A couple months ago I worked with a team of strategists and creatives from firms such as Code and Theory and Cake New York to design a solution to the No Right Brain Left Behind challenge.  The challenge brief asked the creative profession to design concepts that will address the creativity crisis in US Schools Some very good ideas were generated but our separate work loads and schedules did not allow us to put in the time that we would have liked to.  Our brief foray into the notion of waning creativity in kids education did get me thinking though.

The idea I came up with is a learning tool called ‘Subject Mash Up!’.  The basis of the concept is the idea that looking at one subject through the lens of another subject will provide opportunities for new insights and a more thorough learning experience.  The few sketches here show that ‘Subject Mash Up!’ is a platform designed to help students  learn by layering one subject over another and using that new context to ask questions and seek new understanding.  Instead of simply studying history, students could learn about it through the art of that period.  Then learn about art through the lens of storytelling and metaphoric symbolism.  Or learn about math by studying patterns in music.  The opportunities for layering different subjects over each other is nearly endless. (more sketches after jump)

Students could apply each subject symbol to the object or subject that is currently being viewed which would bring up questions about that topic from the perspective of the subject symbol being applied.  Symbols could also be dragged and layered over each other or set in ‘equations’ to produce more hybrid lines of questioning and exploration.  The most important aspect of this platform design, though, is the ‘Mash Up!’ feature.  The bright symbol with the lightning bolt signals a dramatic shift in the learning process.  And a point at which creative thinking must be applied.  The ‘Mash Up!’ symbol would introduce an assignment that encourages the students to think about the subject at hand from a completely different perspective.  This ‘Mash Up!’  juxtaposition would task students to generate something new of their own, causing the learning process to culminate in a thoughtful yet creative exercise.

This ‘Mash Up!’ of disparate ideas, or ‘collision of half hunches’ as Steven Johnson puts it, is the mental space where creative thought can lead to new ideas and innovation.  The product of the ‘Mash Up!’ exercise may have kids arrive at a place completely different from where they began.  But it is the process of thinking through each of the perspectives to achieve their solution that will seek to provide a deeper learning experience.  Teaching kids to be open to this type of exploration and to flex their creative thinking muscles in this way could do much to foster the resurgence of creativity in our kids and our education system.

“Subject Mash Up!’ is currently just a rough sketch of a concept.  But it is an idea for a platform that I think could be developed for use over several channels such as in the classroom, interactive website and online community, an iPad app, a card game, etc.  I would welcome feedback and input from developers that are interested in building on this idea and working to foster creativity in the education space.

Really, though, this business concept will work in other, more permanent, spaces as well.  I have designed the logo and graphic language for the concept.  I have also designed the menu and developed all the recipes.  This could be a very fun Summer start-up project.  I am currently looking for space and investing partners.  Please contact me if you would like more details.

Well, the conclusion to the challenge had finally come.  The ten winning concepts, along with seven concepts that chef Jamie picked, have just been announced on the OpenIDEO website here.  And I was thrilled and honored to discover that one of my concepts had been chosen to be included in the winning ten.  You can see the full entry here.

I had great fun coming up with concepts for this challenge and interacting with the other designers that contributed comments on my design work and concepts of their own.  The OpenIDEO platform has been amazing in cultivating a sense of collective work to find solutions to big problems.  I am really excited to see how it develops with subsequent challenges.  I also am excited to see what chef Jamie does with the ideas and concepts that have been generated from his challenge.  His focus on school lunches and kid’s eating choices in both the UK and US is tough work but vital for us to think about.  And strive to fix.  I appreciate his efforts and look forward to seeing some real change in how kids eat.  I am happy that I could be a part of the process and contribute to his work with my concepts for his OpenIDEO challenge.  I look forward to more opportunities to contribute to Jamie Oliver’s healthy eating programs in the future.  Thanks to both Jamie and IDEO for making this challenge happen!

Question background:  The relationship between Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson has at times been described as both a rivalry and a collaboration. But what was it? History is full of creative rivalries such as Picasso and Matisse, Adidas and Puma, Microsoft and Apple, even the entire Renaissance. Today, though, technology has fostered a new model of creative process. Using open source software development and online collaborative platforms like OpenIDEO, designers are encouraged to collaborate instead of compete.

The Question: In your opinion, what produces the most innovative ideas and effective solutions: ‘Competition’ or ‘Collaboration’? Are there circumstances where one works better than the other?

To follow the full discussion please visit the Glass House Conversations website here.

A similarly (but not quite as) large number of you have also been into a Dunkin’ Donuts.  And invariably stood in line in that Dunkin’ Donuts.  How did that waiting experience compare to the Starbucks line?

I have been thinking recently about how similar both Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are.  Yet how different.  Both brand’s core products are more similar than it might seem.  Coffee drinks, pastry-type edibles and a few extras.  But I would submit that the experiences in both stores are so different that we might have a hard time thinking of them as competitors.

First and foremost in the brand differentiation is the customer experience of waiting in line in the store.  It is just my conjecture but I will bet that you usually don’t mind the Starbucks ’sequence of experience’ of ordering, paying and then waiting for your drink.  And I will also bet that you usually find the same ’sequence of experience’ at Dunkin’ Donuts to be frustrating and too slow.

