ignire

Clear Blue Meninges

The sun is shining, the leaves are turning and falling. People walk about chatting and smiling. I'd say clouds are dancing in the sky but there are none to see. Today is clear blue as far as the horizon.  Clear Blue like subzero winter days in Chicago. Clear Blue like windless days on a lake anywhere "up north" and beyond the scope of cities.

 

The temperature is that perfect "right on" temperature. The kind of temperature that reminds me of BMX and skateboarding on a brisk Saturday morning. The kind of temperature that might remind you of football practice or driving in a small car with friends and listening to HallNOats or SteelyDan.  It is jumping rope and four square temperature. No humidity, back-to-school, crush on a girl kind of weather. Sitting in a print studio swirling mineral spirits and saw dust on zinc intaglio plates kind of weather. Pizza slice walking and eating and smiling weather. " It's real nice in Madison" kind of weather. 

 

Went to visit my wife in the hospital this late morning. Her door had bio hazard signs on it and a huge yellow hazmat bag full of goggles, gloves and masks. It was shocking in a government controlled quarantine sort of way. Seriously I had to double take and look around at the other doors on the floor.  Was this where they had my wife? Is this the right door number?  ...For real?  Holy crap, the only door on the floor with yellow... seriously the ER was more welcoming last night!

 

The nurses told me I couldn't get within five feet of her and had to "suit up" for "precautionary reasons." The little guy had to wear a mask too. Now, some among you might know that putting a mask on a 22month old goes over like say placing masking tape on the paw of a kitten. Not easy and no way of explaining or rationalizing with a 2 year old.  Just put it on boy, Daddy has one, come on little dude, urgh, struggle etc. After the nurse places one on me, then herself, then the little guy, she goes inside and puts a mask on my wife.  In we go. The little guy is wide eyed. This is new. ...Who's that lady over there? Is it mommy? What's that mask? What's on my face? What's this???

 

My wife's 8th floor CDC approved hospital penthouse overlooked Monona Bay. Looking out over the city, facing south, with the cloudless sky making the lake look like some sort of watercolor landscape-artist day dream, I had a very dreamy yet clear thought.  That's right I had another simple thought about generating value. I thought about small masks for small kids in hospitals or doctor's offices.  Fun masks with Spider Man, SpongeBob and ThunderCats (their coming back, trust me, the kids are old enough to be in charge and think it's a great idea). Maybe non-licensed pink and baby blue masks with flowers or spirals or small rabbit mouth and whiskers or something that the DesignNinja would create to the delight of young girls the world over.  And perhaps a hockey goalie mask theme for those ladies who always feel the need to remind designers that girls don't want pink or baby blue even when the market proves them wrong over and over again or more so are designed by actual women, not the men they think Pinked and Shrinked it.  A quick search nets me this by KimberlyClark. Sure, nothing new under the sun right?  Right! So how to add value?

 

 

First the company name would be Clear Blue. Clear Blue would deliver the most fun and engaging children's safety products for the health care industry while providing fit & fun as it's primary value component yet focusing solely on children.  Clear Blue would do this not because market reports say there is a gap opportunity but because fun products that fit get used and small focused companies penetrate existing systems in a way that large manufacturers of innovative paper products cannot.  Insert exclamatory, period!  In a hospital where just visiting Mommy or Daddy (family) could be a dangerous proposition, using such items could quite literally keep families together by keeping everyone healthy and protected (alive).  The added benefit of fun through interesting design could make the overall experience less intimidating for children and thus more pleasant for the parents (amen says the parents who know!).  While there are no sure bets with kids the fact is play and pretending helps diffuse strange and difficult situations. Kids dig costumes. At Clear Blue sterile protective gear would be transformed into costumes that go on and stay on. 

