Tonic

Today we had the BBC in our offices filming for Beat the Boss which airs in February. Special effort all round to look busy.

Mario vs. Sonic at the Olympics - or should that be Eirik vs. Dangerous Mike vs. Pete 2.0 vs. Tony at the Olympics.

Unfortunately this video must receive a 12A rating from the BBFC due to the colourful language employed by Pete 2.0, sorry if it offends.

…until the tonic team get on a plane for our christmas trip to Bilbao!!

User Friendly has brought together leading interaction and usability experts from around the globe. Senior designers and managers from Microsoft, HSBC and the Chinese government were all present. What is surprising is the level of investment China is placing in it’s creative industries - aiming to be a leading global economy in design by 2020. My perception of China has changed from an economy that is ripe for production outsourcing partnerships, to a potential market that could mature quite quickly. Should this happen it will be interesting to see how this affects western digital agencies. How long will it be before clients are brave enough to test Chinese creative agencies on briefs that can be delivered at a fraction of the price. In reality this may be a few years off - but certainly an economy to watch.

Having moved from Beijing to a remote conference centre on the outskirts of the city, there’s not a lot to do. As such I’m getting the opportunity to experience Chinese day time TV first hand.

So here I am in China. Deciding to avoid the Chinese Pizza Hut and head for something more local - I stumbled across a lovely small resturant. Not being able to speak or read a word of Chinese hindered me a little, however I managed to avoid the Ducks Blood soup. However today’s meal consisted of a small pot of boiling broth which you add your own ingredients to - the local’s laughed as I struggled with my chopsticks.

You know it’s been too long since your last visit to the Science Museum when upon returning your favourite exhibit is closed. Not only closed, but completely gone!

The greatest shame is that the incredibly beautiful GTF signage is sitting there in the cold and dark, unlit and all alone. This is a crying shame. But there are two of them in there. Balaclavas are on order, and plans to liberate them are forming…

We love this. Architect Adam Kalkins changed this compact container to an Illy Caffe. In 90 seconds it turns into to a fully furnished and functional space with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room and library. All materials used are recyclable or recycled, great!

Regrettably, I have agreed to appear on CBBC Beat the Boss - where 3 smart kids are pitted against 3 industry professionals to design an innovative product. What started off as a bit of harmless PR could turn out to be a bit of a shocker as the kids are actually a bit good. Not sure I’ll be able to live it down if the ‘Big Shots’ lose.

We’ve been invited to talk at User Friendly 2007. A 3 day design conference in Beijing bringing together 700+ usability practitioners, designers and technologists from across China and the world. The theme of our talk is the balance between brand experience and user centred design. If you have any views on this please comment - as it will most likely find it’s way into my presentation.