe (but not the alcohol) on Twitter and the IxDA conference blog. This year was the first ever Interaction Awards and the winners were just announced. My absolute favorite was CIID student Ishac Bertran’s Pas a Pas [...]

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Derek & Clive’s Labels sketch

February 3, 2012

Derek & Clive’s Labels sketch is Peter Cook and Dudley Moore tackling service design in a discussion about the use of labels. (Note:This is very much not safe for work or kids. Many will find the language is offensive, but that’s Derek and Clive for you).

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Touchpoint Observatory: Send your post from the restaurant

February 3, 2012

This restaurant in Freiburg, Germany, called Omas Küche (Grandma’s Kitchen) was super family-friendly, but what caught my eye was the first page of the menu. It has all the usual stuff about opening times and lactose and gluten-free diets, free wi-fi, etc., but then goes on to offer single cigarettes for sale for “Gelengheitsraucher” (casual [...]

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Touchpoint Observatory: Armed Ticket Collectors

February 2, 2012

These people – five in total – were ticket inspectors on an early afternoon bus in Luzern, Switzerland, very much a tourist destination. So why are they dressed like armed police (no guns, but with pepper spray and earpieces)? And what is a security firm, Securitas, doing supplying ticket inspectors to a public transport company? [...]

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Accepting Less

February 2, 2012

Accepting Less is a plea from designer James Victore about getting back on the right path in life – downshifting, essentially. “Emails, chats, texts, games, pads, pods, and clouds have become a leash jerking us out of our quiet time,” he says. It’s definitely worth a read if you don’t mind the irony that you [...]

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Designer Founders

February 1, 2012

Designer Founders is a “non-profit book of 35+ rare personal interviews with the founders of tech-startups who have various design backgrounds.” Looks pretty interesting and I’m glad it’s been backed on Kickstarter. The backing price looked a bit steep for what you get, though. Let’s hope the info is worth it.

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The Myth of the Brand New Innovation Myth

February 1, 2012

The Myth of the Brand New Innovation Myth I hear a lot of talk about innovation in my travels as an academic and consultant in service design. Innovation is not only the new black, it’s the Holy Grail. This piece from Fabio Sergio does a good job of exploding the fairly naive thinking out there [...]

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Master level program in Social and Collaborative Housing: Designing, planning and managing the contemporary housing

February 1, 2012

A new Master level program in Social and Collaborative Housing: Designing, planning and managing the contemporary housing has been organized by the POLI.design consortium and supported by the School of Design and the School of Civil Architecture, and by the Departments INDACO (Industrial Design, Arti, Comunicazione e Moda) and DPA (Progettazione dell’Architettura) of Politecnico di [...]

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