Pro Tip: Best Source For Design Thinking Inspiration (and It's Free)

Visual thinking is a framework for finding solutions.
We use it is brand design, advertising and marketing.
 It is also used in architecture and urban planning.
I am here to tell you that it can and should be considered in most every task and ever profession.
It influences how we think, and how we are perceived by those around us.
It is business, art and science.
Above all, it is a process. A structured process. There is a specificity to it all.
We must train ourselves, practice and learn.

You must imitate and learn the basics before improvising and creating new.

So, as designers, writers, concept strategists and more, how do we learn?

My 'Pro Tip' is to get yourself to the Institute of Design at Stanford.
Wait, you can't just take off today for California?
Luckily, the 'D.School' believes in everyone sharing in these lessons virtually.

They offer a 90-Minute Crash Course Program.
Additionally,
They have a listing of
various learning experiences through courses and project work.
Finally,
You can explore their way of thinking and working.

Now, find some time to doodle, sketch, write and explore.

Also, let me know what other resources you use for design thinking, inspiration and improvisation.

Happy creating.

How Cities Will Drive Global Change

An inspiring short film from Ericsson on how urban areas and the associated networking of them will spur incredible global change.
This is important for every citizen regardless of where they live.
It is vital that we understand the urban migration so we can innovate in business, architecture, marketing, agriculture and more. To me, this migration is not to be feared, but embraced and planned for.
How will consumers adapt? How will products evolve? How will experiences change?

Facts
52% of people currently live in cities
200,000 new urban dwellers join their ranks every day

by 2050, it is estimated that 6,000,000,000 will live in cities. Yes, that's billion.
The rate will accelerate as well, with 1,000,000 new people a week moving to cities.

The costs of action now are lower than inaction.
Cities already account for 70% of global energy use.

If we fix problems of cities, we fix the problems for everyone.

The solutions are generated in the cities.

Technology and data collection is what will allow us to solve problems.

To Innovate For Others We Must Innovate Ourselves

When I started Rockhill Strategic, the mission was to provide world-class marketing ideas to clients who value beating their competition with smarter thinking, not more spending. Luckily a lot of companies share that philosophy. Thus, it is still the center of our brand vision. 

The key to success with this strategy is to know where your consumer will be at various points of time in the future. Knowing your former customer and your current customer is important, but not nearly as important as reading the demographic and trend 'tea leaves' and making a plan to adapt.

Deciphering trends for clients requires a lot of research, daily observation and a knowledge of demographics. Then the science is balanced out by the art of naming, branding and creative. In the course of daily client work, you start to also observe missed opportunities. Unexplored gaps in the marketplace. These new ideas frequently find there way into my Moleskine notebook. Random notes, incomplete ideas and sketches. Hundreds of them. I am sure some are good, and some our terrible. 

Now to the point of this post. I have decided that it is time to start picking a few of these ideas and developing them for market. Yes, Rockhill is launching an Innovation Lab. We are starting small with one project. If successful, it will propel the creation of more consumer ready products and projects. At the best, we launch some great products that people love. At the worst? It makes us smarter and stronger for our clients. We are continuing to develop relationships with great innovation centers like DigitalSandBox, the Kauffman Foundation, SparkLabKC and Tumml. We are excited to learn and grow. 

So without further ado, we give you NeighborsGrow. 

More will be revealed as we move to beta.

Until then, please follow the NeighborsGrow Team on Twitter

at @NeighborsGrow and sign-up for the beta here. 

      

Five Radical Ideas for Saving Hallmark Stores

Apple Store 

A critic of Apple's move to open bricks-and-mortar retail stores once famously said, "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake." Of course Apple proved the naysayers wrong and are now the most successful retail story of the last 20 years. Not only are their stores cult destinations for Apple fans, they are also the most profitable retail stores per square foot in America. Other retailers that blend great brand experiences with profit includes Coach and Lululemon Athletica. As Business Insider notes, four of the six most profitable retails stores are also on the fastest growing list. Their success certainly makes sense. But how did they accomplish it?


Let's use Apple as an example. First, they rightfully looked past their retail and technology competitors. They based none of their retail positioning or experience on Best Buy, Comp USA or others. Remember, the "prudent" plan would have been to compete with the big box stores that were the market leaders, and incredibly successful at the time.


Second, they looked not at the then current user of Apple products, but rather at the huge potential audience. They then reinforced their brand by modeling their experience after their product: clean, fresh and intuitive. 


