Once you've built or started something, you need to get it out there so people can find out about it and buy or use it.

The problem is that you have everything ready and still noone is finding you, contacting you or writing about you. The solution to this problem is very simple, very few people were discovered. They became known because after building their idea they went out and started talking about it.

You can't cut corners either. The best way to get your name out there and get people writing about you is to do the leg work and start telling your story to people. Start talking to people that write for websites, blogs, other people that inspire you. Ask for recommendations, referrals and way-ins.

Be authentic and if your idea is worth talking about, then people will talk about it.

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After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, our new website is live!

Check it out http://www.minimoko.com/ and let us know what you think!

Don't forget to head to the Playtime section and grab some goodies (desktop backgrounds, posters and badges!).

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Simplification can sometimes be tough and you need to find ways to enable it. Knowledge can definitely have a positive effect on your simplification efforts. When people learn how to do something, then it becomes easy and simple. Even the most difficult task, can become easy once you know how to accomplish it.

Let's take the iPhone for example. Although every design element of it is simplified, it clearly plays on knowledge that we have. If you gave the iPhone to someone in the 60s, they wouldn't know what to do with it. But now, we know what a browser is, we generally know what to expect from an email client. We know that red hangs up a call and that green dials a number. All these elements have been beautifully used to make the iPhone the simple device that it is.

If you are stuck somewhere in your simplification process then do two things:

1. See how you can educate your user about what you want them to do the first time, and periodically. This will simplify the complete experience.
2. Use elements and processes that the user already knows in order to accomplish your task.

By user I don't mean just a digital/online user. Anyone that uses a process or element that you have designed is a user.

Remember that knowledge is power and it can lead to simplicity. Always educate people so they can understand what they have to do and soon enough, things will become simple.

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The best way I've found to start the day, is working on things that are of most value to me. Whether that's writing, working on a project or taking a walk and thinking, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you do something that inspires you.

If you don't start the day with something of value, you run the risk of spending your day endlessly chasing emails, checking social media, browsing websites and doing busywork. 

What I've found is that when I focus on what's of value to me, then I have one of those days that I feel like I have achieved so much and when I look at the clock it's still 3pm.

Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

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When most of us start up we have one goal, to make money. We want to have the freedom to be the ones to make the choices and to keep all the money that we are making. The problem is that a lot of the times people get confused and think that making money is their purpose.

If this happens everything goes downhill and leads to inevitable failure. We need to change our attitude and see money as the result of our purpose and efforts. We need to focus on making things better and helping others. Once you "forget" about money and focus on helping, you will be able to take greater risks and innovate. This will eventually lead to making money, if you are doing the right thing.

I know it's difficult but try to put making money in second place. Focus on what you really want to do, what you want your purpose to be and how you can help others. Slowly you will start feeling better about what you do and also make more money.

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There I was sitting at the presentation room observing the discussions between two "big" companies. The one, a very well known FMCG brand. The other, an eager service provider hungry to sign a new contract.

Everything was going well, the client liked the proposal but then started discussing a point that was missed on purpose during the presentation. The buyer (big FMCG brand) was asking for a sign-on bonus from the supplier. The reason behind it? Their brand is so big and so valuable that just mentioning the supplier's name in the press release would have an impact on their reputation and share price.

That's how valuable a brand name can be. It can affect not only your future but also the future of the people you work with. Investing on your brand is a wise choice and something that lately even affects the financial value of a company.

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Flower shops, card stores, jewellery shops, everything is going crazy today for Valentine's Day. The big day of the year to show your loved ones how much you love them. And come to think of it, why would you object to it? We celebrate our birth, the new year, someone else's birth, why shouldn't we celebrate our love?

That doesn't mean though that we have to turn it into a consumption festival. The most important presents are those that come from the heart. When I was thinking of what to do for my wife I decided to go old-school and remind us of our childhood. I printed a design of a pop-up card, got my crafting tools together and spent half an hour yesterday making it. Simple, fun, cool and meaningful.

