case study
A Review of the IDEO Process
Ron Moen
October 25, 2001
Innovation is now the centerpiece of corporate strategies and initiatives. However, barriers to creativity abound. Innovation and structure are like oil and water. Bureaucracy does not allow risk. Experts can inadvertently block an innovation by saying, “It’s never been done that way.”
IDEO is a widely admired, award-winning design and development firm in Palo Alto,
California. For founder David M. Kelley and his colleagues, work is play, brainstorming is a science, and the most important rule is to break the rules. The Wall Street Journal dubbed their offices “Imagination’s Playground,” and Fortune titled its visit to IDEO “A day at Innovation U.” ABC’s Nightline asked IDEO to redesign a shopping cart in 5 days.
ABC called it “The Deep Dive.” (See reference [1])
IDEO has brought the world the Apple mouse, Polaroid’s I-Zone instant camera, the
Palm handheld, the Crest Neat Squeeze tube with its one-twist cap and hundreds of other cutting-edge products and services. Since their start in the Stanford Design Department in
1978, IDEO has grown from a two-person office to a staff of over 300.
Teams are at the heart of the IDEO method. “Hot project” teams are infused with purpose and personality. To IDEO, teams always beat individuals. The myth of the lone genius can actually hamper a company’s efforts in innovation and creativity. Loners are so caught up in their idea that they are reluctant to let it go, much less allow it to be experimented with and improved upon.
Hot Project Teams should:
Come from widely divergent disciplines
Be empowered to go get whatever is needed
Merge fun and project
Be as small as three or large as a dozen
Have clear, tangible goals (seemingly unreachable), serious deadlines
Be passionate
Team members should be “crazy” characters. Consider these characters for team membership: visionary, troubleshooter, iconoclast, pulse taker, craftsman, technologist,
Ron Moen
October 25, 2001
Innovation is now the centerpiece of corporate strategies and initiatives. However, barriers to creativity abound. Innovation and structure are like oil and water. Bureaucracy does not allow risk. Experts can inadvertently block an innovation by saying, “It’s never been done that way.”
IDEO is a widely admired, award-winning design and development firm in Palo Alto,
California. For founder David M. Kelley and his colleagues, work is play, brainstorming is a science, and the most important rule is to break the rules. The Wall Street Journal dubbed their offices “Imagination’s Playground,” and Fortune titled its visit to IDEO “A day at Innovation U.” ABC’s Nightline asked IDEO to redesign a shopping cart in 5 days.
ABC called it “The Deep Dive.” (See reference [1])
IDEO has brought the world the Apple mouse, Polaroid’s I-Zone instant camera, the
Palm handheld, the Crest Neat Squeeze tube with its one-twist cap and hundreds of other cutting-edge products and services. Since their start in the Stanford Design Department in
1978, IDEO has grown from a two-person office to a staff of over 300.
Teams are at the heart of the IDEO method. “Hot project” teams are infused with purpose and personality. To IDEO, teams always beat individuals. The myth of the lone genius can actually hamper a company’s efforts in innovation and creativity. Loners are so caught up in their idea that they are reluctant to let it go, much less allow it to be experimented with and improved upon.
Hot Project Teams should:
Come from widely divergent disciplines
Be empowered to go get whatever is needed
Merge fun and project
Be as small as three or large as a dozen
Have clear, tangible goals (seemingly unreachable), serious deadlines
Be passionate
Team members should be “crazy” characters. Consider these characters for team membership: visionary, troubleshooter, iconoclast, pulse taker, craftsman, technologist,
References: 1. ABC News (1999), The Deep Dive, ABC News Home Video of Nightline on 2/9/99. 2. IDEO San Francisco (3/29/2001), DePaul Healthcare Innovation and Design Plan 3. Kelly, Tom (2001): The Art of Innovation, Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm, Doubleday, NY 10