If you are a designer or business and wish to make prototypes or simple wish to have some fun with some really cool printing that you’ll be amazed at the MakerBot 3D Printer showcased at the International CES 2010 show.

The device is a 3D printer that allows users to make just about anything they want. First, users create a design in any 3D modeling software and after a design is created, MakerBot turns the design into a physical 3D model and the machine starts printing. The objects are made with ABS plastic and can be up to 4″x4″x6″.

MakerBot is an open source 3D printer that ranges in price from $750-$950. According to MakerBot Industries the giant search company Google has purchased multiple devices.

Check out their site for more information on MakerBot.

Community centre project provides a brand new web site by ADK.

More than 70 people attended a launch event held on 27 January 2010 for a new Community Enabling Project based in Victoria Park Community Centre, Bridgwater which is seeking to offer informal support to people to make changes which may improve their sense of wellbeing.  It was explained that people can be signposted by local agencies to the Community Enabling Team by with a free drink voucher for the ‘Café on the Park’ at certain times or by contacting the Community Enabling Team Co-ordinator.

Also launched on the day was a World Wide Website commissioned by the Project from ADK Limited, a Taunton web design company and which enables members of the community of Victoria Park, Bridgwater, and beyond,- to discover more about what goes on in and around the  area. The web site, found at www.victoriaparkbridgwater.co.uk , provides more than 50 web pages of local information and links, including: gallery, events, resources, advice, health, clubs, culture, resources, e-library, and more, for the local community.

The site, described as “impressive” by Sally Hill of Victoria Park Community Centre, provides resources not only on local activities and self-development resources, (topics include: babies, early years, parents, youth, mature years); but also directs visitors to numerous sites and tools that can further develop their understanding of what health and wellbeing is all about.   “The ‘For You’ section offers a great look at what’s available to those wishing to discover help and information.” said the site’s creator, Andrew Knutt, Director of ADK Ltd.

“This is an exciting community project and the website is very well designed, vibrant, and offers a wealth of interesting information for all ages,” said Lydia Woodward, Project Manager, NHS Somerset. The project and the website is designed to contribute to Bridgwater’s growing provision of services and wellbeing resources and the web site is like a ‘public library’ for Bridgwater activities. The website will include a list of clubs and societies, events going on at Victoria Park, the multi-agency services of the community centre, what’s available in the ‘Café on the Park’ and much more.

The site doesn’t just provide links to other resources; but also provides helpful editorial content and links to even more invaluable information for anyone living in Bridgwater and the county.  There are links and information on support available from NHS Somerset; Sedgemoor District Council; and Somerset County Council and others. The frequently updated site also provides a wide-ranging look at civic health and community participation.

From the comfort of their homes, local residents will have 24 hour access to interesting and supportive information. Here they will be able to watch videos, see what’s on at the centre, along with local consultation information. The site will be able to promote special local events throughout the year and offer newsletters, as well giving all visitors access to our extensive set of resources.

People attending the launch on 27 January, had the opportunity to meet the new Community Enabling Team and also see a live presentation of the website www.victoriaparkbridgwater.co.uk.   Many said that the website is a fantastic local asset, and worthy of an award for its delivery of information, and creation of a ‘virtual’ centre for the community.

Designing a service isn’t rocket science. If you have the ability to see things from the end user or customers’ point of view and have a certain grasp on understanding the impact of processes you’ll certainly know what service improvements need to be made.

Why progress services? Because it improves business, customer retention, brand recognition and values, word-of-mouth advertising and happy staff and customers.

Yet, we still continue to experience poor or bad service levels no matter where we are. Or should I say experiences that just aren’t thought out, especially from the customer’s point of view.

I admit the UK is not the best place for service design and customer experience compared to most countries but when we experience services from large corporate companies we expect investment within services they produce, which leads me to supermarkets.

Last week I went armed with a shopping list and went to one of the main supermarket chains to do the family weekly shopping. It was early evening and not to busy so my mind was set on browsing as well as direct shopping. Nearing the end of my trip I had several items I could not find. 

