Hasta La Ideas

Just as assembly-line robots replaced bulging-biceps factory workers, so too are self-checkout machines replacing gum-snapping cashiers.

The economics of job losses aside, take a close look at a self-checkout machine and you’ll see it’s actually quite the industrial design achievement, boiling user interaction, optical scanning, visual and audio feedback, and monetary transactions down into a quick and tidy little experience.

Recognizing this, the IDSA has bestowed Bronze in the Commercial and Industrial Products category of its International Design Excellence Awards upon NCR’s SelfServ Checkout machine. Says NCR Engineering and Development Vice President Jeff Cegalis, “[The SelfServ] reflects outstanding teamwork among talented and dedicated NCR employees in solutions management, hardware design, software design and human factors engineering.”

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August 26th will mark the 50-year anniversary of the Mini, the iconic microcar that owes its very existence to, relevantly enough to today, an oil crisis:

The classic version of the Mini…was created by Alec Issigonis, an idiosyncratic Turkish-born Brit charged by Morris Motors to develop a competitor to the French- and German-made fuel-sippers that emerged during the Suez Crisis, when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal and interrupted British fuel supplies in the region.

Morris head Lord Nuffield wanted an inexpensive “saloon” that could comfortably fit four adults, so Issigonis developed the first mass-produced transverse engine and pushed the car’s 10″ wheels to its corners in order to free up space inside the cabin….

It took British racing legend John Cooper…to popularize the cars. He decided that with some engine improvements, wider tires and a distinctive top, the cars could race. Cooper was right: The Mini beat Maserati, Ferrari and Lotus, among others, with three wins at the Monte Carlo Rally between 1958 and 1962.

The original Mini was Britain’s best-selling car ever, with 5.3 million of them hitting the road between 1959 and 2000. Read more about the Mini story here.

via forbes

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more info here

Fans of David Allen’s Getting Things Done system (and the updated Making It All Work system) are familiar with his advice to immediately act on a task that requires less than two minutes to complete. It seems obvious, especially in a work setting, to follow this two-minute rule, but just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean that it happens.

It is so easy to think, “I’ll get to that later,” and let whatever the action is fall through the cracks. It doesn’t get written down on your list of next actions, it isn’t delegated to anyone else, and it slips right out of your mind. (At least that is how it works with me when I procrastinate.) You forget about it until someone comes seeking your response again, wasting your and the other person’s time.

I try to hold true to the two-minute “Do it now” policy at work, and an extended five-minute “Do it now” policy at home. Home-related tasks, in my opinion, seem to take a bit longer than office tasks. Unloading the dishwasher is a simple five-minute task that can be delayed if I don’t remind myself to “Do it now.” Clearing diner dishes, putting away items after getting ready in the morning, and dumping a load of laundry into the washer all seem to take about five minutes.

Do you use the two-minute “Do it now” policy at work? Have you tried a five-minute “Do it now” system at home? If you haven’t, I recommend giving it a try and watching your productivity improve.

UK-based studio Lazerian will be launching The Minerals Collection at 100% Design in London this September. These hand-made, beech candle holders take formal cues from conical flasks usually found in science laboratories and are named after the minerals that give the candles their distinct color.

More shots after the jump.

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