Find out more about my travels here…

I was lucky enough to attend Marc Stickdorn’s three day workshop on Service Design Thinking. For the uninitiated, service design is a holistic approach to… you guessed it, designing services! In Australia, this is more commonly referred to as user centric design, customer experience design, user experience design and the like, which is typically the domain of products. So it was refreshing to dedicate three solid days to learning a few new techniques to discover what customers really think, do and feel, using a combination of traditional ethnographic techniques (good news for anthropology students!) and lean/agile methodologies with a sprinkling of theatre!

A mix of students, educators and industry people from a wide range of disciplines attended the workshop. Confronted with the challenge of such a diverse audience, Marc started by disrupting the environment (ie. moving the chairs/tables away) and setting us an impossible 10 minute challenge – service design thinking on a napkin. For this task, we had to map out a service for internet banking for toddlers in 10 minutes using nothing but a piece of paper (ie. the napkin). Teams of three were constructed and away we went. The scrappy first draft was produced and we all breathed a sigh of relief – our first task was over and done with and it was too large to worry about succeeding or failing. First rule: fail fast. Sounds familiar?

From there we broke up into groups, created a service to develop and spent the next three days exploring value network maps, assumption personas, customer journeys, the theatrical method, business model canvas and even a few service ads, but I’ll save that for another post! I was relieved to see that service design thinking is much like the Pollenizer way, which is a hybrid of user centric design, lean startup and agile methodology, but there were a number of interesting things about the workshop worth mentioning:

• The workshop (like good service design) had a story arc, much like a James Bond film Boom! wow…wow…woh…Boom! Ahhhh…. The peaks and flows meant that we were never bored and always in anticipation of the next scene.
• It was almost 100% interactive.
• Marc helped us understand the meta, the process behind the process, running the workshop as a train the trainer session so we understand the why, not just the how.
• The theatrical method is a unique way to gain useful insights into the subtext of your customers. There are a number of rules such as ‘do – don’t talk’, abstraction (eg. use a rubber chicken as a prop), but to really understand it, you need to see it play out. Here’s an example from @adamstjohn

I was lucky enough to attend The Future of Money today by Venessa Meimis at #AMPlifyfest

It’s inspired me to create a meetup group to further explore Bank 2.0 – if you’d like to join the conversation, sign up here.

Also, if you’re interested in this topic, check out Brett King’s TED Talk on Bank 2.0.

Mindmap from The Future of Money #AMPlifyfest Venessa Miemis

Another weekend and another barcamp, but not any old barcamp – it’s the annual Product Camp! Having attended last years (and nearly every Product Talk that Brainmates hosts), I knew what to expect. Lots of intelligent opinions about the world of product management.

Though it still seems that Product Management suffers from an identity crisis (we’re oft confused with producers, project people, lobbyists, marketers, generalists etc), and as such there’s not a clear line of responsibility – I’m glad to see that the community around Product Management is growing bigger, stronger and smarter with every year.

I’ve captured my highlights of the day in the following mindmaps – what were your highlights (or what would you like to see more of next year?).

Enjoy!

User Interaction with Jorg Saretzki

Post Camp Drinks

Clive Lam From Complaints to Solutions

Product Roadmap with Natalie from Brainmates

Agile for Rounded Products with Mark Mansour (AgileBench)

Ideation with Matthew Ho

Clive Lam The Art Of Influence

Looking for an easy way to test a proof of concept using Facebook pages?

Here’s how you can integrate an email capture form into a Facebook page (warning iwipa UX needs some work, but the functionality is sound!):

