It’s no secret that I’m fascinated by design thinking. We’re increasingly connected to, by, and with “things.” So how we interact with objects and devices – and that we can interact with them -- becomes less a question of convenience and more a universal imperative....
Independent Thinking Blog
Customer Experience
Are Lists the Future of Search?
My mouse was driving me crazy. I changed the battery, cleaned the bottom, and even tested multiple mouse pads -- and it was still sluggish with periods of just not working at all. So I wised up, went online, and purchased a new mouse from Amazon. Amazon makes it easy...
How Long is this Blog Post?
Word counters can be very helpful. They're useful for: keeping post meta descriptions under 156 characters tweaking an online application so your bio fits in the allocated space checking that tweets + links stay under 140 characters ensuring that your LinkedIn invites...
Millennial Entrepreneurs Are Diverse, Digital, & Green
Who are the millennial entrepreneurs? That's a question the Business Journals sought to explore in a report released late last year entitled, Millennial Business Owners: Optimism Abounds. The report surveyed over 1,300 millennial and boomer business owners and...
5 Future of Marketing Trends You Need to Know Now
How is marketing evolving, and what is the future of marketing? This is the question that was at the core of a presentation by Mitch Joel, a digital marketer who spends a lot of time looking at where the profession is going and how companies can position themselves to...
Who Controls The Conversation?
There's been an ongoing discussion in one of my private Facebook groups around who should speak for your organization. Public relations? Social media? Customer service? Someone else? The discussion isn't about the formal reporting chain -- identifying the spokesperson...
Six for 2016
It's a new year (happy new year!), and I'm not going to start by talking about trends. Instead, I'm going to talk about goals and expectations. This isn't about deep thoughts -- or trite inspirational quotes. I'm not a maker of new year's resolutions. That said, a...
Happy 2016
It's 2016. Happy new year! Wow -- even with that extra second, 2015 went by very fast. Good thing we have an extra day this year to get things done. I could tell you I spent my in-between weeks making business plans and checking them twice. But I mostly enjoyed...
It’s Time To Find Your Hero
Thor is my hero. Growing up, Thor was my favorite of the five "superheroes" featured in a rotating series of cartoons. I loved the big guy. The whole Norse god thing. The hammer, and the glamour. Okay, grown-up me has other heroes too. Men and women who stand up and...
The Future of Retail is Frictionless and Personalized
A new report says that the future of retail is increasingly frictionless and personalized. Future of Retail 2016, by research firm PSFK Labs, identifies 10 factors that companies will want to put in place to build brand loyalty, engage with customers, and generate...