Innovation and creativity in modern world

Momentum towards useful change

How to Think Differently to Drive Results Innovation Training and Development 

Michael Cardus

Imagine a solved version of the problematic situation by:

• making exceptions into the rule,
• changing the location of the complaint pattern,
• changing who is involved in the complaint pattern,
• changing the order of the steps involved,
• adding a new element or step to the complaint pattern,
• increasing the duration of the pattern,
• introducing arbitrary starting and stopping,
• increasing the frequency of the pattern,
• changing the modality of the problematic behavior.

– Steve de Shazer – Clues pp 99

Each of the above suggestions for change that is different are useful as a skeleton-key to break a pattern and cause you to take notice of what is different and what difference that makes.

I am cautious about the work ‘imagine’  because it may lead us to believe that we are creating a utopian end point.

I’ve argued before that utopian end points ignore the past, create self-imposed stress, and increase resistance due to the fact that they are generally achievable.  In this context imagine is used to hold and slightly vary a pattern of thinking that we currently have in the face of the problem.

Leadership, change, problem solving is contextual interaction. There is an example of something that is a problem and it is worth improving. Knowing the context and observing the interactional difference within the suggestions above may be a skeleton-key that is close enough to open the door to cooperation, then create some momentum towards useful change.

The difference is where the progress is found

Michael Cardus

Note the differences between any hypothetical solutions and the complaint. – Steve de Shazer – Clues pp 99

IN EARLIER POSTS I SHARE 4 USEFUL AREAS TO LOOK FOR PROGRESS CLUES OF CHANGE:

1. Change happens when it seems reasonable
2. Exception to the norm is change
3. Change through a small nudge
4. Digger deeper taints change through assumptions

Noticing what is different and putting difference to work is a task of leadership. When leaders notice what is different and are able to put difference to work they are noticing how change happens, where change matters and what difference it makes to the team.

We become myopic and solipsistic when challenged and resisted. A wonderful response that works, otherwise it would not happen. This can be a counter-intuitive. In some change efforts the idea is bad and resistance is what’s needed. As a leader being thoughtful about difference and a bad idea are a useful leadership capacity.

As you listen to the change documenting, actually writing down, differences teams and people share between the change that seems reasonable and the complaint / resistance may create enough of a landscape to make the next decision.

The difference is where the progress clues are found.

CUBI: A User Experience Model for Project Success

Frustrated with confusing, unorganized, complex, or antiquated antiquated user experience models, an experience designer at The Nerdery created the CUBI model.

by Corey Stern

We all want to be a part of compelling creative projects—projects that solve business problems and engage users through meaningful and valuable experiences. However, given tight budgets and timelines it's challenging to create genuinely innovative design, identify gaps in the process, and consider the variety of factors for effective user experience.

To solve these common challenges, I researched existing user experience models or frameworks and found that most UX diagrams are confusing, unorganized, complex, or antiquated, making them useless for designers and clients. That’s why I decided to create my own model.

Henry Ford once said …

"I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work… Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are ready and then it is inevitable."

This was exactly my approach. I began my work by reverse-engineering hundreds of award-winning interactive projects* from a range of industries and project types (marketing websites, games, apps, e-commerce, educational, etc.), to understand and document the concepts, interactions, and elements of the experiences.

Graphic used with permission from TheFWA.com (Favourite Website Awards). Research included reviewing Google’s Creative Sandbox, Communication Arts, The FWA, and Behance from January-June 2014.

It was impossible for me to determine if each project was successful or not—effective design requires more than a pretty surface or whiz-bang interactions. However, the research did help provide insights on the different components that comprised each project.

As a result of my research, I determined most projects had a strong balance of content and interactions. The content was engaging and easy to consume, while the interactions supported access to more content.

When considering how these elements overlap with user goals and business goals, I created the CUBI User Experience Model. This model helps deconstruct the major components, which consist of:

• Content
• User Goals
• Business Goals
• Interaction

When considering the intersections on the diagram, there was the Process by which users navigate through content through the provided interactions, which includes communications, reactions, actions and transactions.

Another set of intersections was Experience Factors (★). In order to have an effective experience a product needs to be comprehensive, useful, usable and branded.

