Thinking at IDEO - Insight, innovation, & a healthy dose of play (original ) (raw ) Welcome to IDEO's blog, your portal into the things we’re making, the ideas we’re kicking around, and the hypotheses we’re testing. From the most ethereal tech experiments in EDGES to the terra firms of business innovation, we invite you to join the conversation.Latest articles explore the edges favorite series books tools
Our latest articles Words By Jenna Fizel and Savannah Kunovsky & Visuals By Beth HolzerYour AI Questions, AnsweredThe Emerging Tech Lab responds to some of the biggest queries from our Creative Confidence podcast
Words by Sam Schulman, Kristin Boer, and Shannon VosslerPutting Purpose Into ActionTips on turning the corner from purpose to strategy
Words by Nazlican Goksu & Visuals by Dan ReadCalling for Brave Leadership in the Climate EraIt’s time to design new courageous futures.
Words by Matt Callahan and Vlasta Komorous-KingOur Toy Inventors' Top 18 Picks for 2024From princess play to clever puzzles and drinking games, here are some of our favorites.
Words By Matthew Higham, YC Sun, and Hannah Rosenfeld5 Truths About the Changing Health LandscapeWhat we heard on the ground at HLTH ‘24.
Words By Jennifer Lo & Visuals By Meron FasicaWhy Every Company Needs a Futurist-in-ResidenceFor companies looking to the near-term, it’s no longer a-nice-to-have
Words By Tiange Wang and Jenna Fizel & Visuals By Beth HolzerHow AI Personalities Can Transform the Data ExperienceAI data analysis tools promise efficiency and adaptability. Designers should embrace emotional engagement, making tools approachable and responsive for all users.
Words By Dan Read and Becca Carroll & Photo courtesy of TED and illustrations by Beth Holzer5 Takeaways From TED AI 2024Hint: They all reinforce a human-centered approach.
Words by Shannon Vossler, Sam Schulman, and Lindsey Turner & Visuals by Beth HolzerMethods for Defining Your Organization's PurposeFor organizations and brands, discovering purpose always starts with a question: “Why do you exist, beyond profit?”
Words by Stuart Getty, John Won, and Becca Carroll & Visuals by Beth HolzerThe Business Case for Responsible DesignFrom Gen Z customers to impending regulation, 5 reasons it’s a critical part of the work
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In Search of Novelty
Our favorite series Gen Z + AIIs Gen Z Ready to Embrace AI? It’s Complicated.Lessons from young people on AI’s thin line between productivity and interference. Gen Z + AIGen Z to AI: Don’t Kill My Creative Vibe3 Principles to design AI creative tools Gen Zs will actually want to use. Gen Z + AIWill AI Interfere with Relationships? Gen Z Thinks So.Forget bots. Young people want to augment human relationships.
StretchThe Illusion of Knowing EverythingTo understand people’s needs, we must stretch beyond data. StretchHow AI Can Help Us Solve the Climate CrisisFrom talking jeans to Nature boardrooms, we’re stretching to meet the future. StretchCan Failure Be and Feel Productive?It doesn’t pay to cling to a bad idea.
Net-Zero“You’ve Just Got to Get Started”The conversation that fueled IDEO’s path towards Net Zero Net-ZeroOur First Step Toward Net Zero: Estimating IDEO's Carbon FootprintThe imperfect science of carbon emissions accounting. Learn more from IDEO and how your company can get started too. Net-ZeroRemoving IDEO’s Emissions With Voluntary Carbon Offsets“Genuine question: are offsets a useful thing?”
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Latest articles explore the edges favorite series books tools
Browse our Books Words by Marta Cuciurean-Zapan and Rachel Young & Visuals by Juan Astasio SorianoA New Edition of the Little Book of Design Research EthicsUpdating the principles that guide our work.
Words by David Kelley & The IDEO EditorsIDEO Founder David Kelley Shares Design Lessons from the Stanford d.schoolA new collection of guide books to help us peer into the collective future.
Change By DesignTim Brown, CEO of IDEO, shows how the techniques and strategies of design belong at every level of business.
The Little Book of Design Research EthicsFor human-centered designers, there is nothing more valuable than discovering what matters to people—what triggers frustration and what provides ease, what brings grief and what sparks joy.
Creative ConfidenceDavid Kelley, IDEO founder and Stanford d.school creator, and his brother Tom Kelley, IDEO partner and the author of the best-selling The Art of Innovation, have written a powerful and compelling book on unleashing the creativity that lies within each and every one of us.
Words by Tom KelleyThe Ten Faces of InnovationIDEO Partner Tom Kelley shares IDEO's strategies for driving creativity and overcoming devil's advocates within an organization.
Words by Savannah Kunovsky, Evan Burton, and Esha ReddyA Legal and Ethical Framework For Gen AIPaving the way for experimentation that aligns with our values.
ToolsExperience Innovation: A Workshop for TeamsExperienceInnovation is a workshop in innovation, giving teams meaningful experience with design thinking.
ToolsDesign Thinking in Harvard Business ReviewTim Brown writes about how thinking like a designer can transform the way we do business.
Words By Alice Kogan & Simon Heather6 Ways to Design Value into Your Membership ModelEarning loyalty depends on delivering one of two types of value
Words By Saige Perry10 Exercises to Build Your Creative ConfidenceActivities to help you approach challenges from a new perspective
AI & Ethics: Collaborative Activities for DesignersIDEO’s AI Ethics Cards are a tool to help guide an ethically responsible, culturally considerate, and humanistic approach to designing with data.
ToolsPerspectives, Practices, and Resources for Design ThinkingAt IDEO, we’re often asked to share what we know about design thinking. We’ve developed designthinking.ideo.com in response to that request.
Tools and Insights for Enhancing the Lives of Older AdultsThe Design on Aging booklets give entrepreneurs and organizations tools for designing human-centered products and services for older adults.
ToolsDesigning a Circular EconomyWhat if we had a new way to design products, services, and businesses that were good for people, the planet, and business?
ToolsDesigning for Public ServicesDesigning for Public Services is a toolkit for policymakers and those who deliver public services, developed in collaboration with Nesta, a U.K. innovation charity, and Design for Europe, a design and innovation program co-funded by the European Commission.
ToolsDesign Thinking for LibrariesDesign Thinking for Libraries is an approach to improving libraries through creative problem-solving.
The Teachers Guild: Creating New Solutions for Students and SchoolsThe Teachers Guild is a professional community that activates teachers’ creativity to solve the biggest challenges in education today. While learning and doing design thinking, teachers build their creative muscles and connect to diverse partner organizations that are committed to bringing their solutions to life.
ToolsOpenIDEO: A Platform to Harness Collaboration for Social GoodOpenIDEO is an open innovation platform where people from all corners of the world collaboratively tackle some of the toughest global issues through launching Challenges, programs, and other tailored experiences.
Design Kit: The Human-Centered Design ToolkitIn 2009, IDEO designed and launched the HCD Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind book that laid out how and why human-centered design can impact the social sector. In short order, a community of designers, entrepreneurs, and social sector innovators embraced it, buying and downloading over 150,000 copies.
ToolsNature CardsNature Cards are a collection of cards featuring strategies from the natural world that inspire us with a new mindset as we approach design challenges.