Make it Social – New Entrepreneurs [DPA34 Project Description]

The world around us is changing fast, and not all the changes are positive. We’re facing the biggest natural, social and economic challenges our world has ever seen. This project is about the new realities in this world changing and how a New Generation is there to rip up the rulebook and start over.

Background Information | New Generation of Entrepreneurs
New Entrepreneurs

New Entrepreneurs

In this worldly context of change, there is an upcoming influence of a generation of new entrepreneurs, that experiences creative freedom. They don’t wait for something to happen, they start doing it.
With their desire to create and the technical gear (hard & software) available, they are starting their own little businesses – especially if they can’t find their creative freedom within the existing corporations.

Digital is no longer something new, it’s a given. This creates a gap between the perception of technology in the heads of this generation and their client’s perception that digital is a specific discipline.

This is a network-generation of entrepreneurs that is characterized by a cocktail of the concepts ‘multi’, ‘sharing’, ‘inline’ and ‘open’ and that will change the future as they like to do it on their own terms.

Design Challenge:

1. Physically: The growth of freelancers and (creative) entrepreneurs is not new – you can see facilities popping up everywhere, Amsterdam, Berlin changing into creative hubs themselves all to offer facilities this group of new business owners. Example: work spaces like “spaces” (in Amsterdam) or the Public library in Amsterdam.

2. Mentally: There is no longer a differentiation between ”online” and ”offline”. They connect and engage via their own unique ‘Inline’ vertical network structures to all their communities, With Apple, Sony, Nokia, Blackberry, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, TED, LinkedIn, Skype, You Tube, Wiki and Blogging as most common facilitators for sharing knowledge, communication, networking & creation.

3. Virtual: What online/offline design solutions can be developed that tap into the needs for running a business for this generation and how can you support this new group of entrepreneurs in the future, virtually and physically?

Think about:

  • Starting up your business: think about connect with new clients, communication and business if you don’t have an office…
  • Running your business: Think about solutions that make it easy for entrepreneurs to do their accounting, bookkeeping (think Money bird), finance management whilst traveling.

For the sake of the project – we would like students to focus on how they can come up with new design solutions for running a creative business.

Example Cases:

Generation 404 is changing Bookkeeping with Moneybird

Moneybird | iPhone App (www.moneybird.nl)

Say goodbye to boring bookkeeping systems, Moneybird is an online FREE application that is enthusiastically  welcomed by the new generation of entrepreneurs. Why have a bookkeeper at all?

moneybird

moneybird

Why it works for this generation?

  • Converging with all your other gear, first application that works on your IPhone
  • It is Free
  • It is Accessible and Open.. You can write and send your invoices on the train and in the coffee bar
  • It is VISUALLY attractive…

We Transfer | making file sharing sexy

www.wetransfer.com

Nalden is not only a smart and young creative entrepreneur himself (www.nalden.net) Nalden is one of the most ofa ll happiest entrepreneurs in the world. He came up with a new software system to swept away ‘oldskool’ systems like ‘yousendit’.

wetransfer

we transfer

Why it works for this generation?

  • It is USER friendly and visually attractive
  • It was spread through the network of influencers from Nalden himself…

XinDanWei

www.xindanwei.com

From its website: “Xindanwen: a new way of working Xindanwei, which literally means `new working unit’, is a co-working commnunity which promotes and facilitates creativity, sharing and the great scale of collaboration.” The service provided is physical and local. Would it be a good idea also look into virtual and over distance?

Clients

  • Out of Office
  • Exact
Xindanwei

Xindanwei

References

  • About Out of Office: Out Of Office is a small, but global, creative business where the original and unique happening feeds imagination, ideas and services for all walks of life. Out Of Office breathes in a multi dimensional and flexible environment, collaborates with all sorts of people and is free from hierarchies and bureaucracy. We recognize our creativity is limited but we understand the strength of sharing knowledge in return. Kirsten van Dam and Sam Colijn are the founders of Out of Office.
  • New Spaces: http://amsterdam.the-hub.net/public/ or http://spaces.nl/
  • New Entrepreneurs: example: Nalden: With a background in the music- and advertising industry, his expertise of online-trends and most of all; as powerful blogger with his unique and internationally recognized blog, Nalden.net, he keeps reinventing himself and other businesses. As a ‘social entrepreneur’ he’s focused on exploring new ways to reach people without interrupting them, in which he already succeeded with his Wallpaper Advertising business model on Nalden.net and WeTransfer. With his knowledge about technology and the impact this new media is having on the world he’s always working on connecting the dots to make this a better world to live in, by sharing, supporting and investing.
  • Nalden.net Wetransfer.com
  • Exact: www.exactonline.nl

Literature

Papers

  • Razzaghi, M., Ramirez, M. and Zehner, R. (2009). Cultural patterns in product design ideas: comparisons between Australian and Iranian student concepts. Design Studies 30, 438-461.
  • Cross, N., and Cross, A.C. (1995). Observations of teamwork and social processes in design. Design Studies 16, 145-170.
  • Moallem, M. (2003). An Interactive Online Course A Collaborative Design Model. ETR&D, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 85–103.
  • Ostwald, J. (1995). Supporting Collaborative Design with Representations for Mutual Understanding. CHI’Companion 95, Denver, Colorado, USA.
  • Hennessy, S. and Murphy, P. (1999). The Potential for Collaborative Problem Solving in Design and Technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education 9, 1–36.
  • Tamara Christensenl and Senay Yasar. Paradigms and Protocols in the Study of Creative Collaboration: Implications for Research of Design Team Process and Product. IASDR07.
  • Jens Schumacher, Karin Feurstein. Living Labs – the user as co-creator.
  • Nicole Schadewitz. Design Patterns for Cross-cultural Collaboration. International Journal of Design Vol.3 No.3 2009.
  • Maaike Kleinsmann, Rianne Valkenburg. Barriers and enablers for creating shared understanding in co-design projects. Design Studies 29 (2008) 369-386.
  • Maaike Kleinsmann, Jan Buijs, Rianne Valkenburg. Understanding the complexity of knowledge integration in collaborative new product development teams: A case study. J. Eng. Technol. Manage. 27 (2010) 20–32
  • Yoshihiro Itoh, Asami Miyajima, Takumi Watanabe. ‘TSUNAGARI’ Communication: Fostering a Feeling of Connection between Family Members. CHI 2002, April 20-25, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Books

  • Hofstede, Geert and Hofstede, Gert-Jan. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill U.S.A., 2004.
  • De Mooij, Marieke, Consumer Behavior and Culture Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising, SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003

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