How Post It Notes Are Becoming The Latest Innovative Technology

In a world of supposed declining paper use, Post-it notes are getting a second life, seeing a resurgence in a new and unforeseen way–as a tool for innovation and collaboration. How long will paper continue to be the right tool for planning and ideation? How long will it take someone to figure out how to replicate paper’s utility in the digital space? An interesting development in the paper world of innovation/collaboration is the synthesis of Post-it Notes with digital technologies. Initially conceived as a way to bookmark pages, organizations quickly discovered the business value of Post-it notes, using them for routine tasks such as routing stacks of paper documents, global business director for Post-it Brand. Slapping a yellow Post-it Note on a stack of papers with instructions for the next reviewer was simple and intuitive.

But with the rise of electronic documents, the need for Post-it Notes to route office documents began to decline. While still used for myriad other purposes, such as recording passwords and leaving notes for colleagues, the Post-it notes were almost headed for the Smithsonian. But the little, sticky papers are now getting a second life, seeing a resurgence in a new and unforeseen way; as a tool for innovation and collaboration. With all the focus today on design and innovation, 3M has identified the need for specialty Post-it notes products. To educate the public about the utility of Post-it notes for innovation and collaboration, 3M recently launched a Post-it note Collaboration website. The website provides 13 suggestions for using Post-it Notes for “building brilliant ideas together,” including storyboards, fishbone diagrams, mind mapping, and affinity diagrams.

The website includes detailed instructions on how to complete each process. Recently, 3M and Evernote got together to enable people to marry Post-it notes to electronic documents or join “analog to digital” technologies. The new product lets people photograph a Post-it notes. It then translates handwritten notes into searchable text and uses the paper color to categorize the note into predefined subjects. Can the Post-it Notes go completely digital? A variety of digital Post-it Note apps already exist, but the properties that make paper attractive doesn’t translate directly to the digital world. Post it notes—digital or analogue—depend on the forthcoming advancement. But, if you need branded post-it notes for your office, school or any business, you can surely rely on Boxx-Direct.