Davis ThinkingResolution Week: Take More Risks
Thursday, January 1, 2009
IDEO CEO Tim Brown discusses freedom from judgement and the importance of play to the creative process.
Tag: Ideo
At Issue } essential reading
What is Design Thinking, Really?
Jan 15, 2010
If you’re a businessperson or someone interested in understanding how to facilitate innovation, you’ve probably heard of “design thinking” by now. Coined by IDEO’s David Kelley, the term refers to a set of principles, from mindset to process, that can be applied to solve complex problems.
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Inspired Design Is Essential — And All Too Rare
Nov 30, 2009
In a landmark 1964 case, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the obscenity conviction of an Ohio theater owner who had screened the French film “Les Amants.” In his concurring opinion, Justice Potter Stevens concluded that while he was unable to provide a precise definition of hard-core pornography, he knew it when he saw it. So it is with great design—we know it when we see it. Trouble is, we see way too little of it. A case in point.
Reinventing British Manners the Post-It Way
Nov 5, 2009
It's the hot design company hired by Apple to create its first mouse, (and by Microsoft to create its second), by the Post Office to rework the postbox, by Muji to create its wall-mounted CD player and by Procter & Gamble to reinvent toothpaste tubes. It made the Nokia N-gage, the Palm V and the Head Airflow tennis racquet. Now IDEO is being retained by Barack Obama's White House to help to reinvigorate the American civil service; by the government of Iceland to help the country to innovate its way out of financial crisis; and by the Kellogg Foundation to reinvent education. It might seem bizarre that a company used to designing products is now solving country-sized problems, but it all comes down to the technique it pioneered and preached to its clients. It calls this philosophy "design thinking".
A Call For "Design Thinking": Tim Brown
Sep 29, 2009
Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects -- even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory "design thinking."
What Obama Is Learning from Facebook, Google and Ideo
Sep 1, 2009
When Barack Obama hired John Berry to head his Office of Personnel Management earlier this year, the president did not mince words. “John, we’ve got to make it cool again,” Obama said to his new hire. Many of the nation’s brightest graduates are snapped up by tech start-ups claiming to offer not only high compensation but the feeling of being part of something exciting — not to mention such perks as meals by gourmet chefs, exercise and laundry facilities, haircuts, massages and other amenities designed to smooth the transition from college to adulthood while instilling a sense of loyalty.
Crowdsourced Healthcare: What Britain's Doctors Ordered?
Apr 1, 2009
"Design thinking" is all the rage, thanks to Apple, Target, you name it--it's the idea that with a little ingenuity, companies can gear their products and services to what consumers want. But one of the more intriguing applications has been when companies want to engage in the design process. This is when design firms like Ideo and Frog are hired to introduce "design processes" as a way to reengineer the way companies work. For example, the U.K. is partnering with patients to "co-design" its processes for serving the sick.
Ideo Redesigns the Icebreaker
Mar 25, 2009
You know how it goes: Throw together a bunch of people--six, eight, more than two is too many--and force them to tell each other something silly, secret, anything that will publicly humiliate in front of total strangers. Cue nervous laughter and clammy palms. But barely has the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship begun and Ideo is already telling us: We have a better way. We're going to use design.
Just Say No To 'Innovation'
Mar 25, 2009
Promoted as the "in" word in design circles in recent years, 'innovation' has become a mantra devoid of meaning. Glorified by the likes of Bruce Nussbaum of BusinessWeek and David Kelly of IDEO, "innovation" blurs the boundaries between the worlds of engineering and design.
Ideo's David Kelley on "Design Thinking"
Feb 5, 2009
The smell of ramen noodles wafts over the Stanford d.school classroom as David Kelley settles into an oversize red leather armchair for a fireside chat with new students. It's 80 degrees and sunny outside in Palo Alto, and as the flames flicker merrily on the big computer screen behind him, Kelley, founder of both the d.school and the global design consultancy Ideo, introduces his grad students to what "design thinking" -- the methodology he made famous and the motivating idea behind the school -- is all about. Today's task: Design a better ramen experience.
Bright Ideas For Dark Days
Dec 9, 2008
In tough times, it's the brightest ideas that get noticed. And for those who can adapt quickest, recession offers a chance to steal a march on the competition.
Thinking by Design
Nov 3, 2008
Is design thinking a genuine challenge to conventional marketing thinking, or just the latest pair of buzzwords? And if designers are such great business thinkers, why did it take them so long to rise to the top of the marketing hierarchy?
