I found the space log linked up through kottke.org a few days ago. It worked pretty well on the iphone too. I found myself drawn into the astronaut’s conversation, looking for the more human parts of their dialog amongst the technical.

Great to see an insight into your design process.

Interesting story. I do agree with what Luke Jones said, that we’re too dependent on the Internet nowadays – which is why I don’t have Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Dribble, Last.fm etc. accounts!

Separating yourself from the world is a very good way to focus on your work. Focussing on a project like this seems like a very good idea, although I probably wouldn’t like being locked up in a castle with my co-workers.

This article made me think about how I aproach my projects. Thaks very much for sharing!

Best thing I’ve read on 24 Ways. Thanks so much for sharing. Gets me amped up to take on some of the looming challenges coming our way in the new year

You’ve had a really unusual experience! I think this type of initiative, original and fun, should be organized by major groups (Google, Microsoft, …) with their teams. This kind of situation would bring out new ideas and thinking with a different angle.

@Nicholas: Google and Microsoft have both been involved in what might be considered original and fun projects recently.

Great example of a constructive work retreat, used for productive goals instead of the typical touchy-feely, team-building sessions many businesses subject employees to that don’t often transform hands-on work relationships and processes. With good planning and discipline, this could be done more mundanely and frequently with good results. Thanks for the post!

Very cool. This is a timely post for me as my workplace is finally promoting the place of Design in the early stages of product development. We have previously had a heavy focus on the Engineering side of things, which has certainly worked well – now something new is required.
How important is Innovation to your business?

The cultural and social aspects in this post are very similar to the thoughts in ‘Sketching User Experiences’ which I am half way through.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

What a great little idea, and so beautifully executed!

I like the idea of an “I’m a Developer, get me out of here!” scenario, sounds like excellent fun!

Here in Prishtina (http://bit.ly/gk68qO) we have quite a tiresome internet connection. There are days when an ISP of choice goes down for hours to an end. Coincidentally, these are my most productive times, as I absolutely do not have access to Basecamp + gmail & can concentrate at the task at hand.

This story is a great inspiration as it gives me few proactive ideas on how to schedule “internet time” the best — while at work.

I salute you for this amazing experience & for the beautiful byproduct.

Cheers,
Valon.

I live and work in Southampton, so I might just have to try this techinique myself and some work colleagues!