The Middle Seat
In 2019, the US FAA approved the company Molon Labe Seating's (MLS) landmark seat design for commercial airplanes. What MLS did, is take the problem of discomfort of middle-seat passengers, and attempted to solve…
Tag: Shrutin Shetty
Between Optimism and Pessimism
Image: source It helps to have a positive mindset, especially in a crisis or trying time, since those with a negative mindset crumble quickly. But even optimism and some values have their limits, especially…
A Forward: What is Butt Dust?
Image: link I had shared this forward on social media a few years ago, and it popped back up today. Apart from the innocence, simplicity and being purely hilarious, it is a nice example of…
The Brave Peacekeepers of Jadotville
The battle known as the Siege of Jadotville, is an almost unbelievable story of grit, leadership, of unwavering loyalty and courage, of calm, and of extraordinary strategy and tactics; especially in the face of deceit,…
WT f UX
Last week, I was speaking with a post-grad design student who had just finished her Masters, and was trying to figure out her career options. She mentioned that most job opportunities on campus involved UI/UX…
Constraints and the beautiful A-10
Contrary to popular belief: constraints help make better products (or services), and a good innovative product or service does not need to be expensive As a young kid, one thing I was good at, was…
Exploitative Businesses & Divine (and Tech) Interventions
When I wrote 'Design the Future' about Design Thinking, it had a brief overview of the behavioural aspects of innovation - from an innovator's and user's perspective. There was a mention of nudges (not…
Hyperboles and Statistics don’t Mix Well
Do you use hyperboles often? I do. Mostly with close friends and family, but when necessary, with clients or my students. Helps convey the meaning or gravity of an idea or situation. Like when Gordon…
Better Use of Time
Image: source We humans have always dealt awkwardly with time. Some look for new ways to kill it. Others, better ways to fill it. And the lockdown has really done a number on how we…
Don’t Worry, Nothing’ll Happen
What was missing before and during the 2007-08 global financial meltdown, and during the Covid-19 pandemic? Or during the Spanish Flu? Or in Nazi Germany? Something that perhaps could have prevented the resulting tragedies? …
In Memoriam: Mr. Ramesh C Sarin
One of my mentors, Mr. Ramesh C. Sarin passed away on the 10th of April this year. He was already long retired when I first met him. And he had this rare, dignified personality…
Life is a Highway
India - More highways or Better National & Public Transport? This is an email I had sent to our Minister for Road Transport & Highways in January this year. Of course I am still…
The Next Educational Diversion from our normal human behaviour
In my book, I briefly discussed the topic of quality in the world of innovation and automation. My view was that through the quality revolution in the US and Japan and then other parts of…
Bitcoin
Bitcoin, Bit(e)coin I'll start by saying that I clearly don't know much about cryptocurrency. I'll also add that it would be incredibly beneficial to have a global currency that works securely without the need…
Segway
Not sure y'all heard, but Segway stopped production in 2020. Founded in 2001, those incredible-looking, futuristic two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporters were priced at a prohibitive $5000-8000 a unit. Probably why, despite their universal popularity and…