The urgency of attending to our children’s mental health cannot be overstated.

Concern about their well-being was already on the rise in the decade prior to the pandemic. Alongside social inequity, the COVID era has seen soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts. Knowing that mental health is influenced by numerous systemic factors, we met with families of all income levels and heard from practitioners throughout Massachusetts. In some communities, mental health is candidly discussed, in others it remains a taboo subject. Through these conversations, we learned that mental health requires both individuals and their families to be educated, supported, and empowered.

HandholdMA.org helps families find services that work for them and gives them easy access to information on a range of mental health topics. It allows parents to learn from and support one another as they navigate the landscape of mental health together. We took special care to make resources feel approachable for those in communities of color, and curated new resources for everyone from preschoolers to teens—because mental health challenges do not discriminate.

In 2020, a coalition of the nation’s leading experts in pediatric health issued an urgent warning that the mental health crisis among children had become a national emergency.

The percentage of emergency department visits for mental health crises rose by 24% for children between the ages of 5 and 11, and 31% for those 12 to 17, compared with 2019.

87,000

site visits to to HandholdMA.org since launch

223,000

people reached in bilingual social media campaign

To help shift vivo’s thinking from a focus on products to a focus on brand-building, IDEO set out to help the company understand how young consumers experience fun—a core tenet of the vivo brand. The new concept store needed to convey joy and fun in a meaningful and memorable way. The project was about more than just designing the space; it was also about piloting into vivo’s future brand systems.

To kick off the project, the IDEO team conducted user research in four different cities in China, then shared the stories of young Chinese consumers with the vivo team. Their interviews revealed that young people value experiences that enrich their lives and create a feeling of positive personal transformation. They seek opportunities to discover new experiences, express themselves in different ways, expand and deepen their social connections, and build knowledge and skills. By leaning on this definition of “enjoyment,” IDEO helped vivo identify the value proposition of the concept store, helping consumers express themselves in new and different ways. The store would allow every visitor to see something unique and find a fresh perspective.

The vivo team took that value proposition into a design brief and later built out the space and interactive experiences. The second floor of the store is dedicated entirely to interactive experiences using photo booths, sound recording, and lighting technology, designed to provide consumers with the kind of enjoyment they seek. vivo launched the concept store in Shenzhen on March 22, 2019, marking an important milestone in vivo’s transformation from a smartphone maker to a consumer brand.

China consumes roughly 30% of the world’s smartphones—which presents a tremendous market opportunity for brands looking to capture young consumers’ loyalty.

Top 1

in China's smartphone market, topping both shipments (sale-in) and retail sales (sale-out), in the first half of 2024

260M active users

within two years of vivo Lab's official opening, with 70% of them young users

The program Tsinghua and IDEO created together consisted of six modules focused on creative leadership: Rediscover Design, Build Design as a Core Competency, Creating the Conditions for Creativity, The Financial Levers for Innovation, Designing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and Leading for Tomorrow. 73 Chinese and foreign experts helped teach the modules, including former Forbidden City Palace Museum director Shan Jixiang, the father of Japanese industrial design, Masayuki Kurokawa, and Jake Knapp, author of the book Sprint.

The program’s first cohort included more than 30 entrepreneurs from 20 different industries across nine cities. Participants completed the courses throughout the year, taking full advantage of holistic, interactive teaching and the opportunity to share their own practical experiences. Their feedback consistently demonstrated how the course had given them fresh approaches to problems their companies faced, whether improving internal communication or helping them see the clients they serve from a new perspective.

Liu Feng, the founder of a fast growing tourism development company, was particularly inspired by the Creating the Conditions for Creativity module’s six pillars of corporate transformation concept. Using these pillars, he not only refined the mission and value of his company, but also launched a series of measures to improve all aspects of its operations, from customer service to annual company gatherings. With a newly empowered team, he significantly increased the agility of the organization.

Ting Zhihong, the chairwoman of China’s leading logistics technology company, managed to double its profit during the course. She said her biggest takeaway from the course was how important it is to empower the team. Her company has now set up several platforms that give employees more room to experiment, create, and take part in frontline decision-making, bringing them closer to the company’s management.

Hu Chao, founder and CEO of China’s largest e-commerce platform for childcare goods, found that while other executive courses simply teach knowledge, Lead a Creative China taught him the importance of placing people at the center of what his company is doing.

