Reset filters
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Latest work

Climate action for SMBs

Leveraging data to help SMBs reach net zero.

Read more
Case study
Case Studies
Strategic Futures
Breakthrough Products
Climate
Financial Services

For more than 40 years, Sage has helped businesses of all sizes navigate complex business environments. While many of its larger customers have the means and the structure to support climate initiatives, many of its smaller customers do not.

Sage wanted to help its SMB customers get ahead of future climate regulations and meet consumer expectations. And building carbon-footprint evaluation and mitigation tools would also dovetail nicely with Sage’s own climate aspirations: cutting its own emissions in half by 2030. Together, Sage and IDEO investigated how the company could leverage the data in its platform to calculate its customers’ emissions, both direct and indirect, and how that information could spur action as they aim to hit net zero.

To get started, the design team went deep with customers running all kinds of businesses—from a taxi company to a champagne bar to a falconry center. Business owners shared that their focus often has to be on the day-to-day, a series of small decisions that, when added together, lead to business success. For many, tackling a problem as complex as climate change felt overwhelming. IDEO and Sage synthesized those insights and began working across verticals and products, bringing together experts from marketing, technology, sustainability, and operations to build out new concepts. With the help of two carbon accountants, the team worked to figure out how existing data could inform customers about both their direct and indirect emissions, which can be harder to track. Given how tight SMBs’ margins are, they focused on how that knowledge could fuel emissions-cutting changes that also save money, giving businesses extra incentive to take action. Together, the team created a roadmap of customer outcomes and experience guidelines to help shape future products.

Sage has taken that work forward, launching Sage Earth, a platform that aims to help businesses measure, manage, and mitigate emissions—even across supply chains. With carbon accounting now built directly into all Sage Accounting and Sage for Accountants products in the UK, Sage has made climate action practical and accessible for millions of SMBs. By automating emissions measurement and reporting, Sage Earth removes barriers of cost and complexity, empowering business owners and their accountants to stay competitive in supply chains where up to 95 percent of emissions occur. 

From co-developing the UK Voluntary SME Carbon Reporting Standard to launching a Carbon Accounting API, which gives banks, fintechs, and other platforms access to Sage’s Carbon Engine, Sage is embedding sustainability into the systems people already trust—helping hundreds of thousands (and rapidly increasing) small businesses turn climate ambition into everyday action.

Small- and medium-sized businesses—companies with fewer than 500 employees—make up about 90% of the world’s businesses, according to U.N.-backed SME Climate Hub.


Two thirds of small businesses don’t know how they’re going to reach net zero, and lack the resources to do so, according to a recent survey by SME Climate Hub. Still, the majority reported they want to act on climate, recognizing it can help them become a more resilient business.


Large companies may be the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses, but an estimated 80% of those emissions come from supply chains—often made up of smaller enterprises.

Scaling rapidly

in the three years since the launch of Sage Earth, which is now being used by hundreds of thousands of businesses

World's 1st

open-source hybrid emissions factors dataset, Carbon Commons, led by Sage, helps SMBs calculate carbon footprints using existing data
When it comes to climate action, it's easy to just point fingers at big business. But in the UK alone, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) account for some 50 percent of business emissions. And with more regulation rippling through supply chains, and more and more consumers, employees, and investors becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, taking climate action is more important than ever. At the same time, for many organizations of this size, resources are tight, and there are many other urgent priorities. It’s hard to make changes for the benefit of the environment when your primary focus is on the survival of your business. Recognizing those pressures, Sage, a multinational accounting and business software company, partnered with IDEO to investigate how it could support its customers on their journey to becoming net-zero businesses.
Sage leveraged its existing data to create Sage Earth, a platform that allows small- and medium-sized businesses to manage their journey toward net zero.
Sage creates new tools to help small businesses be more sustainable.
Sage
North America
Sage
Climate action for SMBs, net zero, SMB sustainability, Sage, climate innovation, sustainability, financial services, fintech, financial innovation, digital transformation, digital experience, digital product design, UX design, human centered design, design thinking, customer centricity, climate strategy, sustainable design, circular economy, data strategy, data driven design, data visualization, how to design a digital product, how to make business more sustainable, innovation, strategy, product design, transformation, climate change, how do we innovate

Reframing menopause

QVC works to change the narrative, while meeting customer needs.

