If We Could Only SEE that We are ALL Designer Thinkers

IDEO's Fred Dust talks about the importance of Design and I LOVED the approach he took. Using examples of 'creators' who are not traditional designers, he demonstrates that we are ALL design thinkers. We are creating and altering design in our lives all the time. Every minute of the day, we are making design decisions without even realizing it. Referencing Julie Gilbert, Antanas Mockus and Dr. Jay Parkinson, he shows us how breaking rules and trying new things can open up groundbreaking ideas and opportunities.

Columbian mathematician Antanas Mockus used mime techniques to decrease violence in a part of Bogota, and then used those principles to teach police how to implement them in other areas.

Dr. Jay Parkinson was revolutionary in how he treated his patients. He put his Google Calendar online and patients would book through the open calendar and then pay for their appointment using PayPal, bypassing the healthcare system altogether. The concept became Hello Health, which took his prototype and allowed other doctors to practice this way too.

Hello Health is a mixture of secure social network and electronic medical record that enables doctors and patients to connect both in their office and online via email, IM, and video chat.

The take away from Dust, is that we're all designer thinkers. Every problem is a design problem. We in fact, transform our environment on a regular basis to make it easier for people around us, i.e., how we adjust our physical bodies when we're in a conversation with someone, where we stand in a conversation, how we adjust our voice -- all to improve the situation and the 'design' environment around us.

Photographer Rick Smolan talks about his own life as a designer and creator, through the world of photography. He references common trends we're seeing in our digital lives today: personalization and customization. People are grabbing at things that allow us to personalize our creations because it makes them feel connected.

In walking us through the Obama Capsule Project and sharing the history behind how The Day in the Life of Series became successful, he laughs and says, "sometimes telling people to shoot for the moon and believing that you can is the best advice that you can give."

Thinking outside the traditional photography book paradigm, Smolan brought us a fresh new approach to publishing: personalization at its best. He believed in his project and the world around him joined forces to help him make his vision a reality.

To echo a sentiment that was shared by many of the speakers at TEDX on Saturday, don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself: what makes you become alive? When you're alive, you're living your true purpose. When you are living your true purpose, you ARE giving the world what it needs.