Special coffee automate - automated poor service?

What's the point in having a machine for special coffees?

Usually coffee shop staff do not know what kind of coffee they are selling from the device.
What IS know in this equation, is the higher quality expectation when customer orders special coffee. -And for this expectation regular coffee shop answers by ignorance - selling a product they have no control over (not even quality control)?!

Why do they even bother, when they would have perfectly ok coffee on the pot to serve - with normal expectation level? -Maybe the disappointment would be lower..

Photo frame out of office supplies

Crafted small photo 'frames' out of old prints and Post Its. There's nothing you can't do while you have a fresh supply of Post Its and ducktape ;)

Plastic bag seal generation 2

Remember those red little plastic demons, that ensure you will starve, before granting you the access to you carrots? I say no more of those.
Pirkka carrots have used a similar kind of plastic tape seal in a way that it forms handles to pull the two sides apart. Also the piece of paper that is used to create the handles features the best before date.
How convenient with only a small change! -Although, in my opinion this has been pending a little too long to fix such a simple but highly annoying problem.

Recloseable paper packaging

This is my regular ice-cream purchase from my next door shop. -It's not that I would like Dajm That much, but I buy it because of it's packaging.
It's unbelievable to see the amount of plastic waste in my bin nowadays. Everything comes in plastic, like ice-cream. That is, if you don't want to use the old fashioned paper-wrap that is super ecological, but a mightmare to reclose.
This package on the other hand, is paper and is easy to close tightly after taking some :)
-Can it really be that plastic is cheaper or why the vast majority of ice-creams are encased by plastic?

And you thought statistics about social media are boring - not this time

If you are interested about the growth of social media, check this.
Socialnomics has made a video about the statistics of social media - and my hands go all goosebumped :P

Product features creating the user experience?

I was reading UXelements -blog, and that reminded me of one of my favorite Top Gear clip (below).

What the reviewer has is what so many corporate people (that design and build products) lack, he is passionate about the product (in this case cars).
This is what makes this review so funny and accurate, it shows so much of what is going on in product development where the essence of a product gets lost behind menus and ridicules decisions.

Note that the tone changes around 10 mins, but the beginning is the best part from the UX point of view ;D

Is the first Encore already too much?

This is a sight which makes me shake my head every time I see it.
-I really don't want any 'encore' to happen to my work papers..

Designed by: DESIGNER

Designers name starts to be almost as important investment as the design itself. This means that the Name is sometimes brutally forced into the design. This also creates contradiction to the designer. First option is to keep design clear and expect that a sticker will emerge and other one is to promote your own brand but possibly compromise the design into some extent.
Personally I don't like any kind of stickers, nor this kind of 'design features'. I'd rather keep the design clear and let it speak instead of milled letters..
In the picture you can see Origo light - designed by Eero Aarnio as you can clearly see..

Biodegradable plastic bags

I'm a fan of biodegradable plastic bags. Carrying my groceries home in such should basicly make biodegradable trashbags obsolete.
But there is a twist. Which might be because both bags are a manufactured in same company. Why cut down the sales of another milking cow, he you can have two. -The reason is that shops might end up Not having plastic bags available, which don't do a proper job either in holding up in one piece till you are home, nor containing your waste in it.
It is somewhat understandable that these bags need to decompose in relatively short period, but does it need to be under a week?! You would expect to have some plastic left when you carry you waste outside..
I made a bit of a field study on this and it seems that 3 months is the shortest period anybody considered the plastic should start decomposing. And most of the people don't work on their own composter..

Report a problem - Google style

Google has realized it. Keeping something up to date or in order requires continuous feedback. And for continuous feedback, reporting needs to be simple and Effortless.
-See the video from Google to see how they have succeeded to implement these two drivers.

Difficulty of simple

All complicated innovationsa are already done,
the simple ones are yet to be discovered.

TK

Against matrix organizations - Idealist Group

The anticipation what I had earlier about matrix organizations was that it helps in concentrating to the actual work. Having the full support from the other direction and you creating results to other direction. -Unfortunately it wasn't quite like that. As Jaakko Kievari below desrcibes, a lot of time goes into reporting to both ends, what you have been doing and selling your ideas to continue again your meetings interrupted effert to create something.
I hope all the good for Jaakko's new interesting company called IDEALIST GROUP.

Yritysten arjessa ideointi on usein heikoilla. "Ei ole niin vähäpätöistä asiaa, ettei se kiireessä ohita ideointia. Todella paljon energiasta jää kiinni rutiineihin. Matriiseissa iso osa ajasta menee sen hoitamiseen, että kerrot toisille, mitä teet", sanoo Jaakko Kievari, joka viisi viime vuotta työskenteli Nokia Software & Services yksikössä.

Jussi Jalkanen, Ajattele. Optio, 17.9.09.