• Is IDEO trying to be the biggest, the best, or the brightest?

    Is IDEO trying to be the biggest, the best, or the brightest?

    Good question. IDEO is far less concerned with size and world domination than it is with impact. I think we would pick “brightest,” and hope it was a direct reflection of the influence we’re having on some of the larger, more complex challenges in the world—airport security, clean water access, child obesity, and so on. The IDEO community has a tendency to organically steer us in these directions, being an inspired group of people who are aware of what’s going on in the world, savvy about client needs, and optimistic about how they can contribute. And, they’ve experienced firsthand the adage about multiple heads being better than one.

    Whitney Mortimer / Global Lead - Marketing

  • I saw that shopping cart show. How come it’s not in a store somewhere?

    I saw that shopping cart show. How come it’s not in a store somewhere?

    When ABC’s Nightline asked to videotape our innovation process we had a dilemma. We were pleased to have this opportunity, but we could not show any current work without compromising the confidentiality of our clients. In the end, ABC suggested we focus on the shopping cart, an everyday product category that could stand some reinventing.

    The project took place over five days, evenings and nights included. Nearly 40 people helped on the project. The product showed at the unveiling in the video is a single hand-built prototype. After the program aired, we did get inquiries from companies interested in developing the cart to production, probably a year-long project, however the right combination of timing and finances didn’t occur to allow this to happen.

    Dennis Boyle / Healthcare

  • Would IDEO ever sell its own brand of products?

    Would IDEO ever sell its own brand of products?

    Currently we’re not thinking along that direction. Our expertise is on the design experience. It’s a much different business to manufacture and distribute new products. However, one of the neat things about IDEO is we really like to experiment. If the right opportunity came along for a series of IDEO-branded products that we felt would make a difference in the world we would go for it!

    Brendan Boyle / Product Design

  • I’m in high school. How can I work at IDEO someday?

    I’m in high school. How can I work at IDEO someday?

    We like to encourage passion for design thinking in everybody, but especially junior high and high schoolers. Fortunately there’s not just one direction to discover your own path of inspiration. People come to IDEO with many backgrounds, each with important skills that weave well together - from engineers, artists, human behavior experts, environmentalists, scientists, business gurus – each unique!

    Someone designed everything around you, from your toothbrush to your home town.  Get inspired by reading the stories behind common objects like the light bulb, the tennis shoe, the airplane, or the Internet. Even simple things like paper clips often have surprisingly complex stories that reflect vision, experience, luck, and determination. Find the aspects of these stories that resonate with you and follow that thread.

    Kara Krumpe / Human Factors

  • Who are your competitors?

    Who are your competitors?

    IDEO applies design thinking to a broad range of business opportunities and challenges, from strategy development, to consumer product and experience design, to the crafting of new environments, to organizational transformation. As a result, our competitors include global management consulting firms, highly focused vertical category specialists as well as small boutique agencies. At IDEO we offer one key point of difference—we go broad and deep to solve client challenges. We do this by combining our 30 years of experience across multiple industries and thousands of projects with multidisciplinary teams to get a fresh perspective on solving client problems.

    John Ravitch / Global Business Development

  • Did you invent the mouse?

    Did you invent the mouse?

    No. Douglas Engelbart working at SRI invented the mouse in 1967 or so. Xerox PARC developed the first “production” mouse, although it never had any commercial impact. Hovey-Kelley Design (which became IDEO) in 1980-81 developed for the Apple Lisa project the first practical, low cost, mass manufacturable mouse. The H-K design, using a gravity-loaded rolling ball, X-Y LED phototransistor encoders, and an idler wheel, was also used in a new enclosure for the first Apple Macintosh. The H-K design had the basic architecture used in virtually all mechanical mice ever made.

    Jim Yurchenco / Manufacturing

  • Do you have plans to open offices in other countries?

    Do you have plans to open offices in other countries?

