Paal Smith-Meyer

Just had the most amazing chat with Lego’s Paal Smith-Meyer (see wired article on Mindstorm project)

But the boldest part of the Mindstorms overhaul is Lego’s decision to outsource its innovation to a panel of citizen developers. Relying on the MUP is a gamble that Lego hopes will lead not only to a better product but also to a tighter, more trusting bond between corporation and customer.

He’s a super nice chap and at the end of our hour he stuck around for more questions (Mark and I had about a jillion each so no worries there…).

It’s kinda weird, I’ve spent so much time talking about Mindstorm with clients the project feels so familiar. I guess it would be like an architecture student getting to spend an hour discussing the the relative merits and design strategies that went into Falling Waters with Frank Lloyd-Wright…

Mmmmm buzzing :-)