posted by Anna Fleet on January 26th, 2011
If you’re like me, and most people on the planet, thanks to your smartphone, your personal email, your work email and an old fashion day planner <gasp> that you still write your appointments down in, you probably have more than one calendar to keep track of.
Well that was before my favorite online tipster, Netted By The Webbys, introduced me to a simple, no-frills, web calendar called 30 Boxes. Not only is 30 Boxes completely free, it uses social networking so you can share you calendar via Google and Facebook so others can see when you’re already booked. And it let’s you create a handy widget version of your calendar so you can view it from absolutely anywhere! No more multiple calendars. Like over the weekend when I was unable to access my work calendar from home…BAH!
Sorry, getting off topic there…Plus, 30 Boxes has easy to use standard calendar functions (letting you add an appointment, view by week, day or month, and schedule events), plus 30 Boxes understands when you type in things like “lunch with Tracy on Monday at noon) and will help you not only spell it right, but get the details right as well.
Tags: 30 Boxes, facebook calendar, google calendar, Netted By the Webbys, online calendar, small business calendar, social networking calendar, web based calendar
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posted by Anna Fleet on January 20th, 2011
I know I’ve been on a bit of a sneaker kick lately, with Nike a few days ago…maybe I’m in withdrawl from not being able to run outside in this blasted SNOW! Anyway, last one for a while, I promise.
One of my favorite sporting wear outfits, Puma, is ditching their recognizable red box packaging for a greener (well, it’s still red) packaging option: the Clever Little Bag! That’s right, Puma has designed a new and pretty snappy sustainable packaging with the help of renowned FuseProject founder and industrial designer Yves Béhar.
And the switch to this Clever Little bag, oh it has some fantastic benefits:
1. Cuts cardboard use by 65%
2. Removes any need for that useless tissue stuffing inside the box
3. Will save 8500 tons of paper
4. And 20 million magajoules of electricity
5. And 1 million liters of water
6. Plus, it will cut C02 emissions by 10,000 tons
7. But the very best thing of all…it’s one small paw print towards protecting our world
Tags: industrial deisgn, puma clever little bag, puma eco design, puma eco packaging, puma green product design, puma sustainable design, puma sustainable packaging, yves behar fuseproject founder
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posted by Anna Fleet on January 17th, 2011
I was pleasantly surprised by this blog from Fast Company that focused on a study from the Political Economy Research Institute that showed biking is cleaner, more efficient, and creates twice the city jobs that auto-based infrastructure projects do.
The study, Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure, revealed that biking and walking city planning projects (such as the infrastructure planning and construction associated with building cycling lanes and pedestrian sidewalks) require more engineers on the job compared to road construction. The result: they create more jobs overall!
How great is a world where we get sustainable design, healthier citizens and more jobs? I say we’re pretty lucky!
Tags: bike lane design, cycling infrastructure, design thinking, fast company, green design, sustainable design
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posted by Anna Fleet on January 10th, 2011
Did you know that more than two million tons of electronics are tossed in landfills every year in the U.S.?
Horrific fact, but nonetheless true. Well luckily the folks at eBay have decided that we’ve populated our landfills enough and they’ve introduced the Instant Sale, a program that lets you send in your broken or used electronic items for free!
Instant Sale is easy! All you need to do is:
1. Sign up for an eBay account or sign into your existing eBay account
2. Search for the electronic item that you want to sell or recycle
3. Add your (for sale) item to the list
4. And click confirm on the price you like
If you’re selling an old DVD player or coffee maker that still works, payment will be deposited into your PayPal account so you can do more shopping on eBay or cash it out through secure banking. Then just sit back and relax as eBay sends you a box so you can ship your electronic item free of charge—either to the buyer or for recycling.
How’s that for
Tags: earth friendly design thinking, ebay design thinking, ebay green, ebay instant program, ebay sustainable design, eco friendly design thinking, green design thinking
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posted by Anna Fleet on January 5th, 2011
Now that’s what I call a bright idea…wah, wah, wah…
Excuse my cheesy analogy, but that’s exactly what I thought when I heard about Energy in Common, a service that provides clean energy to developing countries, thanks to willing money lenders (aka: you)!
If you’re looking for some way to make a difference in 2011 (I’m not talking running a marathon for charity) you can do a small part by browsing Energy in Common’s list of entrepreneurs. Check out their information page, their charity affiliations and their pitch for how they plan to provide donations to those in need—examples might be solar lighting, clean burning heat, etc.
Once you’ve selected an entrepreneur to help, you can decide how much to lend to their cause (most ask that you give a minimum of $25). Donations are easily processed through PayPal or USA E-Pay. And you will even receive a calculation from Energy in Common that calculates the carbon footprint reduction that your loan actually attributed to.
How is that for instant ROI?
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posted by Anna Fleet on December 23rd, 2010
If you’ve left your Christmas shopping until the very possible last minute like me, then you’ll be relieved to hear about Just the Right Book, a custom book service that helps you find the perfect book. This handy little service was introduced to me by a few little elves at Netted By The Webbies.
