Increasingly, digital spaces are proving detrimental to youth mental health. By co-designing with youth, Kooth and IDEO set out to flip the script, creating a positive digital space for young people to safely explore their mental wellbeing. 

When Kooth, IDEO, and Blackbird, IDEO’s longtime development partner, first started working on the project, the window of opportunity was narrow, and the stakes were high. The group was up against a nine-week deadline to create a working proof of concept app. Also on the line: a $188 million contract with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)—one that would open an entirely new line of business for Kooth. 

The app needed to do more than demonstrate functionality—it needed to prove its value. To ensure that they were creating an asset that truly fit the needs of young people, the team turned to an initial cohort of 13-25 year-old co-designers who explored early features, created video diaries, and shared their questions about and experiences with mental health. These young people often gravitated toward self-service tools that helped them take action based on their feelings. With their feedback, the team created new expressions of clinically-validated behavioral health tools like journaling, breathwork and white noise—and built novel tools, such as Starboard, an expressive drawing tool and a nod to art therapy. 

The team took inspiration from content the co-designers liked to consume, such as story-driven video games that enable freedom of exploration, deepened by a unifying mythology. That led them to a constellation theme, which made the experience more intriguing and playful. The co-designers also recommended a dark color palette, because they preferred exploring the app at night. 

With these insights, the team refined the proof of concept, and then conducted a one-week pilot with another 50 young people across California. Their positive feedback gave the State the confidence to invest in a $188 million, four-year contract for Kooth to bring the app to a platform at scale. 

Over the next year, the team engaged another 150 young people to help design, shape, and test the app. At the same time, Kooth and IDEO created a clinical oversight group, which included a pediatrician, therapists, and other clinical specialists. This group anchored the platform in the practices of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), cultivating psychological flexibility—the mindful acceptance of positive and negative emotions. Young people are invited to complete short reflections and surveys throughout their journey with the app, which includes rigorous, science-backed measurements to assess the therapeutic benefits.

Behind the scenes, the team developed a clinical-facing service and digital platform that empowers Kooth’s peer specialists, social workers, community curators, and clinicians to support the youth experience, all while protecting privacy and confidentiality. They also navigated a complex landscape of state requirements and government legislation, ensuring that the platform could cover topics like substance abuse and gender identity, and that users could access coaching within 24 hours, and choose from a diverse set of experts. 

The last step was to select a name that worked across multiple languages, trademarks, and competitor branding, and didn’t come off as a mental health service, something the youth co-designers believed was critical. IDEO and Kooth landed on Soluna, a name that alludes to the app’s presence in both the bright (“sol” for sun) and the dark times (“luna” for moon). 

Now, Soluna is available for free to all youth in California, and the state has set ambitious targets for reaching all young people at scale. Soluna is a living platform that will continue to receive product and design updates for years to come, all deeply rooted in youth co-design.

The US Surgeon General named mental health “the defining public health crisis of our time,” and cited social media, online bullying, and the isolation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as major drivers that have significant negative outcomes for youth.
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In California alone, more than 284,000 youth cope with major depression. 66% of kids with depression do not receive treatment. Between 2019-2020, the suicide rate for kids ages 10-18 increased by 20%.
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In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health set aside $4.6 billion to increase access to mental health and substance abuse support, the largest commitment to youth mental health ever made by a state.

94%

of proof-of-concept app users would recommend the Soluna app to a friend, and believe that engaging with the app would be a positive addition to their daily/weekly routine

6 million

young people in California had access to Soluna at launch in January 2024

Creating a better cervical cancer screening experience is an important mission, but also a challenging one. Not only would Teal have to address the regulations that face healthcare device companies, it would also need to build a comprehensive telehealth platform and a physical product—a wand that could easily collect an adequate cell sample, even in the hands of an untrained person. 

The first challenge was to create the wand. The device would need to do a lot: It’s impossible for a person to see their own cervix, so the user would have to be able to find the cervix blind, collect the sample themselves, and remove the wand from their bodies without contaminating it on other parts of their anatomy. Because this is something users are likely to do in their bathrooms, where there is no space to lie down, they would need to be able to use the device while standing—and with one hand. From the beginning, the IDEO team set out to design functional, testable prototypes to make sure the idea was viable, and incorporate diverse voices into the research process, including trans, minority, and disabled women. 

