WHO?:
Technology, Humans + Taste
Creative Agency

MY ROLE:
5x contributor (and counting)

METHODS:
design thinking, critique, public speaking, creativity

TOOLS:
pencil & paper, snacks

Background >>
Based on Steven Johnson’s book, Where Good Ideas Come From, THAT agency quits work at 4 p.m. every Friday afternoon and opens their doors to strangers to participate in a creative thought exercise. The point is to flex creative muscles, share bad ideas and incorporate feedback into the original bad idea. It sort of has a ‘game night’ vibe.

SUMMARY >>
As an attendee, you’re handed a worksheet, and 2-different colored Post-its. One sticky note to write a problem — any problem except the weather or the MTA — on one and a truth — any truth be it personal or societal. At the prompted time you’ll put them into a steamer basket and then go up and select someone else’s problem and truth stickies. Then you’re instructed the hard part: You must solve your selected Problem with the Truth that you selected, name the concept, pick a collaborator (living or dead), address a budget and voila! Tack it to the board. Each person presents their original concept, hastily thrown together but, hopefully, well-thought through while others ‘shrimp’ them — meaning: yell out questions, concerns, references, tangents, that they'd think add to the concept or discussion. This repeats until everyone has presented their concepts and the host et al. shrimp about any ‘group think’. Go 10x and get a ceramic dumpling.

#1
Problem: Time is an immutable force
Truth: Women feel 2x as much pain as men
Concept Name: ‘Strong Enough’
Description: A wearable watch that standardizes the pain between genders (or any two unequal parties) to experience ‘the other’ experience. For example, a woman would set it and share it with a partner, family member or colleague and for her setting the person gets 2x the pressure ‘shocks'
Budget: $$ · Collaborator: Nike
Group Mind: Time, Time travel

#2.
Problem: Spotify keeps playing the same 5 songs on all of my playlists
Truth: China has completely abandoned cities
Concept Name: Isolation City
Description: Spotify users indicate on their app that they no longer want to hear a specific song “banishing” it to no-man’s land. This assigns the song to a building in an abandoned city with motion detectors set up between each one that moves you to your next location as it detects movement. Spotify has dedicated playlist of these user generated songs for anyone to listen.
Budget: $$$$ · Collaborator: Bjork
Group Mind: Music, water

#3.
Problem: It’s really hard to tell if someone really likes you or not
Truth: Shrimp have their heart in their head
Concept Name: Heart in the head
Description: Squishy shrimp shaped couples therapy dollars that pulse when indicating mis-communication during couples therapy.
Budget: $ · Collaborator: A “Neuro-pyschologist“
Group Mind: Feelings, hangovers

#4.
Problem: People was a lot of produce
Truth: Octopus’ have 3 hearts and 6 brains
Concept Name: S’more Store
Description: A member’s only story that customers can only take produce what they’ve previously used week-to-week.
Budget: $
Collaborator: “Martha” from Park Slope Co-op
Group Mind: Food, winter, water

#5.
Problem: Humans are even less reliable than computers.
Truth: Cancer is hard for survivors, too.
Concept Name: Matilda
Description: Centrally dispatched robot that exhibits empathy, curiosity, nostalgia of the patients to relieve cancer survivors + families.
Budget: $$ · Collaborator: Anki toys
Group Mind: Hair, haircuts