Read more
Case study
Case Studies
Strategic Futures
Breakthrough Products
Consumer Products & Retail
Health

Menopause is much more than a biological transition—it is a profound shift that often arrives just when people experiencing it start to feel invisible. Because it has long been shrouded in darkness as an unmentionable female affliction, those going through menopause often feel unprepared and alone.

Recognizing that its customer demographic makes QVC uniquely positioned to surface conversations and provide support to those dealing with menopause, the video commerce retailer partnered with IDEO to figure out how it could not only meet customer needs, but also flip the conversation on midlife. To learn more, a team of female design researchers held in-depth interviews with folks experiencing it firsthand. The people they spoke to had limited information about what was going on with their bodies, and in some cases, it took years before they understood that symptoms they were experiencing were related to menopause. Respondents also reported that midlife brought a change in social status and the feeling of being boxed in by stereotypes.

QVC and IDEO worked together to design an integrated suite of offerings that could give customers a safe space to discover and share more about menopause. That included an on-air programming series called “Menopause Your Way,” where QVC could support those going through menopause in the privacy of their own homes, a digital landing page with useful solutions, and social media campaigns to help women share and learn more about each others’ experiences. Because people experience menopause and choose to manage it in many different ways, the team wanted to create an integrated ecosystem of content that women could access according to their unique journeys. The new offering helped QVC  reach its core audience with solutions and relevant products, and created a space where menopause is out in the open and part of an ongoing conversation. And in the process, QVC evolved to become a more customer-centric company, putting its audience and their needs at the heart of its offerings.

9/10 of British menopausal women say society and brands overlook them.

1 in 2 women in the UK admitted they didn’t know what was happening to them during perimenopause.

Nearly 40% of menopausal women are being prescribed antidepressants to help manage their symptoms, despite 4 out of 5 describing the treatment as “inappropriate.”

Season 2

a series focused on menopause is now in its second season

About half of the world’s population goes through menopause, and yet, until recent years, it didn’t get much attention in public and cultural spheres. For too long, people ended up navigating profound physical, emotional, and social changes with little support—sometimes even among friends. It’s an unpredictable and highly individual journey that many have felt unprepared for, even ambushed by. As a brand that reaches millions of people in their homes during times of transition, QVC, the video commerce retailer, is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of those dealing with the effects of menopause. Together with IDEO, QVC recognized and responded to the growing discussion around menopause, working to find ways to support their customers by surfacing conversations, strengthening the brand’s relationships with its customers, and curating useful products for this time of life. The ultimate goal: to reframe midlife as a time of vibrancy and exploration.
QVC and IDEO are flipping the conversation on midlife with an integrated ecosystem of content designed to give people experiencing menopause a safe space to share and find useful products, with on-air programming, digital resources, and social media campaigns.
How QVC is reframing midlife as a time for women to thrive.
QVC
North America
QVC
Reframing menopause, menopause, women’s health, QVC, consumer products, retail, consumer experience, retail innovation, healthcare, health innovation, patient experience, brand strategy, brand design, brand identity, brand experience, understanding user needs, how to build a brand, innovation, strategy, customer needs

Healthy youth

Improving digital tools to help practitioners deliver critical mental health support to children and young people.

Read more
Case study
Case Studies
Strategic Futures
Creative Capabilities
Health
Public Sector

Healthcare is a complex web of institutions, interaction, relationships, and services. In England, the National Health Service consists of thousands of separate organizations spread across the country. This fragmented structure means that rolling out digital tools and using them to their full potential can be difficult.

NHSX approached IDEO and Public Digital, IDEO’s sister company, for help designing user-centered resources that would empower Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) practitioners to use digital tools more effectively, shifting service design from a reactive to a proactive process, and allowing each regional organization to create the best digital services for their children and young people.

The team took a human-centered approach, tapping into the perspectives, challenges and needs of NHS practitioners and leaders across the system over months of research. They then designed a set of accessible, straightforward online resources, courses, and templates that would enable a practitioner to start their own local service transformations. These included everything from practical advice on improving users’ experiences of CYPMH, to teaching methods for service design, to content focused on achieving digital transformation at scale.

The resources were easy to implement and replicate, allowing mental health practitioners across the country to seamlessly integrate physical and digital, create firebreaks in the system, and better bridge the gap between seeking care and receiving it. They were designed to evolve over time, and the work is replicable across the NHS, with the potential to touch millions of lives.

By empowering practitioners to utilize these digital tools to ease the burden of care, NHSX plans to create a positive ripple effect across the entire NHS, its partner organizations, and the country at large.