Because the product is meant for people who aren’t medical professionals, the team worked to design something as simple, intuitive, and unintimidating as possible. They used a 3-D printer to create multiples of every prototype, autoclaves to make sure that the designs they were creating were sterile, and leaned into shapes women are already used to, like the cylindrical shape of a tampon. The wand they created has that same basic form, but with a soft sponge that the user can deploy with the turn of a dial to collect the sample, then close to protect it from contamination on the way out of the body.

With working prototypes in hand, Teal set out to test their efficacy. In an initial study with 220 participants varying in age, race, socioeconomic status, and geography, Teal found that not only were participants able to successfully self-collect samples, they also preferred them over the speculum, the device doctors typically use during a screening. Some 92 percent said if they knew the results were equal they would prefer self-collection, while 87 percent reported they would stay current with screening if Teal Wand was an option. Self-collection took the vast majority under two minutes to complete, and 97% of study participants reported it was very easy or easy to use. The Teal Wand recently received a patent for its unique design.

The IDEO team also worked on the packaging and unboxing experience, which plays an important role in supporting the user through the self-screening process. The team built in thoughtful design cues to give users reassurance that they are using the wand correctly, and to provide the same level of confidence they would have in the results of an in-clinic screening. 

In January 2023, Teal raised an $8.8 million seed round from Serena Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Metrodora, and later that year, launched a nationwide clinical trial with leading health organizations including Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, the University of Colorado, Washington University, and others. In 2025, The Teal Wand became the first FDA-authorized device for at-home cervical cancer screening, with virtual medical provider support. Today, it's available in all 50 states. i’s an enormous step toward its North Star: catching cervical cancer earlier and saving lives.

Cervical cancer is nearly 100% preventable when it’s caught early, yet one in four women in the US are not up to date on their screenings.
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More than 12,000 people in the US are being diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and more than 4,000 people die of the disease, which disproportionately impacts Black, Asian, and Hispanic women.
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More than half of cervical cancer cases are found in women that are not up-to-date on their screenings.

97%

of clinical study participants said the Teal Wand was very easy or easy to use.

87%

of participants said they would be more likely to stay current with screening guidelines if Teal Wand was an option.

94%

of participants said they would choose to collect their own sample from home rather than the current standard of care where a clinician collects it in-office.

2025

The Teal Wand becomes the first FDA authorized device for at-home cervical cancer screening, with virtual medical provider support.

Cities United already had a strong foundation with its stated mission, vision, and values. IDEO brought those to life with a new visual and verbal brand identity system that celebrates Cities United’s inclusive approach to building relationships and reimagining public safety.

To help Cities United with its verbal identity, the IDEO team defined the organization's voice, tone, and key messages, making it easier to tell its story more consistently and clearly, a crucial step toward engaging stakeholders.

To define the new visual identity, the team created a new logo, a letter C composed of interwoven shapes that represent the three tenets of their vision—“safe, happy, and hopeful;” a new design language that references city grids; and a typographic system anchored by the typeface VTC DuBois, inspired by W.E.B. DuBois’s own custom lettering and designed by the Black-owned Vocal Type Co. The team also designed a color palette that embodies the textures of city life with hues reminiscent of asphalt, sunrise, and brick. 

To amplify the refreshed branding, the team designed a new responsive website, citiesunited.org. The intuitive site shares the organization’s mission, resources, ongoing projects, and partner network, inviting stakeholders to join in their transformative work. IDEO also created a video to humanize Cities United’s mission and showcase its nationwide impact. It underscores the unity, resilience, and hope embodied by the organization through a chorus of voices.

This comprehensive rebranding widens Cities United’s reach and impact, helping the organization share its goal of creating safe, healthy, hopeful communities for young Black men, boys, and their families, and reintroduces the organization to a national audience. 

The Cities United work was supported by IDEO’s Racial Justice Impact Fund, part of a commitment IDEO made in 2020 to ​​address systemic racism and advance equity within our own organization, our client work, and beyond.