The Benefits of CUBI

As I used and developed the model it began to serve multiple purposes:

1. Creativity: Creative experiences have the potential to engage users and provide more unique brand experiences. The model provides a framework for presenting content more creatively, through use of a variety of techniques and methodologies.
2. Communication: When terminology and language are common between designers and clients, it provides for greater communication and helps keep the strategy on-track.
3. Simplification: The terminology and practices that are a part of experience design can be vast and confusing. This model simplifies the complex design process, and delivers it in consumable bite-sized chunks, by outlining all the considerations that must be made throughout a project.
4. Collaboration: When we understand the factors involved with designing experiences we then understand the different roles, teams, assets, and content required to execute on any given strategy. This understanding can help create a project plan and make it easier to delegate tasks.
5. Gaps: The model can help identify gaps within the design process. For example, a business may have established requirements, goals, and functionality for their marketing site, but maybe they haven’t developed a content strategy—or they have only marketing research, but haven’t performed formal user research.

The Layers of CUBI

Content

There are five layers to consider when incorporating content—Content Types, Models, Treatments, Methods, and Architecture.

1. Content Types: Content is more than just text. Content includes a variety of media including photography, video, audio, data, documents, and a whole bunch of other things you might not have even considered. When content types are combined there are more opportunities for creative forms of media. For example, infographics combine text, data visualization, and illustration. It's also critical to inventory the different types of content and how the content can become object-oriented, which is when content is used in other contexts.
2. Content Models: Content models combine the different content types into a more recognizable model or format. For example, a recipe is a content model, which may include content types such as ingredients, instructions, and photography. The content model for a movie review may contain content types such as a movie description, ratings data, a list of actors, and a movie trailer.
3. Content Treatments: Content can also have applied aesthetics and treatments. For example, the visual style may include 2D illustration or the photography may be treated with a vintage style or duotone. Text may have a unique tone or personality based on the brand voice. Graphics may reflect a certain company culture or personality, which can be indicated in brand guidelines.
4. Content Methods: Content can be presented in more creative ways. It can be vastly more interesting and engaging when methods like storytelling, metaphors, analogy, symbolism, scenarios, challenges, or other creative concepts are applied.
5. Content Architecture: Content architecture is the structure and organization of information in a website or software system. It touches all content categories including content types and models and how content interlinks.

To summarize, Content Types are aggregated to create Content Models. The content types and models can have an applied Content Treatment. A Content Method can provide a narrative or framework for the content. All of these elements are organized through Content Architecture.

User Goals

There are five layers to consider when incorporating user goals: User Types, Needs, Motivations, Behaviors, and Outcomes.

1. User Types: It’s important to understand the different user types that will use the end product. A common practice is to create user personas that detail their different roles, responsibilities, skill-levels, demographics (gender, age range, languages, locations, etc.)psychographics (personality, values, attitudes, interests, lifestyles) and where, when and how they will use the product.
2. Needs: Once user types are identified, it is critical to understand and define the relevant needs and aspirations that will help fulfill their goals. Some needs may be more simple, like finding documentation, while others are more complex more physiological or esteem needs. Additional examples of needs may include personal progression, accomplishment, mastery, recognition, status, belonging, expression, or a sense of purpose.
3. Motivations: Once the user needs are identified, we need to understand how users are motivated to fulfill those needs. This could be a wide range of intrinsic or extrinsic rewards or motivators, implemented with cues, design triggers, or other techniques.
4. Behaviors: Once the motivations are understood, it's important to research the user's current behaviors and how new motivations can potentially drive behavior change. With enough motivation and behavior change there is a greater likelihood of developing new habits and loyalty to a product and brand.
5. Outcomes: The combination of Needs, Motivations, and Behaviors can then translate into meaningful and measurable outcomes for users.

To summarize, each User Type has a set of Needs they are trying to fulfill. Users are Motivated to take action. Repeated Behaviors can produce significant user Outcomes.

An example may be mother with a busy schedule (User Type) who Needs to train for a 10k. She might be Motivated by daily reminders and encouragement from friends to exercise (Behaviors) resulting in longer distance runs (Outcome).

Business Goals

There are four layers to consider when incorporating business goals—Operations, Offerings, Outcomes, and Mission.

