I was at one of my favourite galleries a few days ago, which was exhibiting some of the works by Jonas Mekas. To be honest, I’ve never heard of the man before, but since this gallery had never failed me in the past, I went along. As usual, many of the exhibits were incomprehensible but a few of them spoke a million words and I am happy that I had this spur of the moment visit. I was inspired.
The setup of this small gallery was quite clever, as by the time I walked through a few rooms, I was fully prepped and relaxed about accepting his exceptional work, which I think is about how to capture reality. Jonas Mekas, a film maker and a poet, said “I don’t believe in memories. They are all reality.”
I felt I understood many of his joys and struggles. I am not as talented as him but I too work in a relatively under-defined industry. When you work with young visionaries and passionate entrepreneurs, it is sometimes difficult to be completely sure that I have no affection for the team and their ideas. I have to be rational and yet available for new ideas, even if it may seem like a horrible idea at start. I often ask the question, why did this person think that it is a good idea to develop this idea, quit their day jobs and dare ask for investment?
By the time I reached what seemed like the main installation of this exhibition, I realised that Jonas was very interested in capturing exactly how it was, through film. Often, our recognition of the scene is blurry and hard to define, but there is one message you keep form that moment. The main room had one of his latest films. His struggle to capture reality, his craftsmanship and failure was very evident. I walked out of that room with one phrase he used that had stuck in my mind;
“The question is, how to maintain the state of readiness and openness, and do daily work”
I realised how much I struggle with this question. This struggle brings me a lot of pain from time to time but most of the time, I enjoy this struggle. It seems like, from the theme of the exhibition, Jonas is a happy man. I suppose I can be too.
After the extensive coverage of the latest iPhone, I reassessed my options. Instead of going through the usual “X reasons why you should upgrade”, I want to discuss the predetermined preference that makes me stick with iPhone, even though I know that the phone I am likely to buy, the iPhone 4G, is not that much better than iPhone 4, or its other alternatives.
Whatever you buy, make sure it has the logo!
The Apple Brand
As they say, it is the most celebrated brand at the moment. I have been an apple user since 2000 and never considered a non-Apple product as my personal computer of choice. Originally, it was cool to be an Apple user. Nothing about their design was half baked and most times, it was quite awkward to be an Apple user because nobody wrote any decent software for Apple, let alone manufacture any compatible hardware. Could this dedication be the cause for my resistance to change? Most likely. I would like to, however, make an argument that it is more than this irrational behaviour.
Good Change vs Bad Change
As I’d like to call myself an innovator, changes are an important part of my career and personal life. Although it is not always guaranteed, I try to introduce Good Change. For example, I would consider introducing Google Apps to a small business would be a Good Change, if the existing system is a Microsoft Exchange Server and some file servers. On the other hand, a change away from iPhone at the moment, for me, would be a Bad Change. My household and work is all Apple based. I am, however, prepared for the day when I have to move away from Apple as my phone manufacturer of choice.
I used to work for a start-up Enterprise Social Network company, which is mostly about bringing huge changes to enterprises in the way they communicate internally. Most of my colleagues (then and now) preach this Good Change these companies must embrace. The name of the game was Battle Against Resistance to Change.
Resisting Change
What are the common reasons for resisting change? Obviously, measurable effects such as costs (explicit and implied) are important factors. Before smartphones, the choices were simple. Compare some basic parameters such as price, battery life, screen size, camera resolution, supported countries etc and you would happily sign up to a 12mth contract, knowing you can have the latest phone next year. Now, the costs are higher, with longer commitment asked of us. With it, comes a sense of loyalty and importantly, a greater dependancy on our smartphones. It’s the small things like synchronised address books, photo libraries, bookmarks and contacts. You can easily re-configure these to your new phone’s OS, but do we want to?
For now, I am happy resisting changes with respect to my choice of smartphone. The potential advantages gained from having a non-iPhone is quite a bit smaller compared to staying with an iPhone. So, not all Resistance to Change is illogical. When someone asked me recently, “how could you pass judgement on the new Samsung Nexus Prime before seeing it?”, the response was simple. Samsung could come out with a phone with better spec than iPhone 4S in every respect and I still wouldn’t consider the change. Why? Because it is not about the phone. It’s the ecosystem and the seamlessness that saves a few minutes of my life each day that I want. The days of comparing a phone on it’s own is long over.