1. Create your Facebook page.
2. Go to iwipa and install the app (press ‘click here to install’).
3. Select which page you’d like to add the app to and click ‘add html + iframe + FBML = iwipa’. You’ll be taken back to your page. Click ‘Activate my page’ so you can access the iwipa dashboard.
4. From the iwipa dashboard, you can add extra tabs, insert forms and the like.
5. If you’re adding email capture form – you’ll need to create the form first. To do this, go to mail chimp > lists > design a sign up form (optional – you can specify a list) > create form then click ‘create embed code’ > click ‘include all fields’ then copy the embed code.
6. Then go back to your iwipa dashboard, and click ‘Click here to Manage the layout (add / remove modules) for this page’.
7. When I’m first creating the page, I add ‘media box’, then ‘comments’ then ‘share’ to start with (media box is where you’ll add your html). When you’re done, click ‘save layout’, then ‘return to manage area’. Note, you can also add scrolling text, youtube and slideshows.
8. To embed your email capture form, click ‘Edit pages’, then click ‘edit’ on the media module.
9. The embed window will launch. From here, click ‘source’, then paste the email capture embed code (from mailchimp) into the window and click ‘save’ (note, you can add additional copy at this point).
10. From here, click ‘view page’ and you’ll see your embedded form appears on your facebook page.

You can also customise the look and feel of the page.

To do this, go back to iwipa management area, and click ‘appearance’ > ‘themes’. From here you can select a new template or add your own CSS.

If you have any questions (or suggestions for alternative integration options), feel free to post them in comments below.

Mishy

If you ever get the chance to attend Social Innovation Sydney, I’d highly recommend it.

I attended Social Innovation Start-Up camp earlier in the month and walked away feeling inspired by the people, the discussions and the speakers. So, when #sibsyd was announced, I eagerly registered. Here’s a few notes and thoughts from the day…

The morning started with a talk about Resilience (the topic for the day).

Selena Griffith enlightened us on the many interconnected ways in which resilience overshadows aspects of our day to day earthly lives. Key themes included sustainability, mobility, biodiversity, community, human impact, energy consumption, work, travel, education… the list goes on (glad I had my coffee!).

Here’s the mindmap highlighting some of the key themes:

After a quick location change, leg stretch & coffee run, we broke out into discussion groups.

I joined the discussion on “Changing Education – Games, collaboration, the future” with the ever informative Kate Curruthers. The topics flew around the room at an electric speed. We focused on what’s currently working, what’s wrong with the current model (which I discovered, is a model created at the time of the industrial revolution), what’s changed for today’s studens and as a result – what issues do people have when studying (work commitments etc).

We talked about a few new models which arose. Selena noted that she’s now moving her class discussions to Facebook – genius! (Teachers – stack the odds for engagement in your favour!). There was also mentions of a lack of context for (in particular) HSC students when studying eg. Shakespeare, algebra etc you’re told ‘you’ll need this one day’ but you’re not told why, which results in a lack of engagement (I certainly wished I’d paid more attention in math classes!). So what are the alternatives to traditional teaching methods? Can game theory help students learn in a more engaged fashion? I’m not entirely sure what the solution is, but we know a ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t fit all, so it’s certainly worth investigating.

Here’s my mindmap from that session:

After the first session of talks, my mind was ready for a break (a prime example of the challenges teachers face today – short attention spans!).

Thankfully, it was time for lunch… deliciously catered by one of my favourite Indian restaurants – Maya Da Dhaba, with a generous serving of organic salads.

We then moved on to the afternoon discussions, where we discussed a number of new initiatives in the education sector (to help democratise information) and Luke told us about his new venture SchoolBuy which is a new way of fundraising for schools (when you purchase from selected brands, they will contribute a percentage to your school). Somehow, the topic of seasonality slipped in and we all agreed that Australia needs more seasons (though that would mean we’d have more mid-season sales, so I’m not sure if that’s actually a plus!). After a quick wrap up, the talks continued out the door as we made our way to the Fringe Bar for a quick drink.

I was left with a whirlwind of thoughts about the future of education, the future of our planet and above all, what I/we can do to help.

Which then got me thinking about the products we’d discussed at Social Innovation Start Up camp. My group focused on ‘restaurant food waste’. My original idea was to come up with an industry standard reusable bowl for take away food (similar to Keep Cups). However, after a bit of discussion, I realised that this might not be the best way to reduce restaurant food waste.

So, the topic moved on to composting, education campaigns and a few other tactics to discourage waste (eg. give customers a discount if they finish their meal and/or take it home with them).

I’m still investigating the possible solutions, but if you have any ideas about how we can help restaurants reduce food waste, add your thoughts below!