In a study undertaken in July 2020, the first summer of the COVID pandemic, the NHS found that clinically significant mental health conditions amongst children had risen by 50% compared to three years earlier.

More options, more access

digital resources are helping children and young people access more options for their mental health care
When the pandemic hit, mental health workers and practitioners supporting children and youth were under unprecedented pressure, and needed support, fast. In the United Kingdom, one in six children aged 5-19 were reported to have a probable mental health disorder in 2020; three years earlier, it was just one in nine. These vulnerable young people and their families needed access to quality mental health services, no matter where in the country they lived. Together, NHSX—England’s National Health Services health tech unit—IDEO, and Public Digital, IDEO’s sister company, collaborated to create a suite of digital resources that enabled organizations across the NHS to transform their services, allowing them to provide mental health support for more vulnerable children and young people.
How bringing human-centered design to digital tools empowered practitioners on the front lines of children’s mental health.
Transforming digital services to support kids' mental health.
NHSX
NHSX
Healthy youth, mental health, family mental health, NHSX, healthcare, health innovation, patient experience, public sector innovation, government services, civic innovation, digital transformation, digital experience, digital product design, UX design, business transformation, organizational transformation, culture change, healthcare design, digital health, patient-centered care, design for children, family experience, youth experience, how to design a digital product, innovation, service design, product design, human centered design, research, transformation, government

The future of air travel

Reinventing supersonic flight with Boom.

Read more
Case study
Case Studies
Strategic Futures
Mobility

It’s not easy to shift the paradigm for an entire industry. But when a company comes along that promises to reinvent air travel, it opens up a blue sky of opportunities. That’s the flight path for Boom Supersonic, which is thinking big about how passengers arrive at their destination not only faster, but also with a greater sense of wellbeing.

To really comprehend the experience of flying in the unique contoured profile of this ultrafast jet, and to help Boom make key decisions about the design of the plane, the IDEO team believed that you had to go beyond algorithms and schematics—you needed to actually board it.

Using a “build-first” approach, the team quickly constructed a full-scale mockup of the fuselage from plywood and foam core. That became a prototyping platform to test multiple seating configurations, galley and lavatory size and placement, luggage storage solutions, and other concepts that would differentiate and add value to the passenger experience. For the first time, the Boom team was able to set foot in its own aircraft and truly understand the experience from the perspective of its clientele. The exercise allowed the Boom team to confidently make decisions by comparing multiple cabin configurations and options in full-scale.

Throughout the project, Boom and IDEO invited future travelers aboard to interact with the prototype and offer feedback. That input culminated in a more refined model, with augmented windows, moonroof, in-flight entertainment screens, and sound design—all further augmented by a Virtual Reality component to allow our future travelers to fully immerse in this new experience.

Together, Boom and IDEO brought a sneak peak to the Farnborough International Airshow, a biannual exhibition for the aerospace, aviation, and defense industries. The event was an opportunity to give the industry and potential customers a preview of Boom’s innovative new jet. In collaboration with the client, an exhibition architect, and a digital production agency, the team created an immersive environment designed to make the Overture experience feel tangible, eliciting the wonder of this revolutionary plane.

Boom’s presence at Farnborough not only underscored the Overture’s progress but provided an inspiring glimpse into the future of air travel. During the air show the company announced the production Overture design, a market-expanding alliance with Northrop Grumman, and agreements with tier one suppliers Collins Aerospace, Safran, and Eaton. Not long after, Boom received its largest order to date, this one from American Airlines. 

The prospect of getting to London in time for dinner just got a little closer.

Boom plans for Overture to get from New York to Frankfurt in just over four hours instead of the eight hours spent on a commercial jet today.

The Overture supersonic jet has a cruising speed of Mach 1.7, about twice as fast as today’s commercial planes. Overture is built to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

