Cognitive Design

For those that seek to improve organizations the metaphor of “breaking down silos” has a special place. The idea is to get things to work more smoothly across organizational boundaries without disrupting the value those boundaries provide.

Today, we face a new kind of silo or boundary that both accelerates and impedes organizational performance. It is the boundary between the digital or online world and the physical world.  We bridge these worlds with smart phones, digital cameras, PCs, tons of other gadgets and a huge range of software applications ranging from Office products and Facebook to supercomputing applications.  

Integrating cyberspace with office space is one of the major issues we face in the early 21st century.

Meeting this challenge requires a boat load of cognitive design.   To get your wheels turning check out Microsoft’s vision (6 minute video) for getting it done.  It starts out slow but pay special attention to the features and functions that get the big burst of applause.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.