Noodl 1.3 is now live! Noodl is a platform that we built (and use) for prototyping and iterating digital product and service experiences--it's code-free, works well with live data, and updates instantly. New version available for download at https://www.getnoodl.com/

Great news from Stockholm! The city's Public Transportation Administration (SL) has just announced new mobile ticket readers, and that they'll start accepting Swish, a popular phone-based payment system, for tickets and passes. These new features make travel with SL even easier, in conjunction with the SL travel app that Topp helped develop last year. If you're in Stockholm, or plan to travel there anytime soon, let us know how it works--we always like hearing how our designs fare in the real world. Read the details at SL.se: https://sl.se/sv/info/nyheter/nya-biljettlasare-i-sl-trafiken/?date=true https://sl.se/sv/info/nyheter/betala-mobilbiljett-med-swish/?date=true And check out the case study for the SL Travel App: http://www.topp.se/case/designing-the-new-app-for-sl

Ever wondered what it's like to design for a nonprofit or NGO? Topp's Anna Oscarsson wrote about our long-standing collaboration with MSF's Sweden Innovation Unit, and some surprising ways NGO work does and doesn't differ from commercial. https://medium.com/@TOPPDesign/if-youre-about-to-design-for-a-nonprofit-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-e9af010eac9c

Here's a story about how we helped the world leader in eye-tracking create a framework for turning their ground-breaking technology into tangible user experiences. Topp's work with Tobii included both strategy and prototypes, leading to a coherent design vision that touches everything from leadership to design and engineering. We're excited to share this case study with you: http://www.topp.se/case/innovation-framework-for-tobii

We're hiring, we're hiring...we're always hiring. But now we've created a new Join page to help explain exactly how we work, and why Topp is such a great place for thoughtful, ambitious creative folks. Take a look: http://www.topp.se/join

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to dramatically improve user-facing digital services and products. But after working with AI and UX for a couple of years now, we've realized how easy it is to get it wrong--simply adding AI to an existing experience rarely adds much, and done badly, can actually make things worse (think of poorly implemented chatbots, for example). To get it right, we've discovered that designers need to: 1 ) Understand tech constraints 2 ) Design flexible, modular structures 3 ) Build for continued service & product evolution 4 ) Know their goals, and set the expectation bar low For a more complete explanation, here's a post written by Topp's Rikke Otte and James Haliburton: http://www.topp.se/post/designing-meaningful-ai-experiences-4-foundational-tips

A growing number of studios have Design Technologists on staff these days, to expand their prototyping capability. But if you're treating DTs like a skilled set of hands, you're leaving a huge amount of creative insight on the table. Topp's Emil Wasberger explains. https://medium.com/@TOPPDesign/design-technologists-will-transform-your-creative-process-if-you-let-them-95eb46c8da39

Nathan Folkman is Topp's Head of Technology, working out of our San Francisco office. When we asked him for three unusual facts about himself, this is what he told us: 1 - "In high school and college, I used to row crew. My nickname was 'muscles.'" 2 - "I'm one of the co-founders of bit.ly - the URL shortening service." 3 - "I've been trying to teach myself Alias (the 3D modeling software), and now Maya, for many, many years and have a recurring dream of working at Pixar or ILM in some capacity." Topp is hiring, in both San Francisco and Malmö. Take a look at www.topp.se/join for more information.

Elias Westerberg recently joined the Malmö studio as a Design Technologist -- essentially, he works in code and digital prototypes, but thinks like a designer, which is pretty cool. Besides that, he's also got a few other surprising facts in his background: 1 - He runs a local art gallery in his spare time. 2 - He once hiked solo (!) between the two summits of Sweden's tallest mountain, Kebnekaise. 3 - He speaks a minimalist language called Toki Pona, which contains only 120 words. The people who work at Topp are an incredible group -- maybe you could be one of them? Check out www.topp.se/join for details.

We've written before about Noodl, our custom digital prototyping platform, mostly in terms of what it lets us do for our clients. But Noodl also has a community version, and lately it's being used to do some pretty wonderful things. Last week, for example, a group of Las Vegas primary school students got the chance to do some hands-on IoT work using Blue Kit, a low-code educational kit that uses Noodl, Arduino and AWS to let kids explore the basics of interactive hardware and cloud computing. The session took place during re:Invent, a major annual conference for the IoT industry, so not only did they get to play with the tools of the trade, they did so in the company of some of its most expert builders. Click through for photos and more details. https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/las-vegas-area-students-build-with-iot-at-reinvent/

anova83malmostreets,möllevågsgatan

Happy friday #möllevågsgatan #malmostreets