Before becoming a start-up consultant, I used to work in the energy industry. To be more specific, I helped large companies with over $100 million energy (or fuel) budget manage their price risks. One of my favourite customers were airlines. Not only because I wanted to become a commercial pilot after graduation but also because they operate in a truly cutting edge field, a fiercely competitive market and with high stakes.
The gorgeous B787
The level playing field
I don’t think there are many industries operating in the similar conditions as the airline industry. The planes, seats, fuel, meals, airports, crew (certification), booking systems etc are all standardised. Even if they want to push the boundaries, it is one of the most strictly regulated industry preventing you from operating the airline in non-standard ways. Thanks to all these rules and standardisation, it is a very safe mode of transport, providing the abilities to millions every year to expand their horizons, conduct businesses and meet friends and families. Unless you live on a remote island, most of us usually have an abundance of airlines, routes and combinations of them, when taking a trip abroad.
The Packaging
What is the decision making process when purchasing a ticket on a highly competitive route? The airline, departure time, cost, duration, connection and even the lounge are some of the details that we go through when deciding who to fly with. So, what does the “best product” mean in the airline industry? It is probably the combination of all of these things. Most of us do not care what aircraft you will fly, how many flight hours the pilots have, the cruising altitude, the fuel supplier etc and the industry has learned this point long time ago. The typical customer does not care about these things. Rather, the industry concentrate on the packaging. The things that doesn’t cost a lot of money yet they seem to have a huge impact on the profitability.
Value Proposition
The lesson I take from the Airline Industry is the ability to create value proposition from a seemingly impossible situation. In the aviation industry, through packaging, a few airlines have successfully differentiated themselves from the rest, even if the entire trip experience is technically the same. Through innovation, you can package a dull experience, like a 12hr flight in the economy class, seem sexy. Imagine a situation where British Airways and Virgin Atlantic offered the same price for the same long haul route. An easy choice isn’t it? So, go on and give the customers what they want, not what you want to give them.
I wrote a blog with the same title a few months ago. This is a continuation of that post, to express my congratulations and sense of awe after watching the recent Royal Wedding.
Congratulations, HRHs
The Royal Wedding
I don’t follow celebrity gossips or most of the rubbish aired by the so called news channels but when there was nothing else on the TV, I began to realise that this is quite a big event on a global scale. I can imagine this event being important for most residents in the UK but when the live coverage started, our phones were off the hook constantly due to calls from friends and relatives wanting to share this moment both visually and vocally with us. I too found the newly weds handsome and beautiful. The siblings equally handsome. What really struck me when watching this procession was, however, the skill and the planning that went behind the scenes to make this one of the most symbolic and perfect live coverage of an event as far as I can remember, in any field.
The Britishness
This is a word I notice very often these days. Even I mentioned it on my last blog. There was nothing un-British in the whole live-coverage of the wedding. It even seemed like the organisers controlled the weather to make it perfectly British – not too warm, occasional sunshine through the thick clouds. It was not about the amount of the Union Jacks, although there were quite a few. It was, to me, the lack of lavish decorations that you might see in other high-profile weddings, that made the whole event very British. The entrance to the Abbey was very symbolic to me as there was not even a single bouquet of flower by the Abbey doors. The cars were very shiny and special, but no flags, insignias or any unnecessary statements. What mattered was the passengers.
Complete Triumph
I saw the whole event on BBC, live. Even the cynical, hard-nosed person like me felt quite proud of calling UK “home”. It was that good. From a professional point of view, I really couldn’t find anything to fault. As far as I could see, everything was synchronised perfectly. As I mentioned, above, friends and family from far away were calling us to “discuss” the event as it happened. This meant that we knew when the other broadcasters, especially abroad, cut-out for advertisements. How do you break-up a wedding ceremonies for advertisements? The hymns and non-royal-couple processions etc were used as commercial breaks, which means every second was planned and synchronised across dozens of live broadcasters. I am sure there were minor mishaps but I saw none on TV. Perfect smiles, horses and kisses. The last time I was amazed to the similar level by a live broadcast was the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
The Perfect Campaign
I am quite sure that every spin-doctors and government’s PR agents in every developed nations are thinking the same thing. How on earth do you execute a stunt like that! How do you fill out most of major open spaces in London full of people all in support of their own monarchy? How do you orchestrate such a flawless event? The perfect message not only to the Britons but the whole world, what a wonderful, traditional, classy place United Kingdom is. Who would not have dreamed of being Kate or indeed William? Britain, much like the US, walks a fine line most of the time in terms of global politics. The wedding was touted as the perfect event to lift the spirits of not only the Britons but many others around the world and it lived up to expectations. To me, that live broadcast did much more than any propaganda, political spins, speeches and victories.