To start with I retraced my steps to the areas where I thought the products would reside. Only to find that that they weren’t in these areas. Then I started to respond emotionally in negative way. What started out as a pleasant shopping experience was now turning into a chore and a pain.

I started to get frustrated and so decided to find a member of staff. But as soon as I spotted this rare breed on the shop floor they would walk away or move to an inaccessible area. The customer services desk is always near the entrance, and that was just miles away with many obstacles and turns, and that little station that faces the tills is never manned.

So there you have it. A disgruntled customer, with no way of finding help, an experience that went sour and an incomplete shopping list from a supermarket who couldn’t deliver.

Can service design help? Is there some form of technology that can help? I believe so, and one should always come up with ideas no matter how mad until something comes up viable.

The first thing to do is to discover the issue. This is easily achieved by having each till operator asking ‘Did you manage to buy everything you needed today?’ This is then recorded by the operator by simply pressing a yes or no button. Then should there be 8000 transactions that day and 40% didn’t find what they are looking for we can equate this as a problem and measure loss of sells.

Another is CCTV. I know in shopping malls today they use facial recognition software, so it’s not that hard to devise similar software that identifies erratic walking/shopping patterns e.g. the camera identifies that I am visiting aisles again and again or not shopping in the flow that the store has designed. The camera identifies this and the person, notifies someone who in turn notifies someone on the shop floor, that person then finds the customer and asks if they can assist.

One also knows that ever single product is in a computer database and that most merchandising is universal i.e. head office tells the local store where and how to display which product. If this is the case then why can’t we have ‘find-stations’ at the end of each aisle…

These devices are connected to this database and the interface can be really simple and user friendly. The user can either type in what they are looking for or speak the word and the system tells them where the product is. Touch screens and pictorial ‘you are here’ can make the experience even easier.

One could even design a ‘product-nav’. This device is wireless and acts like a satnav. You type in what you want and off it goes telling you were it is. Of course this is more expensive and can only reside/mounted on the trolley, and this wasn’t so successful when they tried to use this concept with calculators.

But having a technology and web design background I think one of the cheapest and easiest ways are barcodes and a website. In this example the customer creates their shopping list from the supermarkets website, which is retained and can be used again and again. The customer even gets the option to have the list emailed to them if they shop on regular days e.g. every Saturday. These lists can even be semantic and even respond with offers relating to the shopping list, pushing more sells and offers.

The system then organises the list in a logical walk flow and within the design of the store and where the products are located. The user then prints out a barcode, visits the store, scans the barcode and then a printed list is produced helping them shop efficiently and effectively. And what a chance to show a few special offers!

Why this way? This will calculate how customers plan shopping and whether they visit after using such an online service. Of course one could have the list printed from the website but if any local changes have been made without the websites knowledge the experience may falter. At least by visiting the store these could be put into a system and taken into consideration.

So what do you think? Should the experience be better? Can design make shopping easier and complete? I think so, and I haven’t even touched on waiting at the till to be served. I have other ideas for this.

Supermarkets in the UK

Here are just a few large supermarkets chains in the UK: Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Costco, Farmfoods, Iceland, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco, and Waitrose.

What is Service Design?

Service design has many aspects; from designing a service process to designing physical environments or product usability; from organising people to enhancing experience; each play a role in everyday life.

But for many organisations and businesses employing a service design professional means spending £1000s and involves the use of service design matrixes and multitude of research.

Get an outsiders point of view before you take this route and let us consult with you about service design or you may simply wish to have an evaluation. We’d love to help and to revise your service and design new ways of making you stand out from your competitors. Contact ADK Ltd.

Somerset Design Enterprise Network (SDEN) is proud to announce a new website featuring some fantastic content including jobs, support, opportunities, news, competitions, noticeboard, showcases, events diary and much more.

The website at http://www.somerset-design-network.co.uk is part of the regional partnership SDEN has with other design networks throughout the South West of England and with the South West Design Forum. 

Why do creative industries and designers need to register?
The new website will form the official design directory for Somerset and of SDEN. So if you are in the creative industries or a designer or design company then you need to get listed and signup to the newsletter to benefit from the many activities offered to you. 

