Let's Zag

Tonight was awesome. We got together as a studio and brainstormed our ideas for our Senior Capstone projects in a Pecha Kucha style forum on the lawn of DAAP (I will post pictures here tomorrow). Many people got great feedback and a laundry list of ideas. But how do you now select the best possible project? It's the classic case of which does not belong here (See picture below and to the left): Some people might say the violin does not belong because it's body is made of wood and not metal like the other three. Others could say the car does not belong because it is the only non-instrument.

Many answers are good, but only one is best. So how do you choose? One way is to think about selecting the most interesting project, might be to develop a set of metrics to compare the ideas. Marty Neumeier offers a suggestion in his book, Zag. (The book Zag describes brand strategy to making the best possible brands. The title alludes to the idea that when other people are zigging you should be zagging- making your brand both better and different). Zag offers a metrics that asks you consider whether your idea is both good and different- the best being the upper right of both good and differnt (see below). Maybe this will help in making your decisions.