To inform the design direction of a new vehicle that Toyota was developing for empty nesters, IDEO partnered with the car giant to understand the lifestyles, attitudes, and values related to this life stage. Toyota had previously built its success in the US market by winning over the Baby Boom generation in the 1970s with the brand's signature safety, dependability, and quality. Building on this same legacy, Toyota was ready to address the emerging empty-nest lifestyle with a vehicle that moved beyond the mini-van and SUV.

Drawing from its research and point of view around design for generations, IDEO set out to develop a deep understanding of empty nester's needs, wants, and desires with respect to future vehicles. Through ethnographic research, IDEO identified five need areas that built upon Toyota's core brand offering: comfort, smart, utility, transformation, and expression. Comfort refers to the market segment's need for a vehicle that fits them as they age without being perceived as indulgent luxury; smart pertains to good value; utility applies to an appropriate scaling of the larger vehicles they've previously owned; transformation refers to the car's ability to adapt to changing needs, such as increased cargo or comfortably accommodating adults in the backseat; and expression addresses the need to feel that one's vehicle is a reflection of their character and style�not just another sensible sedan indistinguishable from the thousands of others on the road.

Finally, IDEO identified three distinct lifestyle themes for the vehicle: Wellness, which applies to the individual and the environment; Sophistication, which communicates vitality, activity, and sociability; and Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV), to express the beauty of function and the enabling of one's chosen lifestyle through thoughtful and practical features.

As a result of defining the vehicle's market segment and the related design principles, IDEO's work contributed to the design of the new Toyota Venza, which launched in the winter of 2008.