Category: rivetings
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Deliberate Data Leaks
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For the past five years or so, I’ve been taking photos at Gatwick Airport. No, not of planes taking off. Nothing as exciting as that. Photos of the water refill machines. I know. Exciting, right? It’s up there with my growing photo collection of crap hand dryers inspired by Dyson’s increasing terrible forays into the…
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Making space for the year
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I didn’t feel ready to start this year. Instead, I decided it was time to redesign the home office. Our work went longer into December than it would normally, yes, but there was something more to it than that. After twelve months that saw the return of work trips abroad, two weeks teaching in Barcelona,…
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A bar without walls
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Spotted in a barber shop last week. I won’t name names, as I’m not entirely sure how legal it would be… During last summer, they opened up within strict COVID guidelines, as did the pub nearby. As with most pubs, the pub implemented a technology-powered table service system – just order where you are, and…
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Cosmic Ordering on the High Street
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From a London wander last week. Rather than letting shops look empty and dormant, a few management companies have put ups signs like these. They promise a great and wondrous experience within, from a yet-unknown mystery occupant. “Just imagine, in the future, this is what will be here…”
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The Entropy of Insights
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I was flipping through my Readwise highlights the other day, and came across this gem again. It’s the neatest wee description of entropy; moving “from rare configurations to common ones”. It started me thinking about a variety of projects from the last year, where I’ve been working with teams who benefit from taking a longer,…
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Watch Me Think (in real time)
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This feels strange… I’m doing a talk, live, in person, to people. I vaguely remember people – legs, arms, faces, right? Wave their arms around when talking. Those folks. It’s at Watch Me Think in London, on 13th October. There are a host of brilliant speakers I’m really looking forward to hearing. And it seems…
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10 Years Later: A Decade Of Smithery
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Helen and I were standing in the kitchen this morning, talking about how today marked the official tenth birthday of Smithery, when we officially opened the doors to take on client work. “Ten years since you decided just to leave your job with an infant son to support” remarked Helen, in jest. I least, I…
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Mapping the territory – Design and Economics
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A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with Simon Gough about a submission I’d made to host a talk at the first Design and Economics Unconference. It was one of those things that had flown past my eyes, and I’d leapt at without *that* much thinking. Basically because I studied Economics at Uni, and…
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Zenko Mapping, Inception and Pace Layers #WIAD2021
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I was honoured to give a talk on Zenko Mapping as part of this year’s virtual Word Information Architecture Day. Thanks to Mike and Mari for the invitation, and help in planning. As per the last talk I gave, I made a film to do it, using some of the previous ideas I’d used in…
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Zenko Mapping – A Video Introduction
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I was delighted to be asked to speak about Zenko Mapping at the Marketing Society’s Brave Get Together conference last month, especially given how many people are looking for new ways of working at the moment. I put together a little film as an introduction to Zenko Mapping, a tool I’ve been developing for the…
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Letting a little light in
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There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in Leonard Cohen First of all, thank you to everyone who’s said nice things about this new website. And more crucially, perhaps, to those with more suggestions on how to make it clearer still. Thankfully, the design is built for iteration, and so all suggestions, improvements and comments…
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Traffic Signs, Not Billboards
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I went to our local high street today in Haywards Heath. I had an errand to run; my watch battery ran out two weeks into lockdown, and I wanted to get it fixed at the independent jeweller (hey, kids, support local businesses where you can). Knowing I’d have an hour or so to wait, I…