links for 2010-03-01

"Eventually there will be another storm as big as the ones in 1921 and 1859 — a sort of solar Katrina. But the impact is likely to be far worse than in previous solar storms because of our growing dependence on satellites and other electronic devices that are vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation. In the tabletop exercise, the first sign of trouble came when radiation began disrupting radio signals and GPS devices. Ten or 20 minutes later electrically charged particles "basically took out" most of the commercial satellites that transmit telephone conversations, TV shows and huge amounts of data we depend on in our daily lives, Bogdan says.

"When you go into a gas station and put your credit card in and get some gas," he says, "that's a satellite transaction."

Sept. 2009 package of features on Design Thinking.

Apparently a classic article espousing Design Thinking, by Tim Brown. It's behind a paywall though. If anyone can send me a copy, please comment below and we'll connect.

"Talking about only "design thinking" and "business thinking" is limiting. Me? My degree is in anthropology. And a not-so-secret truth about "design thinking" is that a big chunk of it is actually "social science thinking." Design thinkers talk about being "human-centered" and "empathic," and the tools they use to achieve that are methods borrowed from anthropology and sociology.

"However, that's still not enough. Two of Adaptive Path's founders, Jesse James Garrett and Jeffrey Veen, were trained in journalism. And much of our company's success has been in utilizing journalistic approaches to gathering information, winnowing it down, finding the core narrative, and telling it concisely. So business can definitely benefit from such "journalism thinking."

"Do we need to espouse "library thinking," "history thinking," and "arts thinking?" Should we look at Steve Jobs' background, and say what business needs is more "calligraphic thinking?"

Podcast well worth listening to.

"Design problems are often embedded in cultural practices. Some solutions require behavioral changes that users may be reluctant to make. Incremental changes can seem insignificant while attempting a disruptive overthrow can be very risky. So how do you systematically come up with solutions and examine them against risk? Here we delve into what Evans calls "squirrelly-wicked" design problems."

Blog as book-in-process on a compelling topic. I'd like to apply design thinking principles to my lean mobile efforts.

Really cute video. Even ChatRoulette can have some redeeming qualities

Interesting charity — Here's what goes into each prepackaged ShelterBox. This kind of planning and pre-assembly allows this aid org to often be first to reach disaster victims with survival supplies.