The first cohort of the program graduated in December 2018. On April 8th, 2019, the Lead a Creative China program received an honorable mention in the education category as part of Fast Company’s 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards, becoming the only award-winning Chinese project in the category.

After 40 years of rapid change, China has reached a pivotal point in its growth trajectory. Across the globe, traditional drivers of economic growth have slowed down, creating opportunity define the new economy.

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The Chinese government has laid out a wide range of ambitious policy plans to ensure that China successfully manages this transition, and that the country continues to grow and lead.

Honorable Mention

education category, Fast Company’s 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards

China’s digital landscape is dominated by highly integrated mobile apps like WeChat and Alipay that seamlessly combine messaging, shopping, bill payment, and finance management. This shift toward digital-first interactions that are hyper-convenient, personalized, and intuitive has significantly shaped consumer expectations for experiences like finding, booking, and staying in a hotel. To stay competitive and meet—or exceed—young guests’ expectations, Huazhu needed to redesign its Membership App 3.0 to prioritize guest needs across all touchpoints of the hotel journey.

Through in-depth research and member feedback, IDEO discovered the true pain point the Huazhu membership app needed to address: seamlessly integrating the hotel brand’s online and offline experiences. The Huazhu Membership App 3.0 adopted “simple, stable, and real” design principles, simplifying user operations, optimizing the interface, fixing lingering experience issues, maximizing page load speed, and reducing crash rates.

The IDEO team discovered users have different functional needs. Sometimes, users want to search for hotel information quickly. Other times, they prefer to explore and browse content slowly. To meet both needs, the app needed to be optimized for efficiency and exploration. So, the IDEO team upgraded the interface of the Huazhu Membership App, adding quick operation modules and information blocks on the main page, as well as a downward scrolling interface that gradually slows the experience, offering channels for detailed exploration.

Customers also had different needs at different points in their travel journey: before, during, and after their stays. IDEO designed the language and user interface to provide personalized service information for each stage, from booking to post-stay. The app’s content adapts to the user’s travel phase, showing the most relevant service experiences at each point. The content displayed on the app also changes based on user habits, helping the app flex to meet their needs. The design aligns with the Huazhu Hotels Group’s mission to provide personalized service to a diverse clientele.

The team also worked to inject Huazhu’s brand characteristics by offering an upgraded experience in booking, stay, dining, and member benefits and adding features like a 30-second, automatic check-in experience. These thoughtful, personalized updates integrate Huazhu Hotels Group’s meticulous service philosophy, providing customers with a welcoming, human-centered hospitality experience. The updated Huazhu Membership App 3.0 is now available in major app stores, shaping a new generation of user experiences for Huazhu Hotels Group.  

Young travelers in China expect the first touchpoint with a hotel brand to be digital.

5% increase

in monthly active users after the launch of the App's 2.0 version in 2021

We met a beer and sausage vendor in Germany who keeps an array of hats stored on his gearshift, a humorous-looking makeshift hat hook. When we asked him more about it he explained that he often sells his wares at football games, so it’s important that he wear the right football club’s hat. “One time, when I wore the wrong one by accident, they called me an ass and tipped the van over,” he said. “You always have to howl with the wolves.”

Human-centered design requires us to observe human behavior with beginner's eyes, so that we can spot the innate ways people interact with the world around them. We call these intuitive and unconscious reactions Thoughtless Acts, and IDEO designers collect photos of them to inspire their work.

You can’t beat the smell of fresh ink, the texture and weight of high-quality paper, and the sound as you flip through the pages. When holding a magazine, I’m not simply reading it—I’m immersed in it.

I asked my fellow designers which publications they find the most exciting, and I’ve included a few of my favorites, too:

1. Apartamento

Yes, I suppose it’s an interior design magazine, but instead of focusing on beautiful, minimalist, multi-million-dollar houses (not that there's anything wrong with that), Apartamento covers real, lived-in homes and the creative people who occupy them. Raw portrait photography, cluttered spaces, and intimate interviews show how people really choose to live. Based in Barcelona, Spain, it’s survived through subscription revenue and a higher newsstand price, and has bucked the trend of featuring numerous ads or sponsored content. Plus, its perfect novel size, centered layout, patterned spine, and chunky typography are delightfully raw and unfussy. —Lindsey Turner, IDEO Cambridge