Why such a marked difference in experience?  I think it has a lot to do with how each customer is addressed by the brand at points along the sequence path.  At Starbucks the cashier, or brand representative, greets you and takes your order.  For most drink orders, they pass it along to the barrista who is busily making drinks while being visible, and vocal, to the entire store.  The cashier may grab a pastry out of the case or pour a regular coffee for you but they are quickly back to the register for you to pay.  You then move over to the barrista station to wait for your drink which usually takes no more than a couple minutes.

As an aside, the Spring Street Starbucks in New York’s SoHo, one of the busiest stores in the country, recently renovated the space and added a ‘greeter’ position to the experience.  This person greets the customer and asks what they want.  The greeter then radios the order via headset to the barrista about 15 feet (5m) away.  A moment later when you step up to the next open cashier, they ask you your order again to double check as they charge you.  This feels like a redundant step to me and I think the greeter position should be eliminated.  But I appreciate the effort of Starbucks to experiment with new ways of making the purchase experience better.

But back to the discussion at hand.  The Dunkin’ Donuts experience is not very different.  But different enough.  Upon entering, the customer is usually faced with a ‘line forms here’ sign and a small arrow.  Instructions that are missed maybe 10% of the time which can cause ‘next customer’ uncomfortableness.  As you wait in line you watch the cashiers handle each order mostly by themselves, getting the donuts, making the drinks, bagging everything, etc.  Consequently, a lot of time goes by where a customer is standing in front of an untended register.  The perception from the line then starts to change from that of passivity to one of questioning, “is that guy being helped?”  ”Where are the employees?”  ”Why is this taking so long?”  The situation gets even worse when someone orders a sandwich or wrap from their lunch-ish savory menu.  Then the Dunkin’ employees disappear deeper into the back of the store and do stuff with food that can’t easily be seen from the front.  And it takes a long time.  I am willing to bet that many more people have stepped out of a Dunkin’ Donuts line than have stepped out of a Starbucks line.   The perception that things are just moving way too slowly  and that it will take too long to get a coffee is much easier to arrive at in a Dunkin’ Donuts than at Starbucks.

So how might Dunkin’ Donuts improve the customer experience and reinvigorate their brand?  This, of course, is a topic for a much bigger discussion than just this article, but a we can start with a few suggestions…

First, to follow up from the previous descriptions, Dunkin’ Donuts would do well to keep someone at the cashier station and have other staff dedicated to the filling of orders.  Instead of a ‘barrista’ they could be called ‘donuteers’, ‘glazers’, ‘holers’… whatever.  A catchy name that sticks.  But keep them back there filling orders to keep the line moving.

Also, since we are talking about lines, a couple things are very important in regards to the process of ordering and then waiting for that order to get filled.  Dunkin’ Donuts lines typically are standing in front of large areas of unattractive wood laminate.  Essentially visual baffles for the coffee makers they have behind them.  With maybe a shelf full of bags of coffee and plastic travel mugs nearby.  Which amounts to not much.  This view has to change!  A Starbucks line always passes by a chill case full of bottled drinks, prepped sandwiches and salads as well as a case at eye level of pastries.  Often are the times I have walked into a Starbucks after lunch thinking I would just get a coffee and end up succumbing to the temptation of adding a brownie to my order.  Which brings me to a big question: why why why are the donuts at Dunkin’ Donuts behind the cashier???  They should be in your face as you wait in line so you can press your nose up to the glass and get a good look at the dripping chocolate glaze.

The other lesson that can be learned from the Starbucks queue is to always keep the line moving.  Having customers order and move to another location to wait for their drinks is smart planning.  At the very least the movement from one location to the other keeps people in line happy that they continue to move forward and it keeps the post-order customer content in the perception that they are moving to another location so good things must be going on with their order.  Ordering at the cashier and then standing in the same spot to wait gets boring.  And the people in line behind you get antsy.  Even moving just to the side of the register to wait so the next person can place their order gives the subtle feeling that you have been sidelined.  And no one is working on your order.  Many fast food places such as McDonald’s and Burger King do this and it never feels good.

Another suggestion: get rid of your styrofoam cups.  I know that all commercial food retailers struggle with plastic and waste but a styrofoam cup is a big, fat white visual reminder that the drink vessel I am holding will soon be languishing in a landfill somewhere in New Jersey.  When I have a choice between buying a coffee in a styrofoam cup or one in a paper cup – even if I have to cross the street to do it – I will buy the drink in a paper cup every time.  And to make matters worse, having an illustration of the styrofoam cup as part of Dunkin’ Donuts brand identity is a painfully clear message to consumers that the brand has little if any care for the environment.  It shows that Dunkin’ Donuts is out of step with the larger culture as environmental concerns are increasingly important to people and a valuable part of any brand’s message.  So not only loose all styrofaom, but start to talk about how Dunkin’ Donuts has developed an environmental strategy, how it recycles, its energy usage, etc.

