You can visit the blog at www.root3labs.com/blog

I hope you’ll join me. I look forward to sustaining the conversation.

— Chad

The Triangle of Requirements - A single star represents your project. You can move a star around the gradients to balance your needs, sacrificing one for the other two.

“You can get something good, cheap, or fast. Pick two.”

I’ve heard it many times, but what is it about? I’ve found that it comes down to planning. I come across this “principal” whenever I’m trying to rush a prototype or speed along a vendor. If I want a fast job done right, I’m either going to have to pay up to get extra resources on the job, or I’m going to have to wait for the assigned resources to do their due diligence for me. I don’t want a machinist to rush through my drawing only to miss a critical dimension or misunderstand a callout. My rushed order then becomes a significant delay.

So what can you do to balance this best? By planning ahead, keeping a constant eye on the critical path items that control the minimum schedule, we can improve our schedule, reduce our costs, and create the best quality. We can have the optimum resources available when we need them most – we can line up inexpensive resources to perform menial tasks and skilled, costly resources do only what they are best at. We can order long lead-time items well ahead so there’s no need to pay extra to rush the order. We can identify any high-risk unknowns and attack those first so later tasks are more predictable, more likely to stay on schedule.

I’ve also seen this quote, on the desk of an overworked secretary, “Your lack of planning does not justify my emergency.” It’s easy to get caught up in the firedrill of the day or the long list of design tweaks that need to be in the next prototype. However, it’s a good idea to lift your head and take a look at the project from the high-level perspective to help prevent rounding a bend only to find another emergency.

Recent work in microfluidics has focused on new rapid prototyping and manufacturing techniques on the micro-scale. While plenty of techniques exist for fabricating small-channels within multi-layered glass, such as etching or even laser drilling, the material and process costs are high, so I’ve been on the lookout for plastic and alternative materials more suitable for high-quantity production.

In just two weeks, I’m headed to Minneapolis to attend the 2009 MicroManufacturing Conference sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Although I’m not a manufacturing engineer, I have found that it’s extremely difficult and expensive to design good parts without a detailed understanding of the manufacturing methods. By attending, I’m hoping to talk to vendors and learn more about the state of current technology than I can learn with online searches. If you’re going to be at the conference, or just in Minneapolis, feel free to stop me and say hi or even touch base ahead of time to arrange a meeting. I’m looking forward to an interesting few days.

I want to talk about cameras for a moment, as I’ve found them to be a good example of products that might have a good balance of everything. There’s no question that digital SLR’s (single lens reflex) cameras take better pictures than their point-and-shoot counterparts. They have larger, better quality CCD’s and better lenses. For the advanced users, it’s also easier to quickly adjust such features as shutter speeds and F-stops. Point-and-shoots are meant for convenience; they fit neatly in your pocket so you always have it handy. 

However, if you delve into the manual settings for a point-and-shoot (I have had good experiences with a few of the products in the Canon Powershot lineup) you might find ways to tweak your photos for better results and get more functionality from your camera. I like to play with the depth of field, using focus to highlight my target instead of location within the frame or lighting. I’ve also been experimenting with white-balance. I’ve found those two features alone have dramatically improved my ability to capture the moment. My Canon SD750 even has the ability to setup hotkeys, so I can get into the white-balance menu with one key-press instead of navigating the function-tree. 

Even though I’ve been stressing the importance of keeping products simple, they should only be as simple as they need to be. In the case of my camera, sometimes I want to just grab a quick picture of my kids doing something goofy, and I don’t want to worry about setting up a shot. Other times, I’d really like to get an image with more character, and I’m glad I have a camera that has a multitude of manual features. 

What products are you using that work well for both the novice user and the advanced hobbiest?

An appetizer: Figs topped with chevre and wrapped in prosciutto. Photo taken with the Automatic settings - auto focus, flash, 77mm focal length (35mm equiv.), f-stop (f/4.0) and exposure (1/60).

The same appetizer taken with Manual settings. No flash, f/2.8, exposure (1/40), 37mm focal length (35mm equiv.).