The Lessons
What I learned, or re-learned, from that live broadcast was the importance of the message, and the effectiveness of subtleness. The message was conveyed very elegantly, about the tradition, uniqueness, the idyllic way of life and the awesome power the Monarchy enjoys. Nobody spoke a word directly at the camera and yet these messages were very clear. In order to convey such a clear message, nothing was left to chance and required tremendous amount of planning and practice. It is much like Apple’s marketing campaign. There isn’t one loud slogan that is repeated like Nike or Sony. By using an Apple product, your life somehow becomes wonderful. By visiting UK, you too can enjoy the Britishness these Royals enjoy, or by doing Business with a UK company, you will be treated with traditional and impeccable manners. Unlike the US, Britishness does not come from overwhelming amount of flags but carefully selected items, settings, colours and even sounds. So, when you are designing your ad campaign or your website, take a step back and look at it from corner to corner. A very minor change in colour, position, size or the words could make a very different impact. The downside of these approach is the time it would require to convey the message because it could be subtle. It would also be very difficult to change this message because it is not clearly stated. The visual message is very powerful. If you have a wonderful product, try not to describe it in so many words but try to put it on display, tastefully.
I treasure surveys and questionnaires. They provide me with very valuable information about what the customers feel about the product. When running an online business, without face-to-face sales point, customer voice is extremely valuable. I have made a few observations on the recent Census (in UK) which I actually looked forward to completing. While I think it is an unique opportunity for the government to take a snapshot of the country, I think it is a shame that the Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) had 10 years to prepare the ultimate questionnaire, and it is very far from what it could have been. I have some mixed feelings about the a) content, b) format, and c) the analogue-ness of it.
The content
In my opinion, one of the biggest change we have faced since our last Census is the way we communicate, gather information and emanate information. Census was available online, which means ONS could determine the preferred method of completing Census but was that enough? How about asking questions like “would you vote online?”, “how many items of equipment is connected to the internet?”, instead of “how many rooms are there in your property”. I completely understand that there has to be some consistency for the sake of historical data but a few well placed questions must be introduced to measure the actual change of society, I feel.
The format
I have seen both the online Census and the paper form. I think both were nicely designed, considering the diversity, the vast number and various disabilities they had to cater for. I think it was even a pleasant design form. My suggestion is with regards to the length. If you were completing this for a family, it would take more than a few minutes. This can be an issue if you have to pause the process halfway through. To be honest, this is the only reason why I did mine on paper. I answered a few questions at a time when I am placed on a hold (phone) or waiting for my PC to boot up etc. A questionnaire that takes more than 5 minutes to complete, can not be an online form, if you want a high completion rate. When designing a questionnaire, the quality of the answers can drop significantly if the audience becomes bored. Increasingly, we have less time for things that doesn’t excite us. In another words, make your marketing questionnaire as short as you possibly can.
The analogueness
This is not just a criticism on Census. In general, I feel that questionnaire designers have not stretched their imagination enough. Perhaps no imagination is requested of them. The point is, in this diverse and interactive world, I find it unacceptable and almost rude that I am not able to write my full name on something I have spent my time on. I have a quite long name and admittedly, many organisation, credit cards and airlines always struggle. Having said this, the Passport, driver’s license and other official documents have no problems with length of my name. So, please deal with it. Online form was very static. It skipped the right questions but that’s all it did.
