Forget insight and genius! The many creative things we make and do generally arise from sheer chance and trial-and-error learning.

The eureka moment is a myth. It is an altogether naïve and fanciful account of human progress. Innovations emerge from a much less mysterious combination of historical, circumstantial, and accidental influences. This book explores the origin and evolution of several important behavioral innovations including the high five, the Heimlich maneuver, the butterfly stroke, the moonwalk, and the Iowa caucus. Such creations' striking suitability to the situation and the moment appear ingeniously designed with foresight. However, more often than not, they actually arise 'as if by design.' Based on investigations into the histories of a wide range of innovations, Edward A. Wasserman reveals the nature of behavioral creativity. What surfaces is a fascinating web of causation involving three main factors: context, consequence, and coincidence. Focusing on the process rather than the product of innovation elevates behavior to the very center of the creative human endeavor.

Widely admired for his sophistication, creativity and exuberance, David Rockwell is one of the leading architects, interiors architects and set designers working today. For over 30 years, he has explored his desire to imagine new worlds, to tell stories and to engage with others. This interest is rooted in his sense of play and possibility--an endless curiosity that continually drives him to ask, "What if?" What if you could step inside a crystal goblet? What if your environment transformed with every step? What if a restaurant could vanish at a moment's notice? What if your ultimate escapist fantasy was real? What If...' presents a wide array of Rockwell's brilliant explorations of the rich intersection between architecture and theater. Through immersive imagery and behind-the-scenes details, Rockwell introduces readers to 35 projects, from initial driving idea through physical realization. Works include the famed Nobu Fifty Seven and the newcomer TAO Downtown in New York, the W Paris Op ra, the West Lobby at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and the newly opened TED Theater in Vancouver; set designs for the Academy Awards, Kinky Boots and Hairspray; the Hall of Fragments at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale and Jamie Oliver's traveling teaching kitchen, the Food Revolution truck. Engaging texts by Tony Award-winning playwright and screenplay writer John Guare, Tony Award-winning director and producer Jack O'Brien and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Justin Davidson--written specially for this publication--and a conversation between Rockwell and acclaimed architect Elizabeth Diller round out this spectacular, celebratory volume. David Rockwell (born 1956) is an American architect and designer. He is founder and president of Rockwell Group, an award-winning, cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City, with satellite offices in Madrid and Shanghai, that has been named as one of Fast Company's most innovative design practices.

In Change by Design, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, the celebrated innovation and design firm, shows how the techniques and strategies of design belong at every level of business. Change by Design is not a book by designers for designers; this is a book for creative leaders who seek to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization, product, or service to drive new alternatives for business and society.

From the Introduction: Consider these two places: Walking into Green Acres, you immediately sense that you have entered an oasis-traffic noise left behind, negative urban distractions out of sight, children playing and running on the grass, adults puttering on plant-filled balconies. Signs of life and care for the environment abound. Innumerable social and physical clues communicate to visitors and residents alike a sense of home and neighborhood. This is a place that people are proud of, a place that children will remember in later years with nostalgia and affection, a place that just feels "good." Contrast this with Southside Village. Something does not feel quite right. It is hard to find your way about, to discern which are the fronts and which are the backs of the houses, to determine what is "inside" and what is "outside." Strangers cut across what might be a communal backyard. There are no signs of personalization around doors or on balconies. Few children are around; those who are outside ride their bikes in circles in the parking lot There are few signs of caring; litter, graffiti, and broken light fixtures indicate the opposite. There is no sense of place; it is somewhere to move away from, not somewhere to remember with pride. These are not real locations, but we have all seen places like them. The purpose of this book is to assist in the creation of more places like Green Acres and to aid in the rehabilitation of the many Southside Villages that scar our cities. This book is a collection of guidelines for the site design of low-rise, high-density family housing. It is intended as a reference tool, primarily for housing designers and planners, but also for developers, housing authorities, citizens' groups, and tenants' organizations-anyone involved in planning or rehabilitating housing. It provides guidelines for the layout of buildings, open spaces, community facilities, play areas, walkways, and the myriad components that make up a housing site.

Universal Principles of Design is the first comprehensive, cross-disciplinary encyclopedia of design.

Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious—even liberating—book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. In this entertaining and insightful analysis, cognitive scientist Don Norman hails excellence of design as the most important key to regaining the competitive edge in influencing consumer behavior. Now fully expanded and updated, with a new introduction by the author, The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how—and why—some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.