Author: Andrea Grassi

One of the most needed features of any digital product is to consider the daily life of the user and anticipate his or her questions.

The famous dashboard is often misused, but when it’s correctly done it can make a difference.

Products like Facebook obviously solve this problem from another angle, but the goal of this is to lessen the need of information through the dashboard.

Once everything you really need is there, you’re done.

How, and when, do we walk past the line of the common good and land into the hypocrisy?
When, to be pragmatic, we stop worrying about others (common good), and we worry about ourselves?

I think that, is the question.

It occurred to me today that I was tired, with less enthusiasm.
Although the day was full of work and I was always focused, I was less effective and productive.

Also, I felt a bit sick.
Then I got it why… in the last few days I didn’t slept that much.
I woke up early and went to bed late.

What’s “late” anyway? Going to bed late means whatever lets you sleep less than 8 hours, at least for me.
It might seem like a waste of time, but in fact is one of the best way to spend time because while you sleep you recharge your body and relax your mind.
you remove tension and stress, and you allow your creativity to sparkle.

I’m partly saddened by the fact that we tend to love so much going to bed late.
We feel like we’re younger this way, but in fact we are damaging ourself every time.

I know it’s counterintuitive (why have less time, right?) but the more I choose to sleep more and better, the more I find myself more productive, efficient and focused.

how many things do you own?
If you were to fill a backpack with what you own that matters, what would you carry with you?

I ask this question myself a lot, and part of my actual lifestyle revolves around owning less, not because of a zen-principle but both from a performance and usability point of view.

When you choose to reduce the number of things you own, each of them must have higher standards of quality, durability, effectiveness.
They must solve problems, be adaptable, be useful and help you in the daily life.

You can’t buy something because you “like it”, aesthetic is one of the variables of this equation and cannot be considered the most important.

Reducing the things has also an interesting side effect, because it also reduces the number of choice you made.
Obama has a set of identical suits, he wear the same style everyday.
By doing that he removes the cognitive work he needs to choose what he want to wear.
Sounds creepy? Too nerdish? We are still talking about the president of the united states.
What about the creator of Facebook?
Same thing.
Steve jobs?
Same thing.

While I wouldn’t advice going all this way it’s a nice reminder that we spend time deciding what to own and what to take with us every single day.
Many of the things we buy aren’t special, they’re likable, but not special.

Owning less puts you into the perspective of “best”.
You need the best for you.

Creating a physical product is much more different than creating a digital one.
Involved in the creation there are countless different things.

For a cosmetic, for example, we have to take into consideration the consistency given a specific temperature, how similar to a cream it is, the ingredients, and so on.

Also, you have to create your own beta-test of the product to avoid any production issue.
Beta testing a physical product is helpful to determine if you got something wrong.

But the main joy of creating a product of this kind is the pleasure you have when it’s finished.