Bit of a puny Thought You Should See This update for my pals at Doblin this week, as I’m allegedly on holiday (Mexico!) And not a particularly festive one, either, as I seem to have avoided all the year-end lists like the plague. But I did quite like the round-up from visualizing.org, which shows 2011 in data visualization, and confused me for wondering what Keith Urban had to do with the death of Osama Bin Laden. (Hint: absolutely nothing.)

Still, this week on Thought You Should See This:

Fast Company ran a glowing story about an Indian entrepreneur looking to redesign the sanitary pad. The reporter seemed to unwittingly stumble on the true challenge for would-be disrupters: the behavioral/cultural issues at play.

Mel Exon, founder of BBH Labs, explained why she is sending creatives and strategists to learn more about coding.

Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig gave a simply brilliant presentation at Google, containing a story about the alcoholic captain of the Exxon Valdez that I simply cannot get out of my head. Super important; watch the whole thing if you have a spare hour over the break.

NYT tech writer, David Pogue gave his take on why the leaders of companies including Hewlett-Packard, Netflix and the Flip camera messed up. It boils down to their failure to remember why they’re in business in the first place (to serve customers).

Finally, Hyundai USA is ramping up its design team, having poached Christopher Chapman from BMW to be chief designer at the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California. (And I made a snarky comment about the design of the 2011 HCD12 Curb concept car, top.)

So that’s it for 2011. Thanks so much for all your support over the past year, and here’s to a rocking 2012!

Last week’s Thought You Should See This update for my friends at Doblin:

This week, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was being weighed by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. It’s an important debate that’s got many Internet bigwigs in quite a tizz. Google co-founder, Sergey Brin weighed in (in a post on Google+, natch) while many others are also up in arms.

Venture capitalist and former And 1 executive, Phineas Barnes wrote a smart piece about the questions designers should ask when considering joining a start-up.

Chicago favorite, Scott Wilson launched the LunaTik Touch Pen on Kickstarter, the follow-up to his wildly successful Tik-Tok iPod Nano watch.

Amazon got everyone riled up over a campaign to get shoppers to use bricks and mortar for browsing, its service for buying. Meanwhile, comedian Louis CK streamed a one-hour special show online and pleaded with people not to “torrent” it. (A ploy, it should be noted, that seems to have worked pretty well.)

Google Creative Lab artist, Aaron Koblin launched a personal interactive artwork, sponsored by Progressive. A simple idea, beautifully executed, and an example of the new world of art patronage. (Screengrab shown, top.)

Tech world evangelist, Dave Winer sounded off about Why Apps Are Not The Future.

Tech Review took a look at the inevitable-seeming demise of Kodak and tried to figure out why the company failed to capitalize on technology it was early to develop. An interesting aside: Google is said to be examining Kodak’s assets. Imagine if that played out!

“People who think the Web is killing off serendipity are not using it correctly.” Writer Steven Johnson wrote about his research techniques and discovery process.

The Designer Fund launched a neat interactive piece demonstrating how many successful start-ups have had designers at the helm.

This video has been doing the rounds, and it’s one to savor: rapper Ice Cube waxing lyrically about the improvisational genius of Charles and Ray Eames.

Also last week, on Thought You Should See This:

Admire Doblin’s own Brian Quinn and Ryan Pikkel in action. We snagged the rights to stream their presentation from DMI’s Design at Scale. As you can see, they did a great job. Watch–and do send feedback!

Usability design guru, Jakob Nielsen explains why he does not love Amazon’s new Kindle Fire: “You haven’t seen the fat-finger problem in its full glory until you’ve watched users struggle to touch things on the Fire.”

Liddy Manson makes the case for innovation focused on the senior set. As she points out, roughly 13% of the American population is currently over the age of 65, a statistic destined only to grow higher with time.

Urbanized is the new film from Helvetica and Objectified filmmaker, Gary Hustwit. It’s a stylish treatment of an enormously complex–and timely–topic. I jotted down some surprising stats.

Dr Donald Berwick got the pink slip from his job as administrator of Medicare and Medicaid. NYT columnist Joe Nocera looked back at some of his achievements–including his smart approach to management practices.

“Indie capitalism” is becoming a trend. Bruce Nussbaum writes about it at Fast Company, while This American Life ran a wonderful piece about “How to Create a Job.”

Turns out, intense psychological stress tends to shut down the part of the brain responsible for innovative, creative thought. A chilling story about the crash of Air France 447 has lessons for those looking to innovate, too.

The Clockwork Forest (2011) from greyworld on Vimeo.

Bonanza Thought You Should See This update this week, to make up for the fact I headed back to London during last week’s Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy!

Al Gore turned up in New York to talk about how gaming can help when it comes to trying to combat climate change.

A former Apple designer turns his design philosophy to a product that’s rather less glamorous than an iPod: a thermostat.

“Little Printer” arrives (at least, is announced.) A printer intended to capture peripheral moments generated by social media, it sparked intense attention and, from me, an equal amount of crushing depression.

Some important questions to ask at the start of every project, culled from Michael Porter’s Harvard Business Review piece on creating shared value.

Greyworld creates a project that gets my vote for Most Amazing of the Year: a forest filled with clockwork trees (see video, top).

Frog’s VP of creative, Robert Fabricant, lays out important questions for designers and design firms in the United States to consider, as a matter of some urgency.

Jonathan Hoefler explains the intricacies of the type design process–and why this matters even to those who aren’t type aficionados.

Harvard Law School’s Lawrence Lessig discusses issues of governance and policy in an interview conducted on the publication of his latest book, Republic Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan To Stop It.

The Atlantic runs a delightful story about the evolution of the design of the bendy straw.

A departing Twitter engineer flags potential trouble at the social media company.

Veteran autos writer, Phil Patton writes about the Audi Urban Future Summit–and the car as one part of a complex transportation system.

An HBS MBA student outlines why he and his class don’t want to be a part of the so-called “1%”.

An innovative idea in Manhattan proposes the “Lowline” equivalent to the popular High Line public park.

Designer Rob Giampietro shares advice for those starting a studio (his tips apply to entrepreneurs and collaborators of all stripes.)

And finally, British writer George Monbiot rails at the inequity of government and policy in the United Kingdom.