Three little words that we've been focusing on over the last couple of years: creativity, innovation & responsibility. These are my slides from WDC 2012, where I share a few things we've learned and that have worked for us I've added notes to the slides so they'll make more sense without me mumbling over the top of them http://2012.webdevconf.com

2. Thanks for inviting me
Thanks for turning up
Let’s get to know each
other a little...

3. Who do we have out
there this morning...
Who considers
themselves a designer?

7. Whatever we do, I’m
sure we all want to put
our superpowers to
good use, yeah?
That’s why we’re here

8. So I’m David &
I work for
Redweb, a digital
agency in
Bournemouth

9. You can find
me on Twitter,
if you’d like to
say ‘hi’

10. My wardrobe
homage to a
favourite site of
mine this year

11. How do I describe
myself?
Well,
...I’m a kayaker

12. OK, so I used to be
a kayaker.
It got a little too
dangerous

13. I’m a fly
fisherman
I got stuck in a
bog & nearly died
I fell in a crevasse
& nearly died

14. So I should
probably stick to
my best, & safest,
sport

15. I like messing
about with
cameras

16. I’m a huge fan of duct
tape. It can fix
anything -
apart from my code

17. I’m a maker of
prints, paintings,
drawings & arty
stuff too

18. I’m an expert speed
dobber.
That means I draw
rocket ships on other
people’s work when
they’re not looking
People have said it’s
not big or clever but...

19. ...this one’s quite big
(me cleaning my
driveway last
weekend)

20. And this one’s *quite*
clever???
(a print I made for a
local show last year)

21. I’m an ex Flash
guy
I heart AS2

22. & I’m a designer
Here’s our latest work
of which I can’t take
much credit for...

23. As I’m part of a
big team, of little
teams, all working
together

24. But @iamKeir has
a very special
surprise later on

25. This is me....

26. Which means I
often get asked
this...

27. To which I reply this.
Which really winds
people up

28. This is the mission
statement of our
Innovation Lab

29. And this is
written in our
staff manifesto

30. We’ve changed what
we do & how we do it,
& we’re proud of what
we’ve achieved

31. I’m going to talk
about some of the
things that have
worked for us

32. Any questions?
OK, let’s start....

34. The C word.
We believe everyone is
creative. Not just
designers of those with
creative in their job title
Gartner said there were 5
creative outlooks/
windows.

35. These people love
research. Presented
with a huge box of lego,
they’d spend a lot of
time on Google first

36. These people like arranging &
rearranging. They look for
patterns & combinations.
They may start sorting our
lego into colour and shape

37. These people will tip all the lego on the
floor & make it up as they go along. They
crave excitement & spontaneity, & are
too impatient to follow instructions or
constraints

38. These guys want to know what we’re
building & why. They search for meaning
from the get go. This can be difficult &
dangerous

39. Mavericks want to know WTF we’re
doing playing with lego?
Useful for reality checks, but you need
to explain ideas to them with care &
structure

40. Where do you fit?
Where do your
colleagues fit?

41. We’ve found idea
sessions work
best if you have a
mix of creative
types

42. Now a little about
how our brains
are wired...

43. We rely heavily on
experience. Like trains
going down a track.
Imagine if every time
you saw your pants in
the morning you had
to work out what they
were & what to do
with them

44. Our brains work like
water flowing down a
river bed, following its
usual course, taking the
path of least resistance.
Let’s call these rivers of
experience.

45. New ideas happen
when connections
are made bet ween
different rivers

46. The more rivers of
experience we make, the
more new ideas we’ll be
capable of.
Our experiences are
unique to each of us. Our
ideas will also be unique
Make more rivers by
doing things differently,
trying new things, going
to new places, taking
risks, and leaving our
comfort zones.

47. A great work of art
is a culmination of
experiences

48. Let’s park all that
and move on to a
new analogy:
Ideas are like new
shoots

49. You can’t tell if a
plant is a flower
or a weed until its
grown on a bit.
We need to hold
off judgement (at
the early stages)
with ideas too.
We sometimes call
our innovation lab
our greenhouse

50. Plants need light & water
to grow.
Ideas need energy &
acceptance to grow
We need to say ‘yes and’
in these early stages and
save ‘no because’ for later

51. We need to give ideas need
time to grow & bloom.
It’s good to disconnect, get
some distance and let ideas
develop & stew

53. Here’s our simple definitions
behaviour vs process
inspiration vs perspiration
One can be practiced &
improved, the other is about
dedication & determinations

54. The further you can
blow a situation
apart with creative
thinking, the more
chance you have of
finding a unique &
suitable solution to
focus down on

55. Innovation is about
focus & determination.
Knowing when to
listen & when not to.
Knowing who to listen
to and who not to.

56. It’s not about past
business models & proven
case studies.
Have the balls to make the
calls

57. Rephrasing Q’s to get new
perspectives.
Be like Columbo and don’t
rest until you’ve found the
right answer

58. We could make a
game with 1 ball &
1 iPad...

59. But what if...
we added more
iPads, more balls,
more race track

60. We have to know
how tech works,
what it can do, and
what that means to
behaviours and
cultures

61. But we mustn’t be afraid
to break the rules
The best work comes
from subversion, surpise &
turning conventions n
their head

63. Freedom demands
courage. Fear of
failure can be very
real...

64. But failure is OK
Especially if you’ve being
trying your hardest,
pushing for the right
things & not giving up
it’s also OK if you
understand why, don’t
repeat it and progress

66. Innovation is about getting
things done
Prototypes, proofs of concept,
diagrams & sketches help get
things made
Real so we can test, evaluate,
improve or start again
Get going, then get better

67. Innovation is often more
about the journey than
the outcome
Make sure you keep your
eyes open & take
everything in

69. We’re still playing with
multiple screens
8 monitors, 8 browsers, 8
smart phones, 8 paddles,
1 ball, 2 goals

70. And we’re building our
own 3D printer to embark
on a new design &
manufacturing adventure

71. Serious face now, here
comes the unfashionable
bit...

72. As makers of things
we have
responsibilities that
we need to take
seriously

73. We have a responsibility
to our employers, our
clients & our end
audiences - to deliver
the best solutions
possible

74. We have responsibilities
to our colleagues our
collaborators and our
industry communities - to
help, support and push
ourselves

75. What will people want?
What will people need?
How will they access
what we build?
...in 1 yr time?
...in 2 yrs ... in 10 yrs?

76. Do we really need an
iPhone app for every
brand we interact with?
Do we really need more
data visualisations that
aren’t pretty & don’t
show us what the data
means easily enough?
Look at these peelers/
coreres/splitters. WTF?
Just buy a knife!

77. Don’t just follow trends.
Make things that matter,
that are not lazy or
wasteful or clutter
Make significant things

78. In January, there were
8milliion people in the
UK that had NEVER
been online
Think what they’ve
missed out on - money
savings, time savings,
knowledge, learning,
entertainment &
socially
We can help, we have
responsibility to help

79. Bill McDonough, in his
book Cradle to Cradle
urges us that we need to
make things:
“not just less bad, but
more good”
“...it’s the C20th & the
best we can do is put
wheels on our luggage”

80. We also have a responsibility
to ourselves:
to our development, to our
careers, to our happiness
To our mastery

81. & I think we have a
responsibility to f*ck around
Not in trivial, wasteful,
annoying ways. But in ways that
make us more innovative &
creative
I mean f*cking about in ways
which.....
[drum roll here]