This week we sent a few of our colleagues to Dublin, Ireland to represent Cooper at the IXDA 2012 conference. Managing director Chris Noessel has kept us up to speed on the proceedings with delightful sketchnotes. (This one is from "cyborg anthropologist" Amber Case's talk).

(For more of Chris' dispatches from the IXDA conference, take a look at his twitter feed).

On the home front, Cooper continued bringing design methodology to health startup incubator Rock Health. Susan Dybbs treated this year's batch of entrepreneurs a lecture on using design to create successful health care products. We can't wait to see these companies designing their way to industry domination!

At Cooper, we love to share what we learn in our consulting work. We've published and socialized techniques and tools for doing interaction design in our books, at conferences, and through Cooper U. Recently, Apple released the iBooks Author platform, and a few of us have been giving it a test run.

The platform itself has lots of potential. There is much to improve, but the possibilities are interesting and it's too early to critique it too strongly. There's been much talk already about the EULA and whether or not this will disrupt education. It's too early to make that call, though. Our initial impression? It's an accessible tool aimed at a user population that, up to this point, hasn't been equipped to produce engaging and usable interactive educational content.

In our trial run, we produced a look book with some of recent work, including slideshows, imagery and video. It's a little rough in some areas, but we'd love to see what you think. You can download it via the link below and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Download the look book.

In our modern digital environment, all businesses have a great competitive need for creative thinking that far exceeds our industrial forebears. In the quest for an institutional source of creativity, the brainstorming session, where several people meet to have fresh ideas, has emerged as the front runner. Brainstorming can be fun, and some prominent consulting firms have prospered proselytizing this technique, but it has a remarkably thin track record of success.

While people think and behave differently when they are in large groups versus when they are alone, I also believe that people behave still differently when they are in the presence of only one other person. This is often overlooked, yet I believe that creative people can be at their most effective when they work in pairs.

I believe that all people share these three modes of behavior: solo, paired, and group. Generally, these differences are noted only as interesting social quirks, and have not been investigated by academia or exploited by business, but their differences have important implications for the creative manager.

Brainstorming's adherents believe that a group of people can together imagine more and better solutions than any one person can alone. I won't dispute that assertion, but just because one is better than the other doesn't imply that either is anywhere close to being optimal.

A recent article in the New York Times put forth the radical idea that brainstorming might not be such a good idea, and cites recent research indicating that working solo is more productive than working in groups. The author, Susan Cain, points out that many of our greatest innovations came not from large groups of ideating peers, but from solo geniuses working in isolation. Her case in point is Steve Wozniak, the enigmatic inventor of the Apple computer.

As a former inventor who worked almost exclusively by myself, I agree with Cain. The problem is that, at the time, I would only work for myself, and like me, few independent creative people can be motivated to solve the problems of someone else's business. Unless you get remarkably lucky, you need to find a way to reliably innovate with people content to have a steady job.

When I began to consult for others, I too faced the challenge of generating consistent, reliable, and predictable imaginative problem solving. After some struggle, the correct solution finally emerged: pair designing.

This year marks Cooper's twentieth anniversary engaged in intensively creative work performed for hire, on schedule, on budget, for a wildly diverse clientele. Our work is nothing if not creative, and we consistently astonish our clients with the depth of our innovative thinking. What's more, we almost never do group brainstorming, and solo problem solving is, while not forbidden here, institutionally frowned upon as being too slow and expensive. Our ability to innovate reliably and effectively is largely due to our insistence that our creative consultants work in pairs.

Some people like to dance and shake it in the dark. Others wear their sunglasses at night. Here's proof some like WORKING in the dark (and they're not hookers). Stefan snapped these, catching a glimpse of the Cooper evening crew in action...

Speaking of Stefan, he spoke at the Association of Alternative Media 2012 AAN Web Conference, here in SF, on "The Revolution will be Portable: Understanding the Tablet Opportunity" An exquisitely designed on-the-go tablet app is Pyrolia's Road Inc., an in-depth, feature-rich anthology of classic automobiles.

