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The Hostile World for Women

The normal-seeming world of us men is often a battle zone that most women need to navigate each day.
Places and experiences we might not give a second thought about, can be horribly taxing on the attentional space of women.
We all need to educate, be considerate, and design safer and more thoughtful spaces and processes for them.

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Heel Rollers – Not a great Design

Image: source   Heel rollers, heel wheel skates, or heel wheels, have a fundamental flaw in their design.   If we humans were to pick between standing for a minute on the front section of our feet or the heels of our feet, odds are we would be more comfortable on the front section. The…

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Plastic Diet – Trying to Predict Big Pharma’s Next Big Thing

Image: source Since plastic is pretty much an inescapable part of our diets now, and since we humans are inclined to prefer selling/buying a solution rather than inconveniencing ourselves with rollbacks or preventive efforts, my prediction for big pharma is that their next big offering will be pills (or some other form) of supplements to…

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Product Design – Bottle Necks

I recently got some (plastic 😬) bottles for home. Not proud of it. But anyway, I noticed a small design anomaly with them. Normally, the neck of most bottles are only slightly shorter than their lids.   Now while these bottles are fine otherwise (except, plastic!), I wonder how many people who’ve bought them have…

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How the Future of Text Content Should Be

Pic: source As our attention spans go from low to almost non-existent in an increasingly noisy world, I get especially wary whenever I need to read a verbose report. Especially ones with unusually large paragraphs. You know it might be important, but just the way it is structured makes it very difficult to read to…

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Product Use and Experience – Range and Layers

There is a beauty to how some products (and software) are designed. Think scissors. If we want to cut something fast, we use the forward section of the blades (speed multiplier). Want to cut something fatter or tougher, use the rear end of the blades (effort multiplier); and cut slower, or risk breaking the scissors….

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All We Need is Somebody to Lean On

Sometime before lockdown, I was in another city, attending a wedding. The reception was in this beautiful open ground. I’m no fan of wedding ceremonies, so once I was done admiring the place, I was a little bored. After some time at the bar, I caught up with a few people, and was back to…

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Even Flow

Image: source In the past few months, I happened to come across some books and a lot of articles around habits. What at least some of us who struggle to build a good habit (or get rid of a bad one) assume, is that habits are like finding a nice, quiet spot somewhere (at a…

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The ‘Sample Size of One’ Concept Simplified

Given my growing interest in behavioural science and behavioural economics, when there was quite some news about the replication crisis in the field, it got me wondering if there might be a better way to undertake studies so that they remain relevant, if not replicable. The thought was triggered by a random interaction in the…

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We Need Better Staplers

Pic: source It took a nice bleeding cut, thanks to a tough staple pin that held some car mats together, for me to realize how hostile the world was for animals. Staple-less staplers exist, but are far from commonplace. Got to wonder why they are so expensive. A cursory look on Amazon showed the cheapest…