April 2008
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The Ten Distinguishing Properties of Wicked Problems
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2 min read
You may have heard of Rittel and Webber’s wicked problems (problems that are messy, circular, and aggressive). I was interested to see their original paper (pdf) includes ten distinguishing properties “that planners had better be alert to” because “policy problems cannot be definitively described.” There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem Wicked problems…
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The Wii’s Blue Ocean Has to Float Partners Too
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2 min read
It seems Wii games aren’t selling as well as competitors’ games. The New York Times article cites two culprits: Audience: “They don’t buy new games with the fervor of a traditional gamer who is constantly seeking new stimulation.“ Marketing: “Part of the problem, analysts say, is that other game makers have yet to embrace unconventional…
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Pages and Direct Manipulation
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1 min read
Now that we have rich web interfaces and sufficient bandwidth there’s talk of the death of the web page. While that may happen someday, for now we’re on a gradual journey of using pages differently than we used to. One difference is simply introducing more direct manipulation, such as clicking and/or dragging the pages themselves…
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In Tillie’s, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
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1 min read
“Hey Man†“Hey, how’s it going?†“Good good. You know, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve been watching what you’re doing and it looks wild. What is that?†“Oh, I’m sort of drawing a piece of software.†“Drawing it? Is that how you do it?†“Well ya, I draw what it’ll look like, and…