I firmly believe that part of delivering GREAT IT solutions is making them “cool.” That’s not nearly as easy as you might think it is… I mean, what is “cool?” How do you create cool? What does cool look like?!
And yet, Apple clearly does it. Pick a product they make … its cool. If its not, its quickly replaced with something that is cool.
Go to an Apple store … very cool.
I try to inject at least some amount of cool into any new application or system my team creates at the office. Sometimes an app can be cool by making less work for people. Sometimes its cool because of a clever feature. Sometimes its cool because we’ve hyped it to be cool (which only works if you consistently crank out technology that is truly cool to begin with).
Cool is never enough to justify deploying an IT system. There also has to be a legitimate need. However, since you have a need, why not make the thing that addresses that need… cool.
If you are truly cool, then “cool” should show up in some unlikely places. For example, this post about a job offer from Apple. Even the paperwork, packaging, etc. is really cool. Its got a style, an attitude and a look that reflects the image of the company … and that makes it cool!
This all makes me think that I should start looking to inject cool in some unlikely places. I’ll start looking around for those opportunities immediately.
What people here are saying…