Cities United is committed to reducing the epidemic of homicides and shootings among young Black men and boys ages 14-to-24 by 50%.

Between 2009 and 2019, the number of Black children who “did not go to school at least one day in the past month because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school” increased by 84%, according to Cities United.

Homicide is the leading cause of death for Black men and boys from birth to age 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2023 SF Design Week Award

In recognition of IDEO’s brand work with Citizens United

Sleep is a critical resource for shift workers—and their employers, too. Together, IDEO and Somni worked directly with people with acute and chronic sleep challenges to create concepts that could support their sleep goals, and provide employers with the means to improve employee health.

When IDEO and Somni first partnered, the startup was an early-stage company, so the team started small, with focused sprints and workshops to redesign the core aspects of the company and product offerings. The team interviewed shift workers about their sleep patterns, which can vary quite a bit. Even when people keep to a specific schedule on work days, they often have to change their patterns on days off to spend time with family and friends, leading to a very disruptive sleep cycle. Research revealed that many third shift workers were dealing with sleep and health issues, but also a pervasive “machismo” culture,  pressure to “tough it out,” and a reliance on energy drinks to deal with lack of sleep. 

To address those issues, the team designed a digital experience for sleep cohorts, support groups where members could share their experiences and sleep strategies, and work with a coach and sponsor who already had been through the program. The platform analyzed workers’ data, and provided AI-enabled recommendations for improving their sleep. The big takeaway? Data by itself wasn’t necessarily helpful, and could be confusing for folks who were less digitally-fluent. Providing context, like a calendar that displayed sleep experiments at a glance, was crucial. 

The IDEO team also created a new user experience for a genetic testing program that could uncover factors associated with sleep issues. Somni aims to use a saliva-based genetic test to monitor for DNA damage caused by circadian disruption, then leverage its sleep improvement program to prevent further damage. Because biomarker testing is a differentiating offer for Somni, it was extremely important that the team get it right, both to make sure that users could understand its utility, and for Somni to provide real value. The design challenge was unique—and not just because of data privacy concerns. Presenting data about DNA damage in a non-human-centered way could increase the anxiety workers had around their sleep.

At the end of the project, Somni leveraged the insights the IDEO team surfaced to improve products like its sleep coaching service, and to refine its biomarker testing offering. Based on this work, Somni has also created a pilot with a Fortune 100 company, which is currently in progress, as it works to mitigate the ill effects of disrupted sleep for employees and the companies they work for.

In the short-term, circadian rhythm disruption leads to an array of jet-lag-like symptoms, and in the long-run, it may contribute to weight gain, obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

It also impairs people’s ability to work, affecting productivity, creativity, and the overall work environment. Productivity loss can lead to employer baseline healthcare costs that are 26% higher, and over time, insomnia can result in an average cost of $4,267 more per employee per year.

In June 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified shift work as a probable carcinogen.

75%

user retention in Somni's sleep program

$2,450

savings per year per employee for users who complete the program

33%

improvement in sleep quality, and 41 more minutes per night

Practical is good. But when you are applying to your dream job, being practical is not enough. Cover letters may seem like an extra step, but for those of us on the other side, they’re a way to cut through the noise. I might see 300 applicants for a single job. A cover letter helps me understand the people behind these pieces of paper, and who might really make a difference in the role.

Maybe candidates feel too much pressure to write the perfect cover letter, so they skip it. To that I say, don’t let perfect be the enemy of great. And don’t miss an opportunity to show a company who you are and what you bring with you.

Here are five tips to help you write a compelling, well-crafted cover letter, with excerpts from real letters that helped IDEOers get in the door.

1. Explain why this position makes sense for you now in your career

If you’re shifting industries, or looking for a role with more responsibilities, your qualifications might not be obvious based on a resume or LinkedIn profile. Remember, this isn’t about selling yourself; this is about sharing yourself.

Here's a good example:

I am interested in the recruiting coordinator role because I believe that I have the best skillset and mindset to navigate the different elements of this position, and I am very interested in growing in a career in HR.