20 Overture deposits

made by American Airlines, joining current customers United Airlines and Japan Airlines
Need to get to London, and fast? After a more than two-decade hiatus of supersonic flight, passengers will soon have the option of ultrafast, sustainable fuel-powered air travel thanks to Boom Supersonic. Since 2014, the company has been working to redefine air travel, creating an experience that is fast, safe, and net zero carbon in its operation. The company is rethinking everything from the plane itself to the passenger experience inside the aircraft to the company’s business model, and even the kind of fuel it will use. Boom plans to have passengers on board Overture by 2029. To get there, the manufacturer needs to not only build out the new aircraft, but also to create an all-new passenger experience. IDEO partnered with Boom to define and prototype what supersonic travel might look and feel like, influencing decisions about Overture’s interior design and bringing the experience to life for future customers at a major industry trade show.
For sustainable supersonic flight to become a reality, Boom Supersonic needed a design partner to bring the experience to life for potential buyers.
Ultrafast air travel is coming back, with an all-new passenger experience.
Boom Supersonic
Boom Supersonic
The future of air travel, supersonic travel, air travel, aviation innovation, net zero, SMB sustainability, Boom Supersonic, mobility, transportation innovation, prototyping, rapid prototyping, design sprint, venture design, new business creation, business model innovation, climate strategy, sustainable design, circular economy, mobility design, future of mobility, future strategy, strategic futures, designing for the future, innovation strategy, business innovation, design innovation, how to innovate, how to make business more sustainable, innovation, strategy, sustainability, transportation, how do we innovate, experience strategy

What Does a Data Scientist Do at a Design Company?

At IDEO, data scientists don't just code up solutions—they design them

Read more
Article
Articles

For my latest project I worked with a healthcare company to improve doctor decision-making during a medical procedure. In addition to usual data scientist tasks, I spent a lot of time with the team trying to understand the way physicians currently work. Here’s a peek behind the scenes:

7:30 AM: Podcast time

This morning I’m off to meet my team at a hospital for field research. On my way, I’m listening to a podcast called “The Impact” that explains the consequences that laws and regulations have on people’s lives. There are a few episodes that relate to data and medical outcomes, so it’s serving as inspiration for my current project.

8:00 AM: Field research

At the hospital, we talk to doctors, nurses, and medical techs and observe them in action. Listening and observing helps us understand the needs of the people we’re designing for. We’re thinking about optimizing decision-making for doctors, which could involve a lot of things, ranging from information and data display to AI assistance. I watch for clues about how this works, and how potential data sources might get recorded.

11:00 AM: Data science group meeting

My home base is Chicago, but I’m stationed in Palo Alto for my current project. Luckily, I can still keep up with what the rest of the data scientists at IDEO are doing through a weekly video call that we can all dial into. We help each other troubleshoot problems we’ve encountered in our projects, share new methods we’ve learned, and talk about personal projects we’re pursuing. This week, one of the other data scientists is telling us about a website he’s making that allows his parents to see where he is (but not his exact location). We have a separate meeting on Friday mornings for those of us in Palo Alto specifically. I like both meetings because they help me keep up to date with how our data science practice is evolving, since it’s the newest design discipline at IDEO

12:00 PM: Lunch break

After a morning of research, I grab lunch at the studio. Today is a special treat—lunch has been provided for us. Everyone sits in the kitchen or our outside patio to eat, so it’s a great opportunity to meet other coworkers and hear about the interesting design challenges they’re working on. I like to sit with designers from IDEO’s PlayLab. They’re usually working on designing cool new toys, and have lots of interesting side projects. Many of them (and others in the PA studio) worked on this Burning Man installation, for example.

1:30 PM: Synthesis with the team

The team comes together to download and synthesize what we learned through our research observations. We transcribe things we saw and heard on Post-it notes, and cluster them so we can spot patterns. We’re seeing themes about the consequences of delays in decision-making during the procedure, and the effects of training on team efficiency. As we start to develop concepts based on the pain points we’ve discovered, I suggest that something like a personalized training program could increase team efficiency by helping people skill up faster.

3:30 PM: Digging into some data

Our client has provided us with some data from a clinical trial related to the medical procedure we’re studying. Today I’m combing through the dataset to find insights that will inform our design process. I use the knowledge I’ve gained from interviews and field research to inform what would be useful or desirable from a human point of view. Later in the project, I’ll use this data to create a prototype that demonstrates how we can help doctors assess risk during the procedure.

6:00 PM: Hosting a women in Machine Learning and Data Science meetup

Tonight I’m hosting a meetup for the Women in Machine Learning and Data Science group about the basics of deep learning with my coworker and fellow data scientist Jane Zanzig. More than 40 women have come to learn and do a hands-on demo. I love working at a company that supports building the women in data science community because one of my personal passions is working to increase the number of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM and design.

