This week on my blog, we dive into an eclectic mix, from celebrating math’s best reads in the Chalkdust Book of the Year 2023 to Xiaomi’s jaw-dropping $3,000 robot dog. We explore why most product innovations fail, tackle the nightmares of DIY billing systems, and share how a breath of fresh air can skyrocket your work productivity by 45%. Discover the ultimate personal productivity methods, why a 4-day work week could outperform the traditional 5, and the importance of Developer Experience (DX). Plus, we discuss building a strategic AI innovation plan for media businesses and why even Superman’s Daily Planet needs a digital makeover to keep up with today’s trends.
- Chalkdust Book of the Year 2023: We announce the shortlist of our favourite maths-themed books of last year
- Xiaomi’s latest robot dog does backflips off skateboards, costs $3,000: Xiaomi is positioning its new CyberDog 2 as a kind of home robot — albeit a prohibitively expensive one at $3,000.
- Product Innovation: Stop Inventing Cool Sh*t Your Customers Don’t Want!: Why do so many innovations fail? We know from research and experience that more innovations and startups fail from a lack of customers than a failure of the product or technology. In other words, too many organisations still waste their time inventing solutions for non-existent customer needs!
- The 14 pains of building your own billing system: Trying to cobble together your own billing system is like wrestling an octopus that’s armed with tax codes and invoices instead of tentacles. It’s a beast of complexity that can tangle up everything from customer support to compliance. I have 14 points on why it’s hard.
- Work productivity improves after 30 minutes of fresh air outdoors, research shows: New research concludes just 29 minutes spent outdoors results in a 45% increase in productivity at work, and can even boost office morale.
- The Ultimate Guide to Personal Productivity Methods: Productivity methods to organize your tasks, manage your time, maintain your focus, and achieve your goals. Find the one that fits you best.
- How We Help Our Developers Get More Done in 4 Days Than Most Do in 5: Our take on the 4 day work week is called 20% Time. Learn how it increases the quality of our work and benefits your team’s software development project.
- Developer Experience Book: Developer Experience (DX) is all about how easily and effectively developers can get things done. Learn how to improve your DX and why it matters in this book.
- Building a strategic AI innovation plan for your media business: There are many unknowns around the use of generative AI and potential legal and ethical implications. But wait-and-see is not an option.
- Even the Daily Planet needs digital transformation to find success: Recognising the video trends of today, even classic newspapers like the fictional Daily Planet from the Superman comics would need to adapt to survive.