Irredeemable 2-Spacers (Aka Teaching Outmoded Skills)
A little while back, our office had a rather lively email debate about how many spaces should be typed after a period—no, I’m not joking, this actually happened. Anyway, about …
Are We Just Biological Robots?
In the last month, there have been a couple articles about the bacteria in our bodies that caught our attention. The average human body contains about 6 pounds of bacteria. …
Independent Design Review and Engineering Services
Engineering is a beautiful, broad, and creative discipline; and it is becoming even more so as the demand for new and innovative products continues to grow. The fascinating and frustrating …
But We’re All Designers!
Sooner or later, everyone who works in design hears something along the lines of but we’re all designers – usually from a Project Manager who didn’t agree with the designer and …
Selecting a Microcontroller
These days product design typically involves sensors, LEDs, displays, buttons or a touch screen, sound, data logging, and wireless connectivity. The lowest cost, lowest power, most flexible, and most compact …
Designing for the Age Enhanced: Touch and Proprioception
When I started our Designing for the Age Enhanced series, I thought the articles would be informative and fun to write. But, since I’m in my 40s, I have to …
Why Do Design Research – Part 2: How to Do Design Research on a Dime (and a Deadline)
In Part 1, Why do design research: Deconstructing the excuses we examined the reasons people often give for eliminating design research from product development when budgets and schedules get tight. …
Designing for the Age Enhanced: Taste and Smell
Welcome to the latest article in our “Designing for the Age Enhanced” series — which internally we’ve started referring to as the “Getting Older Sucks” series. We’ve already talked about what …
Why Do Design Research – Part 1: Deconstructing the Excuses
It happens. A project has a tight budget or schedule or (gasp) both and the team decides something has to go. Design research is often that something. On the surface, …
“But We Only Use 10% of Our Brains!”
“It is estimated most human beings only use 10% of their brain’s capacity.” That’s a line from Morgan Freeman’s character in the new Sci-Fi movie Lucy, coming out this summer. It’s …