My Favourite Tipples from a digital strategy consultant
Jinfo Blog

By Azfarul Islam

Abstract

My Favourite Tipples are shared by Azfarul Islam, a digital strategy consultant specialising in human-friendly products and future workspaces (usually for financial services). He shares his favourite online sources that help people work smarter, not harder.

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Despite several attempts to tame my working efforts, they always tend to be a mess of half-formed leads, hastily scribbled notes, and a bloody trail of bookmarks. It must be said that such chaos does let me accurately map my thoughts from my mind, which in turn can realign them into coherence. Here I share the tools and resources that help me with my craft.

These Tipples represent the sparks of inspiration that fuel this chaos as well as the good fight to bring some semblance of order to it.

• MindNode: While my computer monitor is regularly used as a board to physically capture my thoughts vis-à-vis agile cards and Blu Tack, MindNode has my metaphysical back. In a crowded market of offerings, it suits my requirements with simplicity, presentation, and little need to mess around with the underused "advanced features" of its competitors. Mind you (pun intended), it's Mac-only.

• Product Hunt: Is it here to stay or is it the new Digg? A question that can be asked of any product (replace Digg with something related). Browsing Product Hunt feels like window-shopping through the digital shopping centre of your dreams. Fresh products rise and fall daily, and I find that there is much to discover and learn from for my own projects. My two go-to topics are Fintech and Productivity.

• Trello: There is a certain euphoria to seeing your plans laid out neatly and visually. And no, Gantt charts only leave me suffering from mild anxiety. Trello's implementation of the Kanban philosophy - using "cards" for tasks, "lists"... for lists, "boards" for projects - is simple yet incredibly flexible. Over the last few years I have used it to manage (beyond work projects): a job applications pipeline, an entire agile development workflow for a start-up, and a house renovation project. Creating and editing cards is a lovely experience. Moving them from list to list? You wouldn't understand the depth of satisfaction until you try it yourself.

• Kickstarter: Outside of Amazon, rarely have I hurled my finances at something with such reckless abandon. On a professional level, I find Kickstarter a wonderful source of fantastic ideas for (mostly) physical products, and great examples of communicating and telling compelling stories. Alternatively, you can find rather questionable (I don't mean morally) offerings and learn valuable lessons on how not to pitch to your audience. Not quite what Kickstarter intended, but it is a treasure trove of case studies for anyone keen on product strategy.

For fun

• As a foodie and enthusiastic cook, I'm always trying to expand my knowledge of the culinary arts. While there are endless sources on the internet, my favourites are No Recipes and Serious Eats.

An article on Jinfo I found particularly interesting:

• A recent Jinfo article that resonated with me was "Overcoming common data analytics risks" by Andrew Grave. It covers practical approaches towards better understanding the business environment, and then identifies the key risks inherent in each segment of the environment. A perfect start for companies looking to begin data analytics projects.

Contribute Your "My Favourite Tipples"

Would you like to share your "My Favourite Tipples" with the Jinfo audience? For contributor guidelines email catherine.dhanjal@jinfo.com or visit the Publish with Jinfo page.

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