Innovation and ideas; Metrics first; Positioning your design
Milk, No Sugar #266
💡Think
We’ve all got habits that we’d like to form. Whether it’s eating less sugar, writing more, or turning up to the gym.
The issue with this attitude is that we see these goals as friction, rather than rules that we live by. And the reason they introduce friction is because we are forcing a decision, as opposed to it being a natural part of our lives.
So how do we force these positive habits? By making something second nature by design or decision. “I want to read more” becomes “I’m going to read for 10 minutes every morning” and over time we reinforce this through habit.
With actions associated with what we want to do, the stuff we desire becomes second nature and in turn we forget that it was previously seen as friction and is now just something we do.
Once we cement this, we perpetuate its success through social proof. I tell people within about 3 seconds of meeting them that I don’t eat sugar, and that admittance encourages me to keep going.
What do you want to do more of?
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ Innovation isn’t an ideas problem
I always laugh when I see businesses describe themselves as innovative, becasue…isn’t everyone? We’re all striving for new, even if we are copying each other. The issue with true innovation though comes down to how comfortable we are with risk. Are you a risk taker? Would you bet your career on something that could flop bad?
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❷ Management by metrics leads us astray
Big fan of the premise of this one. A business that focusses on metrics above all else sacrifices not only the enjoyment of building it, but the user experience too. Have you tried to search Amazon and find a product that isn’t “sponsored” recently? This article takes a look at how a metric-first approach not only sacrifices a business’ integrity, but science and academia too.
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❸ Design for the user, position for the buyer
User-centred design is basically the only thing designers talk about these days, but it forgets a key component of success – actually selling something. We can let users define our entire products, but if no one buys it we might as well give up. Positioning the decision maker front and centre is the only way we’ll succeed.
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Bonus round
A rebrand done using only the font Arial. Trust me, it’s awesome
I’ve launched a new podcast! Well, a teaser episode
🎧 Listen
Mastering your emotions
This one is between LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and everyone’s favourite public intellectual Sam Harris (I do a great impression of him, just ask) and they discuss the importance of control when trying to build successful businesses.
Being in control of our head at key moments is what separates a good and a bad decision. It was fascinating to hear their contrasting approaches to this.
Listen to this podcast (33 mins)
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Have a great week,
Luis Ouriach
@disco_lu