Design Belies Process: Homer's Dream Car

In the Simpsons episode 7F16, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Grampa Simpson reveals to the family a long-hidden secret: Homer has a half-brother. Homer's brother, Herb Powell, is the head of the Powell Motors car company, and decides that as an "average" American, Homer is the perfect designer for a car catering to other "average" Americans. Homer is given free design reign and all ends poorly. Homer's car is finned monstrosity featuring three horns that play "La Cucaracha" and a separate sound-proof bubble dome for the children (featuring optional restraints and muzzles.) Powell Motors is doomed.

I've often used this scenario as an example of not asking users the right questions. By asking "Do you wants" instead of "Tell me abouts," you're leveraging the user's design expertise and not your own.

Consider any design suggestion a user makes not as a design requirement, but as a reflection of a problem that needs to be solved. Does the user really want three horns that play La Cucaracha, or does he want to be noticed? And never, ever ask yes or no questions. If you ask a parent "How about a soundproof bubble for the children with optional restraints and muzzles," of course the parent is going to say yes.

Ultimately however, the episode's punchline isn't that Homer is a poor designer and that his efforts have yielded a monstrosity. Homer was tasked with designing a car to meet his own needs and desires, and he succeeded. The punchline is that his half-brother Herb mistakely assumed that as a consumer, Homer was representative of anyone other than Homer.

To avoid releasing a Homer, a team must:

1. Inform the design with information gathered from real, representative users. What are the users' goals? What are their characteristics? What challenges do they face with similar products?
   
2. Design the product to meet these considerations.
3. Validate the design decisions by watching real users interact with the product.

Success lies in designing a product that addresses the problems that many real users wish to solve.

Silverado ads get "strong reactions" from viewers, hippies

"I'm meeting you halfway, you stupid hippies." (Futurama 2acv03, A Head in the Polls)

First, I'd like to preface this post by saying that I like full-size trucks, especially Chevy trucks. If they were more economical and ecologically sound to operate, I'd consider buying one. But apparently I'm a bad American, perhaps even a hippie.

So I tried to pause my DVR during an airing of a Chevrolet "Our Country. Our Truck" commercial last night in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the new Silverado, but I couldn't hit pause fast enough to catch that frame.

John Mellencamp sings "This is Our Country" (I kid you not) over a montage of pure Americana (R). Rosa Parks, the Twin Towers, Richard Nixon, Charles Whitman - flip, flip, flip. It's not that the spot exploits 9/11 or any other event or series of events in American history. It's that the spot exploits 9/11 and every other event and series of events in American history. It's hamfisted, manipulative crap that makes "We Didn't Start the Fire" appear sincere in comparison.

Autoweek quotes Bill Ludwig, the "Chief Creative Officer" of Campbell-Ewald, the advertising firm responsible for this piece of mungus:

Ludwig says he anticipated that the Silverado spot would generate complaints. The commercial is about America "and the knocks we have taken and pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps," he says. "Anytime you are provocative, you are going to elicit some provocative responses.

"If you want to make a statement that rings true with the majority of people, you are going to piss off some people. There are a lot of cynical people out there who don't react well to this, and a lot of people who will never get behind the wheel of a pickup.

"So let them get into their Volvo sedans and complain about this spot that they see as exploitive," he says. "This is not for them. The biggest risk you can take is to play it safe."

Exactly what GM needs right now! Someone to challenge potential buyers to not buy their products. So you hear that, dissenters and Volvo sedan drivers? GM's make-or-break product is not for you!

Tips on recycling old desktop computers

As awareness of the presence of toxins like lead, zinc, and cadmium increases, so does interest in recycling old desktop computers and electronic products. This article

First, donate the equipment to charity if possible. My only caveat would be to remove and destroy a PC's hard drive before donating the machine. I realize that a PC without a hard drive is much less useful to a charity than one that actually works, but this is the best way to know that your personal information won't end up in the wrong hands through an auction or thrift store sale.

Second, consider recycling e-waste like old desktop computers. Call your city government to see if your local environmental waste ("sanitation") department has an electronic waste recycling program.

See the Basel Action Network's E-Stewards for a list of responsible e-cyclers that have agreed to the most rigorous criteria for sustainable electronics recycling.

Global warming research on Earth climate

The Stanford Solar Center projects the following for the rest of the 21st century, based upon the body of global warming research on Earth climate change:

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), average global temperatures may increase by 1.4-5.8ºC by the end of the 21st century. Although the numbers sound small, they can trigger significant changes in climate. (The difference between global temperatures during an Ice Age and an ice-free period is only about 5ºC.) Besides resulting in more hot days, many scientists believe an increase in temperatures may lead to changes in precipitation and weather patterns. Warmer ocean water may result in more intense and frequent tropical storms and hurricanes. Sea levels are also expected to increase by 0.09 - 0.88 m. in the next century, mainly from melting glaciers and expanding seawater . Global warming may also affect wildlife and species that cannot survive in warmer environments may become extinct. Finally, human health is also at stake, as global warming may result in the spreading of certain diseases such as malaria, the flooding of major cities, a greater risk of heat stroke for individuals, and poor air quality.

The difference between global temperatures during an Ice Age and an ice-free period is only about 5 deg. C. (shudder)

Recent news on global climate change

The number of parties that will contend that global warming is not real is shrinking fast. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is embracing a carbon trading initiative in the state of California (source = SF Gate):

The executive order is the first step in creating a system that helps California's largest manufacturers comply with stricter environmental regulations, a Schwarzenegger administration official said. Industrial corporations and utility companies must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 percent by 2020.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to build a large, robust carbon trading market that will dramatically reduce emissions," said Schwarzenegger communications director Adam Mendelsohn. "The more robust the market, the more effective we will be."

The executive order "will now get the northeast states working with California to trade credits in the very near future," Mendelsohn said.