Plus, over the next six months SDEN will be migrating all thier activities and email newsletter to this site so if you want to stay informed about design and business activities you’ll need to join the new website. Just select the ‘Join‘ button to setup your account and then sign in to add your business profile. 

I’m not a designer or creative industries organisation. Can I sign-up?
To be a full member and have a business profile you must be a creative industries organisation, individual or design company. But don’t worry if you are not. We have a separate signup for email newsletter subscribers and you can add your subscription by clicking here.

Search design directory on the new website

Visit new website homepage

I need reminding about what SDEN is and what it does.
Need to be refreshed on what SDEN does and how they were set up. Visit their other website.

For more information about Somerset Design Enterprise Network email sden@adk.ltd.uk

Hitwise and Experian Company published a chart that illustrates the percentage of all UK Internet visits accounted for by the largest and most significant online categories – and how this situation has changed over the last three years.

This data chimes nicely with the findings of the latest Ofcom Communications Market Report. It concluded that the communications market has not been particularly harmed by the recession, and that ‘the internet and TV is regarded as a higher priority than almost anything except food.’

Read the full report on the Hitwise blog

The ETC/UNWTO Handbook on E-Marketing for Tourism Destinations is the first comprehensive e-marketing handbook for tourism destinations. The all-new 300-page publication is a practical ‘how-to’-manual for tourism destination staff at national, regional and city tourism organisations, designed to help improve e-marketing skills and manage new projects.

The book covers all the basics including website design, search engine optimisation, email marketing, social networking, and e-commerce. It has advice on how to build better content, get distribution of it, use CRM, succeed with online PR, support the travel trade on-territory, and get into mobile marketing. Web analytics, online research methods, and performance measurement get full treatment, and new areas such as digital television are also covered. It also includes over 30 examples of e-marketing in action.

Find more information at http://www.etc-corporate.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=230

Tourist destination VisitBrighton hopes to become the “First Photosynth City” as its use of Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology gathers pace.

New Mind, the destination management supplier for Brighton, has incorporated Photosynth, a new feature of Microsoft’s Bing Maps for Enterprise, into its Destination Management System (DMS). Photosynth allows users to take a selection of photos depicting a scene or object and ‘automagically’ ‘stitch’ them all together to make an interactive 3D experience to share on the web.

With visitors to the VisitBrighton site already exploring synths of popular landmarks including Brighton Pier and the Royal Pavilion - tourism bosses are now encouraging local accommodation providers, restaurants and attractions to seize the opportunity to create their own synths and ‘bring their businesses to life’. (TravelDailyNews, July 2009)

The already successful Somerset Design Enterprise Network, established to promote and encourage Somerset’s design industry, has been relaunched to broaden its membership and to further boost design in the county.

The original launch of SDEN five years ago coincided with central government urging British design to be a core economic leader for the nation.

The increasing importance of the design sector has been highlighted more recently by UK Design Council research that shows a 30% increase in the number of firms who regard design as integral to their operation.
The Somerset Design Enterprise Network is determined to ensure the county’s design industry is in a strong position and fully ready to take advantage of an upturn in the economy when it comes along.

Now SDEN has strengthened its Steering Committee and set out an agenda to promote the design capabilities in the county, to attract new members county-wide and to keep design at the forefront of business thinking.

Taking the helm will be Taunton-based designer Andrew Knutt who was nominated as the new Chairman at a meeting of SDEN at Somerset College.  Andrew is a director of his own design and media company ADK Ltd, Somerset-born, he has been in business for 12 years. Staunchly committed to design excellence, he is also a committee member of SDEN’s regional parent organisation, the South West Design Forum and an Associate of the Institute of Business Consulting as well as other business forums.

Richard Holt, founding committee member and former Chairman of SDEN, becomes vice-chairman. Since 2005 Richard has been based at Somerset College as Fellow in Creative Industries and Enterprise from the University of Plymouth. He is a practising Industrial designer.

