Predicting the end of Facebook or Google...

A few days ago there was a post on Facebook on a research done at Princeton that predicted the decline of Facebook. It turns out that 7 years ago, together with Matti Kelttanen we modelled using My Space as basis, how Facebook would evolve. The conclusion is that the the model did not correlate in time but it helped to open a

debate on the lifecycle of services like Facebook. On the Internet nothing is forever, ok, maybe Google :-) but even on search and browsers there have been many waves. Check out this beautiful representation of the evolution of the web done by Vizzualityhttp://www.vizzuality.com/.

http://www.evolutionoftheweb.com/

Will Digital Public Healthcare Systems be up to consumer expectations?

A few days ago I went to the doctor to ask for a prescription for a drug that I need to take and that I am about to run out of. Instead of the doctor I saw a nurse that told me that the doctor would check the drugs I am using and if agreed that I need to continue taking them, he would issue a new prescription. Then she gave me a link to a site that the Finnish Social security system is using to provide Health information and communicate with the public. You access the site using the security codes of your bank. there I found the prescription in electronic format that is automatically accessible from any pharmacy. So no need to carry anymore physical prescriptions, and a secure way to access my private health data. However the system is far from perfect.
-The interface needs work, specially in prettifying it
-There is a lot to be done in extracting value for the user form the data that could be generated
-The communication and notification system can be improved

For over a decade now, Public healthcare in many developed nations has worked in fixing the back of the system. Building the Databases and infrastructure that will enable the new generation of services that we expect to see in the next years. With the imminent explosion of wearables and sensors, we are going to see huge increase on the amount of data collected about us. This will generate a lot of interesting businesses from storage in the cloud to new added value. However a key role will be the design of those services that take insights to the user.

Solutions like "How Are You" put an extra effort on the front end experience but also open their API to their parties. This is a remarkable initiative that public organisations particularly in those countries where they represent a monopoly should consider. They need to operate more like facilitators of an ecosystem, where the platform the data and the design are focused to provide the best possible value to the end user.

Design, again is not only about a beautiful front end experience but about building the components that give a better solution to the public. I really hope those responsible for the digital health systems see that the extra mile of investment on design makes the whole difference.

Spotify is the first social music enabler

Spotify has changed the way music was played at parties introducing the best Collaborative DJ. See my post on how to organize a spotify party. Now you can get everything, and finding everything can be done through a discovery process. This process works great when is done in a collaborative way. Music is attached to memories, and when you hear songs you start connecting to other songs, through memories. Last weekend when we celebrated my friend's Jesper 40 b-day party we played this game with Spotify. The result was awesome. Not only because everyone had an amazing time, but because it opened the eyes to this human behavior. Spotify is an enabler, the very first enabler of Social Music. It is not yet untapped, and is just a matter of time that people, and companies realize of the potential.

One in four marriages in Helsinki involve at least one foreigner

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/-/1135243389162

De acuerdo con Helsinging Sanomat uno de cada cuatro matrimonios en Helsinki incluye por lo menos a un extranjero

Latitude is the gateway to web 3.0

This week has been my baptism in the next phase of social networks and what we could call web 3.0. I am referring to the first real attempts to let people share their location. I have now tried latitude from Google, but I also have registered in trypit.com, dopplr.com, and finally http://MostTraveledPeople.com. Latitude is an interesting experiment. To me is like adding super powers, or acquiring a new sense that allows us to know who is nearby. It goes beyond our sight, smell or ears. My first experience has showed that most people I know are so curious that dont mind too much to share their location despite the fact that is dropping the level of privacy.

People and Places mobile services and applications

This is a short list of the emerging start-ups that are focusing in the areas of contextual services for social networks.

Pocketlife
Bliin
Gypsii
Rummble
Tooio

NSN Industry seminar in Cairo January 2009

I had the pleasure of being invited by Ulla Koivuskosku to speak at the seminar this week in Cairo. The experience was great. The Egyptian telecommunications industry was well represented. And we had the chance to meet and talk to different people. Unlike the rest of the world the Egyptian economy like most of the middle east is still ok and growing. Tomi Ahonen did a great presentation on how with the current climate only the ones that adapt will succeed. He gave a list of examples of successful services in different categories.
My presentation revolved around the relevance of design in modern organizations and how companies need to embrace design management and design organizations into their own. I also gve a few examples of how service dsign can be the key to increase customer loyalty and presented a few examples of how different operators in different parts of the world plan to deal with the crisis this year. I finished with a list of thoughts collected after CES and from Fjord Research.
The audience was very interested about what is service design, and the methodology we apply, and user experience in general.