This has been something that has cropped up for me a number of times over the past few days. The value of passion as it comes across to me is a very human quality that can’t really be measured and tracked through a spreadsheet but can impact the bottom line dramatically. It’s one of those intangibles that business has to be aware of and consider, otherwise it’ll be too late.

For me the easiest description comes through music. For example, Britney Spears’ Three single. Perfectly fine popcorn music but thoroughly lacking in any passion, despite the content of the lyrics. It’s an exercise in marketing. I’m sure the people involved in the exercise have a passion for the project/track but fundamentally it is borne out of a marketing plan, a demographic study etc. Those lyrics mean nothing to her, she didn’t write them because she’s fascinated by threesomes, is experimenting with her sexuality etc, it’s cynical, obvious and demeaning. Has it been a hit, sure, everyone makes out like a bandit with cash in hand I’m sure. But, everyone feels a little soiled by it and Britney as an ‘artist’ is somewhat diminished by it – sure, you could argue she’s not an artist in the first place etc etc but her next single/album will come with a question mark in the mind of the listener.

With Britney again, her tour is lip-synching. So what, you might argue, she’s a performer not a Singer. However, what was the reaction of some of the crowds? They walked out, it was wrong it was a mechanical answer to an emotional problem. So what if she gets out of breath or bums a note, the point is that connection between ‘performer’ and audience was broken. Will she have any problems selling tickets? Probably not, but not as many the next time and fewer again the following time and so on.

Just lately, I’ve come across a number of items that are the opposite of that. Paul Newman’s food line, the Crank films, The Swell Season, Toyota’s manufacturing process. All completely disparate activities but fundamentally sharing in the same thing – passion. Whether to make the best food with all natural ingredients, to go so far over the top in making a story for film, to make raw, emotive music or simply to make the perfect car. All of them, whether individually or collectively, come from a straight human emotion applied to a ‘business’ context.

It’s what drives me nuts about Rupert Murdoch and his empire. He and it are not evil per se but they spoil everything they touch by draining it dry and cynically deriving as much income as possible without giving anything back to those they’re wringing dry. Sport, news, TV, film – they’re all spotting with good things and good people but at the heart is that dry, methodical and mechanical process. His is a passion for winning, making money etc. All fine and good but surely, little by little his products are losing ground, little pieces falling off the empire every day as readers, viewers and consumers drift away one at a time.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making money, I’m as much a capitalist as the next man but there’s something important in the way you go about it. If you don’t add value to something, if it’s not rich in deep value for the consumer, day by day it’ll wither and die.

Google is an interesting case in point. Fundamentally, the company is adding value for the end-user in the majority if things it does. It’s thriving, making money hand over fist. Not everything it does is good but there’s a touching innocence about most of its works. There’s a passion in adding value to simple experiences like search and that value is worth hundreds of dollars per share.

Apple is another major business case in point. Again, some fairly stupid mistakes are made but the passion in adding value through usability, beauty and simplicity has seen the company return from the brink of extinction to fairly rude health. Yup, it, Apple, screws you on price but the value of their products goes well beyond the dollars and cents. Brand values etc to one side, you feel good owning and using Apple products and that stems from the likes of Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ives (and countless others) imbuing those products with a passion for quality, functionality and beauty.

There are many others, the last two just spring to mind as they’re closest to hand.

I’m working with a company at the moment who are entirely focused in sharing their passion for what they do. It’s got me excited to be involved in the way I am. It makes me want to add whatever quality I can to the process. The end result will be great and whatever flaws may exist will be overlooked and forgiven by users because at the heart of the end product will be a passion and that will add that special value that most people instinctively sense and are drawn to.

Maybe that’s the value of passion. People engage, enjoy and forgive whatever small issues there may be, whereas when the business, process or product is driven by cold hard calculations, it’s all to human to recoil and reject.

A good case in point and much better written: Miranda Sawyer on Simon Cowell

Couldn’t resist – love Seinfeld.

Aside from admiring the man for his work, I also found this video really informative. A lot of it makes perfect sense and perhaps is not new thinking on the subject of being ‘creative’ but what it does do is remind me of the simple basic and natural parameters you have to enforce in order to even give yourself a chance.

Firstly, if you haven’t seen Objectified, a film by Gary Huswit, I would strongly recommend it as it covers a multitude of designs and gives at least a glimpse into the thinking and processes that some of design’s top proponents go through.

