Ever thought about the design of Kevin’s booby traps in Home Alone? Consider these critiques before you choose how to defend your home this Christmas…
Inspiring YouTube Channels
YouTube is a treasure trove for design-related content. Here are a few channels to consider once those Christmas presents have been opened and you’re ready to cozy up and be inspired during Christmas break.
The LEGO Brick
The creation of the LEGO Unit was not only a meaningful piece of LEGO history but rather a fundamental player in modern LEGO design culture. It’s no surprise the market loves this toy. It’s proven so by buying more than 600 billion bricks produced to date. Enough for every person on the planet to have 81 pieces.
I Can Do Hard Things, but I Can’t Do All Things.
Stressed? Robert Juvinall’s book Stress, Strain, and Strength talks about how engineered parts hold up under pressure – but there are some interesting parallels that can put your stress in perspective and help you see that you can do hard things, but also that you can’t do all things.
Design for Star Wars
There is a common phrase among design engineers: Design for X. And although you might not be involved in such a high-stakes design activity as Star Wars, yet, you can still embrace some of the principles it took to bring this universe to life.
Golf Ball Dimples - A Design Feature for Distance
It takes a little curiosity and engineering to make certain features standard on many everyday things. Take a look at how dimples became one on golf balls.
Groupthink in Design Thinking
There are a lot of reasons to seek a unanimous decision. We do it all the time to be or feel united, avoid hard feelings, increase buy-in, etc. But when the stakes are higher, and the decisions are more complicated and multi-dimensional, the last thing you want is full consensus early on in the decision-making process.
Seeds of Failure
To have any hope of success, the following three issues should be focused on simultaneously during and from the beginning of product development. Don’t leave them to chance and don’t ignore them.
Christmas Gift Ideas for Design Engineers
Trying to find that perfect gift for the engineer or designer in your life? Give these ideas a try…
Self-Imposed Deadlines
One secret to designing a better life: Self-imposed deadlines.
3 Things CAD Beginners Should Do
Sure, the world we live in has three dimensions that we work and live in on a regular basis. But as soon as you face that computer screen, the mind tends to snap straight to its default 2D mode.
How to Ideate as a Team
Almost all product development is done in a team setting, owing largely to the strongly held belief that the collective thinking of a group outperforms that of “the lone genius."
Making Products That Don’t Suck
Pixar has had 14 straight number one releases. How do they do it? How do they go ‘from suck to not-suck’?
The First Face of Innovation: The Anthropologist
A designer in the role of an Anthropologist will take the time to really learn about the customer and everything that impacts the customer. Learn about Tom Kelley’s first face of innovation - The Anthropologist.
Two Ideas a Day
Have you ever wondered, “when am I going to have a breakthrough idea?” If so, then maybe the better question to ask is “what am I doing to come up with that idea?”
Ambiguity and Design Freedom
Without ambiguity, there is no design freedom, no decision-making, and no design. Therefore, we should embrace ambiguity and consider it our job as designers to thrive in that environment.
Letters of Recommendation
Looking for some tips on letters of recommendations? Don’t leave it to chance. Here is a good place to start, make an impact and distinguish yourself from the crowd.
A Baseball Conspiracy?
Baseball has always had a culture of data collection and analysis – called sabermetrics. It is amazing in and of itself that someone can throw a baseball over 100 mph, but what makes it even more interesting is that we know the exact day, pitch number, windspeed, ambient temperature that Jordan Hicks threw a ball 104.2 mph earlier this year.
The Pastry Chef Who Teaches Engineers
She doesn’t know it, but Bon Appétit pastry chef Claire Saffitz has taught me and my students what I wish all engineers could know and practice. She’s taught us how to approach design problems with the right skill and attitude.
The Magic Box of Pins (and its effect on my view of design)
Could it be that the design of equipment, material processes, transportation, and supply chain logistics have become so advanced and sophisticated that unbelievable things are so common that we take them for granted? Check out how a box of pins can change your perspective on the supply chain and engineering.