Unique opportunity
The ONS could have learned a whole lot more if they understood what they wanted to know. What is the “mood” of the country? How happy is the nation compared to 10 years ago? How optimistic/pessimistic are they? What is their attitude towards the problems we face, such as the environment, energy, inequality, various discriminations, wars etc? How British is Britain? I would love to know all these and can think of many ways to rely on these data to formulate the future policies and plans, the long terms ones, not “for the next election only” policies.
How to design a perfect questionnaire
So, how do you get the most from your customers? You don’t get to ask them these valuable questions very frequently (hopefully more than once every 10 years like the government!)
Firstly, it is not a psychometric test. Make it short and be very efficient with the questions. Compromise the number of questions for the sake of obtaining high-quality, thought-through answers.
Selectable list. Although this may be obvious, if you can, try to guess the answers and print them, so that the customer can chose. Of course, you will have the “other” answer box for manual input.
Grading system. If you are asking the customers to rate a service or a product, make it simple. Maximum I would recommend for the points grading system is between 1 and 5. I don’t know what you can gain from 1 to 10 points system. Also, be consistent with the points – 1 for least/low/minimum and 5 for most/high/maximum etc. Questions on emotions can be quite confusing, so please simplify.
Allow room for criticism. This has nothing to do with the Census but the value of the responses you get from questionnaires will rise with decrease in bias. You must allow the customers to criticise you and the questionnaire must allow this to take place. You must listen to these criticisms because vocal customers are your ideal customers. Win them over, and they will be singing about you everywhere.
Little or no “text boxes” please. There probably should be about 2 to 3 free-form answer boxes, maximum. Free-form answers are harder to analyse and may not provide the types of answers you want. It is better to ask “Please rate how much you love our product” than asking “Please describe how you like our product”. Free-forms are great source of quotes you can use for your marketing materials, so by all means include it, but go gentle with it.
Like the Census, if you are going to repeat your questionnaires in future, there should be some base-line questions to form a historical database of responses, to quantitatively measure the changes in customer satisfaction etc.
Ganbare Tohoku, Ganbare Nippon. (Hang in there Tohoku, hang in there Nippon)
The Earthquake and the Tsunami
Two deadly combination of natural disasters Japan has to cope with on a regular basis. If you visit Japan, you will notice that beaches are not build-up with posh houses like in the West, but full of eye-sores like wave breakers and tetrapods. They protect the flat-land starved Japan. Sadly, they were not sufficient this time. I am surprisingly affected by this incident. I was there for the aftermath of Kobe Earthquake in 1995 and I know what is ahead. Time for solidarity and action.
Nuclear Power
I don’t blame the media for their inaccurate reports and sensationalism. They were at it before and they would continue to do so. What I oppose to, is the undue criticism of Nuclear Power. Speaking as a classically trained engineer by one of the most prestigious engineering colleges in the world, I can categorically say that we need Nuclear Power and it is safe. Just take a look at Fukushima plants. They are the testaments to good engineering. The Fukushima Daiichi plants were designed in the late 60s and early 70s (the peak of our engineering innovation, in my opinion), brought online in the 70s and have supplied reliable power to a very very power-hungry economy. Statistically, it is one of the safest and ecologically balanced energy source. As most power plants, especially Nuclear Plants are, built on the water-front and they took the full blunt of the 10m Tsunami. While everything else in the waves’ path got nearly completely destroyed, they survived bar some auxiliary buildings. This kind of quake was anticipated with some probability. It is an engineering triumph. They stood tall but they are very likely to be dismantled after this.
The Failure
What has failed, from where I can see, is the crisis management. Japan is notoriously bad at it. Recent bad examples include the Kobe earthquake and also Toyota Prius recall. The bureaucratic utility company and the government spent far too long protecting their assets and faces. The minute they saw the Tsunami report and the initial reports from the plants must have alerted them that this was no ordinary earthquake. I am not going to define what they should have done but there are a list of actions they must have prioritised. For far too long, they reserved the judgement on preservation of the power plants and in name of “avoiding panic”, they have withheld information. They should have started pumping in water and boric acid as soon as they have identified that this was an extraordinary event, and started evacuation immediately.
