jeffwongdesign

"The World Without Us" - Notes from a designer's perspective.

I just finished "The World Without Us" (Alan Weisman) over Thanksgiving break. It's pretty intense.It made me reflect on my own life, beyond design... as a human being. In short, this book is exactly what the title describes—What the Earth would be like if mankind were to leave tomorrow. It talks about all the things that we [man] changed in our environment, and more importantly, what we've left behind.

I'll be honest, this book made me feel naive—I had no idea about some of the things going on in this world. Weisman covers a lot of ground, so be prepared for a journey. If you want to step out of the fire and right into the frying pan, I recommend skipping the first 1/3 of the book, and start on chapter 9, "Polymers Are Forever". From that point, it gets interesting and challenging—everything prior was just setup, and a little boring.

I can't cover all the stuff Weisman talks about, but I can share 5 points I took away from this book:

1. The North Pacific Gyre (aka "Garbage Patch") was created in the last 50 years(wikipedia link)
It's twice the size of Texas, made up of over 100 million tons of marine litter. What kinds of litter? Mostly plastic bags and nurdles suspended beneath the surface of the ocean. What's crazy is that it continues to grow. Unlike global warming (which is caused by several sources), it's clear where the plastic is coming from in the ocean. The environmental impact is easily seen when we observe larger animals (like fish and birds) dying from eating it. But what's more alarming is that when the plastic breaks down to smaller pieces, smaller organisms (like krill) and micro-organisms can't digest it either, causing them to die as well. When you kill off these smaller organisms, it disrupts everything. I went online to see if anyone was working on cleaning up this mess, it seems that money is our blocker. We don't have enough money to scoop up all the garbage. And even if we did, where would we put all it? Most of the garbage would end back up in the ocean anyway. What's most scary is that The North Pacific Gyre is not alone... there are several other places that have this exact same problem. While I love looking at different environmentalist renderings of architecture made from recycled Pacific garbage, it probably won't happen simply because of cost.

2. Polymers last forever.
Plastics will never naturally break down... they'll be with the earth until the end, unless some micro-organism comes along, specially evolved to break it down. What's wild is that we produce so much plastic every day... and it's not just plastic, it's polymers. Strong polymers like rubber are extremely difficult to break down. Actually, I recently discovered that rubber is a single molecule. Rubber will be around forever... unless it's exposed to UV rays. Notice how PVC breaks into brittle pieces when exposed to sunlight. The problem is that most plastics are a) being mixed and coated with UV blockers, and b) most plastics are buried underground or are underwater. Without any form of weathering or UV light, a lot of these polymers are here to stay.

3. Nuclear waste is melted down in glass cubes, and buried in mountains.
We're not just talking about nuclear waste from power plants... we're talking about nuclear stuff that comes from our missiles. That stuff has been melted down and impregnated into glass, formed into cubes. These cubes are stacked, buried beneath thousands of layers inside some off-limits mountains. What's even crazier is that these cubes are burning hot, since they're still decaying. Some of the nuclear substances have half lifes of over tens of thousands of years. This stuff is so dangerous that we've buried it with stones, engraved in several languages, warning future generations to stay away. Think of all the established cultures have disappeared like the Mayan civilization. Imagine if they had a nuclear waste deposit, and we came across it today. The scary thing about nuclear waste is that you don't usually see the effects until the next generation. Things stop reproducing correctly when exposed.

4. Most houses that we live in won't last for even 50 years.
If you think about it, most houses will fall apart, starting with the roof after a decade or two. If we don't maintain the house, our environment, our land, it will all be taken over by nature again. I was driving by some broken down houses on my way back, and realized that our homes are really fragile. A little water leak causes dry wall to fall apart. If you think about it, there are Japanese castles, Egyptian temples, and Chinese walls that have stood up to a millennia of weather, climate shift, and sun. There's not much design or engineering like that anymore.

5. Huge mega-cities like New York will fall away from the bottom up.
Cities made of concrete and steel should last forever... but they won't. Ironically, a city like New York will cave in because of water. There is so much run off from the city that water has to be pumped out of tunnels, sewage, etc. 2 inches of rainfall can cause subways to shut down. There are pumps constantly running. If man were to go away, no one would produce power, maintenance the water flow, etc. Things would explode from bottom up, flooding everything, then weakening it. Eventually New York would crumble from the bottom. According the Weisman, it wouldn't take that long either. Without the trees and soil to naturally absorb the water, it would just flood the city, causing it to ultimately cave in. New York is not the only city that would suffer this. Think of the Panama Canal—The man made canal that cuts through a continent to connect the Pacific and Atlantic ocean together. This is an incredible man-made feat, but it would all give away if no one was there to repair and regulate it. No city, concrete or steal will be sheltered... or at least, that's what Weisman suggests. It's hard to imagine, but when you think about it... it's not far fetched.

