Keeping Tabs On Design Thinking
There are no two ways about it: Google has created a couple of tools that has had a major impact on the way I collect, sort and read information. One is the ability to create custom RSS feeds using Google Blog Search and the other is Google Reader which allows you to subscribe to them. This turns out to be a very effective way to monitor particular topics or conversations that I'm interested in.
For example, I'm particularly interested in the topic of "design thinking" and I've had the pleasure of discovering some brilliant posts on the subject through my custom feed (if you're interested, you can also subscribe to the same feed). Just recently I discovered a terrific post by Luke Wroblewski where he provides notes he took at a talk given by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO. Though high-level, it's well worth a read.
If you're looking to go deeper, I'm just wrapping up The Ten Faces of Innovation by Thomas Kelley which dives into specific examples, across a wide array of industries, of how companies large and small are applying design techniques to innovative their products and services. It's a very inspiring read.
By the way, in the event that you're interested in the photo above, I did not take it myself. I discovered and purchased it on iStockPhoto, far and away the best stock photo site, and was just looking for a way to incorporate it into my blog. <grin>