9:00 PM: Good night, Jackie

Every night before I go to bed, I make sure I hang out with my pet rabbit Jackie. I brought her from Chicago to Palo Alto with me, so we wouldn’t be apart while I worked on this project. I think she’s been enjoying living in California, and I’ve even taken her to visit the IDEO Palo Alto studio.

When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, “I use data to design products and services to improve people’s lives.” Working as a designer and data scientist involves not only coding up solutions, but understanding what people need in the first place.

Technology
AI & Emerging Tech
what does a data scientist do at a design company, technology, digital innovation, ai, emerging technology, coding, improv, creativity, team collaboration, facilitation, customer needs, unmet needs, understanding customers

Build Your Creative Confidence: I Like, I Wish

To practice creative confidence on a team, members need to feel free to experiment, even during early efforts when results will be far from perfect. For that experimentation to translate into learning, however, at some point you need feedback in order to identify weaknesses and make adjustments the next time.

Read more
Article
Articles

Creativity Challenge #5: Encourage and accept constructive feedback

To practice creative confidence on a team, members need to feel free to experiment, even during early efforts when results will be far from perfect. For that experimentation to translate into learning, however, at some point you need feedback in order to identify weaknesses and make adjustments the next time. We all instinctively know that constructive critique is essential. And yet it can be hard to listen to and absorb feedback without letting our egos and defensiveness distract us from what may be a valuable message.

We have found the tool “I like, I wish” immensely useful in introducing constructive critique into the innovation process. This framework can be used in a small group to review concepts or in a large group to receive feedback about a class or workshop experience. Feedback starts with honest praise, in the form of positive sentences that begin with the phrase, “I like...” Suggestions for improvement then begin with “I wish...”

Tool: I Like, I Wish
Participants: Groups of any size
Time: 10 to 30 minutes
Supplies: A means of recording feedback. For example, in a large group we frequently keep an open Word document and type up notes in real time. In a smaller setting, Post-its or index cards will work.

Instructions

Step 1: Set the tone for a constructive conversation and explain the I like, I wish method. For example, “I am interested in hearing about how this workshop experience has been for you. Please express feedback in the form of I like, I wish. You might say, ‘I like that we have started on time every morning. I wish we had 30 minutes to every afternoon to stretch our legs.’” We have found it helpful to model good feedback by demonstrating “I like, I wish” in action.

Step 2: The participants take turns expressing I like/I wish statements, while the facilitator records their statements. For example, if you are reviewing a work-in-progress for a new personal finance software tool, you might offer support such as “I like that you have incorporated five different ways for customers to view their current financial status.” After describing other pluses, you might then say something like “I wish we could make the website easier for first-time users to navigate” or “I wish we could help people examine their financial situation from the long-term perspective of years, not the short-term perspective of months.”

Make sure people receiving feedback just listen. This is not a time to defend decisions or challenge the critique. Ask everyone to listen and accept it as a well-meaning offer of help. You can ask for clarification and engage in further discussion at a later time.

Step 3: Stop when participants run out of things to say in both the “I like” and “I wish” categories.

Tips from the field

You may want to gather just the “I like” comments first, and then ask for the “I wish” statements. In other groups, it may make sense to let the give-and-take of statements flow organically. Feel free to play with the format.

“I like, I wish” signals that what you are stating is your opinion—it’s not an absolute. Instead of pointing fingers, you are offering your view or perspective. The goal is to move the listener away from a defensive posture so that they can more objectively consider alternative ideas and take them to heart, when appropriate. We all naturally tend to become invested in our own ideas, and seek to defend them. But in a creative culture, candid feedback that is sensitively conveyed is a sign that colleagues care enough to speak up. The message can be delivered quite clearly, without resorting to the negative language of “That will never work” or “We tried that before and it failed.”

This post was taken from Chapter 7 of Creative Confidence. Purchase the book for more on how to use creativity to solve problems.

Everyone is creative. This belief runs through everything we do at IDEO, and in 2013, it led my brother David and me to write a book that would help others—even those who don’t think of themselves as “creative types”—to unleash their creative potential. Creative Confidence has inspired thousands of people to adopt a creative mindset and apply it to the diverse real-world challenges they face. In this series, we’ll share some exercises from the book that can help you approach your challenges from a new perspective.

No items found.
build your creative confidence i like i wish, build your creative confidence, i like i wish, experimentation, testing new ideas, creativity, creative confidence, learning, feedback, creative feedback, team collaboration

This Artist Paints Women Supporting Women—Literally and Figuratively

Laura Berger's dreamy, ethereal work shows women of all colors, shapes, and sizes

Read more
Article
Articles

In one sentence, who are you?

