In 1991, three major innovative design studios merged to create IDEO. IDEO has become a major corporation that provides companies from a vast range of industries with research, organizational, and design services in order to help their clients discover and capitalize on new business opportunities. IDEO’s headquarters is located in Palo Alto, and has offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Munich, and Shanghai.
IDEO was created when David Kelley Design, ID Two, and Matrix Product design merged together. Among IDEO’s 500 employees are mechanical, electrical, and software engineers, as well as industrial and interactive designers. Their clients have ranged from computer oriented companies such as Adobe, Hewlett Packard, and Microsoft, to a variety of other companies, such as Ford, HBO, and Nestle. At a glance, IDEO has been the architect behind many innovations, namely the first Macintosh computer mouse, and the first notebook computer.
IDEO’s services are as follows:
1) To identify new ways of serving people’s needs by behavioral research.
2) To turn innovative ideas into innovative products that thrive off of a existing brands.
3) To help companies sustain their business by providing them with the capabilities to do so.
IDEO’s “point of view” acts as a starting point for the creation of products and services as well as a tool for companies to narrow down choices in the decision making process. The design process at IDEO is constant for any project that the corporation takes on: Observation, Brainstorming, Prototyping, and Implementation.
All design projects begin with the keen observation of how people interact with the world. This allows the designers at IDEO to pinpoint where innovation is needed, and who would benefit from it. From a business perspective, observation also plays a key role in IDEO’s relationship to the numerous amount of companies that they do work for.
Observation leads to Brainstorming, the creation and collection of ideas, no matter how “wild” they are. All kinds of ideas are encouraged and accepted - there are no ideas that are not immediately written down. A wall full of paper scribbles is a day’s job well done.
Prototyping has become a form of communication at IDEO, rather than a “phase of production.” It allows designers to better understand, as well as discover, design concerns. Everything IDEO produces is prototyped, even websites and non-material services.
Implementation at IDEO basically means “to do it.” This final stage of design is not reached until every alternative has been explored and all prototypes have been tested extensively. The business portion of design takes the reigns during Implementation, as IDEO works closely with their clients and other manufacturers to mass produce products and distribute them.
IDEO has paved the way in interactive interface design. Personal schedulers such as the hugely successful Palm Pilot series, as well as new internet based schedulers such as the Audrey originated at IDEO. In recent years, IDEO has taken steps to redesign the look of such devices in attempt to make them look more appropriate around the house, which is precisely what the designers did with the Audrey. Vases, kitchen appliances, and home utensils were some of the inspiring objects that were taken into consideration for the product, which debuted in 2000.
Although IDEO has created many high tech electronic products from scratch, the company also does a great deal of redesign and transformation work. In 1999, IDEO put together a concept design for an overhauled shopping cart that was to be displayed on ABC’s Nightline. The shopping cart featured more user flexibility and improved maneuverability by changes the geometry of the cart’s borders and the behavior of the cart’s rear wheels. Also, in 1999, IDEO was commissioned by Hoover Vacuums to create the Hoover Q, a vacuum that actually follows the user as he or she vacuums around the room. The vacuum also had a motorized cord that could eject itself from the wall and retract safely in the vacuum to avoid getting snagged. IDEO arrived at the design solution for this product mostly by the observation of vacuum users and how they dealt with the limitations of current vacuums.
Technology has been growing at a nearly unstoppable pace, and IDEO has not lost ground. Their proven track record of landmark innovation and their inspiring outlook as pioneers of the future of design have, and will continue to make IDEO one of the most prolific design studios of our time.
IDEO was created when David Kelley Design, ID Two, and Matrix Product design merged together. Among IDEO’s 500 employees are mechanical, electrical, and software engineers, as well as industrial and interactive designers. Their clients have ranged from computer oriented companies such as Adobe, Hewlett Packard, and Microsoft, to a variety of other companies, such as Ford, HBO, and Nestle. At a glance, IDEO has been the architect behind many innovations, namely the first Macintosh computer mouse, and the first notebook computer.
IDEO’s services are as follows:
1) To identify new ways of serving people’s needs by behavioral research.
2) To turn innovative ideas into innovative products that thrive off of a existing brands.
3) To help companies sustain their business by providing them with the capabilities to do so.
IDEO’s “point of view” acts as a starting point for the creation of products and services as well as a tool for companies to narrow down choices in the decision making process. The design process at IDEO is constant for any project that the corporation takes on: Observation, Brainstorming, Prototyping, and Implementation.
All design projects begin with the keen observation of how people interact with the world. This allows the designers at IDEO to pinpoint where innovation is needed, and who would benefit from it. From a business perspective, observation also plays a key role in IDEO’s relationship to the numerous amount of companies that they do work for.
Observation leads to Brainstorming, the creation and collection of ideas, no matter how “wild” they are. All kinds of ideas are encouraged and accepted - there are no ideas that are not immediately written down. A wall full of paper scribbles is a day’s job well done.
Prototyping has become a form of communication at IDEO, rather than a “phase of production.” It allows designers to better understand, as well as discover, design concerns. Everything IDEO produces is prototyped, even websites and non-material services.
Implementation at IDEO basically means “to do it.” This final stage of design is not reached until every alternative has been explored and all prototypes have been tested extensively. The business portion of design takes the reigns during Implementation, as IDEO works closely with their clients and other manufacturers to mass produce products and distribute them.
IDEO has paved the way in interactive interface design. Personal schedulers such as the hugely successful Palm Pilot series, as well as new internet based schedulers such as the Audrey originated at IDEO. In recent years, IDEO has taken steps to redesign the look of such devices in attempt to make them look more appropriate around the house, which is precisely what the designers did with the Audrey. Vases, kitchen appliances, and home utensils were some of the inspiring objects that were taken into consideration for the product, which debuted in 2000.
Although IDEO has created many high tech electronic products from scratch, the company also does a great deal of redesign and transformation work. In 1999, IDEO put together a concept design for an overhauled shopping cart that was to be displayed on ABC’s Nightline. The shopping cart featured more user flexibility and improved maneuverability by changes the geometry of the cart’s borders and the behavior of the cart’s rear wheels. Also, in 1999, IDEO was commissioned by Hoover Vacuums to create the Hoover Q, a vacuum that actually follows the user as he or she vacuums around the room. The vacuum also had a motorized cord that could eject itself from the wall and retract safely in the vacuum to avoid getting snagged. IDEO arrived at the design solution for this product mostly by the observation of vacuum users and how they dealt with the limitations of current vacuums.
Technology has been growing at a nearly unstoppable pace, and IDEO has not lost ground. Their proven track record of landmark innovation and their inspiring outlook as pioneers of the future of design have, and will continue to make IDEO one of the most prolific design studios of our time.
Sources:
Various, "IDEO." Wikipedia.org. 05 4 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.. 24 April 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDEO.
"IDEO - About Us." IDEO.com. IDEO. 24 April 2008 .
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