Andy Polaine
Touchpoint Observatory: UK Lift Engineer Bodge Job
This lovely piece of work is in a multistory car park in Ipswich in the UK. There are two lifts next to each other and something must have broken or been …
Writing & Thinking
A mix of essays and commentary about design, innovation, technology, society, coaching, personal and leadership development. Since 1996.
The Three Rs of Modern Creativity
The Three Rs of Modern Creativity Iain Tait’s wisdom on what we all need these days. Resilience, Restraint and Respect. Pretty good combination if you ask …
Burn Note
Burn Note is either completely brilliant or rather sinister. It is an e-mail service that destroys all traces of the message once sent, a la Mission Impossible: …
What matters in life
What matters in life . Marco comments on Jeff Atwood leaving stack exchange. His own thoughts are worth pasting up on the wall: Whatever startup you’re working …
Touchpoint Observatory: SIM Card Vending Machine
In Germany, mobile phone contracts are 24 months by default, not just for an iPhone. Additionally, there is a culture here whereby contracts are automatically …
Pirating 3D objects
Interesting piece in The New Scientist about pirate file-sharing moving into the realm of 3D objects thanks to the growth of cheap 3D printers. Of course the …
Service Design in Tourism 2012 announced
Switzerland, like Austria (where Service Design in Tourism is being held), has a big tourism industry. Mainly in the mountains, of course, but also the lakes …
15 fantastic data visualisations
15 fantastic data visualisations is a collection of “some of the best and most beautiful visualisations on the web that are based on time, geography, …
wemakeit.ch - a new Swiss crowd-funding platform
wemakeit.ch is a new Swiss crowd-funding platform in the style of Kickstarter. It is the “Schweizer Crowdfunding-Plattform für Kunst-, Musik-, Film-, …
Touchpoint Observatory: Velobox
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 …
The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
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 …
Interaction Awards 2012 Winners
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 …
Derek & Clive's Labels sketch
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 …
Touchpoint Observatory: Send your post from the restaurant
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 …
Touchpoint Observatory: Armed Ticket Collectors
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 …