Suggestion: Tighten up your franchise rules in regards to… well, in regards to everything.  Some stores look o.k. with appropriately splashy graphics, signage, etc.  Some stores look terrible.  Comfort is also a factor.  I have been in one store near Wall Street that was easily 90 degrees F(32C).  And make rules about promotions applicable brand-wide.  I knew a store near me had a ‘free-donut-with-large-coffee’ situation.  But I was in another part of town.  So when I was in need of caffeine and I spied another Dunkin’ Donuts my mouth started to water for that free donut sugar buzz. So I walked in and ordered my free donut but was immediately told that they didn’t do that.  And then I noticed that their pricing was different.  As was their ‘combo’ price structuring.  Confused, I reduced my order to a small coffee and got out of there.  Price structuring and promotions should be uniform across the brand.  In fact this leads me to my next suggestion:

Get rid of promotions all together.  There is nothing like fierce competition, especially when it comes from yourself.  Promotional sales are a two edged sword.  Sure a cheaper promotional price for an item will draw customers.  But a sale price will also deter some customers when that item is at its regular price as they will decide to hold off on their purchase until the item goes on sale again.  Sales also send the subtle message that the store’s prices are a little higher than they really should be.  Does Starbucks ever have advertised sales on it’s products?  Not that I can recall other than to push new products such as it’s ridiculous VIA line.  If your product is good and its pricing is right. Stand behind it.  There are other methods for drawing customers that can be utilized.

Another suggestion: It is o.k. to experiment with new products in your line but be ruthless in honing your products down to the things that you are really good at.  Dunkin’ Donuts is known for its donuts and its coffee.  Drinks and pastries.  The Coolatta drinks line seems reasonable in that it still resides within the drinks category.  But a tuna salad sandwich on a croissant?  Please.  It is understandable for Dunkin’ to eye the lunch category as a place to expand but it not only does not work it actually dilutes Dunkin’s core identity.  i have never, nor do I think I will ever, hear anyone say, “let’s go to Dunkin’ Donuts for lunch.”  It is a coffee and donuts place, not a fast-food lunch place.  Not only that but ordering something from the savory menu always seems to put the Dunkin’ employees into a confused tail spin and off their game.  They first look bewildered that you ordered a sandwich, then they look annoyed that they have to go prepare it, then they disappear for a while to do it.  Which, of course, then puts the customers in line into a tizzy.  All lending to general uncomfortableness.  Dunkin’ Donuts cannot compete with the McDonald’s of the world for the lunch crowd.  And they never will.  The stores are not set up for it and they shouldn’t attempt it.  Stick with what you are very good at and expand only within those parameters.  Not to mention that it messes with the brand’s identity.

I could go on but I will stop here.  Every time I experience a Dunkin’ Donuts I cannot help but think that it could be done a whole lot better.  Where are the refreshed graphics?  Where are the updated store interiors?  Where are the employees that seem like they care?

There are many opportunities already out there that Dunkin’ could capitalize on that would get people interested.  For one, Dunkin’ Donuts could add a huge line of gourmet donuts with high quality ingredients such as spices and dark chocolate.  They could also do changing lines of promotional donuts with crazy flavors.  Which could be a fun press opportunity.  Or Dunkin’ could ride the tail end of the cupcake craze and do a line of high-end cupcakes.  Or cultural coffee drinks such as Italian granita, Irish coffee, Greek frappe… to name a few.  The ideas that could fit within the brand’s perceived expertise are many and varied.

All of these lessons Dunkin’ Donuts can learn from not only Starbucks, but also the trends showing up in the independent bakeries, patisseries and coffee shops out there already.  Lessons that Dunkin’ would do well to seek out.  Before the brand’s irrelevance becomes too much to overcome.

The next morning I sent a letter to Nick Valenti, head of Patina with a suggestion for a name I thought would be fitting for the new restaurant.  I did not receive a response.  I wasn’t really expecting one.  I knew it was a long shot anyway.  I just came up with the idea and thought it wouldn’t hurt to present it to Mr. Valenti.

Well, today I just read on Grub Street that the name ‘Lincoln’ has been selected for the restaurant.  Fairly straightforward choice I guess.  Not too surprising given some of the other names on Patina’s roster.  But now that the die has been cast I guess I can share with you the name that I had suggested for the restaurant.  Here it is along with my explanation for it that I sent to Mr. Valenti:

Crescere

Crescere is the Italian verb meaning ‘to grow, to increase, to expand’.

The musical term ‘crescendo’ comes from ‘crescere’.

‘Crescendo’ means ‘a gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax’.

The growth and expansion implied in the name ‘Crescere’ could also reference the architectural ‘expansion’ of the site.

The word ‘crescere’ can also mean ‘to cultivate’.

‘Crescere’, when pronounced correctly, has an unmistakable Italian sound to it, thereby reinforcing the Italian concept of chef Benno’s menu.

Another reason that I think ‘Crescere’ is a perfect name for the restaurant is that the word itself is visually pleasing.

more depth to the referential exploration between the restaurant and it’s context.  ’Crescere’