Category: Quick Takes

Quick Takes: More Productivity Snake Oil

Yesterday I Tweeted about my blog post on what productivity snake-oil looks like1. One of my good friends pointed me towards a great interview2 with a very successful blogger (Maria Popova of Brain Pickings), by a very successful personality (Tim Ferris).

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1. You can read my post about what productivity snake-oil looks like here.2. You can listen to Tim Ferris’ interview with Maria Popova (about her blog Brain Pickings), on the Four Hour Workweek website.

Quick Takes: Humans Beat Robots at Mercedes

Headlines about big data and algorithms as the infrastructure for modern companies seem commonplace in a world being eaten by software. I was surprised, then, to run across an article titled Pink slip for robots3. Here’s a brief summary:

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1. You can read the entire article, Pink slip for robots, on World Magazine’s website.

Quick Takes: Do Stores Benefit from Offering Cash Back?

Being asked if you want cash back at a grocery store or convenience store is one of those experiences you don’t really question—it’s just part of the normal shopping experience at many places. I couldn’t help but think, though, that there had to be more to the story than only convenience for the customer. There’s no fee collected by the store and it’s likely most of the competition offers the same service, so what’s in it for the store? I had a few theories, but decided to figure out what was happening behind the scenes.

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Quick Takes: Reinventing the Mail Business with Lawn Care

The United States Postal Service is one of the largest civilian employers in the country4, but has been plagued with financial struggles, making news headlines several times over in the last decade. In 2010, for example, the organization posted a mind-blowing 8.5 billion dollar loss5. I remember the debate over ending Saturday service only a few years ago.

The causes of these problems (and their solutions) are large and complex, but the decline in usage of traditional ‘snail mail’ (due to digital communication) and the logistical transport efficiencies achieved at the demand of massive retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart have no-doubt shaken the foundations of historical postal services.

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1. You can read about the top 10 employers of civilians in the USA, including the USPS, on USA Today’s website.2. You can read more about the USPS’s 2010 losses on the ABC News website.

Quick Takes: SMS Notifications From the Auto Shop

text-message-automotive-shop

I recently took my car to the shop to be repaired. When the mechanic needed my approval to purchase a part, I received an SMS notifying me that I needed to call. They also called my phone, but the number wasn’t saved as a contact, so I ignored it (which made the SMS very handy).

When I called about the part, I asked the person on the phone how they were doing. They responded, “I’m doing pretty good, but we’re still trying to get set up on this new computer system.”

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Quick Takes: Who Designed Theses Restroom Icons, Part 2

Not too long ago I pointed out a few very strange icons representing male and female restrooms6. I found another instance, also in the airline travel space. This time I was in Belgium.

Again, the female likeness represents strange decisions by the designer, namely the tennis-ball-shaped torso. (Last time she looked like a power socket.)

strange-restroom-icons-belgium


1. You can read the original post about weird icons here.

Quick Takes: The Ropes of Tech Job Hunting

Today I had the chance to teach our Atlanta students the ropes of hunting for jobs in tech.

We covered everything from decoding developer job listings and keyword gaming to portfolio UI and freelance contracts.

It’s always so exciting to see the light in their eyes when they think about applying the skills they are learning to a real product or job.

I love what I get to do everyday.

Tomorrow: Charleston.

Quick Takes: Who Designed These Restroom Icons?

I found these icons above the aft lavatory on a Delta flight to Houston.

I’m not a designer, but everyone who I’ve shared this picture with responds with some variant of the question, “is the thing on the right supposed to be an electrical outlet?” No, that’s a popsicle hanging out with Tarzan in a bathroom.

The sign performs its job, so it’s hard to call it a failure, but I’m not sure I would have let this out the door.

There’s Nothing New: “Empowered Consumers”

I’ve always loved this bit about empowered consumers. Reads like it was written yesterday:

The dimensions of the latest trends in consumer behavior were outlined in an overview in the Harvard Business Review. This new zeitgeist, the august publication explained, is being fueled by “the efforts of consumers themselves,” who have lately “become articulate.” One of the defining features of this fresh paradigm is the new consumer’s “demand for information.” They are banding together, becoming “better educated and better organized,” with a “growing familiarity with the mechanics of advertising” and the endless range of gimmicky sales tactics. They have “suffered from deceptive and stupid advertising” long enough, and it is only inevitable that power should shift to them in an economy that has moved from scarcity to abundance. “These changes,” the article summarized, “have tended to make consumers more critical and to enhance their importance.” Such was the state of things . . . in 1939.

—Dr. John Kotter, Buy In