Short to Medium Term
This is something I think a lot about. Learning from my experience in Kobe Earthquake, it is very important to understand what it is that one can do. First, I had to make sure everyone I can contact are safe and have an idea of what to do if the situation deteriorates further. Even if the aftershocks stop, Japanese towns and cities will be exposed to radiation from the crippled power plants for a long time. Even if they manage to cool them down in the near future, the level of radiation measured indicates the fuel rods are exposed to the atmosphere. Making those nuclear fuels safe is a mammoth task, and a dangerous one. In the medium term, the challenges would also include dealing with the survivors. This is where we must rise and contribute. Supporting the survivors and giving them hope and will to go on, is something we can all contribute to.
Reservedly Patriotic Japan
I have read and heard a few comments comparing this earthquake to recent catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina. I think it is an unfair comparison, but I must say the difference in culture and ethos are clearly highlighted. Immediately after 9/11, NYC saw queues of people wanting to help and most of them were turned back. I was really proud of the Americans then. This is something we don’t see in Japan, yet, but the lack of panic and crime is simply remarkable. The sense of co-existence and resilience over-rides their initial emotions it seems. Hats off to them.
What Can I Do?
I am not very useful to the recovery efforts right now, but like many of us, there will be a time when I can be useful. I would suspect that time to be around early summer, when it is safe for us to enter the area and the survivors continue to struggle. I am very far from Japan to do anything in the immediate future but I shall be planning an extended trip in weeks to come to do my part. I am thankful that I am no longer in a profession to be profiting from market instabilities created by these events.
While I am deeply immersed into the wonderful world of webpage designs and graphics, I still get mildly surprised and annoyed at badly designed products. The kitchen appliance world, it seems, is still full of very lazy design work, especially when it comes to buttons. On this microwave, there are only 7 buttons to press and a dial. I have never pressed 5 of those buttons. One of them is labelled “Meat Joint”. OK, I don’t cook regularly nor eat a lot of meat joints but I just don’t understand the thought process the designers went through, to agree that one of the 7 buttons on a microwave should be dedicated to defrosting Meat Joint.
Microwave fit for ObelixSprinkle of clatter
Simplicity massacred
The second example is perhaps worse. I can see that they have thought long and hard about this. They have designed this dial selection interface which turns like the early iPod (this is from a 3-year-old printer) and tried to balance the whole console with the remaining buttons. To me, this is a crime because they have spent a lot of time and money into developing this dial feature and at the last-minute, probably as a result of consumer focus group or at their line-manager’s whim, it was decided that a bunch of large buttons to perform the traditional functions were needed. On a what was a simplified, clean interface, there are just scattering of hideous and really pointless buttons. I have never pressed any of the large buttons there or most of the smaller ones there. I can access all the functions with the dial!
Just touch me....
Now, the nice stuff
I am a long-term Apple user and a huge fan. One of the reasons for this is encapsulated in this photo of the current Apple keyboard. How enticing are these “buttons” or keyboard? It is not just about the ergonomics, the material and the general layout. As many Apple products are, it is simple. It hides the complicated stuff without losing any functionality. Not difficult, it seems, but I know this is difficult to achieve.
Not retro. Just timeless.
Perfect buttons
This is one of my all time favourite electronic item. Hewlett Packard 17BII Business Calculator (circa 1998).
My rules for buttons:
It must do exactly what the button implies it will do – just take a look around and see how many buttons fail to do this simple task
Feel – You must feel that you have pressed it
Label – Colour co-ordinate and simplify intelligently. Real-estate on or around buttons are usually very limited. Think very hard about this.
Ergonomics
Can we learn anything from physical buttons when designing buttons for websites and applications? Well, of course. While it is easier to play with the colour and positioning of buttons on a screen, my rules still applies. In many ways, it is harder to design buttons on a website or an application. Your mouse pointer is now your thumb and the ergonomics is now to do with distance from the input box or the centre of the screen. If you need to write more than 2 words to describe what the button does, don’t write it on the button. While the button on the screen might initiate a series of complex procedures, make sure the button describes the implied result, not the process.
I am lucky enough to work with one of the masters in application UIs. Watching people like him work makes you appreciate good designs even more.
Ok, every country has some past glory to hang on to but I look back to the heyday of Japanese economy and experience a very mixed feeling about it. Here is my short story on how I feel about it all.
