I really believe that good data visualization, good reporting and good presentations are all about good storytelling. So I tend to search out inspiration from great storytellers. I read the post I quote below a few years ago, but find myself coming back to it over and over again. As researchers and evaluators we spend a […]
Krista Donaldson on taking risk out of the design process.
Today’s inspiration comes from IDEO.org’s designkit. It’s one of 7 mindsets that lie at the core of their human-centered design process. You can also hear it spoken in context by Krista Donaldson in a short video on the designkit site. Here’s the quote: You’re taking risk out of the process by making something simple first. […]
The how to be creative guide, okay so that’s not what they call it
There is an idea out there that some people are just creative, and others are not. That there is no guide to being creative. But in reality there are a bunch of guides. And there are a lot of teachers too. Each showing or teaching that creativity is as much process as it is talent. IDEO.ORG offers […]
Silent in our design
Silence in design makes sense sometimes. So when I make a chart for a federal client’s report, it’s not me speaking. So most likely, I should not be seen in the design. In these instances you would not recognize my work. It’s just clean and minimalist with colors based on the project. But there are […]
Visual note taking and focusing on the Big Idea
If you’re interested in approaching your work in a more visual way, one place to start might be with visual note taking. You can start small by just pulling out a notebook and sketch out a few pictures at your next meeting (keep it to yourself, nobody else has to see). The hard part about […]
They don’t like to try new things? Time to double deliver
I work in a pretty conservative company. But even in a risk-averse climate there are lots of opportunities to do interesting creative work. The trick to taking risks in these types of environments is to come prepared with a fallback. I’ve mentioned David Kelley‘s notion of double delivering before in passing (the quote below comes from […]