 

More important Clear Blue's rep and sales structure would be designed to get innovative products into the hands of patients and the Nurse stations that need them...not just the pediatric ward down on level two!  Rather than being a line item in a huge faceless catalog Clear Blue would provide targeted communication regarding the latest in childrens health care practices along with free n fun product demo's, rep's that care & visit facilities & patients, the occasional pediatrics wing costume party [sponsored by Clear Blue of course] and free sample kits for non pediatric wings designed to be found in a sea of lifeless packaged inventory all so that in a pinch nurses can provide masks that fit infants and toddlers who are visitors not patients. whew!  Bonus- partnerships with existing A+ players such as Germy Wormy and WebMD to bring kid oriented health Q&A to the level of informative awesomeness.  Lord knows I didn't really know what meningitis really was, other than not-good, prior to last night.



Why Clear Blue? Beyond the fact that it was a clear blue sky day today I got nothing. I could make something up pretty easy. Clear blue has all kinds of pure healing water references but really it's pretty simple, it just sounds right to me. :)

 

If the world class, ranked top 10% for care nationwide, hospital where my wife is getting treatment had a mask designed specifically for infants I could have easily hung out with my wife for a longer period of time. That time would have been good medicine for my wife. However, we lasted about 5 minutes before the little guy started to fight with his mask trying to take it off. It went over his face, covered his eyes, caught  on his ears, pulled on his hair, fell down around his neck and did everything other than what it was supposed to do which was to stay on his small head.  The toddler mask only existed on the pediatrics level. The nurse had no time to run down to ped's. I had no precedent to ask her to do so. Needless to say we decided it was best to roll.  We waved goodbye to Mommy, washed hands and face and took off for pizza and stroll in a very public crowded space under the clear blue sky of Sept 30th in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

 

 

As an aesthetic note of influence, fall is here. I am gonna call it now, it will be a Wilco winter.

Completing value, not competing values!

Wow, back from Boston for 4 days of bicycle research awesomeness. Since I was doing my real job generating new value ideasI neglected this little blog.  Much to my surprise I got email from people asking where the posts were.  Uhhhh, seriously, thanks a million for reading this. I am humbled that people dig the words.

So, the first idea [post trip] is a simple branding enhancement for two of the largest donut making organizations in North America.  That's right, Donuts!  It's true we rode 80ish miles in 3 days, meeting literally hundreds of riders and I am gonna talk about Donut branding enhancements!

 

Like I said, simple and here it is:  if you advertise about saving the world or otherwise being a responsible human being by recycling the paper products that your product comes in then for godssake include a recycling container in your store.

Let me rephrase that again cause I know it is hard to understand, esp for marketing people who request the verbiage on their packaging:  If you tell people via packaging graphic design to be responsible and to recycle the waste that you give them as a part of your product service (wrappers and cups) then at least provide a place to recycle such waste inside your establishment(s)!!!

Simplicity defined. Any American company who can make a business of selling donuts and coffee on literally every street corner of the Boston metro area, crap New England for that matter, should find it simple to provide recycling in their store esp if they are telling customers to recycle on the paper products that contain their food products.  One would think even those culturally sensitive, forward thinking, detail oriented and global cooling embracing Canadians would embrace such an idea but I guess in the world of Donuts this is not the case. 

That's right Dunkin Donuts, Tim Horton's is no better than you and both of you let me down big time.  You both told me to be a better citizen of the world, to be responsible and not just 'pitch in' but also recycle!  And I looked, I really looked and I tried and no recycle container could be found inside your business, at least not where customers eat and enjoy your sugary treats and wholesome coffee.  LOL, for real I looked and tried to recycle. The Indian girl behind the counter might have thought I was crazy when I pestered her about recycling. I even carried the wrapper and cup down the street for a bit until finally giving in and "pitching in" and throwing my paper based containers into a city trash bin. Not even the city of Boston could come through for me! Recycling is a nice idea but one that very few companies put any real ''umph" behind.

