Design Thoughts

The age of information - we are trying so hard to organize information. Huge amounts of data often fall into lists, tables, charts, etc., and thankfully so.

Outside of the electronic world, however, I feel like we gather, understand, integrate, and act on much larger sets of information in much shorter periods of time. Take a human face for example. Immediately upon seeing a face, we are able to gather, integrate, and draw conclusions from an enormous amount of data. Hundreds of micro-adjustments in facial muscles are gathered by our eyes and brain and formed into a complete image, then understood as an expression, then an emotion and all that goes with that emotion, including how we should respond to it. And all this happens immediately.

I wish we could design business reports the same way - immediate comprehension with one look. Instead of reading about the health and trajectory of a project or an entity, what if we could design a report that gives a picture which immediately conveys all information necessary about that thing...!

I think design is getting better at this, but we need to do it BETTER! More information in a simpler form for immediate and thoughtless comprehension. Simplification of information.

Elements of visual data in the natural world

• Color
• Size
• Distance from you
• Distance from other objects
• Shape
• Texture
• Movement
• Direction in relation to you
• Direction in relation to other objects
• Speed
• Volatility
• Rotation
• Density
• Mass

Consulting Lessons Learned

2 May 2012
Lessons learned

1. Start at the top. This introduces clarity and simplicity, or at least it should. If the top objectives are unclear then they need to be clarified and simplified.
2. Create a goal tree. Include the goal, owner, and deadline. Be MECE.
3. Establish a reporting method for each goal. What metric will be used, how often, how (email, in-person, etc.), and to whom (this should be pretty clear after creating the goal tree).
4. Step 2 is an alignment mechanism. It should help all projects and processes in the company contribute to the major company goal.
5. Projects vs. processes. They are different, but as far as I can see right now, all things in the company should be designated as either a project or a process. Projects have clear end dates, processes are ongoing. Projects may include process elements, however, for example, a task which requires multiple iterations to be completed is a process inside a project. But I don’t have that one totally flushed out yet.
6. I haven’t done it yet, but I think the real power will come in regular reporting. Accountability, baby. Make it regular, get into a rhythm and hold owners stringently accountable. Don’t let people skip out on reporting no matter what. Seriously. It must happen every period. Hunt them down.
7. Being a bit of a dictator is a good thing, because it offers clarity and focus. People don’t like constraints... but then again people love constraints. I think it’s a situation where on the surface they typically don’t like the pressure or work required, but deep down they really want someone to push them to their potential.
8. Logic trees ROCK. They help to break things down clearly. Be MECE in your trees, of course.

Also, setting up meetings with people takes FOREVER. Don't let that happen anymore, just show up and ask for a few minutes right then in person. They're not doing anything super important.