Special Projects

Tune in to the latest episode of Service Design YAP, where our co-founder, Adrian Westaway, chats with Stephen Wood about how we integrate techniques from the world of magic into our design process. ✨🎙️

🔊 Our work in collaboration with Google is currently on display at the Design Museum, free to visit, as part of the exhibition Grazie Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari. This free Balcony display explores how Mari investigated the theme in his practice and shows examples of how other designers and studios are reflecting on Mari’s influence and legacy. ✨

Thanks Rob Alderson for this great writeup in Design Week about our recent webinar with Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer. In this Royal College of Art webinar, our founders Clara and Adrian Westaway explore the importance of creating delight in design and how we approach making experiences magical. Dive into the conversation and explore how we think about the potential of design to surprise and inspire. Read the full article through the link below  https://lnkd.in/eNd44uzp Royal College of Art - Executive Education #SpecialProjects #DesignWeek #DesignInspiration #UX  #Innovation #userexperience

There are only a few spots left in this course! Register through the link in below. https://lnkd.in/et986T8X Clara and Adrian Westaway will be leading the next chapter of the Design Thinking & Innovation in Practice Executive Masterclass at the Royal College of Art for Royal College of Art - Executive Education We're excited to carry forward the legacy of Professor Emeritus Jeremy Myerson, whose guidance has been instrumental in making this course a beacon of design innovation.

Last week, our founders, Clara and Adrian Westaway, had the pleasure of sitting down with Adam Cheyer, the mind behind Siri, Change.org and Airbnb's AI Experience, to explore the intersection of AI, magic and creating delightful user experiences. They talked about the importance of designing for delight to build products that people truly care about. Adam shared fascinating insights on how principles from magic can be applied to technology, the process of developing Siri's personality, and why 'delight nuggets' were crucial to Siri's success. This conversation was part of the Royal College of Art - Executive Education's In Session event series, where Clara and Adrian lead the Design Thinking and Innovation in Practice course. In case you missed it, you can watch the recording through the link below. https://lnkd.in/eCYFqUNf

This year Special Projects turned 10 years old 🎂 Over the past few months, we have been celebrating 10 amazing years by looking back at some major highlights from over the years. In 2021, we designed Moving Buttons, a new touchscreen interface that moves the buttons around intelligently to ensure you always touch a clean surface when using a public touchscreen. Using only a software update it allows up to 50 people to use a touchscreen without touching the same spot as someone else, making interactions for both customers and staff cleaner and safer. "Simply brilliant. Special Projects have that rare gift of coming up with those “just right” solutions that are so elusive yet seem obvious with hindsight. Ideas like this are a reminder that things could be so much better if we just gave things a bit more thought and a sprinkling of magic!" - Innovate UK Read more about this project and others on our website through the link below https://lnkd.in/gUuNiNH #SpecialProjects #10YearsWiser #DesignJourney

Magic in Product Marketing: Lessons from Siri's Founder. An insightful Royal College of Art InSession with Adam Cheyer, Siri's founder and now VP of AI Experience at Airbnb last night. Thanks to Jo Chounta, Adrian Westaway and Clara Gaggero Westaway for hosting. Here's his magicians method used to sell his tech startups to VC's and global brands including Apple and Samsung: 1. Paint the dream: Let customers imagine themselves using it 2. Create the 'wow' moment: That instant when their jaws drop, revealing a new way of doing 3. How it works: Only then, dive into the tech His experience working with Steve Jobs was fascinating. Imagine getting a call to sell your 2-week-old startup, when you weren't even listed in the phone book! And a reminder that in innovation, it's about the idea, not the ego. "Steve wanted to get it right rather than be right." #InnovationInsights

Just came out of the Designing for Delight online talk held by the Royal College of Art, and wow — mind blown! 🤯 Adrian Westaway and Clara Gaggero Westaway from Special Projects teamed up with none other than Adam Cheyer, the brain behind Siri (now owned by Apple), to talk all things tech magic, innovation, and the future. 🌟 Adam dropped some serious wisdom on how wild ideas are what really sell — like when Airbnb used balloons to lift a house for an ad! 🎈🏠 It reminded me of Steven Bartlett, with his playful spin at his company Social Chain with the iconic slide and ball pit — a little bit of fun can make a company legendary! 🛝 We dove into AI, CI, inventors, entrepreneurs and where the world is heading — spoiler: Adam predicts we’ll be living in augmented reality by 2035. Such a cool talk about how creativity and magic spark the most game-changing innovations. 🚀💡 #TechMagic #InnovationNation #AI #AugmentedReality #DesignForDelight #CreativityUnleashed

🔊 Our work in collaboration with Google is currently on display at the Design Museum, as part of the free exhibition 'Grazie Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari'. This free Balcony display, located on the first floor of the museum, is divided into four sections, exploring how Mari investigated the theme in his practice, and showing examples of how other designers and studios are reflecting on Mari’s influence and legacy. ✨ For more information about the exhibition, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eWzes49X For more information on our projects, Paper Phone and Envelope, please go to our website: https://lnkd.in/e-7h7f_Q

This is happening today! Do not miss this FREE webinar with our founders and Adam Cheyer, the mind behind Siri, on the intersection of design and magic 🪄 🎩 🐇 ✨ Only a few spots left!