American businesses are on notice: To be competitive in today’s market, you must diversify your workforce.

One way to widen the talent pool is to pay closer attention to people who have acquired their skills through alternative routes. Millions of Americans learn on the job, in community colleges, at boot camps, or through life experience. According to Opportunity@Work, more than 70 million Americans are overlooked because of degree requirements. Despite their abilities, these “STARs” (those who are skilled through alternative routes) find themselves stuck in jobs for which they’re overqualified and underpaid.

Opportunity@Work, an innovative social enterprise, reached out to IDEO to help collaborate with companies, talent developers, and STARs seeking career growth. To make this overlooked talent pool more visible, we created a campaign and video to rally companies. We also designed a data dashboard to help regional employer networks identify qualified talent and potential partnerships with skill-building programs. And to provide STARs with direct support, we scaffolded the job-seeking experience, focusing on key moments like the interview process.

It’s time for businesses searching for talent to open their eyes, look to the STARs, and see what they’re missing.

83% of HR professionals said they had difficulty finding suitable candidates in the past 12 months.

62% of Black people, 55% of Hispanic people, and 50% of non-Hispanic white people have become skilled through alternative routes, such as community college, workforce training, boot camps, certification programs, military service, or job experience.

Over the past 40 years, inflation-adjusted wages have increased 8% for college graduates with a bachelor’s degree while decreasing by 15% for people with only a high school degree.

Thousands

of state jobs in Maryland no longer require a four-year college degree

skills-based

The White House is adjusting educational requirements for I.T. professionals in favor of a skills-based approach

For many organizations, frontline workers like grocery store clerks, nurses, hospitality workers, and transit employees are an essential part of doing business.

So much so that they continued to show up at the office throughout the COVID-19 pandemic even as everyone else went remote. As the point of contact with customers and key systems, these workers often know exactly when, where, and why things don’t work, and they come up with powerful hacks and workarounds to make things better. Yet these insights and innovations rarely make it to the corporate office. And that’s a problem: large organizations often hire design and innovation consulting firms while not taking advantage of a latent source of deep, in-house expertise. It’s equally discouraging to workers who would gladly share their ideas if they were only asked. No surprise, then, that frontline workers are quitting their jobs in droves.

What could companies learn by listening?

IDEO partnered with the Ford Foundation to create the Worker Voice Design Lab, where leaders from a port authority, an airline, and a health care provider worked alongside frontline workers. That led to the planting of a seed of innovation in each organization, with interventions designed with and by workers implemented operationally at the core of the business. In one case, a group of workers zeroed in on specific problems with such clarity that they were quickly able to develop a digital prototype for testing. No one was less surprised than the workers themselves, who simply said: Well, nobody ever asked us before. Sometimes the most innovative idea a leader can have is to listen, learn, and act on their employee’s smart ideas.

A large portion of the job churn since March 2020 has been concentrated in frontline services such as accommodation, food services, and retail.

Lack of career growth is the number one reason people leave their jobs according to more than 18,000 frontline workers across 150 companies.

2 pilot initiatives

being led by frontline workers in 2022

The climate era demands new offers and new ways of working.

Would you like to be able to plug your jigsaw into your truck? How about taking a fully reclined snooze after a long day of fishing? Questions like these led to quick prototypes that ended up in Ford’s new, electrified F-150 truck, which has more outlets than the average apartment and can power your entire home. This was no small update. The way Ford reimagined the truck experience from powertrain to power nap is emblematic of how much customer-centricity is now embedded in Ford’s culture.

