How Sharing Works (an illustration by David Schoonover)

See the hi-res image here. I thought this was a sweet illustration. Check out more of his illustrations here.

"Art of Innovation" (Notes from a Designer)

I just finished "Art of Innovation", by Thomas Kelly, last week. These are just a collection of points that resonated with me. Obviously this book covers much more, but I figured I'd share some of the things that struck me about IDEO and their process from a designer's perspective. My background is coincidentally industrial design, so most of the subject matter they covered is, in a word, refreshing.

If there's one thing I'd take away from this book, it would be for designers to be more observant and take more risks through prototypes. And try to have fun. Though I'm sharing notes from my own perspective, I believe everyone should skim through this book, regardless of what industry you're in.

This book was recommended to me by Jim Lane, our user experience director at AddThis/Clearspring. I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to trying some of these techniques 2010.



Innovation starts with an "eye". Asking people for an opinion is not enough—observe every detail and watch how people interact with a product. Then create a bug list of all the problems and pain points.


You learn more from people who use the product and break the rules. Observation isn't enough. You have to look past it and examine their motivation. What it could do, "if only...".


IDEO explains that brainstorming is a craft that can be refined. They have "hot" brainstorming sessions all the time that leave people vibrating with excitement. Here are some things Kelly mentions...

Techniques and Tips
Focus on problem solving
Have playful rules
Go for quantity
Number your ideas (this is key)
Look for ways to leap and jump and really kick the brainstorm up a notch
Warm up with word play games
Everyone should bring a show and tell item
Be visual and cover the walls, table and ground with paper
Be physical and try to act out the scenarios (this is called body storming)
Bring food (like cookies or lunch)

How to kill brainstorming
A boss gets to speak first
Only one person gets to talk a time
Experts only
Going off site
Rules like: No silly stuff. No wacky ideas.



Prototype. Never go into a meeting without a prototype. Always look for opportunities to make prototypes. When you go into a meeting with a prototype, it's easier for people to play and react to a product. Prototyping can communicate problems and should be iterated on. This process allows you to "fail well" by taking risks early. Try to see what rules can be broken.


Failing well is a lot like juggling. For example, small bean bags are optimal for learning—they don't roll or bounce away, hurt your hands or punish you for making mistakes. When you juggle enough and gain some more experience, you can take bigger risks... perhaps moving up to something like bowling pins, or even knives.


Build work spaces that encourages prototyping, drawing, and sketching.


IDEO has something called the Techbox. It contains a collection of innovative products that people can play with. If you're looking for inspiration, this where you go to get ideas.


Hiring people who are curious. IDEO doesn't always hire experts in their field. They look for people who are really curious, and have a can do attitude.


Look outside at other industries for inspiration. IDEO often looks at the bike industry as well as toys for inspiration.


Only rule is to create less rules. Rules limit innovation.


The ultimate instructional design: The Wetnap interface. "Tear open and use." All interfaces should strive to be as simple as this. If there is a process that is really complex, it should be designed to be manageable. Example: IDEO designed a defibrillator that a child could safely use, literally.


Don't let features blur what people should do with your product.


Have fun. IDEO makes every project fun and playful.


If you have a deadline, set up time to show your boss ideas early.

Need book recommendations, if you've got it.

My goal for the next year is to ask all my friends, colleagues and coworkers for a book I should listen to (via audio book) or read. I'm looking for a change in perspective. If you have something that's a movie or video documentary I should watch, feel free to recommend it as well, as this list is not limited to books. Here is a list I'm currently working through.

What Would Google Do (Recommended by Justin Thorp) Done
The World Without Us (Recommended by Josh Welsh) Done
The Art of Innovation (Recommended by Jim Lane) Done
Margin of Safety Risk (Recommended by Ali Madad) 10% Complete
Botany of Desire (Recommended by Josh Welsh) watched the video
The Long Emergency (Recommended by Josh Welsh)
In Defense of Food (Recommended by Josh Welsh) 20% Complete
Godel, Escher, Bach (Recommended by Dave Schoonover and Phil Smith)
The Pixar Touch (Recommended by Justin Thorp)
Proust was a Neuroscientist (Recommended by Sarah Macey)
Kitchen Confidential (Recommended by Dylan Green and Justin Thorp) Done
Homo Ludens (Phil Smith)
Guns, Germs, and Steel (Recommended by Phil Smith and Dave Schoonover)
Blood Meridian (Recommended by Will Meyer)
Empire Falls (Recommended by Will Meyer)
Getting Things Done (Recommended by Jim Lane)
The Original Dune Series (Recommended by Jim Lane)
Everything is Miscellaneous (Recommended by Jim Lane)
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Recommended by Jim Lane)
Ben Franklin: The completed Autobiography (Recommended by Jim Lane)
The Power of Unreasonable People (Recommended by Jim Lane)
Short Stories (Recommended by Jim Lane)
The Elegant Universe (Recommended by Jim Lane)
Ambient Findability (Recommended by Jim Lane)
Sketching User Experiences, Bill Buxton (Recommended by Jon Fukuda)
Don't Make Me Think (Recommended by Jon Fukuda)
Designers Don't Read, Austin Howe (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
The Shadow of the Sun, Ryszard Kapuscinski (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
Cradle to Cradle, McDonough, Braungart (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
Clock Of The Long Now, Stewart Brand (Recommended by Dan Johnston)
1491, Charles C. Mann (Recommended by Dan Johnston)

I will update this list, followed by posts with some of my notes. Thanks for sharing!

West Elm Dining Light

Okay, I must say this dining light is probably over the top for my place, but it's pretty sweet. Wonder if I can find a standing version for my living room though.