One of my favourite designers is definitely Apple’s Jonathan Ive. He doesn’t speak often but does have a five-minute segment in Objectified and here it is …

Not only a stunning piece of design but also incredibly fast, and check out how quiet it is…

My small root beer obsession to one side, this is a wonderful guy and this video contains more great ideas about user experience, dealing with customers and so on than you would ever get in a $1,000 a day conference!

User experience is a slightly cold phrase to describe a very human interaction. It could be a simple as a door that doesn’t open the way you expect, the feel and way you use an iPhone, the way in which you use a piece of software on a computer or how you interact with a website.

I’ve spent more than 15 years working in user experience but not from a focused, trained to do this now do this as a job direction. No, my route to working in user experience came from making or ‘designing’ things that people used – record stores, magazines, newsletters, websites, online music stores and software to name a few.

It wasn’t even the heart of what I did day to day but always formed an important part of each role. Listening to the customer/user/client seemed one of the best ways to build a better product and so sell more product etc. As my career has progressed, without really knowing it, I’ve alway managed to ensure the next role had a little more UX involved in it. That includes some major sidesteps in career path from retail to journalism, journalism to digital media, digital media to ux.

Finally now, user experience is all I do for work. I’ve dropped salary, changed titled, made all the steps that make a CV a horror show to explain to potential new employers! However, the point is that I’ve arrived at a job and career that didn’t really exist as a recognised job even 10 years ago. So I guess I was just waiting for the path to exist before I took it.

The best part is that all of that work experience to date only adds to and assists what I do for work. I’ve a much broader understanding of many different types of business, founded often on having actually worked in them. I sometime wish I’d followed the educational path to this point but I simply didn’t know that this is what I wanted to do then.

So, from the UK, via the US, you can now find me in New Zealand as a user experience designer. And the best part is that the route forward is filled with even more opportunity as user experience becomes more valued and better understood.

Moving countries throws a lot of habits out of the window. Some I’m more than happy to lose and have replaced them with much healthier ones like walking 4 miles a day (the dogs like it too). My magazine habit is tricky as air freight on some of my favourite titles means that they cost as much as NZ$20 per issue. That sure makes you think, do I really want this? Or, should I subscribe (only one title has made it over that fence so far – Vanity Fair).

As a side issue, international subscription for magazines is a really poor experience. Conde Nast and other really need to examine that experience as it’s far from optimal. The focus is on local subscribers, which while I understand, completely drives me nuts as I’m in New Zealand not New Jersey (thank goodness).

However, what has changed most is my TV viewing habits. In the UK, I used a PVR extensively, so much so that I didn’t know when programmes were originally broadcast. I simply would scan papers, sites etc to find out about new shows, try one, if I liked it then record the series. That way, in typical PVR fashion, I would watch what I wanted when I wanted. Of course, for advertisers I was a nightmare, flicking straight over the ads. Heck, I even learned how to time my fast forward so I could jump from the start of the ad break to the end. Interestingly I would be exposed to the show’s sponsors but would miss all the 30-second slots in-between.

Moving to New Zealand stripped me of that equipment – it’s available but I’m still sorting out other ’stuff’. So, I was back in the analogue world of scheduling etc. Choices of programmes and channels aside, I tried, really tried to get back to the ‘old’ way of watching a programme when a channel had decided to schedule it but after only 8 weeks it’s all broken down and I’ve given up on TV and stick to web (and not TVNZ’s on demand service – it’s impossible to use) and DVDs.

I simply can’t go back (bit like flying business class on a plane). I’ll get TiVO or (spits on ground) Sky and go back to PVR viewing. That freedom of choice and timing is too damn good to give up, and it’s not to skip ads. I perfectly understand their purpose but as mentioned it seems pointless when you don’t have to so that model will have to change to capture my eyeballs.

That said, there will always be those scheduled events – sports and other live events – that will draw me back to analog TV but those are few and far between. Especially in New Zealand, where Sky’s locked them down even more tightly than in the UK. Way to go sports bodies – figured out why participation and attendances are dropping yet?

And those ‘watercooler’ moments aren’t gone but now tend to be focused on what I called passion points where you are really excited about something televisual but they tend to be more about series as a whole rather than the latest micro event in Coronation Street et all.

Is this a common thing, of course not yet. Adoption of these technologies is growing but by no means universal but that simply frees up conversation time for more meaningful things for now

Mark Cuban has covered the business side of things for PVRs vs Internet video on his blog and good reading it makes too.

I confess I am a Mac fan but I use(d) both platforms and frankly these are just funny. I’m sure Windows 7 will be fab thing … no really.