And… if you’d like to collaborate on this, be sure to contact me!

Thanks,

Mishy

Ps. Hope to see you at the next Social Innovation event!

PPs. Thanks Kate, Michelle & Selena for a great day (and Kim – you were missed!).

Looking for a great mid-week or party friendly meal for your vegetarian friend? Spanikopita is definitely a crowd pleaser, but it’s also really easy to make.

Ingredients

• Olive oil spray
• Filo pastry (from the fridge, the freezer stuff is rubbish!)
• 2 organic, cruelty free eggs
• 2 minced eschallots (or 1 small minced brown onion)
• 2-3 cloves of fresh minced garlic
• 300g pack of frozen spinach, very well drained (or time permitting, use the fresh stuff!)
• 1 tsp fresh nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (drain it so there’s not too much moisture)
• 1/2 cup good quality feta cheese
• S&P to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C, and grease (spray) your favourite 20cm baking dish (round or square).
2. Mix all the wet ingredients together (ie. everything other than the filo & spray can of oil).
   You’ll need to work fast for this part!
3. Spray 2 layers of filo with the oil and lay it in the baking dish horizontally, ensuring there is ample ‘overhang’.
4. Then place the next 2 layers vertically in the baking dish and spray with oil, also ensuring there is ample ‘overhang’.
5. Then  place the next 2 layers horizontally in the baking dish & spray with oil. Repeat until you have about 10 layers and be sure to alternate the directions.
6. Place the wet mixture in the middle.
7. Place 2 more layers of sprayed filo on top, then fold the ‘overhanging’ edges into the middle – it should look rustic.
8. Poke a few holes in the top and spray with a little olive oil.
9. Cook on 200 for about 40 minutes (keep an eye on it, as it will catch quite easily!)
10. Cool in the pan and refrigerate or eat it right away with a big salad and a huge dollop of home made tzatziki.

Tip

If you really want to impress people, roll the filo into a snake and coil it into a round baking dish – it looks amazing! (sorry, no photos yet!).

Enjoy!

This is seriously the best chocolate mousse I’ve ever eaten! It’s an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe. I made it for @rohetherington – as a belated birthday offering and it was lapped up by all with much gusto. Be warned though – it’s rich, velvety and may cause the eater to become instantly infatuated with it’s creator.

Ingredients

• 300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa, organic preferred)
• 8 organic, cruelty free eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• 300ml cream
• Cointreau
• 2 tablespoons organic cocoa powder (plus a little extra for dusting)
• 2 packets of sesame snaps
• 400g dried blueberries

Method

1. Gently melt the dark chocolate with the sea salt over a double boiler.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
   You’ll need 3 bowls for the next few steps!
3. First bowl: Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat til silky smooth (make sure the sugar has dissolved).
4. Second bowl: In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.
5. Third bowl: In another bowl, whip the cream until it also forms very soft peaks (do not over-whip or you’ll get lumps!).
6. Back to the egg yolks! Add 100ml (3-4 shots) of Cointreau and the cocoa powder to the egg yolks and mix well to combine. Then mix in the whipped cream, followed by the melted chocolate. Finally, gently fold in the egg whites (it will look like it’s about to split but don’t worry, it will come together!).
7. Spoon the mixture into your favourite serving dish (either one large one or about 8-10 medium size ramekins), and chill (preferably overnight).
8. Before serving, gently heat about 1 cup of Cointreau with the dried berries. Cool a little, then spoon over the mousse & top with ground up crunchy sesame snaps.

Tip

It lasts for about 3 days in the fridge (so I hear… I’ve never managed to keep from eating it all on the first day!).

Enjoy!

Product Mavens is gathering for one last time in 2010 and it’s all about feedback – how do you get it and what do you do once you’ve got it? You can RSVP below, or for more info, go to http://twtvite.com/pmavens-dec

Hope to see you there!

@mishymash

After a brief discussion with a friend about ‘healthy eating’, she asked me if I had any salad recipes. Simple question, right?Alas, much to my surprise, it left me dumbstruck. How could it be that a life-long devotee to vegetarian cooking, who makes bucket load of salads, doesn’t have any recipes? Not even one to share?