1. Operations: Each project has operations that support the product, which can include people, resources, and other connected experiences. People involved in the project can be key business stakeholders, content contributors, subject matter experts, collaborators, administrators, recruited users and others involved in the project. Resources may include content data feeds, APIs, third-party tools, stock artwork, brand guidelines, existing user research, analytics or other resources. Connected Experiences can happen prior, during and after the experience. First, understand how users will find the product either through internal communications, advertising, the App Store, search engines or through social media. This helps make the communications consistent, congruent, professional, and focused. Then users may interact with departments like live customer support, technical support, human resources, or others. This understanding informs the designer how the company has the capacity to support user inquiries.
2. Offerings: The business may offer an ecosystem of products and/or services. It’s also important to understand how these products and services relate to each other. To communicate these offerings, the business should also have a value proposition, which states why a consumer should use the product or service versus other competitors.
3. Outcomes: The offerings ultimately support meaningful metrics and Key Performance Indicators that help support business success. KPIs may include financial performance, customer acquisition goals, increased customer satisfaction, employee performance metrics, call center metrics, or other indicators.
4. Mission: A mission statement provides the core purpose of an organization, its competitive advantages, its target audience, and the reason the organization exists. The mission statement should guide decisions and clearly define goals.

If customers have positive brand experiences and transactions they provide business outcomes

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To summarize, the Operations support the business Offerings. If customers have positive brand experiences and transactions they provide business Outcomes, which help fulfill the business Mission.

Interaction

There are four layers to consider when incorporating interaction—Patterns, Systems, Devices, and Humans.

1. Pattern Interaction: Design patterns (AKA Micro Interactions) are reusable components and interactions. Patterns include everything from headers and menus to calendars and maps. Resource libraries for patterns include Pattern Tap, Mobile Patterns, and pttrns.
2. System Interaction: The system can contain navigation, flows, feedback, and notifications to help the user progress and achieve their goals. The nature of the system can either be static, meaning that it is unchanged or dynamic meaning there is constant change or activity within the system. Dynamic systems can be regulated or self-regulated, meaning there are varying degrees of permissions and actions certain users perform based on their credentials. Systems can also be defined by the content management system or other system software, which may have a set of capabilities and limitations.
3. Device Interaction: When designing for an experience it’s key to understand the capabilities and constraints of the targeted devices, including screen sizes, connectivity, user interface conventions and other factors. The experience could happen with a variety of devices including phones, tablets, kiosks, terminals, watches, appliances or other things. For example, modern phones can support gestures, geolocation, accelerometers, audio recording, camera capabilities, push notifications and other features that are native to modern phones. User interface design considerations are also made to provide experiences that are ergonomic and comfortable when using certain devices.
4. Human Interaction: The human interaction may be formal or informal, personal or interpersonal, social, or some other type of human interaction.

To summarize, a set of Patterns are provided in a System. The system can be available on multiple Devices to encourage certain types of Human Interaction.

Experience Factors

Effective user experience is more than just the simple usability of a product. When creating the CUBI model, I concluded that there are at least four primary factors for effective experiences.

1. ★Branded Experience: A brand experience is not simply the visual identity. It’s the tonality and totality of the entire brand experience for a customer at any touchpoint. Any experience a user has with the business is a brand experience, whether it’s reviewing product information online, receiving live support from a call center, opening product packaging, or learning about the product or service from friends. The brand experience should convey to users that it’s credible, reliable, reputable, and that the company delivers on their promises. Brand communications and transactions can make or break brand loyalty.
2. ★Comprehensive Experience: A comprehensive experience is one that is both comprehendible and extensive. A comprehensible experience is understandable, clear, uncluttered, properly labeled, scannable, organized, categorized, and lacks ambiguity. If there is an inordinate amount of corporate lingo, jargon, slang, or the messaging is not relatable, the experience may not resonate with users. An extensive experience provides users with a sense of completeness. Missing content can leave users unfulfilled. For example, if users don’t have enough information about company offerings on a homepage or within supporting pages, people may leave the site or delete the app.
3. ★Useful Experience: A useful experience satisfies user needs, makes them feel empowered or productive, and helps them efficiently achieve their end goals. This can be measured by their changes in behaviors, actions, and performance or by other tangible means.
4. ★Usable Experience: A usable experience is easy to use, intuitive, findable, learnable, legible, consistent, and provides prompts and feedback to communicate their progress in a system or process.

