Portable Neuroscience

Once again, featuring Sands Research portable Neuroactivity capture in the aisle:

" ... The use of neuroscience in POPAI's 2012 Shopper Engagement Study made it possible to evaluate shoppers' behavior, visual fixations and emotional engagement almost as if in slow motion, revealing not only a time-locked breakdown of their decision-making processes but also new insights about the impact of displays. Data analysis is ongoing, but so far the findings suggest that endcap and floorstand displays affect shoppers differently than previously thought. By outfitting shoppers in unobtrusive gear consisting of an eye-tracking device, cameras and electroencephalography (EEG) equipment, "we're creating neuro movies, in a sense, and those videos show us that displays play a major role in stimulating product category consideration," says consultant and lead researcher Lily Lev-Glick, principal at New York-based ShopperSense. The neuroscience was used along with traditional methodologies. ..... "   Full Article.

Sports Analytics Blog

Paul Hare's blog:  The Numbers Don't Lie:  Statistical analysis of evidence in the world of sports.  Moneyball and beyond.

Social Technology and Snacks

In NYT Technology:   Snack foods are a natural intersection place between social technology and people.   This article addresses work underway and how retailers and manufacturers are participating.    Also how consumer research can be done in the same space  " ... Frito-Lay is using a Facebook application to develop ideas for potato chip flavors. Users are asked to submit flavor suggestions and click an "I'd eat that" button to register support for other users' proposed flavors. "It's a new way of getting consumer research. We're going to get a ton of new ideas,” says Ann Mukherjee, marketing chief at Frito-Lay North America. ... " 

No Plans for Analytics

CW article on how a survey shows most companies have no plans for big data analytics.  I will go further to say that most companies have coherent plans for any analytics at all, beyond the most trivial overview.  Lots of opportunities here.

American Don't Trust the Internet

Says a recent survey presented in Baseline.  But they clearly use the Internet a great deal, even for very important decisions, when they should go elsewhere for advice.

How to Introduce Big Technology Change

Very Good piece from HBR on the rapid introduction of big technology change in the large enterprise, including some consumer package goods examples.    We experienced this in particular during the rapid integration of Web technologies in the 90s.  It required the training and re-training of skeptical executives and eager new employees.  That move was eventually done successfully. Today even that has changed as new employees bring in the technology for their own use.   That was not the case in the 90s.    But some changes are still under way. How do you address the inherent risk?  Some direct advice in the article.

Building Private Social Networks

An idea we experimented with.   In particular as new hires come on board expecting to communicate broadly with a social network.   This makes some good points about what they should look like to be used and also be useful for your goals.  This idea seems to be gaining some interest lately.

Design Thinking and Storytelling

A favorite topic of mine:  Elements of the design and its story place the design in a human context.

Predictive Analytics in Police Work

An overview.  Saw an IBM presentation on this earlier this year.  All analytics can be used predictively, so the idea is not new.  Simple block crime occurrence charts have been used for a long time.  The ability to leverage a wealth of data and do that quickly is new and being used in many areas today.

Technological Adoption and Economies

How historical technology adoptions have changed global economies.  In HBS Working Knowledge.  This has been known for a king time.  Somewhat counter indicative at times.  Some very extraordinary advances in technology have not necessarily led to economic advances due to the context of the regions themselves.  Is this still the case, or have advances in communications changed that?  Fascinating historical data.

Searchable Map of the Internet

In FlowingData:  A very dense visualization of the Internet today.  A visually intriguing viz, but also an example of  many opportunities missed.  As the article suggests, some of the dimensions included do not apparently have any meaning.  So they can be labeled as clutter.  And clutter is never good.  Would a sorted list, by traffic volume, be better?

Organs on a Chip

We worked for some time with this kind of bio simulation capability that came from UCSD.  Their BioNome Research Center now appears to be defunct. (Can anyone provide some information on that?) The object was to understand as early as possible what the effects of alternative pharmaceuticals might be. Now more ambitious plans at Harvard.

Creation Myth and Reality of Innovation

Fascinating piece on innovation from PARC.  Which remarks on Steve Job's famous visit to PARC labs for a demonstration of the 'windows' concept and mouse pointing and how it ended up in other places.  And how such  innovations like the mouse was integrated.  But most importantly, what does this all mean in an era of open innovation?  


" ... Through the pioneering work of Henry Chesbrough and others, there is now widespread awareness and practice of Open Innovation as a means for companies to leverage inventions and innovations from external parties. This can range from simply licensing IP (from or to others) and relying on outside organizations to help you see what’s possible, to co-developing and leveraging someone else’s investment to be tailored to your needs. Simply put, open innovation institutionalizes and provides an alternative model for the uncharted do-we-or-don’t-we-let-him-in? model of a few decades ago. And why not? Drawing on one another’s strengths is a great way to not only reduce risk, but realize new opportunities, faster.... " 

The Necessity of Algebra

In the NYT.  Making the case for eroding quantitative literacy.   Even otherwise bright management is often mystified by simple math. So lets make that even more common?  To make us fall even further behind the Germans, Russians and Chinese.

Information Technology is Still Important

Surprise, IT is more more important than ever, the recent debate is about who will bring what portions of it to the table, and what are the implications of that change?   Is it good enough to be reactive?  And what does preparation look like?

Bring your own IT?
Industry observers are fond of saying that the rise of tech consumerization, bring-your-own-device and the cloud are collectively sounding the death knell for information technology as we know it, but consultant Jonathan Hassell insists IT can provide more value than ever to an enterprise -- as long as businesses know where to look. According to Hassell, up until now, IT has done well as a high-tech reaction force, tackling problems as they come up before moving on to the next one, but that's not good enough anymore. Instead, he writes that IT departments need to become less reactive and more proactive by using their talents to create applications and services that provide value to the business..... " 

Games in the Workplace

In Mashable. a number of interesting examples of games in play at work.

iPhone and iPad Photography

In GigaOM:  On advanced uses of the iPhone and iPad.  This leads me to thinking about tablets and smartphones as sensory devices.   How can you provide information to the picture taker to make sure the right information is gathered?

Innovation Silos

A frequent situation in the large organization.   Because different areas are not seen as competent to recognize useful innovations in others.  One answer is to have a multi-functional, experienced screening team to pass on useful ideas.

Analytics and Decision in Health Care

Tom Davenport on new frontiers in health care via analytics.  I agree, the frontier has arrived in the form of accessible data, sensors and readily available analytics.

" ... advances in information technology and emerging new processes in care delivery are setting the stage for “new decision frontiers,” Davenport said at Health Data Management’s Healthcare Analytics Symposium in Chicago. These include predictive modeling and scoring, checklists and care protocols, comparative effectiveness research, transparency around health care costs, and behavioral economics and nudges to change patient and provider behaviors.

With data analytics, decision making is becoming more automated, he asserted. But the analytics being done today are on a small scale and just scratching the surface, such as identifying patients’ clinical and financial risks, protocol adherence, embedding analytics into daily practice, and analyzing physician and patient networks.... " 

Social Media and the Olympics

Have been following the use of social media by Procter & Gamble and others in conjunction with the Games.   This article has a good overview of a number of efforts going on.