Thought leadership by design

Just a quickie to share with you a book I stumbled onto and find rather insightful: “Thought Leadership by Design”.

I will order a few of those and distribute them to all my business contacts… it is, as they claim one of those “no-frills” books I like. You can actually read it and it is actually worth it.

On the “no-frills” line, I strongly urge you to take a peak at getAbstract.com which produces timely abstracts of business books that you can scan and decide for yourself if you really want to invest the time to actually read through the full 300-page version. Very useful indeed in this time-constrained world of ours.

Technorati Tags: digital design, user experience

Microsoft Surface: accidental hit?

A lot has been said already about Surface, the killer UI making “Minority Report” look like “Driving Miss Daisy”.
A video from the application to be found at the Caesars’ Palace can be found here, and Manuel Diaz posted a very complete video on the .Gr blog.

Following the analysts’ meetings and our FY07 results, the press is all over Microsoft. Interestingly enough my favorite Richard Waters has posted a note on Surface in the FT’s Tech blog (which you should all be reading by now). The bottom line seemed too obvious for even him had to write it which makes me feel kinda sad. Here it goes:

It’s a reminder that the company’s developers can indeed come up with hot products, though it also says a lot about its internal development process. You could never see Steve Jobs accidentally stumbling onto something in this way.

Technorati Tags: Apple, digital design, emakina, Groupe Reflect, Microsoft, surface, user experience

Microsoft Surface @ Caesars Palace

I managed to get one of the product managers from Microsoft Surface to do a quick demo of how the table will be used at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

It is interesting and a good complement to other videos you can find on the web. The table price point is currently set around $10k and should decrease steadily (think flat screen price curve) as large deals with large volume make the unit costs go down.

Technorati Tags: digital design, Microsoft, surface, user experience

Nike+

RG/A has won the “Agency of the Year” award in Cannes last month for the great work they have done building the Nike+ concept from the ground up.

The following video does a good job of explaining the rational behind the Nike-Apple combination, both from a branding and project management perspective.

“Nike+ redefines how a brand can reconnect with its audience through meaningful experience. [...] And as the Nike+ community grows, the best is yet to come!” 

Technorati Tags: advertising, Apple, Cannes Lions, digital advertising, digital design, e-marketing, Nike+, RG/A, user experience

Technology is a means, not an end: usage is!

So I am about to head to the Microsoft Partner Conference with two outstanding people (Damon from FullSix/7Seven and Manuel from EMakina-Groupe Reflect should you wish to know) and as I browse through the list of agencies present I come across Projekt202.

Their baseline pitch is just so true… It is really not technology that matters but rather usage. Give more sense to a phone, add a twist of design and let the users do the rest… it is a non-issue that the network sucks rocks, that the battery will die on you faster than you can say “call me on my fixed line”, all that really matters is that you can relate to what it is you will do with it. And this is easier said than done!

Technorati Tags: 7Seven, digital advertising, digital design, emakina, Microsoft, reflect, FullSix, web 2.0

iPhone: when the co-marketing content deals turn into viral marketing

So today is the day the iPhone becomes widely available in the USA. Apart from the device itself, the network it is currently locked with, it is interesting to take a look at the viral marketing videos swamping the net. Interestingly enough, the New York Times, which has a co-marketing agreement with Apple, released a few “review” videos which in fact are more promotional ones. Even Walt Mossberg is turning into a billboard guy, yet you may want to take a peek at its Q&A with Steve jobs. 

Technorati Tags: Apple, digital advertising, digital design, iPhone

Microsoft Surface… try before you buy ;-)

For those of you interested in Microsoft Surface, try the following Silverlight application.

It will enable you to handle the pictures the way you would normally do it using only your hands. For the real thing, I suggest you fly to Vegas and play with it next fall in selected casinos. 

Technorati Tags: digital design, Microsoft, Silverlight, surface

Evolution of design @ Apple

An interesting work from Edwin Tofslie on the evolution of design @ Apple.

Technorati Tags: Apple, digital design, form factor

It is not the iPhone, it is the network you stupid!

Interesting comment found in today’s FT; simply the best piece of paper on earth! Arguably, the points being made for the US cellular networks also apply here in Europe where large cities face overcrowded cells in which the real bandwidth is very different from the theoretical one and the overall user experience still an unpleasant one. I especially like the analogy with the car industry… it is right to the point

Stylish devices in search of a network.

Microsoft to support interactive designers: “IDEES de Design” launches in France

I am very proud to announce that “IDEES de Design” is officially launched here in France. Its goal is to promote digital design, and especially interactive designers. These skills become more and more critical as the digital side of our daily lives gets bigger and bigger.

The IDEES program has been around for more than a year now. “IDEES de Design” will follow suite and embrace the global digital design ecosystem. We do believe it is both an economic challenge for both our partners and customers but also a national one when it comes to promoting our digital assets.

The press release (in French) can be found below.