Booknotes of Thinkertoys(Slice and Dice)

Thinkertoys
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List the various attributes of a problem and work on one attribute at a time.

  1. comprehensive as possible
  2. quantity is more important at this point

Some common ways to describe attributes are descriptive, process, function, social, price and ecological.

Common descriptive attributes are: substance, structure, color, shape, texture, sound, taste, odor, space, and density.

Common process attributes are: marketing,  manufacturing, selling, function, and time.

Common social attributes are: responsibilities, politics, and taboos.

Common price attributes are: cost to manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and consumer.

For example:

Attributes of a “YouTube video”:

  1. story
  2. views
  3. length
  4. actor
  5. production time
  6. style

To produce a better video, focus on each specific attribute and try to improve it.

Do audience like this type of story? Could I improve the views of this video?

How about the actor?  Could the video be delivered on time?

By examining the “video” as a separate attribute , we could move away from our stereotypic label of a video and come up with a better video.

Related article:

Booknotes of Thinkertoys(false faces)

Booknotes of Thinkertoys( false faces)

Creativity is not a privilege that somebody has. Everyone could be creative if he believes he was born this way and he could execute it. Thinkertoys introduces concepts and techniques that could improve your creative skills. The author divides these techniques into two parts, linear and intuitive.

Linear ones contain three groups. Group A reorganizes different information by listing, dividing and combining it to give you new entry points for solving problems. In this article, we introduce the “false faces” technique.

Method:

  1. write down your challenge
  2. list your assumptions
  3. reverse your assumptions
  4. try to solve it under this reverse assumption

Implementation:

For example

  1. my challenge: increase your organic reach and interactive rate for your Facebook Page
  2. my assumption:
  • organic reach decreases after the changing policy of facebook algorithm. Some corps start to focus on other social platforms.
  • too many advertisements
  • visitors comes by only for buying products
  • too many competitors on Facebook Page

3.reverse your assumptions

  • organic reach decreases after the changing policy of facebook algorithm. Some corps don’t focus on other social platforms
  • fewer advertisements
  • visitors come by not only for buying products
  • no competitor on Facebook Page

4. try to solve it under this reverse assumption

  • Maybe we should remain on the original platform due to fewer competitors.
  • We should generate content that matters to customers’ life.

“false faces” technique is an easy way to implement. And it could change our mindsets to propose different ideas.

Consider own your exclusive content after Medium pauses custom domain feature

Medium started to provide custom domain feature in 2015. It was a onetime payment, though it cost $75.
But Medium quietly paused their custom domain feature last December.

Custom domains on Medium

The customer support replies: it has been paused indefinitely. We don’t have a timeframe for this at this time. Sorry.

Why does Medium pause it? Because Medium is a curation platform on which all individual writers could publish articles.If top writers and popular publishers could apply custom domain.That means the top writers could take all their traffic away into their own websites in the future. Medium doesn’t want this situation to happen.
In an article, called Medium May No Longer Be a Platform for Publishers or Brands, the author even predicts Medium may pause the Publications feature in the future.

From the point view of writers and publishers, every platform doesn’t exist forever. Some gigantic platforms such as Windows Live Spaces and Myspace even ended their service in the past.
In other words, for someone who desires to construct their brands or publications of interests through Medium should consider other methods.

* setup newsletter service
* redirect your Medium article into your own website
* your profile on another platform