Third, they kept the retail footprint small, allowing them to enter higher traffic, more "upscale" developments. 


Finally, they created the entire in-store experience to connect with their online experience. The Genius Bar is the human face of their online support.

Hallmark Gold Crown Store

This brings us to Hallmark, the grand dame of the greeting card industry. They are the industry leader and a near universally known brand. They are sporting a newly refreshed tagline, Life is a Special Occasion. Life is indeed a special occasion, but why does a visit to a Hallmark store make me feel decidedly not special? In fact, most Hallmark stores make me feel downright dreadful. Judging by the declining sales and changing demographic trends, I am certainly not alone. A November 2011 Los Angeles Times article explains away a lot of it as lost sales to online business. But to shore up that business while growing their specialty product business having a physical retail presence has never been more important. So, how can Hallmark use fresh retail thinking to salvage their eroding retail business? 


First a few facts. In a Retail Info Systems News article, Hallmark says that it has over 4,000 principle stores called Gold Crown, 500 of which are owned by the company and  the rest are franchise operations. The real revenue is generated from the 43,000 other outlets that sell their greeting cards and gifts, from Walmart to gas stations. This accounts for an estimated $4.1 billion in revenue annually. The greeting card industry is facing a monumental consumer shift as fewer cards are mailed and people move to more electronic and social media for celebrating major "life events." Hallmark has some very smart people tackling these issues around how to keep Hallmark relevant in the 21st Century. But as they innovate with product, they seem to be neglecting arguably the most important part of their brand experience, the store. 


As their retail experience has languished, it has reached a point where a fresh coat of paint or a new retail end cap will not do it. Hallmark retail needs a radical makeover. One that will reposition them for the future and highlight their product innovation in the proper way. 
Here are five ideas to kick start that process. 


1. Stores as Brand Tool: Recognize that the Gold Crown Stores, especially the company owned ones,  are primarily a brand marketing tool. Launch a "blue sky" rename and rebrand of these stores to  position the brand well beyond its current perception. Think uncluttered, fresh and contemporary. Let the product be the pop of color. Rethink the signage and overall look and feel and approach it from a fashion, art and design direction.


2. Smaller and Higher Profile: Move to smaller retail footprints in high traffic, urban and power centers. Open up the exteriors to be primarily glass and corner activated. This will compel the casual visit and generate a higher pass-through volume.  


3. Curate Product Content: The trend of "buy local" continues to grow and evolve. Hallmark should serve as the leader in providing the best in emotional messaging. This goes beyond their own creative materials. In fact, Hallmark already has an entire trend department dedicated to tracking and recording trends within their industry. Instead of identifying what products in the marketplace are competitors and then attempting to counter them, Hallmark experts should be hand-selecting cards, posters and gifts that are designed and made locally in each market to feature in their stores. This would allow them to bring the latest trends to the consumer faster and better reinforce their new tagline and campaign theme that "Life is a special occasion," challenging consumers to stop and enjoy life's perfectly imperfect, unplanned moments. 

4. Idea Think Tanks: As local bookstores continue to struggle, Hallmark has the ability to capture a portion of the "third place" for social gathering that is being lost. These newly minted Hallmark stores should work to host creative events that are in fitting with their brand promise. Become a place for writers and poets. Highlight their work and engage them in how their art directly ties to the Hallmark vision. Some stores should consider having a coffee shop as well.


5. Social Media Connectors: Each store should then activate a localized online "Genius Bar" of sorts by becoming the local hub via bricks-and-mortar and social media for celebrations. Both in the store and online, the staff of that store will be dedicated to proactive management of customer relationships. Guide customers to in-store product and various online product via Hallmark.


The above ideas are simply those of a brand and retail marketing expert who loves Hallmark. I am looking from the outside and crafting suggestions as an example of how a large retail brand could (and should) reshape how they operate in order to be more relevant in the future.


Feel free to share your feedback here or better yet, mail me a Hallmark card.


      

Creating America's Most Entrepreneurial City

This past year the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce rolled out their Big 5 Ideas for improving the Kansas City Region and making it great. One of those "big ideas" is the bold goal of making Kansas City "America's Most Entrepreneurial City." To advance that vision, they appointed a committee headed by Peter DeSilva, CEO of UMB Financial. Mr. DeSilva has organized a series of Community Conversations, comprised of small business owners, academics, educators, corporate executives and more to discuss and form some tangible plans for achieving the goal.