2. B

B magazine is published in South Korea. Every issue, it takes an advertisement-free, documentary approach to a single iconic brand. It’s covered many amazing brands, from the luxury to the mundane, including LEGO, Ray-Ban, and Bic. Each issue goes deep into the people, history, evolution, products, experiences, and philosophies of the brand it covers. Fans and collectors are also often included. I recommend it to anyone who likes branding and brand strategy, or just loves products and design. The many ways it looks at a brand and all its expressions goes far beyond simple identity and logo. —Clark Scheffy, IDEO San Francisco

3. Banana

In 2014, first generation Asian-Americans Vicky Ho and Kathleen Tso launched Banana magazine, a lifestyle magazine dedicated to exploring the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures. Ho and Tso are not claiming to be experts in Asian culture, but rather are discovering it right alongside their readers. Their goal is to understand what this third identity—neither Asian nor American, but Asian-American—means. As a designer, I think it’s fascinating to understand how cultures can blend together. With the growing influence of Asian countries on design trends, this magazine is relevant, vibrant, and bold, and offers great graphic design inspiration. —Coline Prevost, IDEO Palo Alto

4. [BranD]

[BranD] is a Hong Kong-based magazine that explores communication design in visual art, advertising, products, graphic design, and architecture. It brings together designers, artists, art directors, marketing specialists, and business-minded people of all stripes to share new ways to express ideas and brands visually. I'm an avid reader of [BranD] for inspiration in my craft; it's a great vehicle to stay connected to the ways other designers are stretching their own skills and building their crafts in a discipline—comms design—that is always evolving. —Joshua Lavra, IDEO San Francisco

5. Cat People

Cat People is an English-Japanese bilingual magazine featuring interviews and works by cat-obsessed artists, designers, photographers, and writers. It’s only in its first issue, but it’s already sold out. I’m very excited for future editions because this magazine promises magnificent inspiration for design and feline die-hards (like me). —Camden Foley, IDEO Palo Alto

6. Cereal

Cereal is a biannual travel and style magazine based in the United Kingdom. Each issue highlights engaging interviews and stories about unique design, art, and fashion on a specific theme, such as sustainability or desire. I’ve followed this magazine since its inception in 2016 and have every issue to date. Cereal’s publisher offers beautiful magazines, city guides, art prints, and even a children’s book—all with some of the best photography and design I’ve ever seen. —Camden Foley, IDEO Palo Alto

7. The Collective Quarterly

The Collective Quarterly is a magazine about travel and creativity across the U.S. The magazine staff—a rotating team of writers, photographers, illustrators, and other creatives—visits small towns or regions around the country to interview artists, creators, and other cornerstones of local life. As a photographer, the exceptional photography caught my eye, particularly that of one of the co-founders, who still shoots film photos like I do. It’s inspired me to get out with my camera more often. I recommend the magazine to anyone who seeks a deeper appreciation of creativity in intimate communities, hopes to explore non-urban corners of the country, or wants to bask in the magic of film photos. —Tara Safaie, IDEO San Francisco

8. Drift

Back when I was a barista, my mornings were spent adjusting the espresso machine's grind and my tamp to each bean's age and provenance. I learned that coffee is ubiquitous, yet highly circumstantial; you can find it in virtually any city, and yet each urban environment and its inhabitants have radically different rituals, cultures, and methods of consumption for this most essential drink. Drift transports its readers to different cities and their respective coffee cultures, allowing readers to intimately engage with new adventures in new places through a common cup of joe. —Adam Cristobal, IDEO Palo Alto

9. The Gourmand

As we reach the peak of our food media zeitgeist, The Gourmand has emerged as one of the leading alternative voices in the space, covering everything from new ways of visualizing food emoji to Georgia O'Keeffe's strict diet. Boasting both witty writing and distinct art direction, the magazine offers a unique perspective and inspirational fodder to foodies, designers, and creatives of all stripes as we look for more visually appetizing ways to engage with the world. —Adam Cristobal, IDEO Palo Alto

10. Offscreen

Offscreen is a print magazine published three times a year, as well as a weekly newsletter, that takes a thoughtful, human-centred approach to technology. It’s is a slow counterbalance to the fast pace of popular media, exploring creativity and design through introspective writing and thoughtful human stories. Offscreen is a proponent of the “slow web,” celebrating the idea that not all that is instant and convenient is necessarily good for us. —Nathan Paterson, IDEO Tokyo