Now why does this matter at all?  Any time you let someone down at the end of the brand engagement you risk the entire engagement being a bad experience.  Both Tim Horton's and Dunkin Donuts reminded me to be responsible, and I was on board with that idea until I found out that they didn't really care because they didn't provide a place for me to recycle at all. In that instance there was discontinuity of message and brand experience. A discontinuity so strong that it now overrides my memory of the donut & coffee I consumed.  Ultimately they created competing values that are at odds with each other...recycle/reuse vs landfill.

Honestly, who knows about the donut. The coffee was fine I guess but I feel lied to and let down because of the text on the wrapper..."recycle, don't be a bad planet killer dude."  I feel like they put the "be responsible, recycle" graphic on their packaging not because they believe in it or support it but because it is easy and makes good marketing sense to be on the right side of issue at the right time. Really at this point I am positive they don't care. It was a nice feel good feature for the package unsupported and incompleted by at the storefronts my team visited in Boston, Cambridge and Providence (Boston area this week, Providence RI last week).

Whew, this is turning into a rant.  Regardless, Tim Horton's, Dunkin Donuts I love ya, I really do but how about enabling some recycling in your stores!  Complete your brand engagement and give customers the opportunity to complete their brand journey... especially if you're telling them that they should do something.  If not that then just go back to the ole outa-date, outa-fashion, "pitch in" campaign alright and get rid of the recycling graphics on your products! At least then no one will call you out!

harv's list follow up

Seriously in the span of two blogs I ran a crazy mix of conflicted emotions. The grand question, could Harv's List compete against OpenIDEO!  LOL. Seriously enough I was somehow bummed to see their website, not so much that I want to lay claim to ideas (as has been said, nothing new under the sun) but it was the fact that I felt pretty good about HarvsList. LOL Then, bam, look, it already exists...

Well sort of. A friend helped me get a better handle on Harvey's dream to connect real people to ideas and dreams. Is the value proposition the same? Pretty much yes...get ideas into the hands of people who would use them, connect innovators with funding and make this rock a better place...so yes, similar. Is the vibe different? You bet and that took me a minute to grasp. 

Then I was reminded of tone! Oh for the love of Pete, TONE! And how could I forget? I am afterall a bicycle designer by day and God knows that after a hundred years of evolution, dare I say, Revolution, the bicycle pretty much looks like a bicycle. Tone is my hero, crap, everyone's hero really. Tone allows for the multitude existence of competing ideas within a common space.

Thus, OpenIDEO is a fine wine. HarvsList would be more like Pabst or Lowenbrau. Think of HarvsList as a neighborhood bar, the local tavern, the job board at the locally owned hardware store...the cork board littered with push pins and business cards and lost dogs and business opportunities. Indeed. HarvsList is the bowl of peanuts at the caviar party.

And my inspiring friend who remains famously unknown writes this wisdom in email:

I've always wondered about our "privileged" status as Designers. You know, the fact that, socially, we're somehow considered the only ones that are really "allowed" to come up with new shit of any real consequence. (you know what I'm talking about.....the fact that because we have degrees and work as professionals, we seem to end up as focal-points for everyone who's NOT a designer to share all their ideas with. "You know what your company ougtta make?" or "You know what someone ought to build and sell, that I would totally buy?" or "That folding chair is neat, but someone should make it THIS way...." or blah blah blah....) Fact: most people who aren't designers, or creative builders-of-things of some sort, they just don't have the BELIEF in themselves, or even the thought process to ALLOW themselves to think that they can invent. They were never given the initial key to view themselves that way. But that's bullshit. The whole DIY movement that's going on right now proves that there's latent appetite for people to start "re-branding themselves" as creatives in their own right. But where's their larger outlet to get their ideas out, to find other like-minded people, to actually start DOING something? That's right --- Harv's list!!!!!

coffee quick

Almost every day I drive the wrong way out of my driveway to go to work. This is not to say that I don't know where I am going but almost everyday I drive a half mile the wrong way to stop at a local shop called Java Cat.

Now, Java Cat is a small cafe that I pretty much thought would be dead in a year but to my surprise and delight it is open and seemingly thriving. I could go as far as to say that it is a pillar of our little neighborhood along with their competitor Crema Cafe who is less than a block away.  Both rock. Both have a different vibe and attraction. Both sell coffee. Both are great assets to my awesome little neighborhood.

