Shipulski On Design

Search Results

When you want to figure out what’s next, show customers what’s possible.  This is much different than asking them what they want.  So, don’t do that.  Instead, show them a physical prototype or a one-page sales tool that explains the value they would realize. When they see what’s possible, the world changes for them.  They […]

Product simplification can radically improve profits and radically improve product robustness.  Here’s a graph of profit per square foot ($/ft^2) which improved by a factor of seven and warranty cost per unit ($/unit), a measure of product robustness), which improved by a factor of four.  The improvements are measured against the baseline data of the […]

It’s not possible until you demonstrate it. It can’t be done until you show it being done. It won’t work until you make it work. It must be done using the standard process until you do it a much better way. It’s required until you violate the requirement and everything is fine. It’s needed until […]

Demoing something for the first time is difficult, but doing it for the second time is easy.  And when you demo a new solution the first time, it (and you) will be misunderstood. What is the value of this new thing?  This is a good question because it makes clear they don’t understand it. After […]

When you do something for a long time, the physical and mental muscles you exercise get stronger and you get better at that activity.  But where the muscles you use get stronger, the ones you don’t use atrophy and you get worse at all the other things. When you do something for a long time, […]

Here are the top blog posts (in descending order) from the previous twelve months.  The short descriptions give some context for the posts and my intentions for writing them. Thanks for reading. Mike   When You Have Enough… The post describes behaviors that demonstrate you have enough and the benefits of having enough.  And it […]

In business, we have vision statements, mission statements, strategic plans, strategic initiatives, and operating plans. And every day there are there are countless decisions to make. But, in the end, it all comes down to one thing – how we allocate our resources.  Whether it’s hiring people, training them, buying capital, or funding projects, all […]

As leaders of people, we have a responsibility to help people grow. One of the best ways to help them grow is to put them in a position to do so. But what does that look like? Here’s a process and some questions to help you quantify your efforts to help people grow. Choose one […]

If you believe you can’t do something, you can’t. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you might be able to pull it off next time. If you believe you’re not good enough, you’re not. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you’re still good enough. If you believe someone’s opinion of you […]

If you see something that matters, say something. If you say something and nothing happens, you have a choice – bring it up again, do something, or let it go. Bring it up again when you think your idea was not understood. And if it’s still not understood after the second try, bring it up […]

Fascination with the idealized future state isn’t ideal.  Before moving forward, define the current state of things. Improvement opportunities mean nothing unless they come from a deep understanding of the state of things as they are.  Define things as they are before settling on improvement opportunities. If you want to converge on a common understanding […]