Recently I attended one of these sessions and came away impressed. Many of the same old ideas and challenges were bandied about of course. But between the 90% of same, there were some new and exciting ideas. One of the ideas that came from the team I was on sought to look at barriers to entrepreneurship from a different perspective. We chose to look at it from a human perspective. Think about the life of an entrepreneur outside of their business plan. From this the beginning of a big idea was formed. The Entrepreneur's Safety Net idea seeks to remove barriers that make founding a start-up, growing a new company and even selling and starting over possible.  

Hopefully, these ideas will be added to the well of ideas that come from these sessions. They will grow, evolve and become something great and meaningful for current, and future, innovators in our region. I simply left too inspired by these ideas to just sit and wait for the larger committee to take them on. I felt starting a virtual dialogue might help. 

Thus, you have the forming ideas of the the Entrepreneur Safety Net Program

1. Healthcare

Creation of a community-based healthcare program that is portable and affordable for small businesses and individuals. It could be portable and consistent, as individuals change employment status or even employers within the region. It would be preventative-based and use technology to keep costs low. Cerner as a global leader in healthcare technology should play a leading role in creating a regional healthcare program. Ideally there would also be a shared pool created were the business community could help to subsidize healthcare for some start-ups while in their early launch phase and they would contribute back to the pool as they grow. 

2. Childcare

Much like healthcare, childcare is a major barrier to many small innovators. Kansas City is known as a great community to raise a family, but the childcare network is sporadic and expensive. Using the model of the larger corporations and universities that have created their own highly successful childcare centers, we would propose a civic network of childcare centers that are designed to accommodate the children of the creative class and the start-up business owner. Flexible hours, tiered cost structure, community activities and more. 

3. Advanced Entrepreneur Education

One of Kansas City's great assets is how the city's non-profit organizations and universities have created exceptional programs for entrepreneurs. From the Kauffman Foundation and their FastTrac program, the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, the various great university programs, such as the UMKC Bloch Business School and the Kansas City Art Institute; there is no lack of opportunity. There is however a problem with cohesion and selection. All of these educational programs need to create a clearinghouse and sharing program with the student in mind. What program or combination of programs are best for an individual? Then help that student craft a course of study that benefits them and sets them on the best path for building and growing a business in Kansas City.    

4. Primary Education

Like most mid-size and large American cities, Kansas City has a serious problem with urban education. Many other initiatives are underway to attempt to address the challenges facing our educational system and I wish them well. For improving entrepreneurship, we need to look at current realities, and how we can create a school (or school network) that appeals to those considering our city to start a business or are already here. These women and men are generally highly educated and creative and want to find great schools for their kids. Currently, they are limited. Why not create a "district" that spans state lines and district borders and focuses on creative high-quality education? Use the new Kauffman School as a basis, but for K-12 and not limited to the current Charter School constructs.       

5. Continuity of Resources (Entrepreneur Concierge)

This is perhaps the easiest one of the eight ideas to accomplish. All of the government entities need to put aside their differences and work with the local non-profits to create one simple gateway for all new business start-ups. The Area Development Council has had some success with this, but they are not conducive to the small start-up. There should be a singular point of contact throughout the entire life cycle of a company, regardless of the location in the metro or the type of business. Have one "concierge" that is there to assist and guide a business.  

Additionally, our region has several great small business incubators such as Office Port. What the region needs is an effort to connect and unify the incubator programs. Tie together and leverage resources across for-profit facilities and university facilities.   

6. Community-Based Venture Capital

We have one of the great philanthropic community funds in America. The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation currently administers over $1-billion in assets that benefit countless programs in the region. We also have several great venture capital funds in our region. The great missed opportunity is the creation of a community-based venture capital fund that is designed to support and fund early stage start-ups for the benefit of our community. A fund seeded by the philanthropists and local corporations and administered by a board of local leaders.  

7.  Start Up Neighborhood

All great cities known for innovation have one particular area or neighborhood especially known for the vibrancy of the entrepreneurial spirit. This becomes the hub from which the identity grows. Businesses may start in that area and then move to other areas within the region as their needs change. By designating and aligning assets to help create one key innovation hub, we will be able to better craft our message and story to the rest of the world. This benefit then spins off to the entire region. Creating an energetic center of innovation also reinforces the idea of the "Third Place" for individual interaction and idea exchange. Richard Florida does a great job explaining this in his book Who's Your City.   

