Information about IDEO is rare and even though this presentation is already from 2005 it is still highly interesting and provides a good overview of IDEO’s design practice.

Making a valuable contribution to many types of business is the story of IDEO. The application of their expertise is moving from the more traditional product design to the recent application of design thinking to service and customer experiences for everything from hospitals to the GUI on cell phones.

The design process, the people and the culture of IDEO are world-renown for their ability to combine intellectual prowess with intuitive, human-centred design which generates marketleading results. As the applications of IDEO’s design expertise become more diverse, Tim sees IDEO’s design process being used as a navigational tool for discovering the right problem, more than simply designing the right solution.

Tim presentation focused how IDEO harnesses the talents of both their staff and their customers to gain the insights that they harvest into tangible outcomes for business.

Download the presentation here.

via [intuire]

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IDEO, the world’s most famous design and innovation consultancy, has recently launched a new website for their latest project “EyesOpen”. IDEO’s “method” for designing innovative products and services is built on gaining insight and inspiration rather than improving brainstorming capabilities (see a speech by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, on this topic). EyesOpen is the virtual platform to share these inspirations moderated by IDEO but welcoming submissions from everyone.

IDEO believes that forward-thinking design and innovation comes from a combination of insight and inspiration, and that the greatest ideas mean very little if you can’t experience them firsthand. EyesOpen guides and tours are ongoing projects that aim to draw inspiration from culture and communities and the experiences they create, while the EyesOpen website seeks to explore emergent ideas by tying them to concrete experience.

IDEO is on the “crowdsourcing” bandwagon by inviting everyone to submit their stories and observations on certain topics.

This site is a forum for doing just that—sharing fresh experiences that are happening now, in the moment—as well as an opportunity to learn from others. It is a cross between cool hunting and cool thinking. And you are invited to join in on the fun. An eclectic combination of IDEO hosts, guest hosts, and creative and curious folks like yourselves provide the content.

The topic of next month is about aging and everyone is invited to participate:

What will happen to urban spaces, services, healthcare, exercising, nursing homes—and to society in general when 20% of the population is over 65? Will society be transformed for the better or will intergenerational conflicts mushroom? Will boomers move back to cities or stay in the suburbs? Will they retire like their parents or reinvent the notion itself?

Visit IDEO EyesOpen.

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MIT Sloan School of Management published a video with a speech by Tim Brown, CEO at IDEO, as part of their Dean’s Innovative Leader Series. IDEO is a design consultancy based in Palo Alto, California, and his speech is titled “Innovation Through Design Thinking”.

You can watch the video here.

Here is my summary of his speech:

Design thinking is one of many approaches to innovation. In order to understand the uniqueness of Design Thinking one has to look at the landscape of elements that are relevant for innovation. These elements can be grouped into three areas which are potential sources for innovation

• Technology (Innovation that is feasible)
• Business (Innovation that is viable)
• People (Innovation that is desirable)

Depending on the weight of these three dimension, different forms of innovation emerge.

• Technology driven innovation starts with technologies goals and looks for needs to satisfy and businesses to build.
• Business driven innovation starts by analyzing organizational resources, how these can be used through the organizations capabilities and deriving the implications for technology and markets (the people).
• Designers approach the challenge of innovation through the lens of people which makes design essentially a human centered process. Only then the search for feasible technological solutions and viable business models begins.

These three fields can be combined in different combinations which lead to different types of innovation:

• Technology + People = Functional Innovation
• Business + People = Marketing/Brand Innovation (Emotional Innovation)
• Business + Technology = Process Innovation

Business + Technology + People = “This is where the really cool stuff happens”

The design of new products and services falls into three phases

1. Inspiration

• Observe and Inquire
• Tell Stories
• Synthesize

2. Ideation

• Brainstorm
• Experiment

3. Implementation

• Prototype
• Evaluate

Most organization focus on ideation (how to get new ideas) when they should actually spend more time for inspiration and the actual implementation in order to create value. When you are out of ideas it doesn’t help to improve your brainstorming skills - one should better look for new inspiration.

In this context market research has its own unique role which is to generate and evaluate ideas, but not to predict the success of ideas.

Nevertheless Design Thinking is not just about methodology, it is just as much about culture. It’s about being inspired and inspiring.

Design Thinking is a human centered approach to innovation.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk

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“Design Serving People“, an article written Elizabeth Sanders and published in the working paper series “Cumulus” by the University of Art and Design Helsinki, describes a major shift in the mindset of designers when designing new products or services. Consumers become creators when the designer’s mindset shifts from a perspective where people consume a service to a perspective when organizations support people in reaching their goals and creating value. The products and services offered by a company are merely resources that help the customer fulfil its needs and dreams.

Design is not serving the needs and dreams of people today. In comfortable American home, schools and workplaces, people are beginning to feel uneasy. It has become increasingly evident that they are no longer satisfied with simply being “consumers”. Everyday people want to be “creators” as well.

Stimulating peoples creativity and giving them tools will lead to a shift from consumption towards creation. This might sound vague but by observing the changing role of everyday people in design processes one realizes that many successful companies are already designing products and services that make their customers co-creator - YouTube is the most prominent example for user-generated content.

It is time to move away from the traditional design disciplines that are founded on the materiality of the artifact (graphic, product, space, software, architecture, etc.) and instead organize around human experience domains such as learning, creating, healing, living, working, playing, shopping, etc. People are people whether they are finding their way around a building, using a product, reading a package or using a software application. Design should be about making sure that our results advance people’s personal growth and support a harmonious relationship between people and their environments.

Nike is not “just” selling running shoes anymore. Nike is selling an experience that supports people in advancing their personal growth. The winners are companies that are able to identify the underlying desires of their customers and incorporate them into the design of their products and services.

Read the full article here.

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The Design Management Institute offers an interesting article titled "Innovation, Growth, and Getting to Where You Want to Go" written by Ryan Jacoby and Diego Rodriguez, two Business Factor Consultants from IDEO.

Design thinking is a crucial business asset—one that can, indeed, move a company forward and improve the bottom line. To optimize this impact, Ryan Jacoby and Diego Rodriguez advise thoughtfully structuring the innovation process. They stress working on projects that improve people’s lives, and they present a “ways to grow”model that helps managers direct and assess innovation efforts.

 

The have also included a nice chart detailing their understanding of potential innovation outcomes and the impact on organic growth.

Organic growth can emerge from every quadrant of Ways to Grow. Use this tool to a) identify the type of growth you intend to create, b) to recognize the scope of that challenge and deploy an appropriate innovation process, and c) to assess your portfolio of innovation efforts.

A few more key messages of the article:

You must uncover human needs to design compelling user value propositions.

In order to deliver on the value proposition, will we—or could we—use technologies that are new to our organization or to the people who will use them?

Download the full article.

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