Since that innocent question entered my consciousness, I have spent (probably far too much) time pondering “salad making”. As a result, I’ve realised that although I don’t have salad recipes as such, I have a few general rules for making salads:

• Always pick ingredients that are fresh and in season – and keep in mind that if it won’t grow together (in season) it probably won’t taste good together eg it takes effort and talent to make cauliflower and watermelon taste good together (but that said, don’t be afraid to experiment).
• Always pick a hero ingredient – I always like to have one core ingredient which guides my flavour combination.
• Always make it look appealing – salads can be beautiful!
• Always dress your salad – salad dressings are so misunderstood. IMHO, a dressing should accelerate and bind the flavour, not disguise it.
• Always create texture & interest – you can do this by cutting ingredients into interesting shapes to add contrast or by adding nuts or seeds for crunch, and remember to use it all! – mince coriander stems, roast pumpkin seeds, shred celery leaves, pick fennel fronds etc, and to make it hearty – add protein eg egg, beans, nuts or, if you’re so inclined, some kind of animal based protein.
• Always serve it at the right temperature – some salads are best warm, others at room temperature, and a rare few are best chilled.

Beetroot Salad Guide.

So, it seems I approach my salad making in a similar way to how I would approach any product development…

• Keep it current: It’s currently summer and we have grape tomatoes, baby beetroot, cucumber, celery and spinach leaves in our garden. Keep in mind, that if it’s not in season, you probably won’t be able to enjoy the full richness of flavour (eg. if it’s shipped from Peru, you’ll lose a lot of flavour along the way), so you’ll probably end up adding a load of salt or dressing that shouldn’t be required, thus missing out on the delicate flavours of fresh produce. After all, you probably wouldn’t launch a new woolen scarf range in summer, so why buy mangoes in the dead of winter?
• Core feature: Out of the above items, beetroot has one of the most dominant flavours and although common, it is somehow also unique (might be due to the amazing colour). It’s suitably bold enough to be memorable.
• Customer profile: Whilst beetroot can be a somewhat divisive ingredient, for this particular customer (me), it’s appealing. And though beetroot can be eaten raw or pickled, after some in depth customer focused research, I’ve decided that a light roasting with some garlic will amplify the flavour, thus making it more appealing to the end user.
• Support features: Although beetroot is delicious, it can be over-bearing so it benefits from some complimentary ingredients. I split the tomatoes in half, seasoning with s&p and a little cumin, I julienne the celery and shred some of the leaves (celery leaves are excellent for stock, so put the rest in the freezer til you’re ready to use them), I finely shred the spinach stalks and tear the spinach leaves for textural contrast and visual appeal, and then roll cut the cucumber. For the protein, a combination of walnuts and goats cheese (or any other soft white cheese) will do the trick.
• Branding: Right now, we have a collection of disparate parts. It needs something to bind it together. This is where the dressing comes in. Right now, our salad is merely vegetables on a plate, but add dressing and it becomes a memorable experience. A superb dressing should enhance flavours, not disguise them. It should be consistently dispersed, without smothering. You should know that it’s there, without it overpowering the core feature – in this case, beetroot. For example, a creamy thousand island dressing would totally overpower this salad (though, if you don’t like beetroot, it might be a good thing – so make sure you know your end users!). So, I think a simple combination of mustard seeds, a pinch of cumin, walnut oil, lemon juice and s&p will do the trick (and if you want it a little sweet, add a dash of honey).
• Launch: Presentation is key, so I like to make sure I’ve wiped down the plate so any obvious smears are hidden, with the hero feature front & centre, whilst still letting the other ingredients shine through as a little taster of what’s to come. And, though most salads are best served immediately, others need time to mature (to let the flavours permeate), but don’t leave it too long else you’ll have hungry customers and saggy spinach leaves.

So, apologies if you’ve made it this far with the hope of finding amazing recipes at the bottom of this post, but hopefully using the guide above, you’ll be able to create your own timeless salad classics (and hopefully some of you might be kind enough to leave some links to your favourite achievements in the comments! )

Bon appetit,

Mishy