➕ The Conditions 102
The awful UI of air-conditioning, the future of AI-generated content, Gmail's new look...
+Issue 102
User Experience
The UI of air-conditioning is hell on earth
It’s 2022, but thermostats are still living in the 1990s. They are so cryptic that you need a master’s in Egyptology to understand them.
Listen to users, but only 85% of the time
How Black Swans Can Save Innovation in a Data-Driven World
“‘Prove it’ takes innovation off the table because the business is effectively looking for a predictable outcome; it is looking not for innovation but for an incremental step along the existing business path, a reinforcement of the ‘what has made this business successful to date, will continue to work’. Not only is that no longer true in today’s disrupted economy; it is also most certainly not innovation. […] Experimentation has no certainty of success, no known expected outcome.”
There’s a new Gmail. But can it ever really change?
A redesigned Gmail may have already arrived in your inbox. No, it’s not all that different. But what would you say if it were?
AI & Machine Learning
I’ve been thinking about this tweet from Sam Lessin recently.
We’ve now experienced the shift from (traditional media) celebrity influencers to the current ‘Algorithmic Everyone’ phase as seen through the success of TikTok.
The next phase, while it may seem far off, could well be even more personalised, pure-AI content. So far we seen the very beginnings of this through text-to-image generators like DALL-E-2 and MidJourney. The next frontier would be AI-generated video. CogVideo is a very early attempt at this.
With deeply unnerving results, Robomojo reimagines blockbuster film posters through the eyes of AI
Testing the lengths of new AI systems, Robomojo sends all your favourite films off packing to the Uncanny Valley.
Digital Trust
The US Offers a $10 Million Bounty for Intel on the Conti Ransomware Gang
The State Department organization has called for people to share details about five key members of the hacking group.
Go read this report on ByteDance employees with ties to Chinese state media
A Forbes survey of LinkedIn profiles found some overlap
California ban on ‘addictive’ social media fails
The bill would have punished features that hooked children
Design
Is it time for “a revolution” in packaging symbols?
Recycling symbols used on packaging in the UK are unclear and inconsistent argues Butterfly Cannon’s innovation and sustainability manager Jenny Greenwood, who is looking to Denmark for inspiration.
Here’s Why John Updike Designed His Own Book Covers
The “Jansonist Knopfer” regularly butted heads with Chip Kidd and “didn't want to see too much letter spacing or type used in any kind of bizarre way”
Branding
A Change of Brand podcast
Produced by Matchstic, is a podcast about the world’s most loved consumer companies and their rebrand glory, drama, or disaster.
MUNCH Museum wayfinding system
North creates MUNCH’s bold new museum-wide signage and wayfinding system.