It may not have the romance of flowers or diamonds, but a good universal remote control can do good things for a gadget-lover’s marriage. Before we got a high quality universal remote, there were remotes all over and a page of instructions for guests. My wife grew to understand it, but she hated that I’d complicated such a simple task as watching a movie. More often than not, she’d just turn the TV on by hand and listen to it through the native speakers. Now, she just hits the DVD button on the remote and everything turns on (well, most of the time!) so she can watch a show in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround even if she doesn’t care much about it.

So, if you were writing the product specification for a universal remote control, would you have thought to include your user’s significant others, house guests, and friends? You would surely have included the owners of home theater systems as a significant stakeholder in the design. They want equipment with a ton of features, high performance, and customization. Unfortunately, those requirements might not be as well accepted by the rest of the household if the system is difficult to use. Could you have unknown stakeholders that are preventing a purchase? Should they even be your primary target for the user interface?

Are there stakeholders that have been ignored during the design of your product? Are they holding back the success of your product? How do you find them?

My kids’ grandparents all live out-of-town, so they wanted to set up webcams instead of just using the phone. So, I setup GTalk video on my PC right in Gmail.  Then I sent my mother-in-law instructions to setup iChat on her Mac to work with GTalk. Of course, it doesn’t work. She’s not computer savvy enough to troubleshoot the problem and I don’t know enough about Macs to know what to tell her. After an hour of searching forums and trying to talk her through it, we gave up for another day. But once my mother-in-law shut down iChat, we were immediately able to use video through Gmail. What? Is this a missing step in the instructions? I don’t think we were alone in our frustration since the forum was full of posts about having trouble getting them to talk to each other. 

Was the process intuitive? To some engineers at Google and Apple, it must have been. I’m sure they configured the software and were mooning each other over video in no time. Ideally, they would have also consulted my mother-in-law, or at least other users with her level of experience and understanding, to see if she had any trouble understanding the instructions.

What does it mean to create a simple, intuitive product? Certainly, there are technical challenges to making something simple. But, shouldn’t it be easy to create something that’s intuitive? I think it can be, but it involves a bit of work by the designers.

One challenge is that “intuitive” is a subjective term. Product users don’t all use the same vocabularly or may not understand the subtle intricacies between two options, and they may not have the need, desire, or patience to learn. It doesn’t help them complete their task, which is all they’re trying to do. Therefore, what I may think is clear and obvious in a user interface is anything but. The good news is that understanding your user is not a mystic art. You could just ask them.

If it’s possible to consult with your end-users, get their feedback early and often. Talk to tech wizards, grandmas, and anyone else that might use your product. Can you use the misunderstandings of a few early users to overcome the confusion, apprehension, and fear that will keep your most un-savvy users from loving your product?

Photo credit: John De Boer

Yes, the Prius gets great mileage. I generally get between 44mpg and 54mpg depending on the time of year and the type of driving. However, when I first bought the car, it was closer to 38mpg to 42mpg. The improvement came because the car has an on-board smart-meter that provides immediate feedback about the relationship between your driving behavior and gas mileage. By the way, that’s an improvement of 10% – 20% just based on my driving habits. 

So, what would happen if you could tame the jack-rabbit starts, go easy on the gas-pedal, and keep it under 70mph? Could you effectively knock $0.20 to $0.40 off each gallon of gas you buy this month? In combination with other common practices (properly inflated tires, a clean air filter, and a tune up), maybe.

Have other Prius drivers found the same to be true? Do other hybrid vehicles have similar smart-meters? What’s your take?

Photo credit: Futureatlas.com

Is there a message in there?

Who are your teachers? Whom do you learn from?

Whenever I talk to someone, or read an article, or finish a project, isn’t the goal that I come away having learned something? Isn’t that what makes Seth Godin’s stream of content so interesting?  He seems to find insight where others walk on by. Is that because he is a great teacher? He clearly has a lot to teach us. But, perhaps it’s that he is a great student. He’s more receptive to learning something new. Can we be as receptive?

My list of “teachers” is pretty long, but I’d guess none of them are aware of it. I don’t pay tuition, I don’t have tests, but if I don’t pay attention, I may get left behind. 

Are you looking for a teacher, or perhaps you have experience to offer someone else? The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has an eMentoring program that pairs young engineers with experienced ones. Do other societies have similar programs?

You don’t have to be in a classroom to have teachers. These are simply people you learn from, and they can be everywhere, if you’re listening.