    We have no plans to open any new offices at this time. We currently have clients in many countries, which gives us the opportunity to continue exploring leading-edge ideas and interact with talented and diverse designers around the world.

    When we have opened new offices it has always been started by a long-time IDEO leader who has a deep understanding of our work and culture and a passion for the new location.

    Bruce MacGregor / Managing Partner

  • What’s your favorite sport?

    What’s your favorite sport?

    If I were speaking for IDEO’s global community, the answer would have to be soccer, but since I have the floor my enthusiastic answer is baseball. How could a sport that consists of a bunch of men in pajamas, playing with no time constraints and seemingly no sense of urgency still be among the most popular sports?  It’s really an excellent example of the power of design.  The game of baseball, like the US constitution, has been designed in a way that holds up brilliantly over time. 

    It works very well on TV, critical to success in today’s culture.  To a casual onlooker it may seem slow, but the keen observer experiences a simmering tension that builds.  And stats-lots of wonderful, enduring stats-fuel endless debate.  And who doesn’t like baseball cards?  Or eating peanuts and hot dogs in the sun?

    Kevin Dame / Business Factors

  • What did you think about Radiohead’s last album?

    What did you think about Radiohead’s last album?

    The tracks on In Rainbows are just the way I like them: all embracing, emotional and dissonant, with a method to the madness and beauty to the ballads.

    Equally thrilling, this self-released album was both a Billboard chart-topper and a feature story in business rags the world over! Not since Prince declared himself a symbol without a name has the music industry been so stirred-up and shape-shifted.

    Radiohead’s risky distribution strategy, a pay-what-you-will online offer 10 days prior to In Rainbows’ release, resulted in a million-plus downloads and, undeniably, a strengthened and expanded fan base. It proved a band, not a brand, can be fodder for debate among economic elite. (They couldn’t have done it without also making the record great. But they did.)

    Jennifer Leonard / Communication Design

  • How much does an average project cost?

    How much does an average project cost?

    There is no simple answer to that question as each project is bespoke, or custom-tailored to meet our clients’ needs and goals. Our fees depend on the issue being addressed, the number of IDEO people involved, their disciplines, seniority and so on. Our projects are fixed-fee, and we work closely with clients to align scope, deliverables, and budget requirements.

    John Ravitch / Global Business Development

  • I thought you were just a product design firm. How can you do strategy?

    I thought you were just a product design firm. How can you do strategy?

    It’s true that historically IDEO’s roots were founded in product design but our design teams were smart and inquisitive people that brought a mix of disciplines to the table. As a result of this, the teams invariably found themselves asking: Who is this product for? What consumer need does it address? What products does it compete with? What consumer behaviors and insights can we identify to help differentiate it? How can we understand and leverage our client’s capabilities to provide them with the best outcomes?

    Figuring out the answers to these questions (and many others) pushed IDEO’s thinking, and our process, much further “upstream,” towards strategy. The outcome is the ability to create meaningful strategies for our clients from which consumer-driven and business-appropriate product design can emerge.

    Lynda Deakin / Industrial Design

  • What do you think is the most urgent problem in the developing world?

    What do you think is the most urgent problem in the developing world?

    Selecting the most urgent problem in the developing world is tough. The challenges in every country, including developing countries, are so intertwined. We must look at the systems surrounding the problems and understand their complexities. We should work on many pieces simultaneously as simple fixes are unlikely to succeed.

    Given all this, the problem I would choose to work on would be access to water. One billion people, most of them in the developing world, do not have access to clean drinking water. Contaminated water causes preventable illness and death, especially among children under 5. By working to design products, services, and systems to provide, filter, transport, and store household water, we can improve and help save millions of lives.

    Jocelyn Wyatt / Design for Social Impact

  • Is there anything you won’t design?

    Is there anything you won’t design?

    We’re interested in design that creates positive impact in the world. We try to match each project with a team that has a passion for its specific goals, so it’s rare for us to work on a project we don’t believe in. And with human-centeredness as a core value, we have no interest in designing anything that intends harm.