Hopefully these thoughts will coalesce into something tangible. Perhaps they will spur new ideas, debate and perhaps even real action. I am excited to continue to be an entrepreneur, while also pushing this greater discussion of how we can create a true American Entrepreneurial City.

Now I want to hear from you. Please share this article and leave your thoughts on this first draft of ideas. I will edit and refine as we continue a virtual dialogue.

Thank you.






Article first published as Creating America's Most Entrepreneurial City on Technorati.

Our Hometown: Kansas City As You Have Never Seen It

We are proud to be based in Kansas City, Missouri.
It is truly an overlooked gem of a city that is gaining a lot of momentum as an arts, culture and innovation destination.
Below is a time lapse video in HD that gives you a nice feel for what "America's Creative Crossroads" is all about.

We will share more on our hometown, but for now, enjoy this series of photos that are truly worth millions of words. 

The Best 16:10 of Your Day: Unintended Consequences

Every one of us had made a decision that has had unintended consequences later in life. Now magnify that idea and consider inventions, ideas and ideals that impacted people on a global scale. That is what Edward Tenner, a historian challenges us with in this TED Talk.

In this age of hyper technology and innovation, we should stop and consider the possible unintended consequences of many of the tools that we use daily. There is much written about the near term consequences of cell phones, social media, the Internet, Google and more. But what about the changes that these innovations and devices will have on humanity in 50 years, 500 years or even 5000 years? Technology futurists seldom think in distant time frames.

Mr. Tenner does a great job of getting us out of this near-term history concept and start thinking much larger. Always a good thing for any of us who work on entrepreneurship and ideas.

Enjoy...

Edward Tenner: Unintended consequences

Update: Google+ is Emptying Out

Google certainly did not want to hear the latest news on usage.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Google+ traffic is off 60% since September 20th. that was the day they opened it to everyone and removed the invite only tag. The site experienced a huge traffic surge of over 1,200% that day, but has since dropped consistently.       

I originally wrote about the concerns of the new social media site here: Google+, Party of No One? 

But a funny thing happened on the way to world domination. It appears that for all the members signing up, few are actually hanging out in the Hangouts. As reported by Dan Reimold for MediaShift, Google+ "is worse than a ghost town." While actual details on traffic and usage are hard to come by, more anecdotal evidence is suggesting that the assumptions of lack of volume is in fact the case. 

In that post, I did relay that media and news outlets are embracing it and gave some examples. There is no way to definitively prove that that sub-set of users are still engaged or not.  

Offering a few more thoughts on the API growth and other Hangout features in this post: Did the Cool Kids Just Arrive at the Google+ Party?

 The next few weeks will be a litmus test for the social network. Will the opening of Google+ to the 'general public' spur it past the "must engage daily" tipping point? Just as important is the announcement of the new API Hangout. Allowing third-party application development could certainly kick the place into high gear. new features are being launched as well that hold a great deal of potential.

Right now it looks like the excitement of Facebook Timeline is winning.
The already heavily invested Facebook user is finding it hard to create a new virtual social media world in Google+.

Simply put, there will have to be a major effort to convince people to shift their primary usage to Google+. An app that allows easy transfer of content from Facebook to Google+ would be one way. Another option would be for Google to focus on making it a news and media driven social media site. Google has a lot of work ahead of them to make Google+ a viable challenge to Facebook.

Buy Less, Benefit More

Yasuhiro Yamashita designed small home

Alternately titled, Better Living Through Curated Belongings.

Graham Hill is a writer at Treehugger.com and a designer. He explains in his TED talk how and why we should simplify our lives through smaller spaces, fewer things and more thoughtful living. He covers the idea of editing your life. His talk is certainly worth a listen. In it he explains how the world benefits and how the individual benefits.

Leading a more sustainable life is laudable for all of us, but I am more interested in how producers of things benefit. How does the furniture company, the electronics company, the car company benefit? In more ways than you can imagine.

Engaging in a cultural shift toward possessing fewer belongings does not mean that our earnings and total spending on goods and services will change. What it does mean is that we will start to desire products that are longer lasting and of more quality. Couple that with the trend of localized consumption and you have a perfect storm for and explosion of micro and artisanal manufacturers of a huge array of products. I believe you will also see a growth of locally based Etsy.com style sites. But what does this shift mean for current products?