Usable experiences also:

• Allow for forgiveness by allowing users to correct mistakes
• Provide accessibility for those with impairments
• Functionally work on the targeted devices and browsers

Process Factors

When businesses provide systems for users to interact with, there are typically four process steps to consider.

1. Communications: The intersection between business goals and content is communications. The branded content communicates comprehensive messaging to engage users.
2. Reactions: Users react to these communications and quickly decide if it’s something useful to them.
3. Actions: The reaction can motivate users to take action to fulfill a goal or perform a task. This could be prompted from a call to action, trigger, task list, dashboard or by other means.
4. Transactions: User actions then translate into business transactions. The types of transactions may include purchases, providing ratings on products or services, customer loyalty registration, etc.

The CUBI Outer Ring

Once the CUBI Model was developed, I made the observation that user experience disciplines, tasks, and methods matched with the major components on the model forming a structured outer ring. This ring helps indicate the potential tasks and efforts required to execute on the strategy. It doesn’t have to be daunting or disorderly.

Please note that there are too many user experience disciplines and tasks to incorporate on this diagram.

For example, content development can potentially require content strategy, subject matter expertise, and information architecture. To identify user goals it may require user research methods such as surveys, contextual inquiry, interviews, and usability testing.

Conclusion

After months of research, peer reviews and study, I hope designers, developers, and clients will find this an invaluable framework for projects to help determine product viability and feasibility. Whether it's a mobile game, healthcare software platform, or marketing website, engagement requires detailed strategy and effective execution.

We welcome your thoughts and input on the CUBI UX Model. We also encourage you to share this article with others to get their feedback. Look for a future Nerdery webcast to further explain the model and how it can help with your project success. Click here formore information about the CUBI User Experience Model.

https://bit.ly/3lU4l8d

This CEO Runs a Billion-Dollar Company With No Offices or Email

Matt Mullenweg.

The art of running a global company without the usual trappings of corporate life.

BY GLENN LEIBOWITZ

 

Even if you aren't familiar with what WordPress is, or use it to publish content on the internet, there's a good chance you've visited a website that runs on it--and probably within just the past 24 hours.

That's because WordPress--an open-source content-management system--powers an astonishing 25 percent of all websites today.

I recently spoke with Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, the company that offers a range of products and services for WordPress users.

Automattic is valued today at over $1 billion.

Matt joined me for a wide-ranging conversation on my podcast, in which he shared his aspiration to capture the 75 percent of the internet that WordPress doesn't already manage.

He also explained how his 400-person team works largely from home or in co-located offices in 43 countries, and relies almost entirely on an internal blogging platform for communication and collaboration--while avoiding the use of email.

The following are excerpts from my conversation with Matt, which you can listen to in full on my podcast.

Automattic's mission is to democratize publishing. Where do you think you are today in terms of achieving that?

It's probably a lifelong mission, to be honest.  The idea is to give everyone, regardless of what language you speak or how much money you have, the ability to have a voice online using the best software in the world.

You or I can download and publish using the exact same software that The New Yorkeruses for newyorker.com. And I think that is relatively unique in the history of the world. We don't have access to the same printing press as The New York Times, but in the digital world we can have the same software as The New Yorker.

You've been a fierce advocate for the open-source movement. What's the state of play today with the movement?

Right now, we power about 25 percent of all websites--the largest of any of the content-management systems. The number two has around 3 percent. But we are not happy that we have just 25 percent, and we see a lot of work to get the remaining 75 percent.

Certainly, our near-term goal for WordPress is to try to get to a majority because I feel when a majority of the web is driven by open-source software, that will drive the web to be a better place. It'll be more open, more inclusive, with fewer closed gardens and silos, and it will drive as well the proprietary folks to be more open.

You've got a highly decentralized, dispersed work force spanning the globe--people working from home and, for the most part, never stepping foot into an office. How is that working out?

Automattic is a totally distributed company, so everyone works from wherever they are in the world. It could be a coffee shop, it could be their home, it could be a co-working space. We hire people regardless of where they are.

We now have folks in just over 40 countries. This has been amazing for the company in that we can attract and retain the best talent without them having to be in New York or San Francisco or one of the traditional tech enters.

So far this model has worked extraordinarily well, and we plan to continue it. 