I'm living in Chicago, trying to be a good person, trying to keep growing, currently working as an artist.

What do you do? How did you learn it?

I'm a visual artist. I mostly paint right now, but I do some freelance design work as well. I did some scene painting in college, but other than that I'm self-taught. I've been learning about painting through trying things and making a lot of work and also a lot of mistakes.

Laura's mural at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, CA

3 favorite possessions?

Art from my travels, a sculpture that was my dad's, and my bathtub.

What does a typical work session look like?

Honestly, most days it looks like sitting in a chair in a room by myself and painting for 12-plus hours while listening to various things—too much NPR, podcasts, music, silence. I usually take a couple of breaks. Lunch, maybe a beverage run or a walk. One yoga break around 8pm—that's become essential for me. Sometimes I draw, or I have to package things in boxes or order boxes or answer emails—stuff like that.

How do you get over creative block?

If I can, I walk away from life and travel. If I can't, a break from all creative work is a good step. Time in nature helps, or I often get new ideas that pop up during times when I'm able to turn off my thinking brain—like driving long distances, meditating, walking, taking a shower, dreaming, etc.

What was the last item on your to do list?

Answer interviews! And before that: vote. And before that: Finish design for laser cut wall hanging.

Day Becomes Night

How do you see the world in 2078?

We are all so many beautiful colors and we have free healthcare and college and the old white men running the show are gone so all of the guns are also gone, and we've collectively gotten over being addicted to the internet and our devices and working way too much, plus marijuana is legal everywhere and we're all smoking it so we're all way more laid back and calm and hugging each other a lot. We have four-day work weeks and use land-line phones and record players, but we also can fly to Japan in 2 hours. It's going to be great.

What’s your number one bucket list item?

Own a tiny beach hut somewhere warm and abroad where I can escape the winters, be in nature, and paint and volunteer and meet people.

No matter where you run into her work—whether it's a larger-than-life painting on the side of the Ace Hotel or an animated GIF popping up in your Instagram feed—Laura Berger's art immediately transports you to another world. A world of soft curves, clean lines, and warm colors. A world where women of all shapes, sizes, colors, and hairstyles, literally and figuratively lift each other up. This world of abstract dreamscapes and female camaraderie has been like a salve for me in recent years. Laura shared a peek into her life as a self-taught artist, and reminded me (as she always does) that we are all so many beautiful colors.

No items found.
this artist paints women supporting women-literally and figuratively, hospitality, sports, social media, digital experience, storytelling

Meet the Inventor Who Helps Bring Kids’ Wildest Ideas to Life

Ladybug umbrella? Sure! A hat that shoots bubbles? Check!

Read more
Article
Articles

Then one day, a tutor showed us Dominic’s piggyback seat. After class I jumped onto his blog and found his sick bag beard. Amongst my fits of laughter, I knew that everything would be okay. Here was someone using the full extent of their imagination and in doing so giving the rest of us permission to do the same.

Since then, Dominic has used his unique perspective to create a whole bunch of wonderful things—from a gallery made for dogs to Little Inventors, a global program designed to encourage creative thinking in children. It’s reached more than 15,000 kids in China alone.

And this is what I love most about Dominic’s work: It’s accessible to anyone. Thinkers like Dominic remind us how important it is to use our imaginations, to be weird, to take ourselves less seriously—and that everyone is capable of having ingenious ideas. You can imagine how excited I was to actually get to talk to the guy.

In one sentence, who are you?

I’m Dominic, born in Sunderland, living in London.

What do you do? How did you learn it?

I think up ideas I find interesting, then make them real—or just draw them and show them to people. I did lots of education in design BA, Pgrad, MA then when I ran out I just kept doing the same thing but by myself.

What have you poured your heart and soul into lately?

I made something called Little Inventors, which encourages children to gain a lifelong passion for creative and inventive thinking. It's also is a project that inspires adults to think more creatively. We ask children to think up and draw their invention ideas, bonkers or practical, then ask local makers and manufacturers to make them into a real thing for exhibition.

I won a commission in Sunderland to do a project that used creativity that engaged the local community. I proposed this idea and the results went viral. I started receiving emails from around the world asking me to do the same project in their country, so I decided to start it as an ongoing project called Little Inventors. The V&A Museum in London took 5 objects from the first project into their permanent collection—and next year, the best invention idea for life in space will be shown on the International Space Station.