So, this is just a sample of highlights I've gathered from this book. I've stayed up thinking about more... and a couple questions strike me:
What can we do as individuals to make a difference? Do have little to no impact?
What can we do as designers (dealing with mass production of these materials) to make a difference?
In the end, what do we leave behind other than DNA, a grave stone, and toxic waste?

The last one has left me searching and restless. It seems that a few of my friends in the same age group are struggling with the same thing. These are good topics to think about and discuss openly. Read a sample of "The World Without Us" here. PS. Thanks Josh for sharing this. It was a great piece, and I look forward to your other suggestions, "The Long Emergency" and "Botany of Desire". We have much to talk about.

Thanksgiving Photos.

I went to my parent's riverhouse for the long weekend. It was nice to get away, paint a little, and get some reading done. It was great seeing the fam and the dogs as well. Here are some photos. See more images here.

"What Would Google Do?" - Notes from a designer's perspective.

I finished this a couple weeks ago, and haven't had a chance to put together a follow up post about my take-aways. There are just so many good things to say about this book.

I highly recommend it for any entrepreneur, designer, or Google fan. This book did a great job in reverse engineering Google as a company and culture. In fact, Jeff Jarvis talks about several companies that have enjoyed huge success. Companies like Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, Wikipedia, and Amazon are thriving today because of specific decisions they made. In contrast, he also talks about Apple (the "anti-Googly" approach). He covers several small company case studies as well, like Tip'd.

As a designer, I'd like to talk about the things that resonated to me the most. I took a bunch of notes, but to keep things short and simple, I'd like to talk about the things that struck me, from a design lens:

1. What problem are you solving?
Google takes an engineering approach to product development. They start with trying to solve a problem. As designers, sometimes we get caught up with the grid, beautiful colors, typography, etc... but we forget that ugly non-designed products can be very successful. Take Craigslist for example—it's overwhelming and ugly, but it solves a problem. It connects buyers and sellers, and only charges corporations and professionals. Sometimes we get too caught up in making things pretty without exploring the real problems, the real barriers, and design gaps. Personally, problem solving (what Google does, and what Jarvis describes) is design. Everything else is cosmetic. Don't get me wrong, I love things to look sexy, but like the Bauhaus, I believe that form follows function.

2. The people who are complaining most are your best friend.
Jeff Jarvis puts it well, "It's free advice". Every time a customer complains about your product, you should reach out to them. Obviously, it's difficult to cast a net that captures every problem and every complaint, but Jarvis points out that the "conversations are happening" regardless of what you do. If you can create a way to communicate with your users and have a real conversation, you can build a relationship. If you get your users involved with the evolution of your product/service, they will love and trust you. They'll acknowledge that you're a company that listens. All designers should go on Twitter and see what people are saying about your brand. Listen, because it's free advice. If someone's making a big deal about your products, the worst damage control would be to sweep their issues under the rug. Jarvis states, "All it takes is for one person to create a site called (your-company)sucks.com". If a movement of people think your product and company suck, they'll join that forum and spread the word. Social networking empowers people as well. Jarvis suggests that all companies should reach out and create their own forum to host a conversation The goal is to turn negative energy into constructive conversations and real relationships. Everyone, especially you (the designer), should be encouraging more ways for feedback. Get free advice, and use it. Try to find opportunities to collaborate with your users.

3. Be open. Really open.
Obviously you can't share everything with everyone, but the more open you are, the better. Look at Apple—they've enjoyed huge success by opening up their app store (granted, not every app is approved, but they're moving towards a more open environment). Be open with your product. Be open with your data if you can. Transparency is powerful. If you're transparent, people will know how you're using your data, and that builds trust. Even at the company level, people could be more open. Clearspring (the parent company I work for) is open about sharing data internally, which I've been told is a huge luxury. This openess has helped me understand our products better, as well as make more informed design decisions.

4. Gather as much data as possible and use it.
There are a lot of articles published about how data can sterilize design. While this is true, I don't think enough designers take advantage of data. Testing should be a part of culture. In the old days, one campaign could go out at a time. Why not test different campaigns to see which one resonates with the audience the most? Obviously, you can advertise outside of the prime time Superbowl—the days of one shot ad spots are fading. Testing can be one of the cheapest ways to see if a product or idea can work. Yes, data can paralyze innovation in the wrong hands... but in the right hands, it help you and your team test and refine your design. Most decisions are based off speculation. While intuition and emotion are key, it can handicap your design potential. Ever design a brochure, website, product, business card before? Try using data, and approach it like a scientist. Yes, we're designers, but we should also use the other side of our brain. Data is going to be a key ingredient of design in the future... in fact, I predict that more agencies will be looking for designers that are familiar with testing methodologies, as well as being proficient in reading data. Designing pretty stuff isn't enough anymore. Yes, Douglas Bowman left Google because of their empirical and exhaustive testing methodology... but I'm sure he's bringing some experience over with him to Twitter, regardless of his unspoken desire to escape it.