We've all heard the hype around HTML5, so let's get on with it already! Check out Tumults Inc.'s aptly named HYPE for some of the easiest ways to implement HTML5 animations and eye-opening interactive prototypes.

An interaction HTML5 has breathed new life into is: s c r o l l i n g. This eye-opening interaction even has its own name: parallax. The term is derived from the Greek παράλλαξις (parallaxis), meaning "alteration". Parallax helps accurately portray our visual perception of distance. Not only do objects in the background appear smaller, they also MOVE slower than their foreground counterparts. Slavery Footprint and Moods of Norway (best viewed in the horizontal position) are notable examples of the parallax in action.

When your back in the vertical position and ready for some moving of your own, check out this interactive, motion-sensing, motivational 7 foot wall! Designed to get gym members actively engrossed in nutrition and physical activity, this is one funhouse mirror that builds UP your confidence. Its "Future Self" application composits what YOU (the fairest one of all) may look like in the near future if you heed the advice of this great wall of fitness.

The new iBGStar blood glucose meter is another innovative way to monitor nutrition. Designed for iPhone/iTouch-lovin'-diabetics-on-the-go, it can actually take and read blood samples, your nutritional intake, missed meals, and yes, amount of exercise.

All these new ways to monitor nutrition and exercise has made me HUNGRY! So, I leave you with a recent snapshot of our sustenance request board...

Personally, I prefer Desvenlafaxine, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and Toaster Strudels® - portable and perfect for when your on-the-go.

I collaborate with clients about how to scope and staff project work, and they often have questions about when to bring a visual designer into the process. In the early part of my career, I wouldn't have had a good answer; it likely would have been something like, "at the end." But after 20 years of working in-house and as a consultant with product teams in various capacities — and having no background in visual design myself — I have a much different perspective on the value that visual design thinking has throughout the process of building a product.

Visual designers bring a unique perspective to product vision

First, visual designers are uniquely skilled at defining the overarching experience strategy, called attributes, for a product or service. These aren't specific design principles, but rather descriptions of what the experience should feel like for users, customers, and anyone interacting with it.

One way to define experience attributes is to conduct an experience workshop, where you facilitate a brand and "look and feel" discussion with stakeholders. Framing the discussion by using visual artifacts (pictures of products, cars, buildings, interfaces, art, etc.) helps stakeholders to engage at a visceral level instead of relying on cliché's or generalizations. Visual designers, on the other hand, are great at this, as they are skilled at talking about how the things we see translate into certain feelings and emotions, and how visual elements relate to brand perception.

Facilitating an experience workshop with images makes it easier for participants to articulate what visual approaches feel appropriate and inspiring. A visual designer is skilled at using this input to shape a visual strategy.

Even for companies with a well-defined brand and digital branding assets, it's vital that the product team has a good understanding of what the brand means in the context of the product or service you are designing. This isn't just about proper logo use and the corporate font. It's about knowing how your company wants users to feel when they are using your brand, and about how your users want to feel while using them. Understand that intersection, and you have gold.

Look at things differently during field research

During design field research activities, a visual designer can focus on things like the visual look of the physical environment in which people use the product or service we are investigating. For example, in a medical setting, the visual designer may pay special attention to the signage and décor within a hospital. We wouldn't mimic this in an interface, but getting a feel for the environment can give us clues as to what kind of visual styles may fit—or not fit—within that setting.

Jayson, a visual designer at Cooper, gets to experience user research firsthand at a doctor's office.

I recently worked with Jayson McCauliff, a visual designer, on a product for a large technology manufacturer. The product's users were internal, so Jayson took photos of lobbies, wall art, the small in-house museum, and even the cafeteria. The effort was worth the funny looks he got, as the images later helped give him inspirations for some subtle background textures that made a direct appearance in the interface. (See more about how visual designers work at Cooper)

Early design thinking should include visual language explorations

While the interaction designers begin a design solution phase by exploring key interactions and high-level workflows, the visual designer can explore high-level visual style approaches. Because stakeholders may not be used to or comfortable talking about aesthetic and brand, having someone who understands visual design but can communicate about the effects that color, shape, white space, etc. have on users and brand are vital to making sure that everyone is aligned. It takes skill to talk about style concepts without having the conversation degrade into an argument about the specific shade of blue in a style study, so it's important to have someone who is proficient in facilitating these discussions and in creating artifacts that solicit the right kind of feedback.