Teenage rebellion
When I first left Japan in my early teens, partly for wanting to blend in with my British co-boarders, but also for the sake of rebelling, I grew critical of Japan. I am afraid this trend still continues. My relationship with Japan is a strange love and hate type. When someone asks the question, do you want to go back to Japan eventually? My standard answer is this; “I would love to, only if I don’t have to work there.”
Encouraging, or is it?
Japan Inc
I started my career in a Japanese firm. Although I have nothing to compare to as the first employment experience, it was a minor culture shock. I found myself reverting to my rebellious teen mode. Out of respect to my former employer, I shall not take the mick out of any of my colleagues there, but I would like to share a few stories.
Bowing when on the phone – yes, absolutely true. You thought the story of Bloomberg sales people standing up to take calls was extreme. I was taught to bow when on the phone to show respect to the…. phone?
Rubber chops – In Japan, people don’t sign, but use their chops instead. Now, this being a very Japanese tradition, you need to be very careful where you land your chop. This is difficult to explain – stay with me. 1) You must not “chop” above your superior’s chop. If your superior has not “chopped” yet, you must leave plenty of space above yours to let him “chop” above you. 2) Your chop must be aligned towards the place where the most senior guy is going to “chop”. In a Japanese company, a document of any description requires many layers of approval and by the time your ultimate line boss “chops”, there will be a good dozen chops on the piece of document. So, you need to be sure, as a lowly being, to be careful that your chop is “looking up” towards this big cheese’s chop’s landing area. I once had to “chop” on the bottom corner of an A4 sheet, before collecting about dozen chops from my seniors, all “chopping” above me, all aligned towards this box at the top of the sheet, where there was a huge space reserved for my paymaster.
On a serious note, though, I miss the fabulously wealthy Japan. Every time I returned to Japan, the minute I stepped out of the aircraft, I found something new and shining. It seems that most of the new and shining stuff in Japan these days are made elsewhere. Is this because of the strong Japanese Yen? Perhaps. I think, however, it is more to do with what this article is partially highlighting. Japanese engineers and small businesses still produce top quality components. Take a walk in suburb of any large city in Japan and you would come across these small family business factories everywhere. Large corporations responsible for assembling these fabulous components into finished goods, have been asleep for the last 15+ years, almost without any exception.
Make it in Japan
As I repeatedly experience, more so recently as I am now part of a start-up tech company, you cannot afford to be afraid of making mistakes. Making mistakes is not the same thing as losing face, which many Japanese are truly afraid of. I keep noticing this movement in Japan about returning to its crafty roots and call to recall the lost arts. I think, comparing its GDP or some sort of economic statistics against the world is quite pointless now. Any country will soon look silly against the statistics produced by China. Yes, Japan is becoming the Galapagos of Asia, but that is not bad at all.
Today, 4 February 2011, I decided to write my first ever intentional blog. I have written a few public articles which I made into blogs later as I didn’t want to bin them and since then, I have been procrastinating about writing my own blog. It took me a few years but here we go.
I quite suddenly decided that today is the day to write my first blog probably because of this email I received from an old colleague of mine. He basically said, very proudly, that he is not part of any social network and he will never be. He is convinced that Facebook business model is screwed and that I ought to be more real about my new job. My new job is indeed in social network (start-up) and am very proud of it.
This colleague went on to say that social networking is a reflection of the state of members of society generally. Wow. Big statement, or is it? What is he saying? Is he a politician? Is he a priest? Is he a sociologist? Nope. He trades options (I think). I think he is genuinely upset by my decision to leave his industry. Quite frankly, I thought that his email is the best email I have received in recent years, and one of the all time best.
I am not twisted or being ironic about this. I am genuinely looking forward now, to the day when I will be able to write a blog, or give a talk somewhere ..”I look back to the early years when I had this email from someone I used to work with…”. He may be spot on and all the remainder of his email might perhaps all come true, but I think not. So, this email is the best because I now have a very good chance of telling a good story at dinners for a very long time, and also, it triggered me to write this blog. As my brother says on his skype status, “never is a word you should never use“. I shall continue to tease this educated colleague of mine and see if I can convert him because you never know. (This “never” is allowed, I think)
I intend to write about what has happened to me or around me on a regular basis, with, of course, a good dose of my biased opinions. Till then.
Shingo Potier de la Morandière 