The Things which BrewDog Believe In

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In Customer Experiences with Soul Maria and I provide an in-depth look at Scottish brewery BrewDog. Co-founder James Watt gave us permission to include the BrewDog charter, which he wrote along with many of the most senior and long-standing members of the business to encapsulate the essence of BrewDog.

BrewDog was growing in size, and so the manifesto was written to help those working for the company understand easily mission, the vision, the values and ultimately, the very being of BrewDog.

Credit: BrewDog

As an Equity Punk investor, I have access to all of the updates directly from James. He recently shared an update with results from the first half of 2018, in which he wrote the following: Continue reading “The Things which BrewDog Believe In” →

Is Human Centred Design the same as Design Thinking?

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A very interesting question was raised today in a Facebook service design group in which the following question was asked:

I’m new to UX Research and I would need your help to clarify something for me.

I imagine this question is often asked but: What is the difference between Design Thinking (DT) and Human-Centered Design (HCD)?

The line between those two is very blurry but I would say that HCD places the user at the center whereas for DT, instead of placing the user at the center like in HCD, DT brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable.

I see a lot of people using Design Thinking and HCD interchangeably, which confuses me because if these 2 terms exist it is because they do not mean the same thing even though they are related.

Or did I get all wrong? Correct me if that’s the case.

Continue reading “Is Human Centred Design the same as Design Thinking?” →

Cloudwater Brew Co. show how to respond when things go dramatically wrong

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Credit: Cloudwater Brew Co.

Cloudwater Brew Co are a Manchester-based brewery and were voted the second best brewery in the world at RateBeer Best 2018. Their blog is well worth a regular visit, even if you are not a complete hop head, as this recent quote from a post on mental health in the beer industry shows:

Every business is driven by a sense of bringing something meaningful into being with adequate rewards in exchange for effort, but our individual and shared humanity must be central to our company goals, targets, systems, and culture, if we’re to build long-term sustainability. Our ambition should not just focus on protecting our staff from physical, mental, or emotional harm, but also be centred around a sense of holistic, collective, and individual happiness too.

(Source: From Head Down to Head Space)

Continue reading “Cloudwater Brew Co. show how to respond when things go dramatically wrong” →

Dual Transformation – Multi-Million Lessons from the Internet’s First Wave

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Scott Antony describes dual transformation as “the process by which a company becomes the next version of itself”. This concept is described in the book Dual Transformation: How to Reposition Today’s Business While Creating the Future which was co-authored by Scott, Clark G. Gilbert and Mark W. Johnson.

This book has a fairly straight-forward premise – that two types of transformation are required in order that businesses do not suffer from disruption. The authors introduce their book in the following way:

Disruptive change opens a window of opportunity to create massive new markets. It is the moment when a market also-ran can become a market leader. It is the moment when business legacies are created. Continue reading “Dual Transformation – Multi-Million Lessons from the Internet’s First Wave” →

Visualising Terms and Conditions

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Dima Yarovinsky is a UX/UI designer who works at ZenCity and who is a student of visual communication at Betzalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem.

Dima Yarovinsky

His project I Agree will be showcased in the US at the Visualizing Knowledge exhibition, an event which showcases new talents from the field of Information Design. Following an open call that yielded high quality entries from all over the world, 13 works were selected in regard to understandability, societal impact, aesthetic qualities and visual innovation. Continue reading “Visualising Terms and Conditions” →

Discussing the Challenges of Innovation in Brazil at Mecânica

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Mecânica Manufacturing Experience took place this week, one of the largest international trade fair of its kind in Latin America, covering mechanics and integrated manufacturing systems. One of the main events at the trade fair was the Meeting of Industry Leaders summit, in which economists, CEOs, presidents, directors and executives met to discuss the future of industry in Brazil. Continue reading “Discussing the Challenges of Innovation in Brazil at Mecânica” →