Visual language studies keep initial visual strategy conversations focused.

Defining and building a winning product includes attention to the aesthetic and overall experience

Last, visual design isn't just about producing beautiful visual assets for the development team. It's also about creating a coherent product or service in the first place. A visual designer brings a unique perspective to problem solving that augments the other design team members. We find that having the visual designer involved early in design exploration activities makes our design concepts better and more well-rounded. When we are fleshing out the design framework, early and consistent involvement from the visual designer ensures that the interaction design isn't getting too crowded, and that the overall experience is achieving the experience strategy we defined early in the project.

During detailed design activities and implementation, the visual designer needs to be able to react quickly and fluidly as the design and implementation iterate and get refined. If the visual designer has been involved with the project from day one, it's easy for her to work in an agile way while still maintaining the original spirit and intent of the design, and she'll be able to make good decisions and recommend improvements because of that greater understanding.

As you plan your next redesign effort, make sure that a strong visual designer is part of the team from day one. You'll not only gain efficiencies when it's crunch time during implementation, you'll gain a valuable strategic partner and an overall better experience.

Sign up for the visual design course

Learn more about the role of visual design, experience attributes, experience workshops, and effectively presenting visual design to stakeholders in Cooper's Visual Interface Design course on February 6 - 7.

Last summer, Cooper partnered with TaskRabbit and Pivotal Labs to design their new iPhone app. The app works with their service to help people who need help with simple tasks—anything from walking the dog, standing in line at the DMV, or moving furniture—with "Rabbits," a network of background-checked and pre-approved individuals who have the skills and time available to complete tasks.

The TaskRabbit iPhone app has been nominated for the 2011 Crunchies and the 2012 IxDA awards. This week, you can vote for the app in both awards and check out the other nominations.

• Vote for TaskRabbit in the Crunchies
• Vote for TaskRabbit in the IxDA Awards

The TaskRabbit project

Posting a Task is super easy

The TaskRabbit service is continuing to expand in new cities, including Austin, and we're excited to see their service evolve and grow. Congratulations to Leah Busque for her nomination as Founder of the Year in the Crunchies also.

The past week at Cooper started out with bang...and a crash...and boom...and a kapow! Lunchtime fun with the endless entertainment of Action Movie FX. Blow up your friend's egg roll and then laugh it off together:

Something else that dropped like a bomb this week were the SOPA and PIPA protests! Wikipedia shut down for 24 hrs Wednesday in protest of the legislation and countless students everywhere simultaneously said, "My dog ate it." A historic moment no doubt as the controversial bills were "put on hold" shortly after.

CES wrapped up in Las Vegas, but I still covet this Samsung Transparent Smart Window:

Why would I want to walk to my kitchen window to check Facebook and the weather instead of just pulling out my phone wherever I already am? I dunno, I guess touchscreens should be on everything, right? Right?!

This past week designers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and medical professionals gathered for the Health Innovation Summit. Stefan explored how a group of panelists incorporated the patient perspective into their products, as Susan and the newest Cooper Interaction Designer, Christina Worsing, guided conference attendees through a design challenge to re-envision four different aspects of healthcare.

Apple announced their iBook 2 and iBooks Author applications targeting the reinvention of the textbook for the education sector. I think by now it's obvious Apple doesn't want to just design products, they want to redesign whole industries. When you're out to fix a problem, you might as well start at the root.

Another announcement that caught our attention was Nike's NikeFuel and FuelBand. Trying to pick up the ball dropped by Jawbone's Up, Nike's solution seems elegant and simple at first glance. One to watch, indeed.

A random link I found this week featuring some impressive re-coloration of old photography. Color is one of the number of powerful tools in a designer's kit. This collection is a great example of how a little hue can bring an image strikingly closer to reality.

It was one of those, “please, please, let this send,” kind of moments when you hope a weak airport WiFi connection doesn’t disconnect, a low-battery indicator doesn’t shut down your laptop — who knows where there’s an outlet in this airport — and your email actually sends to your million dollar client when the message popped up and your stomach drops: “Oops!”

