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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
Pic: source Counterintuitive Series: Psyched vs Calm Counterintuitiveness makes life more interesting. It also briefly reveals gaps or lags in our understanding or mindsets. From time to time, life demands that we get charged for something. Could be the commencement of a big project, a project with a tight deadline, a school or college assignment…
Counterintuitive Series: Babies resisting sleep Counterintuitiveness makes life more interesting. It also briefly reveals gaps or lags in our understanding or mindsets. This particular one is a hypothesis and not an example (yet at least), but let me have your views or experiences on it. Pic: source A lot of parents of young kids nowadays,…
image: source Counterintuitiveness – Unhurried conversations Counterintuitiveness makes life more interesting. It also briefly reveals gaps or lags in our understanding or mindsets. Some weeks ago, I chanced upon a virtual session titled “Unhurried Conversations about Rule-breaking”, hosted by Johnnie Moore and Tim Pilbrow. Often, virtual sessions are mostly unidirectional. And interactions either lack many…