The world is accelerating, and the distance between idea and execution is dramatically shrinking in terms of time, cost, and complexity. Someday soon we will be able to move near-instantaneously from idea to execution. While this may seem a little Star Trek-ish, already technologies like 3D printers and processes like rapid prototyping are chipping away at the divide between idea and execution, between the digital and physical.

We wanted to know just how far off are we from having our very own Star Trek Replicator (one Earl Grey tea, please), so we took one concept from idea to working prototype as quickly as we could. This is how we created the Fridge of Tomorrow.
Read more

During the planning and execution phases of a digital product, service or system, there’s a non-trivial amount of decisions to be made that have long-bearing consequences for the ultimate success of the project, as well as for the ease of its future iterations and additions. Many of these decisions have to do with choosing how and where you’ll ultimately invest a good amount of your budget; the money ear-marked for technical execution.

Read more

Digital initiatives can easily rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in hard costs, claiming months of research, planning, and effort. Smart organizations understand the importance of articulating a waterproof foundational strategy for any such venture, backed by a rationale that is anchored in some higher grand business strategy. Yet any actual strategic thinking that gets done in the context of these investments is generally constricted to the planning stage, leaving a significant chunk of the process – the implementation phase – untouched. However, strategy shouldn’t end when the planning docs are signed and delivered; it should be deeply embedded in technical implementation and tactical execution.  Read more

Undercurrent has worked with Destilería Serrallés, a premium, family-owned rum distillery in Puerto Rico, since 2009. Over the past four years we’ve made some pretty awesome internet things for their biggest seller, Don Q. When BlackBeard Rum, a younger and lesser known Serrallés brand, wanted to relaunch their site and create something fun for their fans to do online, we knew we had be smart about our budget and the platforms we chose to focus on.

Read more

A few weeks back I was trying to work out how to analyze a Tumblr’s performance – a long-standing issue for everyone, particularly within the fashion industry. Short of cataloging every note and post by hand, there isn’t any tool out there that solves for this problem and so a few days ago I, along with my colleague Vladimir Pick, set out to build our own. It’s called Numblr. It was conceived, launched, and in use by others in four days. What follows is a reflection on our process. Read more