Human-to-dog communication will continue to improve, so dogs may pick up on more human traits. Dogs could understand more complex thoughts and emotions. It would help to be able to communicate clearly to your dog that the uncomfortable ear medicine will make them feel better. Better communication would be useful for service dogs to communicate with their owner or with strangers when they need help.

The chitter chatter about what we don’t know about Ai gets old when industry leaders are constantly being quoted for fearing Ai. But it’s easy to play semantics and generate fearful hype, for example, any news source right now. There’s plenty of fear to acknowledge, but we know we have no control over that. Instead, we have control over what we can explore today and how we can use our tools in creative ways. There is also information on likely tools that will soon be available.

It’s what designers are actually doing, Human Centered Design plays a part. Human Centered Design is most reliable when it comes to measurable information like Anthropometry. This information is useful when researching design directions and for presenting to the client. If you can’t convince and delight clients then your business is not sustainable. It’s important to keep all of your audience in mind while designing and strategizing.

Get better at asking questions and offering context behind prompts. Approach Ai like you approached Solidworks. You can be skilled in Solidworks but only from being knowledgeable about the software and skilled at problem solving, physics and the components being modelled. Ai is more useful when you know how to communication with it, understand how you learn, and be able to prioritize information in your prompt.

It’s challenging to change user behavior. Incremental user changes have developed over time, like ordering dinner. Initially, people had to order takeout with a phone to order pizza delivery. Now, internet orders have taken over and you can even order food on a tv.

We want to give people good feedback, but we don’t know everything. No one has ever known everything, so giving good feedback has never required that.

Good design is sometimes designed to be noticeable. The noticeable parts can communicate how the product works. A sofa is obviously designed for you to sit on it.

The people at Pixar are master storytellers. People of all ages find insight in their movies because they’re so relatable. The movie “Up” (2009) is filled with real-life touchpoints. My favorite part is at the end when Russell talks to Carl about how he remembers the boring stuff more than the sensational stuff from all parts of his life.

There is tension between uniformity and conformity and it comes from their relationship with creativity. Uniformity can be a way to create a sense of order. Products and systems are easier to use and efficient. And conformity is another concept that ties in with stifling innovation, but there is a place for both.

We don’t really need so many flavors of bar soap. People want options especially when a company is large and has sold the same regular flavor for years.

Before your flight takes off, flight attendants show you safety procedures by speaking and demonstrating what to do in cases of emergency. If attendants only spoke over the intercom, passengers would have no clue what to do before an emergency landing. When we haven’t experienced it, or at least seen it, it’s hard to think in the thick of it.

It’s a product designer’s job to be the translator between the user and everyone else involved in the product development process. So, when a user says that something feels off about a design, it’s your job to find out what that means.

Perhaps the most common design rule of thumb is that like goes with like. Books go on a bookshelf, pencils at the pharmacy are in the office supplies aisle, and a bottle of acetaminophen doesn’t come with a package of Peeps.

I jot down at least 10 notes / day anyways, but they’re not as well formed as the blog posts. Writing down thoughts can help sink roots into what you know, clear your mind, and ready it for decision-making.

If it can go wrong, it will go wrong, and at the worst of times. It's a law more popular than Cole’s Law, which is ground cabbage usually with a mayo base.

Pepsi’s new positioning will better distinguish itself from industry leader, Coca Cola, by appealing to a younger, bolder, “unapologetic” audience. The usage of black and dark blue reference Pepsi’s zero sugar designs because all Pepsi products will see a reduction in sugar content. Pepsi is a large company that navigates through vastly different strategies than a smaller company would. This is why a company like Sprecher Brewing Company, producer of Green River soda, is not a direct competitor to Pepsi and strategizes differently to stay relevant in their region.

When two design paths are discovered that could be equally successful, how do you determine the right one to pull the trigger on?

Gather and keep resources organized throughout projects and you can create a sharable, growing archive of useful tools. With enough projects and information to other peoples’ findings, you can make increasingly better decisions over time.