The strong retailers and manufacturers will start to adapt. Companies like Target will start to stock more refillable and reusable products. The days of the low quality bookcase that goes to the curb on trash day after a couple years will be replaced by high-quality solid wood bookcases made from reclaimed materials. You may also start to see retailers offering trade-in and trade-up programs. The consumer will benefit but so will the retailers. Fewer total transactions may occur, but each product transaction will be at a higher price point and invariably a higher profit margin.

Neighborhoods will benefit by having more infill homes, more density and more civic engagement. If you live in a smaller home that doesn't have 4,500 square-feet you get out to public spaces more. Restaurants will see continued increase in frequency of visitors. Architects will have to be much smarter, but will get to be much more creative. Smaller home construction will also allow more custom designs as the total construction cost will be lower.  

Smaller quality product manufacturers located in your city will mean more jobs, closer commutes, more use of mass transit and so on.

Getting on the leading edge of this trend could hold great potential for business owners and entrepreneurs. There is great potential for more small retailers, small neighborhood grocers, residential renewable energy providers  and even service providers to help consumers downsize their lives.

A lot to think about as this trend takes hold, but a lot of possible benefit for all of us.
   

Rockhill Recommends: Googlization

I took the time last night to attend a lecture at the Linda Hall Library on Google's impact on the Internet and our culture. More on that in a second.

First a brief shout out to the Linda Hall Library. It is one of the leading science, engineering and technology libraries in the World. 

The information they have archived, and the role they are playing in current innovation cannot be underestimated.

I would also recommend that you visit their latest exhibit, This Time It's Personal: Innovation In Your Home. From Aspirin to the light switch to Pez Candy, it covers the research, discovery, development and intellectual property of things we use every day.  

The opening speaker in support of the new exhibit was Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media and law at the University of Virginia. His talk was in support of his current book, The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry). He has a supporting website as well here. This post is not a review of the lecture or a commentary on the book. That will come later after I have had a chance to read the book and do some research. I would however, recommend that everyone take some time and check out a bit more about his thoughts on Google. 

Siva does a nice job of summarizing the incredible role that Google has played in our lives in the 13 years (yes, it has actually been that long) since its founding at Stanford in 1998. Early on the mission was simple, but oh so lofty...

Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

He raises the valid question of why we should trust Google with this and how they have delivered.
Why this task shouldn't be entrusted to the academic institutions and librarians of the World.
Google determines how important search results are via their algorithms and he provides examples of Google modifying results for various reasons in spite of their claim that they do not alter search results. Some are for generally altruistic reasons such as a racist website "gaming" the results to get higher placement. He questions why we, as consumers accept this. Generally, it is because we don't know.

It is comforting to know that Google doesn't remove information. In that respect they really do attempt to archive all of the World's information. However, as a writer and researcher, I do find that you need even sharper personal analytical skills when working online.

He also offers a few other tidbits of insight that are worth considering:

• We are not Google's customers. The advertisers are. Google only views us as customers so far as they need us to keep eyeballs on their site to sell to advertisers. 
• As technology consumers we generally are willing to accept technology as magic and not explore how a product or service works. Companies such as Apple and Google benefit from this. 
• Google fundamentally transformed the Internet for the better by working to filter out pornographic results that were served via spam or due to typographical error. This work to make the Internet safer for business and family use helped to also make the consumer feel safer about using the Internet for their financial needs.
• When you use Google you are seeing the world through their lense. It is filtered. 
• Google may be radically different in five years and may not even exist in ten. That is the type of technology world we live in.

Overall, Mr. Vaidhyanathan offered some great perspectives on the good and bad of Google. The questions that he poses are easily applicable to many other communications channels, social media et cetera. 

What he did not discuss is the rapidly expanding technology channels that Google is moving toward. For instance, I am typing this using Google Chrome browser. Google has mobile technology, hardware with Chrome Book and is developing a one-gigabyte Google Fiber technology in Kansas City. It is currently being installed outside my office window.

(Update) Google now has also opened a retail pop up store in London as reported by The London Evening Standard. This could be the direct assault on Apple that many have anticipated. The fundamental difference is, if Google is successful in hardware and retail sales, they will also possess an incredible wealth of content and the means of distribution.  

I look forward to exploring these more and sharing thoughts with my readers here. 

Possibly the most cogent and interesting comment was when he likened Google to Julius Caesar. A benevolent dictator who does indeed improve life for many but at what cost?