The "Automattic creed" states that communication is the "oxygen" for a distributed company. For a long time, you've used a blog theme called P2 for internal communication and collaboration. And for the most part, you avoid using email for communication inside Automattic.

I think email is definitely on its way out, between things like P2 and Slack, which is a work place chat tool. Email just has so many things wrong with it. I've never heard anyone who've said they love email, they want more of it--have you?

Imagine if, in your company, instead of email, everyone could post and comment on a blog. Different groups or teams could have their own space on it, but fundamentally everything was tagged and traceable and transparent. That's kind of what P2 looks like.

P2 also has its own sort of internal Google alerts, so you can keep up with everyone without having to read everything that goes by.  

It's free actually, so go check out p2theme.com. I invite anyone to try it out.

Why is knowing how to write well so important at Automattic?

Skill in writing is one of the things I look for the most in hiring, because I feel that clear writing represents clear thinking, regardless of someone's background, or whether they're a designer or coder or whatever. 

The ability to communicate effectively and clearly in written form is not only super important in a distributed company, but I think reflects well on how they approach life in general.

Part of the reason I started blogging and started working on WordPress was because I love writing. 

If I can become a better writer, perhaps I can become a better thinker.

The 19 coolest new businesses in San Francisco

• Tanza Loudenback
 

San Francisco has long been the hub for huge Silicon Valley tech companies — but it's also home to some seriously cool local businesses.

From a 2.5-ton mobile pizza oven and a beef-jerky bar to the city's first indoor golf course, we're highlighting some of the newest and coolest businesses in San Francisco.

Scroll through to check them out.

Ampersand

Facebook/Ampersand

80 Albion St., ​The Mission

What it is: A mood-boosting flower shop and studio.

Why it's cool: Step through the shop's unmistakable bright-turquoise doors and into a design studio and flower shop that feels like a fresh and fun gathering space. Ampersand sells California-grown flowers by the stem and designs for weddings, and it puts together custom arrangements and wreaths too.

Ampersand's customers praise the shop's owners, Benjamin and Emerson, for their expertise, originality, and charm.

Del Popolo

Facebook/Del Popolo

Around SF and (coming soon to) 855 Bush St., Dogpatch

What it is: A 2.5-ton pizza oven on wheels.

Why it's cool: Chef Jon Darsky has been serving Neapolitan-style pizza from a 5,000-pound wood-fired oven housed in a 20-foot shipping container since 2012, earning a mass of Bay Area loyalists. Del Popolo — Italian for "of the people" — is so popular the team behind the pies is planning to open its first brick-and-mortar location by the end of the year.

While the forthcoming restaurant will feature the food truck's signature thin-crust, natural- yeast pizza, it's adding to the menu Italian appetizers and salads and more beer and wine.

Eatsa

Jillian D'Onfro/Business Insider

121 Spear St., SoMa

What it is: A restaurant where robots serve quinoa bowls.

Why it's cool: This vegetarian restaurant specializes in $7 quinoa bowls that use fresh ingredients. Quinoa is a superfood that requires far less energy to produce than any animal-based proteins, according to Eatsa's website, making it good for both people and the planet.

Eatsa uses technology to automate its two-step process: Customers place their order on an iPad, then they wait for their name to appear on an LCD-screened cubby when the order's up. Of course there's kitchen staff creating each meal behind the scenes, but the illusion of being served by a robot is what makes this fast-casual restaurant one of a kind.

Gather

Facebook/Gather

541 Octavia St., Hayes Valley

What it is: A boutique that sells unique gifts made by local artisans.

Why it's cool: Gather doubles as an event space and shop selling a whimsical selection of the best and coolest locally handcraftedclothing and home goods in San Francisco. The husband-and-wife pair behind Gather build connections with customers and craftsmen by hosting monthly events like workshops and trunk shows.

The shop shelves everything from "California Love"-flavored chocolate bars and handmade jewelry to "West Coaster" T-shirts and onesies.

Imperfect

Facebook/Imperfect

Online, based in San Francisco

What it is: A startup that delivers "ugly" produce to fight food waste.

Why it's cool: In 2011, entrepreneurs Ben Simon and Ben Chesler launched the Food Recovery Network to fight food waste in campus dining halls. Now they're saving tons of misshapen produce from going to waste too.

