Carbon footprint

The carbon footprint, sum of the greenhouse gas emissions that one produces, is for an average Finn somewhere around 10 tons of CO2 per year. I did a test on the internet to measure what is the size of my footprint and got a result of over 13 tons a year.

The average test is divided into food, living, vehicles and garbage disposal. Driving and flying frequently, eating meat, heavy usage of consumer electronics and neglecting recycling are big evils on the tests.

This got me thinking that it would be interesting to have a real-time calculator which would help visualize day to day consuming habits. It would track home energy and water consumption, travel distances by car, public transport and flying as well as follow the buying habits of food, clothes etc. The application could
give out reports of recent consumption and tips on how to reduce ones environmental impact.

But then again, it would have to be quite well integrated into the home, car and credit card so that the user would not have to enter all information by hand. So this idea isn’t that practical for the time being.

How to visualise information?

First of all, sorry for the long interval in posting. We are now pretty much down to two people, so the posts keeping up the pace is tough. But worry not, we’re still here and here’s something that will hopefully make up for the long break.

I have a task at hand about how to visualise complex processes and interconnections between different items. Everybody knows how a simple mind map works, but what about when the chains get more complex so that the map will be difficult to use and understand?

For example, if you take any process from a modern organisation and try to visualise it by showing all different kinds of connections, you can understand that it will be huge. A large wall of posters and post-it-notes will not even do.

So, a quick google around really opened my eyes to some really stunning ways to show complex information.

First, check out the Visual Complexity site which hosts some really stunning ways to display networks.

Second, go to the Information Architects blog and open up their latest version of the Trend Map. A great representation of the current state of the web and it’s players.

So, next time when your struggling with your mind maps, remember to look around for other ways.

New visual identity for Aalto University (pt.2)

Aalto University has revealed the final version of their new visual identity. It’s based on the winning entry to a design competition that was held earlier and won by Rasmus Snabb. The basic version of the logo is A? The other variables are A! and A*. The different symbols following the A change the meaning of the logo and remind that the university is not predetermined to be something particular and that it’s open for conversation and questioning.

Whatever the message, at least it’s simple enough and will probably be quite visible in Helsinki in the coming years. Aalto University will also be publishing their new website www.aalto.fi in 2010.

Future scenarios - Kahdeksan ikkunaa auki tulevaisuuteen

A press release dropped into my mailbox, with very interesting content. The title is only in Finnish, sorry, but I’ll try to translate the essential bits for you.

There’s a new future scenarios handbook been published tomorrow on the 15th by TNS Gallup & Design Agency Kuudes Kerros. The work is based on research by Risc Monitor (Research Institute on Social Change) research programme, which has been running from 1978.

The contents include 8 different scenarios for future consumers in Finland, with titles: “Peace, Accustomisation, Network, Freedom, Power, Feeling, Light and Quality”

They claim that the scenarios shouldn’t be “super-futuristic”, which sounds good. Like most people know that in future scenarios the assessments are often taken over the top with flying cars á la 50’s.

Just passing on the info, I’m definitely going to check out the material in person.

Crowdsourcing in decision making

I just read a great comment on an article from the Finnish Talouselämä magasine about decision making.

Until now, I have believed firmly in the theory that if you ask any question from a great number of different people, you will get a better decision than from a smaller number. One author that describes this theory is James Surowiecki in his new book “The Wisdom of Crowds”.

The article that opened my eyes pointed out a fundamental problem of crowdsourcing in decision making, which I will try to describe here.

If the probability of making the right decision per person is over 50%, then adding more people will eventually lead to a correct decision. Simple enough.

But, if the probability of making the right decision per person is under 50%, adding more people will lead to the wrong decision. This problem was first discovered by a French philosopher De Condorcet in 1785, so this isn’t a new thing. You can a more detailed description of Condorcet’s Jury Theorem from Wikipedia.

This is a really interesting subject for me, as I’m really interested in improving the decision making in organisations, and this proves once again that you should first study history before making any new statements. Credits go to professor Matti Wiberg on his comments!

Mouse and men

I don’t think that my requirements are that demanding; it should be wireless - not a problem nowadays. It should have a good scroll and more than the basic 3-4 buttons - again quite easy to find. It should be large enough so it can be handled by big hands. And this brings us to the last point, it has to be symmetrical so that it can be used with both hands. I’m ambidextrous and I like to switch side every now and then. 

Online Design Resources for You

I think it’s high time to share more of the resources that we use to scour the internet for news and ideas.

One long time favorite for me has been Dezeen magazine, which focuses on design and architecture. If you know Core77, it may sound a bit similar, but I still prefer to go through both offerings pretty often. The architecture (both interior and exterior) is a good blend to the usual industrial design offerings.

So, if you haven’t been there, do check them out!

Open Helsinki

As we root for Helsinki to become the 2012 Design Capital - we might as well share the link to Helsinki’s promotional site ‘Open Helsinki - embedding design in life’. Check it out to find out what is happening in Helsinki and why it should get first prize in the competition.