(2008-10-21) Cooper Hewitt Free This Week

It's Design Week, so the Cooper Hewitt museum is free all week. There's an interesting-sounding exhibit on Urban Development in China.

There's a free panel discussion tomorrow about the "business of Design". Panelists: Bob Greenberg (RGA), Marissa Mayer (Google), Amy Radin, Citi. (Live Event)

Panel notes:

• Bruce Nussbaum (Business Week, New School): Re Cession requires Innovation, which needs Design

• CitiBank (was Chief Innovation Officer): design for better Self Service customer experience to reduce support costs.

• RGA: importance of Mobile, esp for Third World

• Marissa Mayer: Scarcity drives Clarity, Constraints drive Creativity

• CitiBank: designing ways for people to keep their homes

• RGA: NikePlus, Nokia GPS-based Life Streaming device

• Bruce: Platform-s for Community?

• Mayer: apps for Sharing (Google Calendar); Google Maps as Mirror World (does SketchUp run on Mac?)

• CitiBank: customer input into Product Design (does this count as Co-Creation?), Talk to existing communities to find out their issues.

• Bruce Nussbaum: dynamic Data Visualization (Gap Minder?): Visual modality.

• CitiBank: show how people "like me" manage their finances

• RGA: people love their personal data, but need visual interface

• Bruce: potential for Education, HealthCare

• RGA: importance of Green-Tech, eg Pre-Fab housing (current exhibit at MoMA)

• Mayer: Google Health (shared records avoid retest), personal genetic profiles; importance of Privacy, Transparency, Control (ahem China).

Toulou, China exhibit

• history: Fujian Toulou, 5 stories, 800 people, inward-facing for protection

• macro: 26% fewer city Bicycle-ists 2001-2006; 166 Chinese cities have 1M+ people!

• Toulou: 6 stories, 245 apts (all 2br, 333sqft, up to 6 adults!)