Friday, August 8, 2014

[Fireside Chat] Real Startup Scene in Silicon Valley


Subject
Real Startup Scene in Silicon Valley
Place
D.CAMP 6th fl.
Time
August 6, 2014 (Wed) 19:00~21:00
Speaker
Sandro Mur (CEO, Bellabeat), Willie Williams (developer, Tsumobi)
Host
AppCenter
Focus
advice on how to make global startup

  1. lesson:
    1. as a founder
      1. need to sell vision and stories to partners, customers, investors, and other people
      2. understand everything
      3. don’t be afraid because companies fail a lot of times in the beginning
    2. lessons from Y Combinator
      1. work super hard like 24/7: learn everything, more open, share with people, do everything to survive
      2. time to focus: shouldn’t be thinking anything else but your product; talk to customers all the time; focus on your product, customer, and direction
    3. biggest challenge
      1. hiring good and positive people (e.g. developers)- test them by giving them projects and work with them
      2. managing things (e.g. customers)
      3. designing UI which follows trends
    4. pitching to investors
      1. sell your stories: good clean pitch (don’t say too much; always say and show less and say as clear as possible)
    5. find similar people who are going through the same process
      1. your network grows and you will find existing solutions
    6. raising funds
      1. wrong
        1. give unbounded time
      2. right
        1. build momentum (while your business is hot and popular): focus one month and then tell other investors about the investments you received from other investors
        2. use networks: no need to look for new investors; instead of being introduced, you are already best friends
  2. Q&A
    1. globalization strategy: test in small scale (e.g. in one country) and spread
    2. patent?
      1. file as few as possible
      2. file for defense
    3. what keeps you going?
      1. I have a belief that I can change things that no one can
    4. why Y Combinator?: mainly for financial needs
  3. Announcement
    1. in 3 weeks, designers from Uber, Instagram, and Spotify will come and share wisdom
    2. in 6 weeks? Growth Hacking
  4. Personal takeaway
    1. computer is good at recognizing patterns
    2. work hard!

Friday, June 20, 2014

[lecture] 글로벌 SW 제품의 성공 조건”<-(translation) Success requirements of software products for global markets

Title
글로벌 SW 제품의 성공 조건
-       (translation) Success requirements of software products for global markets
Place
KAIST Dogok Software Grad School Chin’s AMP Hall 103-ho
Time
June 5, 2014 5PM~7PM
Speaker
차상균서울대 전기정보공학부 교수 (translation) Sang Kyun Cha; Professor at Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, SNU
Organizer
KAIST Software Graduate Program
Focus
disruptive technology

I.       Message
1.       Need to work on disruptive innovation changing the paradigm of markets instead of mere innovation
2.       Difference between dreamers and visionaries
1)      Visionaries can create a roadmap with successful historical background
2)      Dreamers just imagine big with no actions
3.       Strategists vs. sales people
1)      Strategists: Search for customer requirements
4.       Innovator’s Dilemma: Change in fundamentals in technology can disrupt the game of market
1)      Definition of innovation: Changing the current world
2)      Action item: Predict the unforeseen future and its requirements and prepare
5.       Crossing the Chasm by Geoff Moore [book: link]
6.       c.f. SAP was founded in 1972

II.      Takeaway

1.       Take actions in developing on disruptive technologies

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

[personal UX/UI review] some observations

-. Case: rusted window frame
-. Issue: bad choice of material for the frame
-. Recommendation: use low maintenance required and long-lasting materials for building components

-. Case: Beans and Barnes signs
-. Issue: no inclusion of Korean pronunciation; this can a serious issue for especially first-time customers who would like to search the name and use its services because it takes extra time for them to figure out.
-. Recommendation: include Korean pronunciation of the store name to assist people who can't pronounce the name

Monday, May 26, 2014

[personal UX/UI review] good naming for a government organization

-. case: naming of a government organization
-. positive: the name includes "service" where this place could have been just "community center"; the inclusion of the word service is a perspective changing statement. I don't know the civil servants working in this organization are aware of deep philosophical meaning of their organization naming in English, but I'd like to compliment on the person who translated "주민센터" to potentially remind everyone in the organization go back to basics of its existence. 

