IDEO
Encyclopedia
IDEO is an international design
and innovation
consultancy founded in Palo Alto, California
, United States
with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago
, New York
, Boston
, London
, Munich
, Shanghai
, and Singapore
, as well as Mumbai
, Seoul
, and Tokyo
. The company helps design products, services, environments, and digital experiences. Additionally, the company has become increasingly involved in management consulting and organizational design.
IDEO was formed in 1991 by a merger of three established design firms: David Kelley Design (founded by David Kelley
, who is also a professor at Stanford University
), ID Two (founded by Britain's Bill Moggridge
), and Matrix Product Design (founded by Mike Nuttall). Office-furniture maker Steelcase
had owned a majority stake in the firm, but began divesting its shares through a five-year management buy-back program in 2007. The founders of the predecessor companies are still involved in the firm. The current CEO is Tim Brown.
The firm employs over 550 people in the disciplines of human factors
, mechanical
, electrical
and software engineering
, industrial design
, interaction design
, and communication design
. IDEO has worked on thousands of projects for a large number of clients in the consumer food and beverage, retail, computer, medical, furniture, toy, office, and automotive industries. Notable examples are Apple's first mouse
, Microsoft
's second mouse, the Palm V
PDA
, and Steelcase's Leap chair. Major clients (as of 2004) included Procter & Gamble
, PepsiCo
, Microsoft
, Eli Lilly
, Ford, and Steelcase
.
In 1999, the firm was the subject of the "Deep Dive" episode of ABC's Nightline; they redesigned a shopping cart in five days. In 2001, IDEO's general manager Tom Kelley wrote The Art of Innovation, and in 2005, The Ten Faces of Innovation (both cowritten with Jon Littman. IDEO's current CEO Tim Brown published a book on design thinking
called http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=design+thinking&xhr=t&q=tim+brown+design+thinking+book&cp=22&qe=ZGVzaWduIHRoaW5raW5nIHRpbSBibw&qesig=IvF4_zjBTgDOyhwvOelUFg&pkc=AFgZ2tmCNuo2Ty8neHgpXKmzs2c-NAd--fo2PdSoBNL9HM_J4r7mIXC2-DJkcUmSc7QkZCA0CfZ8bVDNK_k1gjONtk1BWL2HNg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6976405227391593925&sa=X&ei=VNObTYPlHsvCcZej6eAF&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQ8wIwAwChange By Design] (cowritten with Barry Katz).
IDEO was featured in the 2009 design documentary "Objectified
".
IDEO has won more of the BusinessWeek
/IDSA
Industrial Design Excellence Awards
than any other firm. IDEO has been ranked in the top 25 most innovative companies by BusinessWeek and does consulting work for the other 24 companies in the top 25.
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
consultancy founded in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, as well as Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. The company helps design products, services, environments, and digital experiences. Additionally, the company has become increasingly involved in management consulting and organizational design.
IDEO was formed in 1991 by a merger of three established design firms: David Kelley Design (founded by David Kelley
David M. Kelley
David M. Kelley is an American businessman, entrepreneur, designer, engineer, and teacher. He is founder, chairman, and managing partner of the design firm IDEO and a professor at Stanford University. He has received several honors for his contributions to design and design education.-Personal...
, who is also a professor at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
), ID Two (founded by Britain's Bill Moggridge
Bill Moggridge
William Moggridge, an industrial and interaction designer, is co-founder of the Silicon Valley-based design firm IDEO and the current director of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. He designed what was the first laptop computer, the GRiD Compass...
), and Matrix Product Design (founded by Mike Nuttall). Office-furniture maker Steelcase
Steelcase
Steelcase is an international office furniture company founded in 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan — as The Metal Office Furniture Company. The company at the time specialized in file cabinets and safes. Today, the company sells products related to interior architecture, furniture and technology...
had owned a majority stake in the firm, but began divesting its shares through a five-year management buy-back program in 2007. The founders of the predecessor companies are still involved in the firm. The current CEO is Tim Brown.
The firm employs over 550 people in the disciplines of human factors
Human factors
Human factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
, mechanical
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, electrical
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
and software engineering
Software engineering
Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
, industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
, interaction design
Interaction design
In design, human–computer interaction, and software development, interaction design, often abbreviated IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main...
, and communication design
Communication design
Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media intermission such as printed, crafted, electronic media or presentations communicate with people...
. IDEO has worked on thousands of projects for a large number of clients in the consumer food and beverage, retail, computer, medical, furniture, toy, office, and automotive industries. Notable examples are Apple's first mouse
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's second mouse, the Palm V
Palm V
The Palm V was a personal digital assistant made by the Palm Computing division of 3Com. While functionally similar to the predecessor Palm III series of PDAs, it distinguished itself by its sleek design, anodized aluminum finish, and built-in rechargeable battery . The Palm V's design was created...
PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
, and Steelcase's Leap chair. Major clients (as of 2004) included Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
, Ford, and Steelcase
Steelcase
Steelcase is an international office furniture company founded in 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan — as The Metal Office Furniture Company. The company at the time specialized in file cabinets and safes. Today, the company sells products related to interior architecture, furniture and technology...
.
In 1999, the firm was the subject of the "Deep Dive" episode of ABC's Nightline; they redesigned a shopping cart in five days. In 2001, IDEO's general manager Tom Kelley wrote The Art of Innovation, and in 2005, The Ten Faces of Innovation (both cowritten with Jon Littman. IDEO's current CEO Tim Brown published a book on design thinking
Design thinking
Design Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields...
called http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=design+thinking&xhr=t&q=tim+brown+design+thinking+book&cp=22&qe=ZGVzaWduIHRoaW5raW5nIHRpbSBibw&qesig=IvF4_zjBTgDOyhwvOelUFg&pkc=AFgZ2tmCNuo2Ty8neHgpXKmzs2c-NAd--fo2PdSoBNL9HM_J4r7mIXC2-DJkcUmSc7QkZCA0CfZ8bVDNK_k1gjONtk1BWL2HNg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6976405227391593925&sa=X&ei=VNObTYPlHsvCcZej6eAF&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQ8wIwAwChange By Design] (cowritten with Barry Katz).
IDEO was featured in the 2009 design documentary "Objectified
Objectified
Objectified is a feature-length documentary film examining the role of everyday non-living objects, and the people who design them, in our daily lives. The film is directed by Gary Hustwit...
".
IDEO has won more of the BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
/IDSA
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
Industrial Design Excellence Awards
Industrial Design Excellence Awards
The International Design Excellence Awards is an award program previously co-sponsored by BusinessWeek magazine, and in 2010 Fast Company magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America...
than any other firm. IDEO has been ranked in the top 25 most innovative companies by BusinessWeek and does consulting work for the other 24 companies in the top 25.
See also
- BrainstormingBrainstormingBrainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
- Design managementDesign managementDesign Management is a business discipline that uses project management, design, strategy, and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organisation for design...
- Design methodsDesign methodsDesign Methods is a broad area that focuses on:* Divergence – Exploring possibilities and constraints of inherited situations by applying critical thinking through qualitative and quantitative research methods to create new understanding toward better design solutions* Transformation – Redefining...
- Design thinkingDesign thinkingDesign Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields...
- EthnographyEthnographyEthnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
- Human factorsHuman factorsHuman factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
- InnovationInnovationInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
- Industrial designIndustrial designIndustrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
- Interaction designInteraction designIn design, human–computer interaction, and software development, interaction design, often abbreviated IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main...
- User centered design
- User experienceUser experienceUser experience is the way a person feels about using a product, system or service. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a person’s perceptions of the practical aspects such...