The rub... so Java Cat wins my morning business because  they have a drive thru. Sorry Crema, your coffee is way better and I like your interior design way better but the allure of quickly flying through the drive thru is too much to pass up in the morning!  So the drive thru at Java Cat is nothing special.  From what I can tell the window is left over from the previous business, perhaps a dry cleaner. There is no special design other than a big menu sign on the outside of the building next to the window where you order and pick up. In fact the drive thru can only hold 4 cars in line before traffic spills out into a very busy street with the fourth car blocking entrance into the parking lot. 

Ok, old retro fitted drive thru, barista, big menu and parents with large SUV's full of kids wanting a mocha latte creamed something or other! What this means and regularly translates into is a slower than snot line.  The line sometimes so slow that a person could pull out of line, park, go inside, get a regular coffee to go, walk out and drive around the block, pull back in and do it over and over again before the first customer ever pulls away from the window.  Now, is personal service bad? No Way! Is it wrong to order a custom creation in the drive thru, a drink that requires a coffee making pro to systematically check off some ten or so detailed steps that lead to a GREAT Iced Americano? If it is on the menu then, "by all means" -as big Jon would say with a hand wave.  I am all for businesses rocking how they want to rock but I can't help but think there is a better way!

First issue, when I leave my drive way heading in the wrong direction I am hoping and praying that absolutely no one is in that drive thru line. Seriously every morning I drive with great anticipation of a car free window. Why you say? Do I lack patience? Do I have a problem with Iced Mocha Americanos and fanciful Tuna sandwiches? Not really...I just buy your run of the mill coffee. Cheap coffee, easy coffee! Takes five seconds to make coffee.

So when a person just wants an in and out experience and they get stuck behind a french day dream it is wildly frustrating. Not to mention that if you pull in behind one car and win the wait-forever-lottery you also get a complementary knuckle head who pulls in behind you with their bumper as close as possible to yours so that their's is not in the road. Whew that was quite a run on sentence! Regardless you sit. And then you sit. And wait. And idle. And you feel somehow like a very bad man for sitting in a drive thru line idling for no apparent benefit other than keeping the AC or Heater running while waiting for a simple cup o Joe.  Ain't America great? Everyday we get to enjoy our lush lives and complain about them at the same time!

Second issue, Java Cat is hoppin' in the morning! If the drive thru isn't full the parking lot is and that location is strategically located such that parking is a hassle for the morning huff. So each morning I drive up peering over my steering wheel hoping no one is in line. If a car is parked at the window I check the lot. If the lot is full I drive on by skipping my morning coffee luxury. They lose the business. I don't get happiness. This happens more often than not. This is actually a topic of conversation amongst friends who live in the neighborhood. Bottom line, they might be losing a good chunk of easy change each morning...change with a shorter transaction time than a similarly priced custom drink.

So the simple solution that you so patiently waited for is simply this: only sell simple drinks through the drive through and prepared foods that are ready to head out the door. No more Americano, no more tuna fancy, no more raspberry mocha steamed iced something or other. Just liquids that can be poured quickly and quality that is unmatched with consistency.

Let the Fancy's and Dandy's go inside and sit at the comfortable seats with great mood lighting while it takes ten minutes to craft a personalized treat. Make the inside to be about a deeply personal experience where the depth of artistry in craft is matched by the depth of personality and human dialog. 

Let the drive thru be fast and furious and dialed and awesome. Let your window person pour extra cups in ready for thirsty peep's who are already late for work but require some morning love even if it is less of a seduction and more a fleeting quicky!