    Jane Fulton Suri / Managing Partner

  • What’s the male:female ratio at IDEO?

    What’s the male:female ratio at IDEO?

    Pretty exciting, however you look at it. Out of 550+ employees worldwide, 58% are male and 42% are female. For us, the numbers are most important in relation to our teams and disciplines, which all boast a strikingly even mix. This isn’t a “male engineers in that corner, female graphic designers in that corner” kind of place.

    Maggie Logie / Human Resources

  • What’s your most famous product?

    What’s your most famous product?

    That’s hard to determine! The Apple Mouse is probably the most iconic product, since it can truly be said to have helped shape a new industry. But the Crest Neat-Squeeze Tube was first made 20 years ago and is still on the market, and hundreds of millions have been made. And then there’s the ABC Nightline episode in which we designed a shopping cart. It’s been shown to classroom and industry groups all over the world, making for a total of around 10 million viewers. Then again, lots of people bought the Palm V when it came out in 1999.

    Rickson Sun / Chief Technologist

  • I have lots of ideas. Will you hire me?

    I have lots of ideas. Will you hire me?

    We have a separate FAQ about this! Having ideas and being creative are good qualities, but the people who make great employees have a set of skills that we value even more. They have deep knowledge in one or more disciplines, and expertise and interest that ranges much wider. Another factor is experience and comfort working in teams, since IDEO is a highly collaborative place. Finally, cultural fit is extremely important, because we want to enjoy our workplace as much as possible.

    Nancy Nichols / Recruiting

  • Do you ever work with schools?

    Do you ever work with schools?

    Why, yes, we do work with schools. In fact, we love to work with schools! It’s our chance to get back at all of the teachers who didn’t understand how to deal with kids who have creative temperaments. No, just kidding…

    We love to work with schools because we really believe in the importance of education, and we want to help our systems of education be as relevant, engaging, and human-centered as possible. We’ve worked with schools, districts, universities, even national programs and organizations. Sometimes it’s about big, meaty challenges in the system. And sometimes it’s about helping people in schools learn to be more creative, and collaborative. Since everybody, always, is in a process of learning, we figure: why not design it so that the experience of learning is not only effective, but also inspiring?

    Sandy Speicher / Transformation Design

  • I have a great product idea. Can you help me sell it to a company?

    I have a great product idea. Can you help me sell it to a company?

    Most of IDEO’s successful projects are initiated when an existing company or venture-funded start-up identifies a technology, an unmet human need, or a strategic business issue they would like to work on together.  Those projects tend to be challenging—and often fun—while playing to our strengths. We have had less success working with the inventor community, and rarely had any luck trying to “pitch” someone else’s product to a client company. In short, it’s not really IDEO’s practice to accept inventor’s product pitches, and we don’t present unsolicited product ideas to our clients.

    Tom Kelley / Partner

  • I thought you had become a strategy firm. Do you still do product design?

    I thought you had become a strategy firm. Do you still do product design?

    Yes, though it’s often the result of a strategy project that involves our client introducing a new offering to the market. Our engineering and manufacturing abilities and our Shanghai office are key to maintaining the design intent of products as they begin to be made in quantity. The integration of this expertise with our other disciplines allow us to be a powerful partner in realizing the potential of new technologies, or communicating a brand message to new customers.

    Annetta Papadopoulos / Mechanical Engineering

  • What kind of name is IDEO?

    What kind of name is IDEO?

    ideo- is the combining form of the word idea, used in words like ideogram and ideology. It’s not an abbreviation and it’s not a foreign word. One of our founders, Bill Moggridge, discovered it while browsing a dictionary. We considered spelling it lower-case with a dash, but when Paul Rand designed our first logo using capital letters, we liked it so much we spelled it that way everywhere. By the way, we pronounce it EYE-dee-oh.

    Scott Underwood / Communication Design