Photo Credit: Rodolfo Clix

Andy Karsner - Policy Panel

Washington, DC Feb 17, 2009 –  Every seat in the auditorium at Google’s DC office was filled with people passionate about bringing about change in the way power is distributed. People even lined the back wall and the overflow room. A total of 500 people in attendance. The event format was split into two industry panels, the first discussing the technology requirements for a SmartGrid and the second focused more on the Federal and State policy initiatives required to properly implement such a sweeping technological plan.

Tomorrow afternoon, the ~2-1/2 hour video footage of the panels will be available on both Google’s DotOrg channel as well as GE’s YouTube channel. If you don’t have time to watch, here are my notes from the event. I’m sure I missed some details, so please correct me or submit your comments.

Technology

It was very clear the panelists have been thinking about evolving the technology landscape in this industry for a long time. Ron Binz, of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, highlighted the fact that they are deploying 35,000 GE smart meters in Boulder, and George Bjelovuk, of American Electric Power, did the same for 10,000 meters deployed in South Bend, IN. Adrian Tuck, CEO at Tendril, also described his company’s software and wireless mesh platform for monitoring energy use within the home. And, of course, Ed Lu talked briefly about the Google PowerMeter that was recently announced.

I was encouraged by the discussion and the fact that there appeared to be real agents of change present, both on the panel and in the audience. There are several major points that I took away from the conversations.

• Open standards – The panelists agreed that one of the primary reasons the internet has succeeded as well as it has was that it was built upon an open platform. Third-party developers were free to create applications and hardware to interact. Any viable solution for a SmartGrid should be an open platform instead of a variety of proprietary platforms controlled by the utilities or government. Systems can be considered Open and still be secure.
• Incentives – To foster the growth of SmartGrid components, the government may have to create incentives for the utilities, the consumers, and the businesses that will develop the technology. This is not cheap technology. It requires a data transmission backbone available to all, possibly fiber optic depending on the data volume, and a lot of hardware. Once kick-started to a minimum scale, the benefits will start to outweigh the costs and the system will be free to grow. There are a few factors already in favor:
  • Pilot programs have shown that consumers will cut their electricity payments by at least 10% just by being able to use the price of electricity to influence their decisions. Given better tools to either automatically or manually control their use of electricity, that number is likely to improve.
  • Utilities have been using Smart Meters for years on their own to provide faster data collection of their network as well as decrease the number of meter-readers required.
• Marketing – There is a lack of understanding in the public about how the power industry works, how “clean energy” works. To gain traction, the public, the utilities, and the legislators need to be sufficiently informed about the environmental, social, economic, and technological benefits a SmartGrid system would provide.
• Reducing use versus shifting use – Instead of aiming to simply save money by shifting the loads from On-Peak to Off-Peak times, SmartGrid technology should also encourage the reduction of overall energy usage. This may be as short-term as showing consumers how much energy is wasted by leaving a computer on all day or as long-term as reminding the user of their daily energy usage when they shop for a new dryer or refrigerator.
  • Plug-in hybrids – Pilot programs have shown plug-in hybrids to be quite a significant load on the home electrical system. With broader acceptance on the road, that power draw at home will significantly tax the power grid since commuters are likely to get home about the same time in the evening and immediately plug in their cars. By allowing users to automatically delay their recharge until the off-peak hours overnight, the car will still be ready for the morning commute, the Utilities are spared, and the consumers save the extra cost of On-Peak rates.
• Control of information – Some fundamental rules will have to be worked out early.
  • Who will own the data that has been collected?
  • Who will have access to that data?
  • How will the price of electricity fluctuate throughout the day, week, year?

As with the internet and home video, technology formats are likely to zig and zag a little before winners are declared. There are definitely experts trying to minimize that uncertainty, and the conversations held today are a good start to hashing out the details early. However, also like the internet, the future of a SmartGrid is largely unknown.

Policy

The Obama Administration has shown numerous indications that revolutionizing the energy sector is a primary goal. Chris Miller, from the Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also expressed Senator Reid’s dedication to that goal, as well. So, now might be the time to strike, but must policy be structured to affect that change?

