By Jane Fulton Suri and R. Michael Hendrix

Effective design thinking entails more than applying design methods. To produce the best outcomes, organizations need to develop — and trust — peoples’ design sensibilities.

DESIGN THINKING IS RECEIVING a great deal of attention as increasing numbers of innovative organizations succeed in solving complex problems by creative means. In doing so, many of these firms implement specific “design methods” such as observational research, iterative prototyping and storytelling alongside more mainstream approaches. But as any professional designer will attest, design thinking entails much more than applying methods: to create value, methods must be applied together with design sensibilities.

In this article, Jane Fulton Suri and R. Michael Hendrix write about how organizations can produce the best outcomes by developing — and trusting — peoples’ design sensibilities.

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Lawrence Lloyd writes about Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) winners in “Survival of the Smartest.” The IDEO-designed Bayer Diabetes Care’s Contour USB blood glucose monitor is included in the article.

Read the article here. (scroll down to “Flash Drive, Meet Glucose Monitor”), see all the winners here and read more about the MDEA Awards here.

Designed by IDEO with Bayer Diabetes Care, the Contour USB blood glucose monitor plugs directly into a computer and autolaunches diabetes management software. More on the silver award here.

In an interview with Mobile Behavior titled “Perspective: IDEO’s Robert Suarez on Mobile and Human-Centered Design,” Robert Suarez discusses trends in mobile technology and changes in user behavior.

Read the interview here.

IDEO’s Tim Brown spoke yesterday at the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference on the “Levers of Change” panel. His talk, “Design Thinking: Leveraging Ideas” is available to view here.

In the news feature “Stretch Out In Economy Class,” CNN Business Traveller talks with IDEO’s Stacey Chang and executives from Air New Zealand about the recent project to redesign the long-haul travel experience.

Watch the video here.
Learn more about IDEO’s collaboration with Air new Zealand here.

IDEO’s PATTERNS site was named a Webby Award Honoree for Best Copy/Writing. Other honorees include Vanity Fair, NPR’s The Two-Way and BBC World Service.

The Bold Italic is also an official Webby Honoree for Best Magazine. Other honorees in this category include GQ, The New York Times’ T, and Mother Jones.

By Arna Ionescu

In Your Health in 2020, IDEO’s Arna Ionescu explores the future of connected health care. She shows how new technologies seeded in the health industry will lead to significant improvements in patient care and overall health, and she demonstrates the power of integrated health systems in transforming the way we view wellness.

Read the article here. David Webster visualizes health trends in the form of a mind map. Connected health — seen as a network and a continuum — relies on the inherent links between technology and wellness.

In “A Classic Gets an Update,” Christine Liu interviews clothing designer Eileen Fisher about her company and its recent partnership with IDEO. According to Liu, the brand has “repositioned itself with a more modern direction, a restyling that gave the collection a much-needed breath of intergenerational appeal.”

Read the article here.
Learn more about IDEO’s work with EILEEN FISHER here.

June 16-18, IDEO founder David Kelley will be speaking about design thinking at Stanford’s Innovation Masters Series titled “Gaining a Competitive Advantage in an Uncertain Economy.”

For more information, click here.

By Paul Bennett

Paul Bennett’s interview with Australia’s Smart Company magazine titled “The Eight New Rules of Customer Services” discusses the importance of listening to consumers to create simple, meaningful service experiences.

Read the article here.