Like some kind of creepy, American Psycho moment, a hardly-discernible, non-apologetic message from Gmail put this exact dagger into my heart and sent me wondering what went wrong.

Sure, of course, just lemme look up error #001. What?

Google’s Chrome browser gives off an even worse error message that doesn’t make things better, just a wanna-be-hipster-piece-of-software knocking off a Susan Kare classic laughing in your face when you’re frustrated:

Maybe this is part of some awful brand initiative. After all, Google is a place of smiles. An every-color-of-the-rainbow logo, and three square meals place to work with unbelievable benefits. But, then again, Google is hardly alone in this kind of “smile when you’ve fallen” approach to error messages.

Microsoft is sadly considering implementing the same, cutesy thinking in a revamp of their blue screen of death as a part of their otherwise exciting, new Windows 8 operating system:

(windows.staenz.com)

Oh, great. My 14 year-old cousin is writing error messages in Redmond.

Fortunately, Microsoft offers some advice. Just search for the error message, “HAL_INITIALIZATION_FAILED”…oh wait, this is the blue screen of death. My computer is totally effed.

Last week, I joined entrepeneur Enrique Allen and designer Leslie Ziegler at Kaiser, where we spoke to doctors from their internal innovation program. We hoped to inspire them as well as to illustrate how design could be used inside Kaiser to improve processes and overall care.

I referred to two case studies—Cooper's work on the Practice Fusion iPad-based EMR, and a visioning project around the patient clinic experience. In these, I illustrated how we identify problems, generate ideas, and drive decision-making during detailed design.

Both case studies highlighted ways in which multidisciplinary teams can make progress by using cheap prototypes that are quickly iterated. In the case of the Practice Fusion app, we used paper prototypes to test and evolve everything from content organization to animation. We did not need to get permission of a hospital IT staff or work with an engineer; we simply needed a new piece of paper and a Sharpie. Prototyping a service starts in a similar manner. Using storyboards and cartoons, we were able to generate and evaluate myriad patient journeys without making costly process and staffing changes.

Many of the questions during the Q&A were symptomatic of a large organization that is beholden to fluctuating regulation. One attendee asked how to get front-line staff on board when they're already suffering from change fatigue. This will require both communication and empowerment. At Cooper U we teach the value of a radiator wall (a wall showing the progress and decisions of a project) in rallying a team and communicating with an organization; this kind of tool could help establish a sense of consistency and direction amid large-scale changes.

All of Kaiser's departments were represented at our talk, from general practitioners to specialists. All are charged with improve patient care and overall quality. I appreciated the opportunity to bring some lessons from my experience in healthcare and design, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they tackle next.

At the start of the new year, we're looking to discover how we can grow and improve as designers. .net Magazine proposes some interesting new year's resolutions for designers. To this list, we've add a few of our own:

Inspired by the Dieter Rams exhibit at SF MOMA, Kim Appelquist resolves to foster relevant design and a heightened awareness of symbiotic coordination.
Dieter Rams, Braun phonosuper (SK 4), 1956; design: Hans Gugelot and Dieter Rams, photo: Koichi Okuwaki

Chris Noessel resolves to empathize even more with users, such as trying out a tool for better understanding the needs of the elderly by wearing a suit that makes you feel 75 years old.

Peter Duyan resolves to look beyond standard interface paradigms, to possibilities such as multitouch on any surface with a contact microphone.

And we all resolve to extend our impact as designers, whether it's through conveying the value of designers who code, or being the new secret weapon for start-ups.

And as January gets underway, we're happy to share the release of our most recent work with Thomson Reuters on their new mobile newsreader app for the iPad. Thomson Reuters provides real-time news and information to financial professionals around the world. Cooper designed an iPad app that facilitates the creation of a list of news topics, companies, trends, people, or ideas that interest them, and then populates these with relevant market data and up-to-the-minute analysis. The first version of this app is now available in the iTunes store for Thomson Reuters subscribers.

Here's to great design in 2012!