Also... I also saw this light, as part of a floor display at the mall (pictured on the left)... I'd love to get a hanging one for my deck. On the right, you'll also see annie with a cool mask—I wish I could get away with wearing something like that.

Snowpacalypse Photos PT2, from Tysons Corner Mall

Saturday night, I felt like venturing out and driving around town to assess the snow. It was pretty much empty on the roads, for the exception of a couple of trucks plowing the road in endless rotations.

I've driven through some nasty stuff, so it was fun to try pushing the Element. Fortunately I didn't get stuck, but then again, I really didn't take any risks. Last time I got stuck, I was out in the middle of nowhere... and it was pretty bad.

When we got to the mall, it was dead empty. We're talking about a saturday night before Christmas, and there was nobody.




The only thing open was McDonalds...


I was really hoping to swing by West Elm to check out some furniture... alas, to no avail.

Snowpacalypse Photos, from my Condo.

Here are a couple photos from my condo from the storm. Pretty much stayed inside the entire time playing video games, watching Survivor Man, and hanging out with Annie. You'll notice that there was up to 20" of snow on the ground, which I find impressive.

Installing AddThis Sharebar on Tumblr (Screen Capture Video)

As I was installing AddThis Sharebar on Tumblr, I figured I'd just do a quick screen cap. There's really no instructions in the video. This is just a screen cap that shows how quick and easy it is to add sharing tools on your page. I actually added the Sharebar to 6 or 7 of my Tumblr blogs. Watch the video to see how I did it. Enjoy! (get your own sharebar at: http://www.addthis.com/labs/sharebar)

AddThis iPhone Analytics (screenshots)

My Corbusier, PT 2.

I thought I'd share a couple more photos of the my Corbusier Chaise Lounge chair in context to my living room. Obviously I'll need to accessorize its corner, but that will all come in time. The book shelf will be next.


The corbu is in the back corner.


I gave the chrome plated steel a polish, so it's nice and shiny now.


Yeh, I need to clean up those cables in the back of the TV. Time to break out the zip ties.

Clearspring Holiday Party

Clearspring (the parent company of AddThis) threws a holiday party at On The Border last night. It was nice to finally catch up with of the folks and celebrate all our accomplishments. You'll notice that me and Foo were captured on camera for a first time in this photo.


These are the brilliant designers behind some of the most popular widgets on the web. Ben (left), Steve (center), Clay (right).


Robert (right, holding the envelope) threw together a little raffle prize for all the employees at Clearspring. Rajan (left) is pulling the first, out of 5, names out the envelope. While completely randomized, Robert was the first person picked. This was followed by ensemble of cheers, boos, and laughter. Robert, shocked, was generous enough to return the prize and redraw.



Celebrating with what seems to be Patron. Cheers! I'd like to note that Will is grinning from ear to ear.


Carol (center, holding the raffle ticket with her name), was one of the winners. She also later received a gift, organized by the team, as a thanks for all her dedication, hard work, and taking care of us at the office.


Joel (left) picks another name from the raffle. Christopher (the guy, shadowed directly beneath Joel's chin) was another fortunate winner. Matt, one of our lead engineers, won as well. The other three winners were in our sales team, lead by Peggy.



Cyrus (foreground right) and Peggy (blurred left). This is my favorite photo of the evening. All these photos were shot on my 17-55mm f2.8, D200. This image was shot at 55mm 2.8f, which converts to about a 85mm with the 1.5x crop factor of a DX lens.


A classic photo of Hooman (left) and Charlie (right). Later in the evening, Charlie talks about one of his old buddies who used to eat a bacon sandwich... yes, his friend microwaved a pound of bacon and sandwiches with bread, then eats it. Charlie explained this was a weight lifting dieting technique. HmmmmmmmMMMMmm...


Mano (left) and Rich (right). I'd like to note that Rich has taught me a few tricks in mixing sound in Logic. I'm hoping to pick up some more tips in the future.



Philip gets a shout out from Hooman in a toast, mentioning his huge contribution to the team, as well as helping us achieve our goals for the year. He is the lead developer behind the AddThis Add-on for Firefox.


Cyrus (left), Will (center), Will's wife (right). Nice candid photo of some of the brightest minds and leaders at our team.


A photo of Annie and me. Carol was kind enough to snag a photo with my camera. It seems people are starting to notice that there are very few photos of me. Heheh. I guess that's the result of being behind the camera.



And last but not least, a photo with Jim (right), my comrade and mentor. Love this photo, except my teeth look really big.


If you were at the party and don't see your photo mentioned in this blog, you can see more photos of the party here. There are just so many great people, and I'll try to highlight you soon in our next photo opportunity. Thanks Clearspring for a great 2009 and for the party last night.

AddThis Holiday Logo Sneak Peak + Timelapse

Here's a youtube video that shows how I created it. It was created with photoshop and illustrator in about an hour.

My Corbusier.

I just picked this up off Craigslist last night. I've always wanted to own one since my college days. Unlike most modernist furniture, this one is actually very comfortable.

This is Le Corbusier. He was a Swiss-French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and also painter, who is famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is calledModern architecture or the International Style. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in his 30s. He was a pioneer in studies of modern high design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout central Europe, India, Russia, and one each in North and South America. He was also an urban planner, painter, sculptor, writer, and modern furniture designer. Read more here.

Corbu's architecture and design was heavily inspired by Mondrian's paintings. For those reasons, I'm tempted to put a poster of a Mondrian near the chair, as a reminder of the grid and minimalism.

Another option to compliment the Corbu chaise lounge would be a Rothko.

The last option would be a Nine Inch Nails poster, designed by David Carson.

What do you think?