For well over a decade, we’ve partnered with Ford in the U.S., the EU, and China to help the organization bring to life a shared vision of the future of mobility. Together we scaled new capabilities throughout the company by running proof-of-concept “beacon” projects and, to embed this new customer-centric mindset, built a human-centered-design hub called D-Ford. This organization within the organization has become a magnet for talent and is spread across six global locations: London, Shanghai, Melbourne, São Paulo, Palo Alto, and Detroit. Ford’s commitment to serving the needs of people and the planet is what propelled the rethink of the F-150, the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for over 40 years. It was a high-stakes move, and one that represents a major turning point for the automaker: For the first time, its primary profit source would be electric. The new Lightning is still built Ford tough, but also built for the future.‍

Passenger vehicles produced 41% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide in 2020.

One in every 20 passenger vehicles sold in the United States is a Ford F-150.

Before going electric, the Ford F-150 emitted about 100 tons of CO₂ over a 200,000-mile lifespan.

200,000

pre-orders of the electric F-150 truck, named one of Time's Best Inventions of 2021

Most Innovative Design Company of 2022

according to Fast Company

America’s leading retailers share a common goal—doing less harm to the planet.

The systemic challenges standing in the way require a bold new approach, and no single company can solve them alone. So Closed Loop Partners convened a group consisting of founding partners CVS Health, Target, and Walmart, along with 12 other leading retailers. As the innovation partner, IDEO helped launch a global search for breakthrough sustainable ideas that yielded more than 450 submissions from startups and entrepreneurs to reinvent the single-use plastic retail bag, with nine finalists entering a six-month accelerator.

New alternatives ranged from biodegradable solutions to systems that kept reusable bags in rotation. IDEO teams not only facilitated collaboration between startups and sustainability leads from partner retailers, but also provided a boost of additional expertise from industrial, data, and business designers. In a matter of months, teams were able to launch prototypes in select CVS Health, Target, and Walmart stores in California and New Jersey.

Everyone involved in the consortium knew that replacing single-use plastic retail bags is a problem that won’t be solved quickly or easily. But the Beyond the Bag challenge helped them learn that designing for the policy and infrastructure of tomorrow requires tangible steps, taken together, today.

A hundred billion plastic bags are used in the US every year, and less than 10% of them are recycled.

Every year, plastic retail bags are among the top ten items found on beaches and waterways worldwide.

9

stores tested solutions across Northern California

Millions of dollars

raised by two startups

2

startups acknowledged by Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards

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In short order, a community of designers, entrepreneurs, and social sector innovators embraced it, buying and downloading over 150,000 copies.

In April 2015, IDEO.org launched an exciting new evolution of the HCD Toolkit the Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. The Field Guide is the latest in IDEO.org’s suite of teaching tools and a step forward in sharing the practice and promise of human-centered design with the social sector.

A full-color, 192-page book, the Field Guide comes with 57 design methods, the key mindsets that underpin how and why IDEO.org believes design can change lives, a full slate of worksheets, and case studies from projects that show human-centered design in action.

The Field Guide was funded by more than 1300 backers in a Kickstarter campaign that reaching nearly three times its initial goal. IDEO.org received an amazing outpouring of support and strengthened its deeply held belief that human-centered design can push the social sector forward.

IDEO.org is a nonprofit design organization that launched out of IDEO in 2011 with a mission to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable communities through design.

Visit designkit.org to download a free PDF, or get your own hard copy.

In 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.

After a bit of brainstorming, we hit on the perfect idea: a Noam-enabled modern twist on Pong, the classic, endlessly absorbing old video game.

The Pong-a-tron is considerably more complex than its predecessor. It links together four iPads, two Raspberry Pis, 12 Arduinos, 24 stepper motors, a Mac Mini, two Node.js applications, a Processing sketch, an Objective-C app, and over 2000 RGB LEDs. Noam coordinates the entire menagerie by hosting a conversation between all the different elements.

The Pong game itself was written in Node and broadcasts paddle and ball positions, which are then rendered on various portions of the overall display. The paddles are translated into physical "pixel" strips along the edges of the Pong-a-tron, while the ball moves seamlessly from Arduino-controlled RGB LEDs to iPads and Raspberry Pis.