11. Surface

Surface is a New York magazine that covers a little of everything—design, architecture, fashion, culture, and travel. I picked it up because I judge magazines by their covers. Each cover features a great close-up portrait of a creative person—an architect, musician, industrial designer, etc. The portrait is paired with restrained, Swiss-style black typography and a grid well versed in white space. The magazine examines culture through the lens of design and has a whiff of one of my favorite blogs, Sight Unseen. It's conspicuous consumption for sure, but sometimes that's what magazines are for. —Lindsey Turner, IDEO Cambridge

Next time you want to explore cutting-edge design—or just enjoy a little eye candy—crack the cover of one of these magazines for an inspiring read.

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Thanks to the digital revolution, fewer and fewer of us are getting our hands on paper copies of books, magazines, or newspapers these days. Online subscriptions and digital versions can fill the void, but sometimes, picking up a glossy magazine is simply the best way to absorb inspiration.

As a data scientist, this idea got my gears turning: What if I could use machine learning to build a laugh-detecting algorithm?

Prototyping is a great way to explore how emerging technologies will play a role in our connected future. But instead of focusing on how we will teach our machines to sense human behavior, I’m interested in designing what we will do with the information our devices are learning. In a world filled with machines that learn and interact with us, it’s important that they are able to respond to all parts of our humanity—including the things that make us laugh.

I wanted to see what kind of laugh detection prototype I could build in a few weeks. Here’s how I did it:

1. Building the algorithm

To build the laugh-detecting algorithm, I knew that I wanted to use deep learning, so I turned to Keras, a programming library which makes creating neural networks fast and simple. To train the laugh detector, I needed to use sequences of audio as the input and predict whether or not laughter would result as the output. Fortunately, I found Audioset, a collection of over two million 10-second audio clips with labels from over 6,000 categories. Using a subset of the Audioset collection that is half laughter and half speech, I was able to get a laughter detection model running with 87 percent accuracy within a few days.

After creating a training dataset, I got started on the machine learning challenge. The Audioset data does not contain the extracted raw audio, only a 128-length feature vector for each second of input, which is created using a convolutional network operating on the raw audio spectrogram. These feature vectors will be the input for the machine learning algorithm, and the output will be a binary label of whether the input contained laughter. Since I am working with a relatively large dataset, I wanted to use some deep learning methods, so I turned to keras, an API that makes creating and training neural networks extremely simple, while still leveraging the computational efficiency of optimized tensor computation libraries like TensorFlow and Theano.

Since the model input is sequential, I wanted to try a recurrent neural network first. I started with a single layer LSTM model that quickly converged to 87% accuracy. Learning from the code in a very similar project, I found that applying batch normalization to the LSTM input was very important for getting the model to converge. One of the headaches of deep learning is that seemingly trivial details like this can have a large impact on convergence. I was happy with the performance of my first LSTM model, but I decided to try out a couple more options before moving on. I tried a 3-layer LSTM (because if one layer is good, three must be better), then I tried a simple logistic regression model to see if the fancy RNN architecture made a difference. The models performed with 88% and 86% accuracy, respectively, which showed me that, in this case, more layers did not equate to more power.

Ultimately, I ended up choosing the single layer LSTM, even though it was larger than the logistic regression model, because it was able to handle variable length input. The training data was all sequences that were 10 seconds long, but I wanted the laughter detector to be able to respond quicker than that. While the logistic regression could only operate on input that was the same length as the training data, the LSTM model can still operate on any input length, as long as it is split into one-second chunks.

To take the trained model and run it as a live laugh detector, I put together a python script that pulled together a few different steps. First, the audio is captured from the microphone using pyaudio and chunked into three-second clips. (The length of these clips is an adjustable parameter.) The raw audio is then fed into the pre-trained vggish network and converted to a sequence of feature vectors with the same parameters I used for creating the Audioset training data. The sequence is then fed into the trained LSTM model, and the laughter prediction score is returned and written to a timestamped .csv file. By default, the raw audio is then discarded, and only the score is saved. That way, there are no concerns about storing or transmitting anyone’s private conversations. By running the audio capture and processing in separate threads, I was able to run this continuously without any lag on my laptop.

2. Designing the experience

Once I had the ability to measure laughter, I had to tackle the real design challenge: How do we implement the laugh detector in project spaces without making it seem obnoxious or creepy?

