We can all benefit from such innovations; who wouldn’t want better bike locks or services like ‘Immobilise’ which allows people to register their valuables and have them returned if stolen? But critics object that many of these initiatives involve manipulating the public to change their behaviour whether they like it or not. When crime-busting […]
Continue ReadingShaping Social Policy: Designers and Health
Encouraged by a new breed of policy makers, designers believe they are better able than politicians and clinicians to nudge people into making healthier choices, by transforming the physical environment, improving food labelling, creating incentives to lose weight or give up smoking, and even re-thinking how a receptionist answers the phone. It is hoped that […]
Continue ReadingDesigning behaviour and healthcare
Listen to the podcast here (my introduction starts 2.30 seconds in)
Continue ReadingCan design save healthcare?
Speakers were: Martin Bontoft: design strategist and researcher on user needs in design. Has previously worked for, ideo (Head of Human Factors), Design Council, National Health Service (NHS) and has long experience of service design. Alastair Donald: Urban planner, researcher and writer with experience in public and private sectors, including as an advisor to Commission […]
Continue ReadingCan design change the world (and should it try)?
While it is good that designers have ambition and want to change the world, are any of these ideas big enough? Or is the influence of design rather a coincidental symptom of society’s acceptance of limits, where few leaders (or anyone else for that matter) openly argue for innovation, risk-taking and progress? Instead the prevailing […]
Continue ReadingBig Potatoes: Innovation, Science, R&D and the General Election
Speakers Munira Mirza, advisor for arts and culture to London Mayor James Wilsdon, Director of the Science Policy Centre, The Royal Society Dr Norman Lewis, Chief Innovation Officer, Open-Knowledge (former Director of Technology research, Orange) Stefan Stern, management columnist, Financial Times Eliot Forster, CEO Solace Pharmaceuticals See Big Potatoes: The London Manifesto for Innovation
Continue Reading“Unless you’re a fortune-teller, long-term business planning is a fantasy”
Originally published on Netimperative. Now that we have a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government, tough economic times are ahead not least because of their deficit reduction plans. £6 billion cuts in public services will no doubt add further hardship to many technology and service companies who already suffer from decreased investment from their services. […]
Continue ReadingIs there any value in blue-skies thinking?
So is there any value in “blue-skies thinking”, which can open up new possibilities by ignoring limits and self-imposed constraints, especially in an era of austerity like now? Or is blue-skies thinking just a management cliché and an irresponsible indulgence? Certainly Secretary of State Vince Cable appears to have no time for it. To him, […]
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