The Pong-a-tron was initially showcased at Solid Conference 2014 and is now a permanent feature in the lobby of IDEO Chicago. Stop by and see it in person at a studio event, or pay Noam a virtual visit.

The Pong-a-tron would not be possible without the incredible talent, skill, collaboration and brainpower of many IDEOers including: Joe Banks, John Grimley, Travis Lee, Zeke Markshausen, David Sjunnesson, Ben Syverson, Jon Wettersten, Garrett Winther, and more. Video by Ben Syverson.

Noam is a software-messaging platform created by IDEO to help hardware and software tools communicate with one another. To introduce Noam to the world, we wanted to build a physical manifestation of the platform, something that was—like Noam—fun and exciting but also remarkably simple to use.

Our bell’s impressive literacy is the result of an experiment in creating cheap, simple, and easy-to-use networks of wireless sensors.

Miha Feus, the interaction designer at the helm of the project, points out that Internet-connected things are set to reshape our lives in ways we can’t even imagine. But while the technology isn’t particularly complicated, setting up and connecting the necessary sensors and receivers is difficult and expensive with the solutions currently available, and the battery life in these systems is terrible. Because of this, Miha says, experimentation by would-be makers is being stymied.

Miha’s solution is a system called Beachsand that aims to make wireless sensor networks, in his words, “as numerous, cheap, disposable, and user-friendly as grains of sand on a beach.” Beachsand is made up of a postage-stamp-sized smart transmitter called a SenseGrain and an Arduino-based receiver he’s dubbed the SandCastle.

You can plug any analogue sensor, button, or switch into a SenseGrain, measuring light, temperature, motion… anything you like. The SenseGrain then gathers data from those sensors and sends it to the SandCastle, and from there, you can use the information as you choose.

Miha explains that Beachsand isn’t really a product in and of itself, but rather a tool to help people cheaply and easily prototype new products, services, and data experiments. He and fellow interaction designer Siri Johansson have already prototyped one use case: the studio’s kitchen bell.

I caught up with Miha and Siri to find out more.

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What exactly is a SenseGrain, and how does it work?

Miha: A SenseGrain is an ATtiny85 microcontroller, which is basically a very stripped-down version of an Arduino, plus a transmitter circuit and a coin cell battery.

You plug in any analogue sensor or switch and set how often you want it to send data. The device then goes to sleep and waits until it receives whatever type of input you’re measuring (in this case, until someone rings the bell). The SenseGrain sends data from the sensor to a receiver, which, at the moment, is an Arduino, where you can access, use, and manipulate the data.

What’s so good about it?

Miha: It doesn’t require any soldering or programming, so it's easy to set up and requires no maintenance at all. I programmed the microcontroller so that it’s very energy-efficient—on standby, it can last up to 30 years on a single coin cell battery (theoretically, at least). And it’s cheap! Each SenseGrain costs $2-3 to make.

Because they’re so inexpensive, you could put them anywhere—in a trash can, for example, to monitor when it’s being opened. Or if you don’t want to check your mailbox, you could put a SenseGrain in there and Beachsand could just let you know when you have post.

Currently, anyone with an RF receiver on the same frequency is able to receive data the sensor is sending, and I would like to keep it that way. Keeping sensor data open gives more people the opportunity to build something with that data.

Can you explain your experiment with the bell?

Miha: It's our Kitchen Bell 2.0. It brings an ordinary object into the age of the Internet of Things, where every physical object has a digital layer.

Beachsand makes our bell more than a static object, limited by its location and the reach of its sound, and gives it the ability to transcend space and time to be “heard” anywhere in the world.

How did you build it?

Miha: First we had to pick the right sensor to detect when the bell is being rung. The simplest one in this case was a tilt switch. We plugged the switch into the RF transmitter and taped everything on the clapper of the bell.

The second part was about receiving the message from the sensor and sending out an email. For that, we used an Arduino and an RF receiver connected to a laptop, which talks to a program called Processing. In Processing, we used some existing code for sending out emails, which we modified for our needs.

