A FEW TAKEAWAYS FROM

PLANNING-NESS 2013 THAS NASEEMUDDEEN

@THAZ7

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER BODY OF WATER...BOSTON: COMMUNITY ROWING CENTER

HOWDY! Every year, I try to do one of these little synopses for the folks who didn’t get a chance to join in person - nothing beats the real thing, but hopefully this gives you a little !avor

The takeaways are mine, the quotes + charts often blatantly stolen from our incredible speakers

All presentations are cited for reference - suggest you guys check them all out in their entirety when you can: http://planningness.com/2013-presentations/

This isn’t meant to be exhaustive (I wasn’t in on every presentation and sometimes I take awful notes) - just a few favorite key takeaways

Big thanks to the all wonderful presenters, Mark (and family!), Claire, Dylan and the volunteers who make this thing sing every year -- all on donated time

You guys are the best...

“PLANNING BY NUMBERS” IS A FALACY**You all know this, but I have to say it anyways...

Given the increasingly complex job strategists are tasked with, it’s no surprise that we’re constantly looking for the next great model or heuristic that will bring additional context to our thinking - many of us come to these conferences for such inspiration!

However, it’s so important to remind ourselves that there are no real answers to questions like “how to make something viral”- there are principles we can learn that help inform the choices we make along the way, but in our business nothing supersedes amazing ideas and brilliant thinking

The balance between art and science is one that strategists must keep close to their hearts - never erring to far either way

HOW TO DESIGN A CITY

FOOTPRINTS TO URBAN DESIGN“We do not create space. We alter it.” - Dan Pitera (Detroit Collaborative Design Center)

Designing a city is designing to the human experience - less about creating a space to attract people to live there and more about creating a place where people who already live there can thrive, grow perhaps consider returning to if they move away

Cities are made up of footprints - they mark memories, experiences and losses holding the signi"cance of a human action, captured in a physical sense as well as holding emotional weight

An important distinction: (population) density = complexity of human interactions, not the number of people per square foot

http://prezi.com/z7a5keenwroz/how-to-build-a-city-with-a-city/

“A great building must begin with the immeasurable, must go through measurable means when being designed, and in the end must be unmeasured” - Louis I Kahn

Sound familiar??

URBAN DESIGN MEETS (OUR) STRATEGY WORLD

IMMEASURABLE MEASURABLE IMMEASURABLE ideasintentionsdesiressocial mobility

structureformspacemateriality

emotionsdesiresmemoriesthought

http://prezi.com/z7a5keenwroz/how-to-build-a-city-with-a-city/

“A city is a place your heart can sing”

A nice little augment to a traditional SWOT analysis as it is used in urban design exercises

Taking a step beyond the typical quadrants, the “STEEP” axis can adds context and the ability to create more actionable analyses

STRATEGIC TOOLS: STEEP/SWOT MATRIX

S(trengths)

W(weaknesses)

O(pportunities)

T(hreats)

S(ocial) T(echnology) E(conomic) E(cological) P(olitical)

http://prezi.com/z7a5keenwroz/how-to-build-a-city-with-a-city/

“...(use) design methods that promote the spontaneity of idea sharing (not a method that leads to a particular result)”

- Design to verbs not nouns: (ask how a city functions in terms of actions rather than things)

- ”Creative amnesia”: when approaching a new problem sometimes the "rst thing to do is forget what you know (way harder to do than it sounds)

- Look at the overlaps of function rather than discreet functions in isolation

- Try not to be too prepared (every strategist gasps for breath...)

STRATEGIC TOOLS: PROBLEM SOLVING TRICKS

http://prezi.com/z7a5keenwroz/how-to-build-a-city-with-a-city/

CONNECTED DEVICES

TELEVISION: INDUSTRY OR DEVICE? Awesome “future of” session with MIT’s incredibly sharp Henry Holtzman

TV is dead. TV is more successful than ever.