Just the Right Book is a custom book service, which means it pairs books to recipients by asking a series of questions about their age range ( kids, teens and adults), their reading level and speed (bi-monthly and monthly books), and their book tastes (by asking about their favorite authors, titles and television shows).
Memberships for Just the Right Book start at $90, and right now those little elves at Netted are offering free shipping!
So get to it! All you need to do is fill out all the recipient info and pay, and your special someone will receive a hand-written gift message from you with the first book in the series within 8 to 12 days. So you get to come out looking like a gift-giving hero! Happy Holidays!
Tags: book of the month service, custom book service, free shipping, Just the right book, last minute christmas shopping, last minute holiday shopping ideas, netted by netties
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posted by Anna Fleet on December 22nd, 2010
Feeling a little guilty about all of your holiday indulgences? Come on, admit it, you probably let your car idle a little more than you should have this morning to get it warm and toasty before you got in…I know I did.
Well, give back to Mother Earth with some inspiration from the 10 Visionary Design Concepts for Saving Energy from Fast Company. This cool slide show features eco-innovations such as:
The Light Drop Wall Lamp – A beautiful series of faucet-shaped hardware suspending a variety of water-shaped bulbs. Each light is dimmable and controlled by turning the tap, which teaches electricity and water conservation.
The Eko Traffic Light – Counts down your wait at an intersection so you can cut the engine— and carbon emissions all in one fell swoop!
The Electree-Solar USB Charger – This tree-shaped charger” is solar powered and beautiful, a perfect holiday gift for the décor lover in your life!
Check out the whole collection of Visionary Design Concepts for Saving Energy…maybe it will inspire us all to do something good for the planet in 2011.
Tags: 10 visionary design concepts to save energy, earth friendly design thinking, eco design thinking, fast company, green design thinking, sustainable design
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posted by Anna Fleet on December 17th, 2010
As small business owners, and on the flip side as consumers, you’ve probably heard or had a situation where you or one of your customers tell you they feel like there’s nobody listening to their needs—or even worse—their complaints about bad customer service. As good companies, with good services, you would probably do you best to rectify the situation for fear of tarnishing your reputation and before word-of-mouth gets out.
Lo and behold Gripe (a service available for iPhone, iPod and Android smartphones, and via Twitter, Facebook and regular old email) that uses word-of-mouth to get consumer complaints heard and resolved quickly by business owners and mangers.
If a customer has a complaint, all they do is log onto their chosen social network or use their mobile phone to display a “Gripe” to the company’s manager or owner. The key is that the “Gripe” will also be shared amongst all of their contacts so their issue gets spread through some pretty strong word-of-mouth. Now if that’s not motivation to fix a customer issue; I don’t know what is? And get this; if the customer happens to be a person who can’t stomach uncomfortable confrontations, “Gripe” will notify the business via email about the bad experience.
The flip side to all of this complaining is that if your “Gripe” is taken care of in a satisfying and professional manner, the customer can then give positive feedback, or a “Cheer”, for a job well done or a great experience.
Tags: customer satisfaction tips, design thinking, gripe app, gripe or cheer, social media, solve real world problems, word of mouth marketing
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posted by Anna Fleet on December 9th, 2010
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo Da Vinci once used this statement to describe ideal art and design in his time, but what about today? Is the same true for the products we design in 2010?
Customer Loyalty and e-Marketing product manager, Eugene Schoen wanted to find out. So he performed a study around simple innovations and customer loyalty—does one spur the other?
Take the Apple iPad as an example. The user-friendly device does makes browsing the web, checking email, managing calendars, and accessing social networks a simple, and all from a single app-based, touchscreen device. Apple, and many of it’s loyal customers would claim, the iPad improves users’ quality of life. It’s true that my husband can shop online, pay his bills, book a flight, and stay in touch through social networks from this one device!
So, now that you have the scenario, in your opinion, do simple products make our lives easier ? And do they create consumer loyalty?
Tags: Apple ipad, Apple iphone, creating brand loyalty, creating customer loyalty, design thinking, product development tips, simple innovations
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posted by Anna Fleet on December 7th, 2010
This post from Robert Brands caught my attention because it asks a really thought-provoking question: Is smaller really better when the usability of a green product’s design is compromised?
Brands points to the design of smaller plastic water bottle caps, created to reduce plastic waste. However, he makes a strong point, my husband’s 85-year old Oma can’t grip the tiny cap in order to open a bottle by herself. It’s just too small!
Please understand that Brands (nor I) are questioning the benefit of sustainable products here. We’re all aware of the benefit of biodegradable, green product design, no one is questioning that. But the larger question is: what if the new, green design actually creates usability problems (again, take the smaller plastic water bottle caps as an example)?
The bottom line is that a product must remain user friendly or else the design fails, and consumers will shun the product and (maybe even) the brand.
Brand then points out these 3 key considerations, which keep both Mother Earth and your brand reputation at the centre of any new, innovative product design:
1. Green product design must be sincere and compelling
2. Innovative product development must keep customer’s needs top of mind
3. If consumers question your brand, your competition has a step up
Tags: eco brands, green design thinking, green product design, product usability, robert brands, small plastic water bottle caps, sustainable product design, user friendly product design
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One Calendar with Social Networking Powers
