Workarounds

Workarounds was one of the trends I wrote about in this presentation back in December.  The idea was that people were finding new ways of doing things, specifically when technology didn't let them.

Examples include taking screenshots on Instagram to re-share pics, and lots of the slightly complicated by low tech mobile payments that are emerging, as a workaround for people being unable or unwilling to use NFC and more advanced technologies.

Lots of companies look at the frustrating things that we all do as sources of inspiration for new products, and I've seen two very good examples in the last couple of weeks.

Meet Mailbox from Mailbox on Vimeo.

First, Mailbox.  Mailbox is an app that lets you sort your email.  Who knew we needed a dedicated app to help us sort out our existing email accounts?  Well, Mailbox did, and in retrospect it seems pretty obvious.  & looks petty essential too - wonder when it's coming out for Android?



Second, Sunrise.  Sunrise is an app that sorts out your calendar, merging both your personal calendar with your contacts (& Facebook) to give you a daily digest.  Again a great workaround for something that had become too complex (& again iOS only).