According to Imperfect's website, each year 20% of produce is turned away from grocery stores based on appearance. For under $20, Imperfect customers can get a box filled with "ugly" — but completely edible — fruits and vegetables delivered to their home or office. Imperfect also has an option to donate a box of produce to a family in need for $12.

KitTea

Facebook/KitTea

96 Gough St., Hayes Valley

What it is: The city's first Japanese-style cat café.

Why it's cool: This charming cat lounge and tea house is co-owned by a pair of Silicon Valley techies who discovered SF's need for a respite from the pressures of the tech world.

KitTea offers yoga and movie nights with free-roaming, adoptable cats in partnership with Petco Foundation. Reservations for an hour of cat cuddle time and endless tea cost $25 on the weekend or $17.50 on a weekday, and they can be made online.

Milk Stork

Facebook/Milk Stork

Online, based in the Bay Area

What it is: A service that delivers breast milk to working moms.

Why it's cool: Breastfeeding rates are on the rise in the US, and one of a working mom's greatest challenges can be getting breast milk back to her baby while traveling. In August, Bay Area mom Kate Torgersen created a solution: Milk Stork, a company that enables mothers to send refrigerated and protected breast milk back home while traveling for work.

For $99 per day away, mothers can order supplies through Milk Stork's website and receive breast-milk storage bags and prepaid, pharmaceutical-grade shipping coolers at their destination. Milk Stork will ship up to 34 oz. of breast milk per day for next-day delivery anywhere in the continental US.

Move Loot

Move Loot/Screenshot

Online, based in San Francisco

What it is: An online consignment store for furniture.

Why it's cool: Move Loot is a full-service marketplace, offering pickup, delivery, listings, and storage for your unused furniture. It's operating in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, and Atlanta, where it has its own warehousing and logistics platforms to help customers move furniture in and out of their homes.

The chic alternative to Craigslist was started as an Indiegogo campaign to help reduce the 10.8 million tons of furniture that ends up in landfills every year — in 2014, the company saved 605 tons of furniture from going to landfills.

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse

Facebook/Mr. Holmes Bakehouse

1042 Larkin St., Nob Hill

What it is: San Francisco's hottest "cruffin" bakery.

Why it's cool: Mr. Holmes Bakehouse has taken the cronut one step further and popularized the "cruffin" — a large croissant-donut shaped like a muffin and filled with crème or jam. This stylish pastry shop starts serving daily special cruffins at 9 a.m. every day and often sells out by noon.

Flavors range from Chocolate Pomegranate and White Chocolate Cheesecake to Earl Grey Truffle and Prickly Pear Matcha. Don't forget to take a photo in front of the store's signature "I got baked in San Francisco" sign.

Mrs. Peasy

Facebook/Mrs. Peasy

Online, serving San Francisco

What it is: A dinner party in a box.

Why it's cool: This one-of-a-kind rental service makes it easy for dinner party hosts to throw the soiree of their dreams. Mrs. Peasy herself, Jennine Jacob, is a former NYC style blogger who launched the business in June to help busy people create beautifully designed settings for every occasion.

With more than two dozen party themes to choose from, clients can rent a box filled with everything from cake stands to cutlery for costs ranging from $25 to $600, depending on how many guests they're serving. Mrs. Peasy also offers a $75, one-hour or less set-up and styling fee for any party hosts who want to leave it all to the pros.

Old Bus Tavern

Facebook/Old Bus Tavern

3193 Mission St., Bernal Heights

What it is: A brewpub inspired by the owners' beloved Volkswagen bus.

Why it's cool: This neighborhood favorite opened in July as a full-service restaurant and steam-fired, four-barrel brewery. In addition to its five in-house brews, Old Bus Tavern has fourteen taps featuring a rotating selection of local craft beers and a small but wide-ranging food menu from bar bites to entrées, many of which include house brewery ingredients.

Thanks to a hugely successful Indiegogo campaign that raised over $23,000 last spring, the crew at Old Bus Tavern is working on retrofitting a VW bus to serve homemade chili and craft beer around San Francisco.

Parenthoods

Facebook/Parenthoods

Online, based in San Francisco

What it is: A social network for Bay Area moms and dads.

Why it's cool: Parenthoods was cofounded in 2014 by two San Francisco-based moms hoping to provide a mobile community for parents to offer stories and advice, plan playdates, find reliable childcare, and even buy or sell things like children's clothing on its iOS app.