Harv's List .org :)

Imagine a collaboration between friends and acquaintances. The kind of creative and generative ideation that happens over dinner, in taverns and the spaces between moments. Imagine you are walking to a meeting with a friend and telling them about some great idea you had...In a bar brainstorming some idea for a better bar than the one you are in...eating dinner with a person so trusted that you tell them your million dollar idea, the one that has to do with a steamy cart, a box of wieners and jalapeno jelly.  For sure this happens every day all around the globe. For many like me the mere act of talking about the idea is enough to satisfy. It is way better subject matter than "how's the weather" and more fun than catching up on who has what ailment in the family right!. Dreaming is fun and since the grass is always greener there is no shortage of great ideas to hatch or fun to be had right? Ultimately, like the inspiration for this blog it comes back down to what are you gonna do next, if anything at all?  And most people have not clue what the next step is or how to get there. To paraphrase Len Schlesinger at BIF6, most people talk themselves out of acting on great business ideas.

So talking to a friend tonight...he read into something I wrote and we turned it accidentally into a great business idea. It is so easy and simple that I am thinking it must exist already...maybe an iphone app or some community within LinkedIn or Facebook.  He read into my initial idea of generating business ideas for fun and sharing them. That turned into a simple idea, a web portal, social media site, where people can post their business ideas, either giving them away to the community at large or using them to build capital networks. "I liked the idea of an interactive website where everyone was encouraged to just dump their best ideas for free or look for collaborators. Mainly to just give them up to the universe so that someone could make them happen. " 

This must exist already in some open development forum somewhere... but for this sake of this entry ponder this model:  This new venture would be the Craigslist.org of new value generation and social entrepreneurship and problemsolving. The site would be broken down into several categories, each category way more fun than the Business Model Hub's forums and specifically targeted on maximum user benefit such as, local small business ideas, local small business marketing campaigns, ideas to help people help people (nonprofit area), ideas to rejuvenate (health care innovation section), really dumb ideas from people who lack confidence, really great ideas by people who are over confident. Remember this will be local and state based like Craigslist so that small business owners seeking ideas can harvest new ideas from their specific community.

A "no inventor" rule will be in affect, sort of like a modification of the BobSutton No Asshole Rule but focused on keeping the nutty's away... I know, I know in an open source world all should be welcome right? Regardless.

How do you make money and deliver value you say?  Easy- pictures are worth a thousand words. Pics of protos are worth a million.  All general users will be able to post and discuss Written ideas for free. Those folks bent on selling ideas will be charged a modest fee for uploading images and diagrams that support their argument, say 25cents per attachment or a dollar per attachment if the market would support!  Organizations could pay a modest fee to test new ideas in the confines of the site (regional test marketing etc). Then the "company" would spend all efforts on aligning NGO, Academic, Private and Public institutions to sponsor "Problem Events" and align partnerships with VC's, Angels and otherwise too rich to sit still type of people. All IT support would be outsourced to a smarter cloud type of company who is better staffed to take care of IT and technology issues.

Call it Harv'sList.org (harvest lists). there would be a mythological founder named Harvey who goes by Harv' for short. You know the guy.  You can see Harv' in your minds eye.  I know it. Everyone has met a Harv' somewhere in their journey.  Harv' is the guy that reminds you that all things are completely possible...that there is no limit in this world to what a person can accomplish, as long as they don't care if he gets credit for it.  Right Torpey?

Feedback is appreciated. Sharing and linking even more so.

Ignire is live. Here is the scoop: I went to BIF6, got really fired up and decided to do something great, to take the first step, to start this blog of ideas for business.

Inside you will eventually see new business ideas and ideations inspired by user centered design methodologies. Some will be new, some will be from old sketchbooks...just you wait for WorldWideWaffles (circa 2001). Regardless my goal is to have at least 365 new business concepts/business models by BIF7. Along the way there will be some rants about business, design and branding. Hopefully this will be fun.

btw, IGN basically means fire. Ignire basically means to start fire. I came home from BIF6 on fire...seriously on fire with inspiration and optimism. It only seems fitting to share the fire and spread the energy.

customizable is a sliding scale. Whew, that was a pain in the arse to set up..this site. But it's done for now. It can change later. Great stuff to come soon.