Once it was ready I hid it and left it this morning on her pillow. Her reaction was exactly what I expected to a present that came from the heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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You may have noticed that nothing was posted for a few days during last week on this blog. Although we have made a commitment that we will be always posting on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, last week we messed it up.

The reason? Our side project, CPU Wars, had to be shipped to all our backers and that took an excessively longer time than we had planned. It was the first time we were doing a task like this, at this kind of scale, and as expected we underestimated the effort needed. At least we got everything shipped and our backers are very happy.

Of course I felt bad about not keeping my promise and started judging my decisions, it's very difficult to quiet the inner voice. What's important is that I acknowledged my failure, came to terms with it and focused on what I had to do in that moment. At the end of the day, nobody's perfect and I had to choose what was most important at that moment.

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This article by Co.Design came to verify some of the thinking I've been having the past few years. We, at minimoko, have been supporters of collaboration from the beginning since it allows us to be more involved in a project and create better relationships.

We have also tried (although it hasn't happened yet) to push for a way of working that is different to the traditional consulting model. We know that building a relationship and involving a designer and/or brand builder in the core team is essential to the success of a project. So it makes sense to work for equity instead of working for a fixed fee. The way Fuseproject has achieved this is definitely the way for the future. And it's something that we are pushing to get done in the near future.

The way things are done is changing and sticking to the traditional business models will eventually get us into trouble. We need to welcome change and find ways to provide the best value, while also getting the most out of any project.

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The reason is that by repeating the smaller tasks will help you optimise the process and create a system for completing the task. Through this not only you make it faster but the quality will also improve as you only need to look for errors in a small task.

Try it out and see how your work will improve.

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Snow finally came to the UK and it hit London pretty hard on Saturday.

As we were making our way home that evening I saw in the distance an old man with 3 bags on the one hand and dragging a big shopping trolley with the other. Without thinking I told my wife "Pull over, I need to help that man".

I got out of the car, went over and started pushing the trolley. We chatted a bit and when we reached his house he stopped, took off his glove, shaked my hand in a very grateful way and thanked me.

That was all I needed, enough to make my evening and keep me going for the next days.

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When in doubt about whether you should work on something else or go for a walk, always choose the second. If you have a dog, take it with you.

Why? Because the time you will spend on this break will give you the needed energy to complete the task you wanted to do in a lot less time. Plus I don't have to preach you about the benefits of a bit of exercise.

What are you waiting for, go for that walk and clear your head for a few minutes.

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Yesterday I was discussing with one of the backers of CPU Wars, about the creation of the project and its success. What made this idea real and successful? Acting on it. 

A lot of other people might have had the same or similar idea, but never acted on it. When you are faced with a new idea, with the unknown you have two options:

1. Start working on it
2. Do nothing and then complain about the great idea that you once had and never did anything about

For me, it has always been the first. This way, if I fail at least I can say that I gave it a try. Of course this is just the beginning, but what sets apart wantrepreneurs from entrepreneurs is not generating or finding ideas. It's acting on them.

We all have a lot of ideas, so when you find that certain one, the one that makes you feel all tingly when you think about it, act on it. Stop procrastinating and thinking about all the worst scenarios. Dedicate some of your free time and start working, at least you'll get the experience.

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I always want to create the best and most helpful content for you, so I've decided to reach out and ask for your help and suggestions.

I will be starting a complete guide to branding and I want to know what you want me to cover. It will be our way of helping everyone and really showing what branding can do for you. We will start from the fundamentals of branding and move on to how you can work on creating a stronger and memorabe brand.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments, then send me a line to harry [at] minimoko [dot] com.

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Yesterday I was revisitng a nice article by Smashing Magazine, titled Designing for a Hierarchy of Needs. Steven has done a great job applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to design. I personally agree with this model but I won't be talking about this today.