Friday, May 23, 2014

[conference] ‘더 나은 웹’ 웹마스터 컨퍼런스 2014 (translation: "The Better Web" Webmaster Conference 2014)

Title
Webmaster Conference 2014
Place
Time Square, Amoris Hall, Seoul Korea
Time
May 22, 2014 9AM~5PM
Speaker
이준영, 김진형, etc.
Organizer
Google, KIPFA
Focus
Open web, responsive design, search-friendly website design
<photo courtesy of Dong-Hwi Lee> 

I.       검색의 진화 (translation: Evolution of Search) [Junyoung Lee, Engineering Manager of Google Search Team]
1.       Lesson
1)      Google Fact: 50,000+ employee, 140+ language support
2)      Websites need to represent all of companies’ corporate activities
3)      Through Knowledge Graph, Google understands users’ intention and context of query
2.       Takeaway
1)      SB needs to develop intelligent search algorithms to identify users’ intention and context and provide relevant biblical results
2)      Display activities on websites

II.      소프트웨어 중심 사회에서의 공공의 역할 (translation: Public sector’s role in software-oriented society) [Jinhyung Kim, head of Software Policy and Research Institute]
1.       Lesson
1)      In software development, understand government policy
2)      In decision making, use data instead of relying on intuition
2.       Takeaway
1)      Consider using disruptive technology (e.g. mobile internet, automation of knowledge work, cloud)

III.     위키피디어와 함께하기 (translation: Ways to use Wikipedia) [ManJai Lee, Professor of Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology]
1.       Takeaway
1)      Think of ways to use data of Wikipedia commercially due to its BY-SA license

IV.    아름다운 한글, 웹폰트로 널리 이롭게 쓰기 (translation: Beautiful Korean, ways to use Web fonts extensively and effectively) [Jihye Lee, Designer of Google Brand Studio– Interactive]
1.       Lesson
1)      Reasons for recommending web fonts instead of image fonts
  Texts un-clickable, un-draggable, and untranslatable are hard to read on mobile devices including wearables in the near future
  Users tend to zoom-in when browsing in mobile and tablet devices
2)      Google Chrome browser will soon to implement WOFF File Format 2.0 which reduces font capacity
3)      Web font source: http://api.mobilis.co.kr/webfonts/
4)      Try Google Web font early access: http://www.google.com/fonts/earlyaccess
2.       Takeaway
1)      As technology progresses (meaning internet speed gets faster in all countries in the world), use Web fonts on websites

V.      공공 웹사이트 혁신하기 (translation: Innovating public websites) [Kyung Geun Ma, Information Planning Dept. of Seoul Metropolitan Government]
1.       Lesson
1)      Goals of Seoul Metropolitan City website
goal category
related technology
1. One source multi-use
1.1. Support multiple devices
Web standardization, HTML5

1.2. Utilize common contents
Resource concept, single URI
2. Open and share
2.1. Contents share/distribution
RESTful, ATOM/RSS

2.2. Free copyright
CCL (creative commons license), meta data
3. Governance
3.1. Contents classification/evaluation
Resource concept, meta data

3.2. Political usage of contents
Connection to web log, promotion method
4. Usability
4.1. Search function
Meta data, SEO

4.2. Web compatibility
Web standardization
5. Efficiency
5.1. Maintenance capability
Framework, theme

5.2. Utilization of external resource
Mash-up, open API
2)      Efforts made to create a good website
  Utilization of open source CMS (e.g. WordPress)
  Utilization of platform service (e.g. Twitter, YouTube)
  Copyright reservation of content
  Establishment of web compatibility
  Configuration of search-friendly environment
  1Start with needs
  2Do less
  3Design with data
  4Do the hard work to make it simple
  5Iterate. Then iterate again.
  6Build for inclusion
  7Understand context
  8Build digital services, not websites
  9Be consistent, not uniform
  10Make things open: it makes things better
2.       Takeaway
1)      Goal of Seoul Metropolitan City website
2)      UK Government’s 10 Digital Service Design Principles

VI.    모두를 위한 디자인 (translation: Design for the public) [Hai Kyung Min, Asia Pacific Team Manager of Google Brand Studio – Interactive]
1.       Lesson
1)      Components of the better Web: easy and fast, secured, anyone, anywhere, virtuous cycle
2)      Design for everyone
  Understand cultural differences in using images and photos (e.g. thumbs-up may insult people in the Middle East)
  Grid spaces for languages are different (e.g. western vs. CJK languages)
  Be careful with line breaks
3)      Design for multi-screen: Recommended to use only one URL
4)      Mobile first: genuinely and seriously think what, why and how to start planning mobile first
  Available gestures at mobile and tablet: touch, swipe, tilt, shake
  Sensors at mobile devices: accelerometer, location-based API, voice recognition
5)      Design information first then move to visual: select contents and think how to organize and display them
6)      Re-think design process: use mood board instead of mock-up, review with design guide and prototype; design in browser and review
7)      Understand users: in the U.S. 75% of mobile users use mobile devices not necessarily on the go, but in their bathroom and bed
2.       Takeaway
1)      Think mobile first and plan accordingly
2)      Design information first then move to visual

VII.   Others for SB
1.       Gutenberg’s printing: 1454
2.       Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: 1517