Ethnography and Design [Innovation]

It's been a great couple days here at Berkeley. I'm constantly inundated with new ideas. I've been truly amazed at the ad hoc conversations that occur within the interstitial time between meetings and classes.

One topic that has gotten me really excited is the concept of design thinking. As once an aspiring graphic designer, I have always been fascinated with design. It is the last mile between us and utility.

One core component of design thinking centers around tying cultural analysis and ethnographic observation to create big "I" insights. The following is a great short video on how design thinking was used to design the future of sustainable fishing:


Design Ethnography from Central

HT: Youngandbrilliant

All Shoes Considered [Nike Considered]

Nike has launched a new initiative called Considered Design. When trying to develop a more sustainable product, Nike realized that instead of creating a new shoe, they came up with the idea of using old shoes to make new ones. Vanessa Farquharson writes:

It's a perfect example of "upcycling" -- a green trend in which an expired product is upgraded into a new, more superior product -- and it's just one aspect of Nike's new approach to sustainability, which the company calls Considered Design.

Some examples of Considered Design's objectives: - A closed-loop system, in which Nike designers and manufacturers use old material and scraps from the cutting room floor to make new shoes, in order to reduce excess waste at the outset and create less demand for virgin resources. - Mechanically locking soles, meaning no glue or solvents are required in the production process; plus, insertable booties, removable logos and other design features that make the shoes easy to dismantle for recycling. - Apparel made entirely from recycled polyester and organic cotton, with water-based adhesive techniques in place of toxic cement or VOCs. - Open-sourced technology, allowing other companies to share research and development and promote sustainability throughout the marketplace.

Read the article from National Post here.