Parenthoods, which had raised $1.3 million in capital as of March, is largely run out of its app, but it also hosts a blog on its website with original content for local parents. The free app boasts five stars on iTunes and reviewers say it's a great way to feel connected and meet other parents in the community.

The Happy Home Company

Happy Home Company/Screenshot

Online, based in San Francisco

What it is: An on-demand landlord for homeowners.

Why it's cool: This referral service connects homeowners with quality service providers in their area to help with household tasks, such as plumbing, roofing, and landscaping.

The Happy Home Company assigns each client a "home manager" — an employee who files the client's household task and sources it out to reliable and top-rated professionals to get the job done. Clients who use the app say they're able to get more done around the house with less hassle.

The Interval

Facebook/The Interval

2 Marina Blvd., Fort Mason

What it is: An old-timey coffeehouse, bar, and event space.

Why it's cool: Located in San Francisco's historic Fort Mason Center, The Interval is home to The Long Now Foundation, an organization that fosters long-term thinking projects. The space is steps from the water with views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and it serves as a library, coffee and cocktail bar, and museum.

The Interval holds weekly "salon talks" with authors ("The Martian" author Andy Weir made an appearance in October), academics, and artists and is also available to rent for business meetings and friendly gatherings.

Third Rail

Facebook/Third Rail

628 20th St., Dogpatch

What it is: A late-night cocktail and beef-jerky dive.

Why it's cool: Third Rail is the brainchild of Chef Phil West and barkeep Jeff Lyon, a pair of restaurateurs committed to fresh seasonal food and drink.

Third Rail boasts 10 types of dried and cured meats (and even a mushroom vegetarian option), specialty whiskey and jerky pairings, and cocktails adorned with hand-cut ice. For $10, bargoers can enjoy the "Rail Shot" — an 8-oz. beer, 1-oz. shot of liquor, and half ounce of jerky of their choice.

Sundays by San Franpsycho

YouTube/San Franpsycho

1248 9th Ave., Inner Sunset

What it is: A coffee and ice-cream shop operated by a duo of SF retailers.

Why it's cool: Ten years ago, a pair of California surfers launched San Franpyscho, a clothing and lifestyle brand focused on working with local artists to create community-inspired products.

This summer, the San Franpsycho owners opened an ice-cream bar and coffee shop at their Inner Sunset retail store. Sundays serves organic, small-batch, and locally sourced goods and provides a fun place to gather and shop.

Tinsel

Facebook/Tinsel

Online, based in San Francisco

What it is: An early-stage wearable tech-apparel company.

Why it's cool: Tinsel is making tech an accessory for women by combining headphones and beautifully designed jewelry. The company's debut product, an "audio necklace" called The Dipper, is available through its Indiegogo campaign, where they're selling for $150 and will retail for $199 by next spring.

Each necklace doubles as a set of headphones complete with a 3.5-mm audio jack concealed beneath a stainless-steel necklace to ensure lightweight comfort and no cord tangling. And when they're not in use, the earbuds fold neatly into the necklace's pendant.

Urban Putt

Facebook/Urban Putt

1096 South Van Ness Ave., The Mission

What it is: The city's only indoor mini-golf course and bar-restaurant.

Why it's cool: Urban Putt opened last year in the heart of The Mission. A lively addition to an already robust neighborhood, Urban Putt isn't a kitschy date spot — it's an expertly designed, Bay Area-inspired miniature golf course that pairs nicely with a beer or cocktail and refined bar bites.

Post-putt, head upstairs to the restaurant to try one of the chef's deep-dish pizzas. The space can also be reserved or rented out for large groups and parties.

Whitechapel

Courtesy of allisonwebber.photography

600 Polk St., Civic Center

What it is: An underground bar for gin lovers.

Why it's cool: A trio of award-winning Bay Area restaurateurs are behind Whitechapel, a charming trip back in time filled with vintage artifacts, ornate tile work, and vaulted ceilings meant to replicate the London Underground subway system.

The Victorian-era space, which opened in October, is divided into three areas: a bar, a distillery, and a restaurant whose menu has unique takes on London's favorite pub snacks and entrées. But the main event at Whitechapel is its 370 gins and 100 gin-based cocktails available to order, making it the largest selection of gin in North America.