5. Live by the 80/20 rule.
At Google, they spend 80% of their time working on their regular projects, and they're required to spend 20% of their time on their own Google projects. At Google, innovation is a requirement. This may not help you at becoming an innovative designer directly, since most design agencies will ask that their designers dedicate 80% of their time working, and 20% tracking time. But, watching Google reminds me how to make real time productive. For me, I look at the 80/20 rule as a way to live life, not just work. We're all really really busy... but the question is, what are we really doing? Most of the stuff we're doing is just busy work anyway. Hopefully we can carve out 20% of the time and dedicate it to the important stuff that needs to get done... like innovation, meditation, or pondering the meaning of life. I challenge all designers to look at what their doing and ask themselves if 100% of their time is just plain busy work. If it is, carve out 20% and do something real.

Check out a sample "What Would Google Do" here. PS. Thanks Justin for the recommendation.

"The Art of Innovation" - 50% complete.

I asked Jim to recommend a book to me a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to it during Thanksgiving break. I'm halfway through it. The writer is from IDEO, a huge industrial design firm. Their process has always inspired me. I'll be sharing some of my notes in a later post. I'm hoping to get through the rest of it this week. It's definitely a gem.

So far the three points that I've taken away from the book:
1. Create cheap prototypes every opportunity you get.
2. Brainstorming with a team is a skill, and there are real techniques.
3. See how people are really using products. Go out there and observe.

The chapter about brainstorming was really interesting because it reminded me of my former co-worker Marty Baker. He's a really innovative guy, and has an awesome resumé. I'm hoping to pick up some brainstorming tips and techniques from him soon, since he's becoming a leading figure sculputing the innovation space.

More on this soon.

Another new painting.

New painting. Starting to simplify the series of hair, and scaling the size. I've now moved the sketches to about 18"x24". This seems to be the direction I'm liking. I will probably try another one with more color, then move up even larger. I'd love to get your thoughts.

Here's another one I started tonight. It's probably too simple... to the point of being boring. I may paint over this and start over again. If I want to do geometric illustrations, I probably should stick with acrylic or computers. Not sure if oil is going to give me the effect I'm looking for.

Zombie Killing at Work.

So christmas came a little early this year. My coworker, Jim, hooked me up with a zombie killing game, to hone my skills. Yes folks, by day I'm a designer. By night, I slay zombies.

I'm going to take some time this afternoon to really give this toy a spin. Love the MP5 gun that comes with it. Very nice selection. I'm hoping to put a real scope on it and shoot from a longer distance. What do you think?

Thanks Jim! ^_^

DC Refresh Notes

Went to DC Refresh last night at Viget Labs. The topic was "From Freelancer to Agency". They invited a couple people, like a panel, to ask questions. Here are some notes I gathered:

Stay small, less owners, and have skills that compliment one another.

If your really love design, when you start your own company/agency,
it's the last thing you get to do.

Hire people with lots of energy. Doesn't matter if they're jr or sr.

Try to take small opportunities and make them large opportunities.

What do you value as success? It's not all about money. What model are
you?

Don't use your name for the company.

Ask your peers for advice. Most people want to see you succeed.

No speaker/panelist had an answer for how to balance life. How to
spend time with kids. Etc. They asked for advice.

One of the most important costs of business is realestate.

There is no exit strategy in design/services anymore. Hopefully your
employees will buy.

I'm just so glad I'm not in the agency business at the moment. I'm not a big fan of the pyramid system, nor tracking time in 15 minute increments. I love the culture at Clearspring. There are titles, but no one throws it around for leverage. It's a luxury to be able to stop by in the hall and talk to Hooman (our CEO), or grab some wings with Joel (VP products), or play video games with Foo and Philip (our developers). This DC Refresh meet-up actually reminded me to cherish the culture and projects we're working on here. Because here, I can have impact. Here, I can make meaningful connections.

I also learned one last thing yesterday... Justin Thorp (our Community Manager) knows everyone. In one room with about 50 people, he hi-fived about 20 of them walking in the door. The other 30 people tapped him on the shoulder with warm greetings.

Anyway, learn more about DC Refresh here. It's the second one I've gone to.