Many of us are now in the ideas business and, of course, those ideas have to come from somewhere. Sometimes they’re iterative and result from the day-to-day work we’re already doing. Sometimes they spin off from specific client projects. But what about those transformative, tangential ideas which seem to come out of nowhere and surprise us with their potency and unexpected ability to solve difficult digital experience challenges?  This episode is all about those random insights, where they come from, how valuable they can be and how you can invest in nurturing them.

On this edition

• Marek Pawlowski, co-host & founder of MEX (@marekpawlowski)
• Alex Guest, co-host & CEO of Zingy.life (@alexguest)
• Sarah Daniels, co-founder of No. 8 Thorpe Road, (@redcatsarah)

Links

• Hot Source Norwich
• Marek’s write-up of Patrizia Bertini’s Lego Serious Play session for Hot Source, hosted at Foolproof
• Patrizia Bertini’s interview about Lego Serious Play and embodied cognition in episode 1 of MEX Design Talk
• No. 8 Thorpe Road in Norwich
• Sarah Daniels on Twitter
• SyncDevelopHER, the coding group for women hosted at No. 8 Thorpe Road
• Marek and Alex’s previous work on the intersection of creativity and consumption
• Keith Jarret’s Koln jazz concert, played on a broken piano, mentioned by Alex
• Tim Harford’s TED Talk, mentioned by Alex
• Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies
• Steve Jobs: “If I’d never have dropped out I would never have dropped in…” quote about sneaking into calligraphy courses, which later gave him the inspiration for the Mac’s early typography prowess
• Steve Jobs’ commencement speech
• Patrizia Bertini’s Lego Serious Play talk at MEX/15
• Hot Source June 2016 session on drawing skills with Chris Spalton and Catherine Hill
• Henri Rousseau’s 1891 ‘Surprised!’ (otherwise known as the tiger) at The National Gallery, mentioned by Alex
• The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, mentioned by Marek
• 18th century gold snuff boxes conference at The Fitzwilliam Museum, mentioned by Marek.  Original notes scribbled on a Samsung Galaxy Note during the event.
• Fast Company article on Angela Ahrendts’ (ex-Burberry) new retail strategy for Apple
• The Wellcome Collection, mentioned by Marek
• The frieze on the wall of The Reading Room at the Wellcome Collection

Researching intersection of digital consumption & creativity @ExploreWellcome with @AlexGuest led to ‘discoveries’ pic.twitter.com/q8oghXJ45l

— Marek Pawlowski (@marekpawlowski) June 25, 2015

• Microsoft’s LinkedIn acquisition, mentioned by Alex
• Microsoft’s HoloLens, mentioned by Alex
• HTC Vive, mentioned by Marek
• Greg Taylor on augmented, virtual and mixed reality in episode 12 of MEX Design Talk
• Tigerspike Next, the agency lab, mentioned by Alex
• The role of constraints in encouraging creativity, mentioned by Marek
• London Craft Week event on enamelling luxury watches with Vacheron Constantin, mentioned by Marek
• Prototyping with enamel, mentioned by Marek
• MEX User Stories series, mentioned by Marek
• Oblique strategies: discover the recipes you are using and abandon them

About MEX Design Talk & how to get in touch

The podcast for the MEX community, interviewing UX pioneers, exploring emerging technologies, user behaviour and how to design better digital experiences.

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Thanks

• Jukedeck, for the artificial intelligence engine which provided the music