What I wanted to talk about is how simplicity can help you cover some of these needs. Specifically it can help you achieve the needs of Functionality and Usability.

Functionality
Functionality is one of the core elements when using simplicity in our design process. Before anything else, our design needs to include the needed functions. Not only that but through a simplification process we can identify and decide what functionality is really needed. The result is a design that provides the most needed functions while doing away with any functions that would complicate the user experience.

Usability
Usability is another core element when using simplicity in our design process. What we are designing must be functional and very usable. Through multiple revisions the aim is to make it so usable that it feels natural, familiar and doesn't need any explanations. The user is key in this process and depending on who you are designing for you need to make certain decisions. Since knowledge can make something easier to use, the target audience is a determining factor in the simplification process.

Just covering these two needs can really help you design better and create a better user experience. Design is not just about how things look but how they work. Covering these basic needs is essential and simplicity can help you do that. 

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The scene is set, everyone is at their positions, knows what they have to do, knows their lines and then a blooper happens. What happens next? Take 2.

I know what you're thinking, what does this have to do with anything? When we work on something we expect to do everything right from the beginning. Instead of starting and acting, we spend endless hours planning in order to avoid any mistake or failure.

What's the alternative? Start, act, try new things. If you fail, that's no problem. Try again. Each time you will become better and stronger. Don't expect to get it right from the beginning, there are many things to learn and the best way to learn them is by acting and learning from your mistakes.

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Design has an important problem. Good design is usually invisible and most people can't perceive it's value. The truth is that everything that we interact with has been designed either by someone or nature.

Good design can make all the difference, whether you are creating a product or service. Design deals not only with the perceivable beauty of things but more importantly with the minute features that make or break something. Take a minute and think of small things that have been specifically designed to enhance your experience that you rarely think about. The locking sound of an iPhone, the groove underneath your kitchen's work-tops, unobtrusive notifications in web apps. Everything has been carefully designed to make your experience better.

The most important of the above is the experience. Good design works to create a good and more natural experience for your customers/users. To get the benefits you need to embrace design and introduce it into your culture. How you do this is up to you, but the best choice is to start learning and bring designers in your team.

Don't overlook the power of design, embrace it and create things that are usable, beautiful and "natural".

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You and your team are the most valuable assets of your brand. Even though you need to do a lot of research, testing and work, you need to remember to listen to your gut feelings.

Your gut is what will keep you passionate and in love with your brand. If that passion dies then you will be in trouble. People want to buy from you and what you represent, they don't care if you have followed all the rules and guides. They want to be able to connect with you and understand what you stand for.

Build your brand and listen to your gut, it knows what's right for you. If people are opposing to your views and ideas, then maybe you are speaking to the wrong people. Make sure that you love what you do and find the people that are like you.

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I learnt about BLUFing from someone that had served for a long time in the US army. A BLUF in this case stands for Bottom Line Up Front and is one of the most effective ways to get your message across.

At school and university we learn about how we need to build up our arguments and ideas until we reach a conclusion. In this case the conclusion is the only place where we can communicate our ideas. Since that's how we've been taught, a lot of us continue communicating in this way after we leave school.

BLUFing turns this on its head. You start with your conclusion, strong idea, belief and then work on explaining it. This way you get your message across faster and more strongly. You have complete freedom to talk about your beliefs first and then move to the details if you have time. Your busy audience will also thank you for this as they can get the value first and will be more engaged.

Learn to BLUF and deliver value quickly.

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Practice is something that deserves it's own post. I've mentioned time and time again that in order to achieve what I talk about, you need to practice. It's not just a matter of doing it whenever you need it or whenever it comes to your mind. You need to practice on what you want to achieve on a daily basis.

This is the only way to become good at something. You can't wake up one day and know how to simplify, you need to practice over and over. The same principles, the same ideas. Learn, fail and grow.

Once you've done your 10,000 hours, you can start calling yourself a guru, an expert or anything else you like. Until then, you need to practice daily and as often as possible during the day.

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