Ideo Case Study Report

Case
Study
Report
 


Introduction
 IDEO
is
a
design
and
innovation
consulting
firm
that
was
founded
in
1991
and
has
been
a
 successful
example
of
what
innovation
and
innovative
design
can
accomplish.

Its
Palm
V
 program
was
quite
successful
and
created
new
expectations
for
what
PDAs
could
look
like
and
 do,
while
maintaining
a
functional
simplicity.

Jeff
Hawkins
had
started
the
original
Palm
Pilot
 program
in
1996
and
found
enthusiastic
acceptance
among
consumers.

Senior
project
leader
 Dennis
Boyle
was
chosen
to
head
up
the
development
of
the
Palm
V,
which
would
integrate
a
 slim,
more
colorful
and
sleek
design,
which
would
focus
more
on
emotional
appeal
than
 souped‐up
hardware.


 IDEO’s
culture
could
be
described
as
eccentric,
fun,
creative,
and
innovative.

The
outside‐the‐ box
working
styles
and
shifting
of
working
groups
help
to
keep
thinkers
fresh
and
constantly
on
 their
toes.

In
the
early
90s
it
was
innovative
to
the
point
of
being
ambiguous
at
times
for
staff
 and
management,
but
this
was
seen
as
providing
fertile
conditions
for
the
generation
of
 innovative
thinking
and
ideas.

However,
by
the
late
90s
this
culture
had
become
slightly
more
 bureaucratic,
to
the
chagrin
of
the
executives
and
founders.

This
is
because
the
management
 itself
is
a
creative
and
inspired
group
that
is
very
comfortable
with
ambiguity.

This
is
 exemplified
by
founder
David
Kelley’s
dismay
when
asked
permission
by
employees
to
leave
 early
or
bring
a
spouse
to
a
company
event;
he
would
much
rather
there
was
less
hierarchy.
 IDEO’s
product
creation
process
is
unique
in
that
it
embraces
the
eccentricities
of
its
corporate
 culture,
and
does
so
to
increase
the
creativity
and
value
of
the
designs
it
produces.

Having
a
 team
together
for
only
one
project
at
a
time,
dispersing
them
and
changing
team
formations
 for
other
projects,
makes
the
input
for
new
designs
diversified
and
the
thinking
of
the
 participants
fresh.

Healthy
teams
are
extremely
important
for
stimulating