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How to train a Hostess

So scary it's got to be true; this rather harsh but probably very efficient take on behavioural training is just what you'd expect from the nation that's taking the 2008 Olympics VERY seriously.

From the mostly excellent Observer Sports monthly:

Take time to acknowledge all that arduous training when Olympians are awarded their medals, not only the athletes but the red suited 'victory ceremony hostesses' who will present flowers to the winners.

Selected after a long series of auditions, the hostesses have spent months learning how to smile, walk and look bow according to strict rules. Good posture has been ensured by a drill requiring the hostesses to stand with a book on their heads while clutching a sheet of paper between their knees (try it folks, it works!).

Smiles which must reveal 'only six to eight teeth', were strengthened by marathon sessions of chopstick-biting. "By the end of the class, our lips were numb", said one hostess, "but after several days, the smile came naturally".

We've been designing host roles and figuring out behaviours at Engine - using actors, props, costumes, scripts... that's part of the fun of being a Service Designer. I hadn't thought of chomping chop-sticks to train a smile though.

"Design Thinking", HBR and Business Week.

Just noticed this piece on businessweek.com alerting me to an article in Harvard Business Review by IDEO’s Tim Brown on Design Thinking.

As Bruce Nussbaum says... The fact that the Harvard Business Review asked IDEO's CEO Tim Brown to write about Design Thinking in the current issue is as important as what he had to say in the piece. It marks the acceptance and legitimization of design/innovation as an important business process and strategic tool for managers.

I’ve subscribed to Business Week for the last couple of years and to be honest they’ve blown IDEO’s trumpet a little too frequently and often for my liking, so HBR picking up the baton as it were is as Bruce says very important for our industry in the broadest sense.

If you want to save the 15 quid on the cover price of the magazine, you can download it from HBR’s excellent site.

You might also scour businessweek.com for their coverage of service innovation, UCD and experience design. Their podcasts are worth subscribing to too.

Help with a question about Airports

Super-quick post this (and please excuse the rubbish formatting). Here's a question I need help in answering...

What makes a great Airport?

Is it the coolest shops, the finest food or the shortest queues? Maybe it’s something else altogether. What do you think? Bonus points for a true-life story.

I guess my question has 2 parts. What do you think are the ingredients of a great Airport (what you know) - then what would you like to see in an Airport (what you desire).

Of course the answers have a caveat, based on context - which itself presents interesting design challenges around choice and flexibility.

If you have a moment, I'd really appreciate any thoughts you have. Thanks...

Help with a question about Airports

Super-quick post this. Here's a question I need help in answering...

What makes a great Airport?

Is it the coolest shops, the finest food or the shortest queues? Maybe it’s something else altogether. What do you think? Bonus points for a true-life story.

I guess my question has 2 parts. What do you think are the ingredients of a great Airport (what you know) - then what would you like to see in an Airport (what you desire).

Of course the answers have a caveat, based on context - which itself presents interesting design challenges around choice and flexibility.

If you have a moment, I'd really appreciate any thoughts you have. Thanks...

What not to take through Airport Security

As part of a Service Prototype, we'd asked our model-maker to make up a buzzer. This was so that in a service we were prototyping, we could test certain scenarios that would otherwise been initiated by technology that we didn't yet have in place.

We were faking it.

We tried shouting, we tried a whistle - but we wanted a buzzer. Switch, battery, buzzer, case and tape. It all worked a dream.

After were were finished, the little buzzer stayed in my back-pack.

A few days later I was about to go through Airport Security when I thought I'd check the contents of my bag. There was a craft knife, a screwdriver, some  hand gel and a bottle of water which I removed.

I also thought it best to leave the buzzer out.