Most of us have heard iterations of both - but “TV” isn’t de"ned solely as a device (or set)

Fundamental truth: people will always seek entertainment; GOOD entertainment

TV “channel” or network is what is in danger of becoming meaningless - it’s no longer an organizing principle given the plethora of content out there

Particularly endangered is the network channel which doesn’t seem to have any kind of cohesive thread binding discrete content together

THE “SECOND SCREEN”Currently we develop apps for a second device to monopolize a viewers attention - as a companion to a TV show, with the assumption people WANT to be monopolized

The reality is, people don’t want to pay full attention to a single entity

Doing “something else” while watching TV isn’t a new behavior - people have always done other things with things that don’t require their undivided attention (reading, leaving the room, cooking, eating...) -

Yes, people do like talking to each other about shows, which is why social media is perfect forum for having conversations - but creating a standalone app to moderate social conversation can be meaningless - it’s far more simple to just play on existing platforms

FUTURE OF TVThe Future of TV is bright according to Henry Holtzman: more choices, more places, interactivity and MORE PIXELS.

Another hypothesis: the Future of TV may lie in the form of the app store rather than a channel guide...

Premium content migrates out of channels and into apps - creating more interactive, fully experiential content in ONE space rather than splitting into two screens - in the same way that magazines + newspapers have become apps (rather than splitting attention between a ‘screen’ and a paper)

A CASE STUDY: NEXTREAMHoltzman brought up one very interesting MIT project: NeXtream as a “Social TV” platform

This project poses the question: what if we could allow a social network BE the network (taking the power away from channels)

The simple framework for "ltering is as follows:

The screens are working in consort rather than competing for attention - two steps of "ltering and functionality

http://eco.media.mit.edu/static/nextream/index.html

• Holtzman brought up one very interesting MIT project: Nextream as a “Social TV” platform

• Essentially it has the screens working TOGETHER rather than competing for attention - two steps of filtering and functionality: allowing a social network BE the network (taking the power away from channels)

• The simple framework for

http://eco.media.mit.edu/static/nextream/index.html

HOW TO DESIGN FOR KIDS

DESIGNING EXPERIENCES FOR KIDSLoved this last session of the event (I also wrote my undergrad dissertation in children and play, so perhaps a bias...)

Things to bear in mind to successfully design for kids:

1. use of natural elements

2. utilize a range of play experiences

And remember: kids create their own narratives for whatever space you give them - kids will make play without you facilitating a thing

What we once thought kid’s play looked like...

...how kid’s play best.

“Play doesn’t make a kid a better adult, it makes a kid a better kid”

5 KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL PLAY

1. Wabi sabi - the idea of impermanence (slight imperfections - holes, strings...)

2. Secrets - dens, forts, a place that’s away -- "nding the secret world in a video game

3. Hard fun - adventure play - play with an element of risk

4. Play with scale - feeling very small vs. feeling very big

5. Real - playing with REAL things vs. kid versions of the real

CONTAGIOUS IDEAS

CONTAGIOUS IDEASJonah Berger led an interesting session centered around his book, Contagious - the science behind how things catch on (ugh, “go viral”)

Still a very salient point - “social currency” being one of the most motivating factors of a contagious idea - being an individual ‘in the know’ is a fundamental human desire.

I stumbled on some great sketch notes summarizing the main seven thesis points of Berger’s framework for contagious ideas (which is far more interesting than me writing them...)

http://www.thegraphicrecorder.com/2013/03/20/sketchnotes-of-good-life-project-interview-with-jonah-berger/

http://www.thegraphicrecorder.com/2013/03/20/sketchnotes-of-good-life-project-interview-with-jonah-berger/

HOW TO BE FABULOUS

OH HAI!You say: “Drag show?”

I say: “Yes please.” (duh)

Wild horses couldn’t keep me away from the ever-fabulous Sheila Dubai...

Brave, unapologetic and fabulous, huge kudos to Ms. Sheila for strutting her stuff and reminding us all the core of this conference - to cut loose a bit and remember to have FUN while learning a thing or two.

BE F!@#ING FABULOUS

Fun exercises comprised much of the session, the most important reminder was: BE INTERESTING

I know that sounds a bit wank-ish, but sometimes we forget - we’re too wrapped up in the work itself that we forget that being super interesting people MAKE us good at the work

Do things that you love and that ignite your creative spirit and the “work” answers often become more clear: - having deep passions = new perspective - don’t be afraid to use that perspective in how you solve (work related) problems - utilize that unique perspective as a problem solving lens rather a "lter for judgement

SEE Y’ALL NEXT YEAR...