What does a typical work session look like?

In general, I have no set day. My day looks like my desk, a bit messy and random. We do design the idea generating sessions for Little Inventors, though, and for those, we aim to create an atmosphere where creative thoughts come easier. Usually we will create a fun atmosphere and show surprising and inventive examples of creativity to start the thinking process.

We then present some knowledge and understanding on the particular subject the challenge is focussing on. We have different methods of focussing the children's minds on the task at hand and getting the children to discuss their thoughts and ideas as a group. Then we ask the children to draw their own ideas and answer questions onto a sheet we have designed to create a sketched design of their idea. We now have over 7000 children's ideas on the website from around the world. It is interesting to see how creative children in different countries are. The makers tell us that they feel more inspired and are pushed into areas that stretch their skills.

How do you get over a creative block?

I try to get my head out of the track it is stuck on. Change the music, change the mood, do something else. Then I push myself to keep writing or doodling thoughts on the subject. It can be hard mental work sometimes. Eventually I break through to the other side where the nice ideas have been hiding.

What was the last item on your to do list?

I don't have an order of doing things. I should make more lists, as they can help you get a bit of satisfaction at the end of the day rather than thinking, What did I actually do today? I'm jealous of bricklayers: At the end of each day, they can look back and see what they have achieved.

What are your 3 favorite possessions?

A pen, paper, and a Branston pickle.

How do you see the world in 2078?

China and India will be a lot more influential on world culture, technology, and politics. We still won't have hoverboards. People will still want to be happier, make more friends, be more attractive. Some will do that in a computer-generated virtual world. The more technology becomes part of our lives, the more we will desire real world experiences.

What's your number one bucket list item?

Contribute something positive to the pile.

Who are you creative crushin' on lately?

I'm thinking musicians are the one's I admire most. Write your song, play the instrument and sing it. I'm jealous of them. Currently, it’s Neil Young

I still remember the first time I saw Dominic Wilcox’s work, the collection of really weird and clever creations on his blog, Variations on Normal. I was a few years into university, so my body was still 95% hope and ambition. At the same time, I was slowly realizing that I wasn’t, in fact, the center of the universe. It was a confusing time.

No items found.
meet the inventor who helps bring kids' wildest ideas to life

Lindsey Turner

I’m passionate about building brands, products, and experiences that help organizations show up with meaning and momentum.

Read more
Leader
Leaders

I help organizations cut through complexity by shaping how they show up, through brand strategy, identity, and storytelling.

Working at the intersection of brand and business, I bring an editorial eye and a bias toward making—turning ideas into tangible experiences that people can understand, trust, and believe in.

My work spans government, healthcare, financial services, media, and consumer goods, from launching Gen Z-focused ventures to building innovation labs and reimagining legacy brands. I relish moments of ambiguity and enjoy translating across teams, perspectives, and priorities to move ideas forward.

I started my career in editorial and digital design, shaping cross-platform experiences and identity systems in publishing and agency environments. That foundation still shapes how I work today: I’m detail-oriented, collaborative, and overreliant on the Oxford comma. I hold a BFA in Visual Communication from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

My tween twins teach me more about technology and gen-alpha than the last decade of trend reports.
Making things that matter
Consumer Products & Retail
Media & Entertainment
AI & Emerging Tech

Rachel Young

My work helps organizations see who their products aren't working for—and build the will and the tools to do something about it

Read more
Leader
Leaders
For 25 years, I've asked the same question: Who does this design exclude—and what are we going to do about it?

My work spans human-centered strategy, inclusive design, and qualitative research, with clients ranging from Microsoft, Google, and Verizon to the National Science Foundation, and San Francisco Unified School District.

Before IDEO, I taught elementary school in East Palo Alto and spent a decade doing design work with social service organizations—where I learned firsthand what it costs people when systems are built without them in mind.

I am currently writing User Error, a nonfiction book about digital access and the design decisions behind it. I live in Oakland, California.

The greatest project to which I’ve ever contributed is raising my two daughters with my husband.
Uncovering unmet needs
Consumer Products & Retail
Learning & Work
Media & Entertainment
Play
Public Sector

Brian Pelsoh

I lead with craft, ensuring our work is creatively excellent: rooted in deep human insight and imagination, while also grounded in the realities of business and technology.

Read more
Leader
Leaders

My expertise spans brand, communication, and product design across tech, education, the arts, and social impact.