I enlisted the help of a few smart colleagues to approach the challenge from multiple angles: a software designer experienced in designing for play, an environments designer to explore how the detector would show up in a project space, and a communication designer who’s written on the science of laughter.

We had a brainstorm around what we might be able to do with a laughter detector, and the ideas poured in. Perhaps we could use laughter as a weekly indicator of morale (similar to Bhutan’s gross national happiness), or host a competition between project teams for who laughed the most? If we could determine when people are laughing, maybe we could figure out why they are laughing, too. We could determine when laughter is genuine or just polite, which jokes are the funniest, or even measure who is laughed at the most.

Some of the more wild ideas included a gif of an IDEO Chicago director Jon Wettersten (below) who laughs along with us, or an alert that would play videos of clowns if we went too long without laughing.

Ultimately, we wanted to select ideas that would give teams insight into their laughter, but not be too intrusive or prescriptive.

Information systems shouldn’t overwhelm users—particularly when that information concerns people’s moods. There are times when it’s appropriate to not be laughing; you don’t want your smartwatch telling you to laugh more during your grandma’s funeral. And if we were to build a device that listens for laughter, we'd need to make sure that we communicate and maintain people’s expectations of privacy.

With all this in mind, we narrowed it down to two concepts that we would take forward into the prototyping phase.

3. Hatching prototypes

The first thing we made was a simple information dashboard built in Dash. We referred to this design as a “FitBit for laughter,” as it was meant to help teams set goals and measure their progress towards those goals.

This raised the the question, what if you could track your emotional health in the same way that you tracked your physical health? What kind of goals would you set? What would your “laughter workout” look like?

To start, we measured laughs by time of day over a period of 24 hours, laughs per day over the past week, and how close teams are to achieving a daily “laugh quota.”

The second prototype used the output of the laugh detector to control the color and intensity of a Hue lightbulb. When there is a lot of laughter in a room, the light glows a bright yellow to mirror the warmth that laughter brings to a space. When there is less laughter, it transitions to a dim blue to help teams stay calm and focused. In this way, the environment responds to the activities and emotion of its inhabitants.

What if the smart systems we create could react not only to a user’s presence or interaction, but adapt to the user’s mood? How might we design smart systems or spaces that are emotionally responsive?

4. User testing

We wanted to see how people would react to the laugh-bulb, so we got a few colleagues to sit down and test it out. The original plan was to play funny videos to stimulate laughter, but as soon as people sat down, they started joking so much, the videos were unnecessary.

Laughter is a reinforcing behavior; when you laugh, the people around you laugh too, creating a virtuous cycle that can leave you laughing until you’re sore. Seeing the light grow brighter as the room fills with laughter adds energy to that cycle. The group that came in to test the laugh-bulb ended up laughing so much that you could hear them throughout the studio.

WATCH: Testing the laugh-bulb prototype.

Next up, I’d love to put these prototypes in front of more people to see whether quantifying laughter can affect their mood. And I'm left wondering, which emotional or mental health signals could be measured and recorded next?

As more aspects of our lives are recorded, we are going to be able to quantify and improve our lives in ways we can’t yet imagine. Let’s design these systems not just to make us smarter, but to make us more joyful, too.

Play goes hand in hand with innovation. I learned this from Brendan Boyle, director of IDEO's Play Lab, who says that if you measure the amount of laughter in a project space, the teams who chuckle most are also the most successful.

As soon as the rain stopped, we got on our bikes to survey the damage. We saw the flowers on the horizon: droopy and sad-looking. Then, suddenly, they started illuminating, one after the other—opening up, blooming. To this day, we still don’t know how they came to life. But the sight was exactly what we had envisioned. Better even.

That was 2014: the official start of FoldHaus Art Collective. Since then, our art installations have become bigger and more audacious. Shrumen Lumen, five massive, origami mushrooms, followed in 2016 (they’re now on exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum), and we most recently built a five-story tall, geodesic sphere covered with 42 origami shells called RadiaLumia.

Each project takes months to design, prototype, and build. Which means I often get asked: Why do you spend your nights and weekends doing this when you have a fulfilling day job as a creative leader?

For me, it means that I get to work with a bunch of other creative types who pitch in to build something beautiful that’s bigger than what any one of us could do on our own. I get to work with my hands in a way that’s rare in my day job, and every project stretches my own sense of what’s possible.

