Simplify By Orders Of Magnitude

This was a 5 minute talk I gave to open the Úll conference in Dublin.

5 minute talks are always tricky to communicate. An idea I've been playing with lately is tying Bill Buxton's work in with Jobs To Be Done type thinking, to identify product opportunities.

Many of the ideas and points you'll find in this talk originate with great thinkers like Buxton (http://billbuxton.com).

The purpose of the talk was a whistle stop tour of them.

More idea like these can be found at http://blog.intercom.io

Transcript

1. Welcome to Dublin
2. Welcome to Úll
3. I’m Des. (@destraynor)
4. My “Work” has been featured in these respected publications
5. Is it a Condom, or is it an Android? Desire Hero CONDOM Rezound Ultra Thin Sensation Touch Cruise Cruise Control Wildfire Rumor Touch Electrify Tingle Admire Elite Fascinate Indulge Intensity Replenish Transform Ultra Vitality ✔ ANDROID ✔ CONDOM ANDROID ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ By “Work” I mean this :-)
6. Today I want to talk about Tablets named after Condoms The 9” Toshiba Excite™
7. But seriously...
8. Product design is changing
9. Product design is always changing
10. File input nput and split button Combo box Select text Label Label Label Label Label U x 7 4 3 Can't read this? Done or Cancel Label Label Checkbox, Radio, & Submit Buttons Date Selector __ / __ / ____ Select a date range / / Select a date range label text label text Browse text Search snakes cats goldfish dogs Select a date 30 3 29 1 2 31 28 24 21 23 25 27 26 22 20 18 14 17 19 16 15 12 9 11 8 7 10 13 S 6 F 5 T 4 W 3 T 2 1 M 30 S Select Today December 2008 Select a date 30 3 29 1 2 31 28 24 21 23 25 27 26 22 20 18 14 17 19 16 15 12 9 11 8 7 10 13 S 6 F 5 T 4 W 3 T 2 1 M 30 S December 2008 Select Today Untitled http:///www.apple.com/iphone/fea... Untitled Title Photo Albums Photo Library (30) Hawaii (10) Slovenia (10) Graduation Day (10) Don’t Allow OK “Camera” would like to use your current location Start Reset Stop Clear Item Item Done Cancel Third First Second We’ve gone from assembling familiar components...
11. ... to asking ourselves “how should people interact with this”
12. Welcome Will they touch it?
13. Welcome Talk to it? What does Marsellus Wallace look like?
14. Welcome Gesture at it?
15. Welcome See through it?
16. Welcome What’s happening is a perfect storm...
17. Big, meaningful ideas are becoming simple & accessible The Casio TC-500 touchscreen wristwatch (1984)
18. Innovation has a long long nose Invention Refinement Traction Growth of an Idea
19. Anything that you’ll see in 2022 is probably here in 2012 e-Ink debuted 1997 Kindle introduced 2007
20. There is a lot to be learned by looking at older ideas. Kodak increased sales simply by offering “colors”
21. History might not repeat, but it does rhyme. Deafeningly.
22. Design plays the role of making previous advancements in technology applicable to big meaningful ideas.
23. Taking photos isn’t new.
24. Putting them on a device isn’t new.
25. Editing photos isn’t new
26. or uploading them to a website.
27. But when you make it all easy... I mean “Angry Birds Simple”
28. You get to find out what’s cool. (Hint: $1,000,000,000)
29. Take a big meaningful idea and make it easier by an order of magnitude
30. But: It has to be an order of magnitude Flickr launch Drag ‘n’ Drop uploader. April 25, 2012
31. Some people really understand that Here’s the new application. It’s got 1 window. You drag your video into the window. Then you click the button that says “Burn”. That’s it. That’s what we’re going to make.
32. Welcome All remote controls did was make switching “easier”, right?
33. Welcome Wrong. They changed the entire television network.
34. This was television networks before you could easily switch 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:00 News Talk Show Movie Late night Phone Show Music News Soccer Drama Movie Music Sitcom Soap Advertising Channel 1 Channel 2
35. This was television networks after you could easily switch 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:00 News Talk Show Movie Late night Phone Show Music News Soccer Drama Movie Music Sitcom Soap Advertising Channel 1 Channel 2 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:00 News Talk Show Movie Late night Phone Show Music News Soccer Drama Movie Music Sitcom Soap Advertising Channel 1 Channel 2
36. Welcome “Small” changes in behaviour can can massive changes elsewhere
37. Find meaningful ideas, and use new technology to simplify them, by orders of magnitude.
38. Thanks for your time. @destraynor