I believe great work demands both high-level vision and obsessive attention to detail, and only happens through collaboration.

I bring an inclusive, hands-on approach and a deep understanding of business, which enables me to consistently deliver excellence while always asking why.

Before joining IDEO, I worked at the brand firms Pentagram and VSA Partners. I began my career as a designer, leading teams at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Milwaukee Art Museum. I hold an MFA in graphic design from Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA in communication design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, and have taught at some of the best design schools in the US.

I love a good crit.
An inclusive, hands-on approach
Health
Learning & Work
Media & Entertainment
Public Sector
AI & Emerging Tech

Tony Wong

I am responsible for IDEO’s long-term success in China and working with clients to use design as a tool to enable growth.

Read more
Leader
Leaders

I am responsible for IDEO’s long-term success in China and working with clients to use design as a tool to enable growth. Specifically, I have helped Chinese companies design holistic brand solutions through the development of their products, communication, services, and innovation teams, and I have helped multinationals expand their presence and influence in China.

I advise global leaders on developing China-led innovation and capabilities.

In over 15 years in IDEO Shanghai, I have worked on projects that use design to elevate the quality of the experience of healthcare products and services, streamline processes that increase productivity, create spaces and programs that promote and enable inclusive communities, and build next generation mobility solutions that are planet-positive.

Before joining IDEO, I worked at Philips Electronics and the Electrolux Group in Italy, the Netherlands, and Singapore on a number of breakthrough commercial products. I am a member of the Young President Organization in Shanghai.

I have a thing for antique maps.
Developing China-led innovation and capabilities'
Consumer Products & Retail
Food
Learning & Work
Industrial & Manufacturing
Episode image

Building a personal AI for the messiness of life: Sida Li

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Listen
Podcast
Podcasts

Most AI products today are built for work—a space with clear problems and established systems. One founder noticed a gap: personal life is messier, harder to systematize, and mostly left behind by the AI boom. So she built Cue, a personal AI that lives inside iMessage and group chats, to go where the other tools haven't.

In this episode, Becca Carroll, IDEO's Chief Strategy Officer, talks with Sida Li, co-founder and CEO of Shared Context Lab, about staying anchored to a human need while the technology around her keeps changing shape, why she treats her business model with the same rigor she'd bring to a product, and what it feels like to build a company at this particular, disorienting moment in AI.

The conversation also gets into how Sida makes design decisions: the language Cue uses to describe itself, the tradeoffs behind building inside iMessage instead of a new app, and a real story about a business idea that didn’t pan out.

This is the second in a two-part series profiling founders from IDEO's Startups-in-Residence program. The first conversation is with Johannes Seemann, founder of Sooner, on designing GenAI for the emotional side of money.

Health
AI & Emerging Tech
Technology
Learning & Work
Episode image

Designing GenAI for the emotional side of money: Johannes Seemann

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Listen
Podcast
Podcasts

Most personal financial tools are built to run the numbers and optimize towards a budget. While that works for some, most people experience money as a lived relationship that does not neatly fit into a spreadsheet. Johannes Seemann and Becca Carroll discuss why money is emotional before it is mathematical, and what a human-centered approach to building a generative AI financial product looks like in practice.

Health
AI & Emerging Tech
Technology
Financial Services
Learning & Work
Episode image

The curious leader's edge in uncertainty: Scott Shigeoka

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Listen
Podcast
Podcasts

Mina Seetharaman talks with Scott Shigeoka, author of Seek and Head of Curiosity Cultivation at the Eames Institute, about what distinguishes genuinely curious leadership from performative curiosity, how power dynamics shape curiosity, and why practicing curiosity can restore energy rather than drain it.

Learning & Work
Episode image

How constraints make us more creative: David Epstein

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Listen
Podcast
Podcasts

Mina Seetharaman talks with David Epstein, author of Inside the Box and Range, about why total freedom often produces average work, how leaders can design useful limits on purpose, and what organizations such as General Magic and Pixar reveal about the relationship between boundaries and creativity.

Learning & Work
Nothing’s coming to mind.

Looks like you might be in search of something very specific?

Feel free to drop us a note and we’ll happily help you find what you’re looking for.

Or reset the filters above and try another angle.

If you’d rather just chat than scroll through our site, we’d love to hear from you.

Feel free to include any details or anecdotes about what brought you here today, it will help make sure we get you connected to the best person right away.