What did you learn building the Kitchen Bell?

Siri: It makes you think about what the right tone of voice and personality is for a specific object. We wrote a few drafts of the bell’s email to the studio. It should be light and funny, but also demanding—it’s a bell, after all.

What inspired you from outside IDEO?

Siri: There's an interesting ongoing discussion on the narratives told by smart objects. Hello Lamp Post is a really nice example of giving a voice and personality to inanimate objects, and a lot of effort was spent to define the right tone of voice.

This way of working with sensors and actuators has interesting potential applications in both directions: physical to digital or vice versa. A couple of examples that work in the digital-to-physical direction are the UID cookie box, which rewards tweets with cookies, and Tableau, which quietly prints stuff it “sees” in its Twitter feed.

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What are you planning next?

Miha: Our colleague Alistair Norris is working on another application for the front door, to measure traffic in and out of the studio. We plugged a roller switch into a SenseGrain, which triggers every time the door opens, and added an Ethernet shield to the Arduino.

Beachsand is really still a work in progress. The next step is getting PCBs (printed circuit boards) done, so that I won't have to build every sensor transmitter by hand, which can take anywhere from one to four hours. With a PCB it will take just two to three minutes. PCBs are also less prone to malfunction.

Hopefully I’ll make a version with everything on board, including a littleBits connector. Then I’d like to build actuators, or “ActGrains,” to work with the SenseGrains and the SandCastle.

We’ll let you know more about Beachsand as we prototype more applications for it in the studio—or you might just get an update directly from our trash can, our front door, or the kitchen bell itself! You can find the code here in the meantime.

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The bell that rings in the kitchen at IDEO London sounds rather more sophisticated than the analogue clang you might expect to hear when meals and snacks are ready. Our bell prefers to send articulate email messages, like this recent missive: “I summon you all to the kitchen table for a Beer-n-Nuts with [Arduino co-founder] Massimo Banzi. Come join us. Cheers, your Kitchen Bell.”

Scott Murray is an assistant professor of design at the University of San Francisco, code artist, D3 expert, and contributor to the Processing language.

Scott is endlessly excited about using code as a tool for visual explorations of all kinds, from fine art to interactive data visualizations, but his students aren’t always quite so jazzed about the idea of programming. “They’re used to Photoshop and Illustrator, chopping up pictures and vectors,” he says. “Coding moves them into a totally different working environment.”

It’s Murray’s job to pry open students’ minds to not only the languages of code but also to a new way of thinking—a developer’s approach to solving problems and building things. To this end, he’s helping to continue the development of Processing language, which is tailored specifically to the task of teaching designers and artists to code. “There are pedagogical tools embedded in the language itself,” he says, like the use of familiar terms such as “stroke” and “fill” as well as processes that help students think like developers when approaching the craft of design. “For me, design is all about systems—not creating an image, but a system that, when applied, results in an effective solution,” Murray says. “Processing, as a teaching tool, forces students to think beyond the output or image they want to create and describe the system they’re making and what it needs to do.”

Processing gives designers new tools and expands their design thinking. It’s free, open source, and available to all at processing.org.

Keyfleas (2013) by Miles Hiroo Peyton

To get a sense of what beginners can do with the language, visit openprocessing.org and browse through the sketches.

If you’re itching to get your hands dirty, go straight to this collection of short, prototypical online programs that explore the basics of programming with Processing.

Check out the complete version of Scott Murray's New Year greeting card pictured in the header to this post here.

Every Thursday in Palo Alto, IDEO’s Digital Shop hosts an informal lunchtime presentation by someone who is using code to create something surprising, useful, or generally awesome. Colleagues from all around IDEO gather for a meal and leave with a week's worth of ideas to chew on. We’ve asked some recent speakers to highlight a quick insight or tool they’d like to share.

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.

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.

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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 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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.