Other representatives of the design sector on the SDEN committee are Andrew Palmer of Taunton, founder and managing director of Strategic Marketing Solutions Ltd; Alistair Whiteley, a freelance web developer based in Weston-super-Mare and the Director of his own web design and development company; Neil Lumby, who established his own design practice in Langport, became a graphics lecturer and is currently establishing a new multi-practice, DesignEquity; and Paul Bryant, formerly a journalist, local government and private sector PR consultant and now Chairman and Director of Taunton-based consultancy, Impact Design & Marketing.

“Through the Somerset Design Enterprise Network we aim is to bring the county’s designers together and to provide a meeting point for design, industry, education and other design related activities,” says Andrew Knutt.  “Much has been achieved over the group’s first five years providing a foundation that promotes Somerset’s design industry and represent our members at regional, national, and global level. Now we need to build our membership to reflect the diversity of forward-thinking design activity in the county and we will be looking to create a range of activities and events.”

“The design industry is diverse in Somerset covering architecture, photography, graphics, engineering, fashion, packaging, manufacturing, interiors, film and television …in fact many sectors of commerce, industry, government call upon the creative design industry in some way.”

“Everyone knows how challenging today’s economic conditions are. To survive in these conditions and stay ahead of the competition, UK business must add value – and good design from Somerset’s designers has a valuable part to play in achieving this.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about the Somerset Design Enterprise Network and how to join, can find details at www.designenterprisenetwork.net.

Designers from the creative industries in Somerset were invited to attend an exclusive networking and debate event held by Somerset Design Enterprise Network at Somerset Centre for Enterprise on March 30th to discuss what’s happening in the creative industries in Somerset and what needs the sector believes it requires to prosper and grow.

As vice-chairman of the Somerset Design Enterprise Network (SDEN) I presented an overview of the creative industries in the UK and the South West and showed what Somerset Design Enterprise Network has done to date and what it will be doing in the near future.

You can view a copy of the SDEN presentation and the launch of our new paid membership on the SDEN website http://www.designenterprisenetwork.net

Somerset Design Enterprise Network is part of a regional design support group and this group is housed by South West Design Forum of which I also sit as a committee member. Each county in the South West has its own design support network and as a collective we represent the region.

ADK, one of Somerset’s innovative design, media and business coaching firms, is pleased to announce that in partnership with the Somerset Centre for Enterprise, will be holding several business boosting workshops aimed at helping businesses survive the economic downturn by attracting more customers online, and by showing them how they can promote and advance their business themselves, saving £100s and expanding their business knowledge at the same time.

The workshops starting from the month of November will equip business owners with the tools, knowledge and resources necessary to survive and succeed in any economic climate by utilising the Internet to its full potential. These workshops will give business owners a boost to growing their businesses and present some real trade secrets along the way.

In addition, business owners will learn tips and strategies to help them bring order to the chaos of running a website or ecommerce store, get better control over their ranking in search engines, and gain powerful insights into simple ways to increase sales and profits.

Neil Higginson, Director of Enterprise, was pleased to offer businesses this unique opportunity to learn from professionals commenting “Many established firms are trying to build online capabilities and are asking some fundamental questions on the appropriateness of their business models and the performance of their websites in this collaborative, technological world. This raises challenges as to what can be done to increase their game, processes and knowledge needed for a successful online presence”.

Andrew Knutt, Director of ADK added: “Through presentations, hands-on exercises, professional tools, revealing truths and bridging the skills gap that many website owners have, the workshops will encourage and inspire business and website owners to succeed online by evaluating their goals and online presence. It will highlight relevant research and the marketing and promotional implications to be considered in designing business models for the Internet so as to maximise opportunities.”

All workshops will be held at the Somerset Centre for Enterprise, Somerset College , Taunton and cover ‘Win Website Customers’, ‘Ecommerce for Business’, ‘DIY Promotion’, and ‘DIY Search Engine Optimisation’. To learn more and to book online visit the ADK website at www.adk.ltd.uk and to find the Somerset Centre for Enterprise visit www.somersetenterprise.co.uk