And because FoldHaus projects are always a group effort, we need to broaden the question: Why do any of us—between five and 30 volunteers contribute to our projects on any given weekend—give up sleeping in to solder? Or skip the beach to code LED patterns? As one of the leaders of the group, I have learned a few things about what it takes to build a strong community and take a bold vision from a Post-it to the Playa.

Here are the 5 principles that have helped this team pull off increasingly ambitious projects:

1. Set an audacious—and contagious—vision

Drawing in a team requires not only that you love your idea, but that others do, too. After all, if you’re asking them to volunteer their time, they’ve got to be pulled in week after week, when they could easily be at the taco truck.

Blumen Lumen was a hit because everybody loves flowers. With the Shrumen Lumen, it took some convincing—many worried about associations with 'shrooms at Burning Man. This year, I made sure to test out the RadiaLumia concept with a few key members of the team, so I knew I had broad support. The buy-in worked, and has yielded our biggest team of volunteers by far.

The bottom line: Pressure-test your idea early—before you get too attached to it—so others will want to join up and help you realize the vision.

2. Stand on your own shoulders

Leading people to a grand vision is impressive only if you can actually pull it off. Ladder up from where you (and your team) actually are to where you want to go. And, acknowledge that it may not all happen at once.

Even before our Blumen Lumen, we built three shade structures for Burning Man. One was a disaster, but we learned from it. Now, we ensure that we are leveraging all we mastered the previous year to create the next installation. People are drawn to us because of our bold vision, but they stay with us because they know we have what it takes to make it happen.

The bottom line: Learn from previous outings that you can get over the mountain, so you can ask people to stretch and meet a new challenge.

Folding the origami pieces looks easier than it is.

3. Make it accessible

Part of the fun of leading a creative team is building camaraderie and community. But that can be constrained if a project requires too much specialized knowledge. Ensuring that part of the project is achievable by those without technical or unique skills is key to drawing a crowd when you need it.

On all of our projects, a big part of the effort is folding the plastic origami pieces. That requires pure manual labor, and anyone can be trained to do it, so we hosted all-hands-on-deck build parties every weekend leading up to Burning Man.

The bottom line: If you want to draw a crowd, create easy ways for people to participate without specialized expertise.

4. Leave room for individual passions

When people are motivated to do something, get out of their way and let them go for it. Given the freedom, teammates will create something together that’s more amazing than what a single creative leader could pull off. Set the vision, then let people self-select into groups to get it done.

With RadiaLumia, no one person knows everything that’s going on at every given moment, which is kind of scary but also amazing, because it’s coming together despite—or because—of that!

When we shared the vision at the kickoff meeting in February, there were a bunch of people who’d only just met. Within minutes, they were already troubleshooting light placement. By the end of the afternoon, they’d demonstrated a cool light show—on day one! We now have several self-directed teams that are loosely connected, but working independently.

The bottom line: If you create a compelling enough vision and rough guardrails, you’ll create the conditions for people to self-organize in a way that will surprise you.

5. Embrace ambiguity

The beauty of large-scale creative endeavors is in all of the unknowns. Try to remain flexible about who realizes the vision (and how).

Each year there are moments of extreme uncertainty. Weeks before installing the Shrumen Lumen at Burning Man, the origami kept getting stuck when we tried to pull the stems over the steel substructure that would anchor them to the ground. This was completely unexpected and took two weekends to debug. (Spoiler alert: We fixed it, but not without panic!). Troubleshooting is part of the process.

The bottom line: Expect the unexpected, and look for the beauty and lessons in it rather than the difficulty.

One of the most rewarding parts of FoldHaus is that while I may set the vision, once we pull off a communal project, the whole team feels immense ownership and pride. Being able to share both the process and the result is what makes the late nights and desert rainstorms worth it.

See RadiaLumia come to life at Burning Man 2018.

Also: We’d love to hear about your ambitious team efforts, at Burning Man or elsewhere, using the hashtag #MakerArt.

Special thanks to Amy Bonsall for her massive help crafting this story.

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We’d been working 16-hour shifts to install our art piece, a series of 10 larger-than-life, undulating, mechanical origami flowers. It was our first big build at Burning Man, and it took way longer than we expected to set up. After days, the flowers still weren’t working. Then came a torrential rainstorm.

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.