Sketchplanations - A weekly explanation in a sketch

Sketchplanations in a book! I think you'll love Big Ideas Little Pictures

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Explaining the world one sketch at a time

Peel a Post-it so it doesn’t fall down

How to peel a Post-it™ so it doesn’t fall down: pull flat and straight. This is helpful if a) you use Post-Its™ a lot, and b) you need them to stay up and don’t want them raining to the ground. Typically, people pull Post-Its™ by starting from a corner and pulling it off diagonally. This leaves one corner itching to peel away from the wall. Once it starts peeling, it will dry out, and the rest will follow. Believe it or not, on a rainy day, I even recorded a video about how to pull a post-it so it doesn’t fall down. And we did do some tests. I learned this technique while at Jump Associates, where we used a lot of Post-Its™, and who, I believe, learned it from some people at 3M, manufacturers of the Post-it™. This sketch, lovingly polished, is one of many featured in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures…How to peel a Post-it™ so it doesn’t fall down: pull flat and straight. This is helpful if a) you use Post-Its™ a lot, and b) you need them to stay up and don’t want them raining to the ground. Typically, people pull Post-Its™ by starting from a corner and pulling it off diagonally. This leaves one corner itching to peel away from the wall. Once it starts peeling, it will dry out, and the rest will follow. Believe it or not, on a rainy day, I even recorded a video about how to pull a post-it so it doesn’t fall down. And we did do some tests. I learned this technique while at Jump Associates, where we used a lot of Post-Its™, and who, I believe, learned it from some people at 3M, manufacturers of the Post-it™. This sketch, lovingly polished, is one of many featured in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

9 Sep 2013

The Long Nose of Innovation

Bill Buxton’s Long Nose of Innovation model suggests that for any “wow” moment of new technology—using the mouse on a personal computer, touchscreens, haptics or self-driving cars—there has typically been a long period of low-amplitude invention, refinement and augmentation, often for 20 years or more. Technologies such as the computer mouse need polishing, adjustment, optimization and often the development of an entire ecosystem to hit the big time. The Long Nose of Innovation helps us understand the process and impact of innovation. One intriguing consequence of the theory is that the technologies that will have a substantial impact in the coming five years are likely 15 years old already. The next time you’re wowed by technology, consider the decades of small incremental improvements that have been made before it reached you. Bill Buxton shares an article he wrote in BusinessWeek about the Long Nose of Innovation on his website (pdf). The theory is a near mirror image of Chris Anderson’s theory of The Long Tail, where sales of a small number of a very large selection, particularly in the digital realm with minimal storage costs, can turn the “top hits” and “blockbuster” models of business on its head. More about the long tail in Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More (Hyperion, 2006). This sketch, lovingly polished from the original, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures…Bill Buxton’s Long Nose of Innovation model suggests that for any “wow” moment of new technology—using the mouse on a personal computer, touchscreens, haptics or self-driving cars—there has typically been a long period of low-amplitude invention, refinement and augmentation, often for 20 years or more. Technologies such as the computer mouse need polishing, adjustment, optimization and often the development of an entire ecosystem to hit the big time. The Long Nose of Innovation helps us understand the process and impact of innovation. One intriguing consequence of the theory is that the technologies that will have a substantial impact in the coming five years are likely 15 years old already. The next time you’re wowed by technology, consider the decades of small incremental improvements that have been made before it reached you. Bill Buxton shares an article he wrote in BusinessWeek about the Long Nose of Innovation on his website (pdf). The theory is a near mirror image of Chris Anderson’s theory of The Long Tail, where sales of a small number of a very large selection, particularly in the digital realm with minimal storage costs, can turn the “top hits” and “blockbuster” models of business on its head. More about the long tail in Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More (Hyperion, 2006). This sketch, lovingly polished from the original, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

8 Sep 2013

Shop healthy

Among many other sensible suggestions, Michael Pollan recommends avoiding the centre supermarket aisles. It’ll generally keep you on the fresh stuff. Sketchplanation hat tip to Ben Merrick.…

7 Sep 2013

Take photos of maps, to travel light and have backup before a hike

Handy. Also works for walking instructions from books so you don’t have to carry the book.…

6 Sep 2013

Set up for pool

These are the two things I always look out for when setting up for pool, the line and the C. The rest falls into place.…

5 Sep 2013

The knowledge funnel

From Roger Martin's The Design of Business. With a little reflection the funnel is pretty trivial. But I do think it’s a useful way to think about things. At what stage is your business? Still tackling a mystery like Xerox Parc, or getting it down to heuristics like Zynga, or refining out an algorithm like McDonalds.…

4 Sep 2013

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