• Approximately $10 billion has been appropriated in the Congressional stimulus package for Clean Energy projects. This money will be distributed by the Department of Energy (DoE). However, the panelists expressed serious concerns that the money will be effectively and efficiently distributed in a timely manner based on the DoE’s insufficient management of the loan guarantee program it has overseen since 2005. This could end up a significant roadblock to the stimulus package as well as the development of a SmartGrid as the Technology panel agreed that incentives will be important for any system to gain traction.
• Andy Karsner, former Ass. Sec. Of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and formerly of the U.S. DoE, spoke eloquently and passionately about the role of government in this initiative. Instead of wanting consumers to shoulder the cost of understanding the cost of electricity, he vehemently proclaimed it a mandate that the utilities provide every consumer with a Smart Meter in their home. He believes it is incredible that the utilities charge the consumer without making them aware of the price of electricity. Furthermore, he feels electricity should be nationalized, as the natural gas pipeline is, to ensure the liquidity of electrons as we have with BTU’s. This is not something that should be left to 50 different states.
• The goal of any SmartGrid implementations should be held to the standard of measurable, reportable, and verifiable. The system shall provide metrics for analysis, not just claims of improvement.
• One of the growing challenges, from both a technical perspective and a regulatory one, is the growth of distributed power generation. Individuals, communities, and businesses are all beginning to find ways to generate enough power to push it into the Power grid. The Utilities are working to accommodate that growth with their current technology, but it is a challenge. Chris Miller expressed his Office’s interest in discussing the topic of distributed generation with anyone concerned.
• Related to the marketing challenge of educating the public to the technological systems of a SmartGrid, consumers need a better way to compare the energy use and efficiency of products. Although the current EnergyStar program provides data to compare one flat-screen Plasma television to another, it does not compare it to an old tube-television that might use 1/3 the energy. Therefore, the EnergyStar program will have to be restructured to account for the variety of technology that has been developed since it was conceived, and it will have to be constantly updated. 

The discussions were quite interesting, and I encourage anyone to take a look at the videos once they’re available. I am optimistic that this is only the first of many collaborative efforts, and we will start to see energy conservation transition from a niche market to a unified global effort.

Plus, it was pretty exciting to sample hors d’oeuvres from the Google cafeteria. Do employees always eat so well? 

Light fare in the Google Cafeteria

“If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.” – Lord Kelvin

They’ve built the application, but now they’re looking to develop some hardware to go with it. Google is not the only player in the game, though. Pepco is also looking to develop Smart Meters in the DC suburbs, and Agilewaves, comprised of a trio of NASA engineers, developed similar technology after the wave of California’s rolling blackouts in 2006. Even with a decent head-start, it might be hard to beat the raw initiative, seemingly unlimited cash reserves, and amazing grasp of user interfaces that Google has shown time after time. 

Last fall, Google and GE announced a partnership aimed at pushing technology and policy in the energy sector. To kick off the initiative, they’ll both be hosting Plug Into The Smart Grid next Tuesday at 2pm EST. The event appears to be open to the public, but plan for attendance to be maxed. Instead of making you fight the crowds, though, they’ll be posting the  content within 24 hours of the presentations on both Google’s DotOrg channel as well as GE’s YouTube channel. Google has also invited everyone to submit and vote on questions in advance via Google Moderator. This event appears to have some big players, so it’s not exactly a grass-roots effort. But, everyone is going to be called upon to act eventually. Now is a good time to start paying attention. 

Program

• Introduction and welcome 
  • Dan Reicher, Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, Google.org
  • Bob Gilligan, Vice President, GE Energy
     
• Part I: Envisioning smart power
  Energy tools and technologies to empower people with information and choice    
  • Moderator: Bob Gilligan, GE
  • Adrian Tuck, CEO, Tendril
  • Ron Binz, Chairman, Colorado Public Utilities Commission
  • Jeff Renaud, Director, Ecomagination, GE
  • Ed Lu, Advanced Projects, Google
  • Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal, RE+GENeration Consultants LLC
  • George Bjelovuk, Managing Director, American Electric Power
     
• Break
   

Part II: Accelerating the energy revolution
State and federal policies to drive smart power
Opening remarks: The Honorable Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change (invited)  

• Moderator: Dan Reicher, Google
• Fred Butler, President, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
• John Podesta, President, Center for American Progress (invited)
• Andy Karsner, Former Ass. Sec. for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
• Chris Miller, Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Photo Credit: John Nyberg