My experience in office coordination and operations management has taught me that my workplace passion is in people operations and support. My favorite phrase to dish out is, “Don’t worry about it, I got you.” My goal always is to set people — employees, visitors, friends, strangers — up for success. Whether that means labeling which drawer has paper clips and which has paper towels, or directing questions to people who have the answers, or ensuring that new hires have all they need and more waiting for them on their first day. I strive to be a bridge between teams to help members get what they need to get the job done well, and I am passionate about finding ways in which we can improve that entire interaction. I geek out over creating, improving, and discussing process and ways we can make interactions more human.

2. This is an introduction, not a manifesto

Aim for two paragraphs (if you end up with one or three it’s okay). There is no rule that says cover letters need to be lengthy to lend insight into your background and your interest in the role. On the flip side, the two sentences that state the obvious—you’re applying to such-and-such company and that you hope for an interview—aren’t really cover letters. If this is your go-to move, ask yourself why you’re applying to that role and if you are really interested in it or qualified for it? Because those are the same exact questions the recruiter is asking.

Here’s a pithy explanation of who a candidate is, and what she wants out of a career:

I’m half Scottish, half Chinese and have lived and worked across seven cities in three continents in the past 10 years. I have the unique ability to imagine the world from multiple perspectives. I’m a leader, a dot connector, and a storyteller. I’ve been looking for an opportunity that combines my unique interests in design research and education, and would look forward to hearing more about the team and projects and share how I can contribute.

3. Show some personality in your writing

Try to strike the right balance between being sincere and being authentic. A sincere cover letter gets the reaction, “Wow, they really mean everything they say.” An authentic cover letter gets the reaction, “Wow, they didn’t hold anything back.” Cover letters can have a blend of both—just remember that this is a first impression. When in doubt, stick with sincerity.

Here’s how one successful applicant explained his background, and his values:

So as I sit here in the airport terminal waiting to board, I wonder about the question of my own destination. After honing my expertise in insight-led branding, I want to bring it to a greater range of projects for a company that would allow me to make a positive difference in the world. I feel like my experience with junior designers, my advocacy for design as language, and my commitment to collaboration would help me to be an asset for a brand that shares these goals. After all, that’s what all of us are looking for, to invest our time in brands with which we share the same values.

4. Keep it focused

Sharing a portfolio or summary of past work is not the same as a cover letter. If you want to get visual with images, graphics, charts, and artwork that’s great, just make sure it is in service of communicating why this role, and why you.

This is the entirety of one successful cover letter:

I’m a scientist, a writer, an educator, an artist, and an avid autodidact. What makes me an effective educator is that I have a genuine and self-motivated thirst for learning and for sharing that information with others. My experiences create a design process that is equally as analytical as creative, as researched as inspired, and as concise as expressive. On my nightstand right now, I have The New York Times, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, The Economist, and US! Weekly. It’s a mixed bag, but it’s the best way I can show you that very few things escape the reach of my curiosity. Welcome to my brain:

This image complemented the message of the above cover letter.

5. Address it to the correct company

Yes, this sounds basic, but—believe it or not—this mistake happens all the time. It’s perfectly normal to have a cover letter template you enjoy using—just make sure to tailor your cover letter to the role and organization. And always proofread. (For the companies and roles you’re most excited about, have two other people proofread.)

Here’s how one applicant showed us—in an opening sentence—that they knew a lot about IDEO and the work we do. (Creative Confidence is a book written by David and Tom Kelley, partners at IDEO).

Dear IDEO hiring team,

I put down Creative Confidence on a cold, March Toronto day with a profoundly different perspective on what it means to do meaningful work.

These are all important points to fold into your cover letter, but remember, what matters most is that you show a little personality. After all, we want to hire you, not your resume.

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Let it be known, I love cover letters. For applicants, they’re the best way to express thoughtful excitement for a job. For recruiters like me, they’re the best way to learn about the motivations and aspirations behind an application. But much to my dismay, these days, there’s a common belief that cover letters are superfluous compared to the more practical resume or LinkedIn profile.

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.

Creativity Challenge #1: Push yourself to think divergently and creatively

Actively engaging in exercises that foster divergent or unconventional thinking can encourage the generation of ideas. When you are searching for innovative solutions on your own, mindmaps can be a powerful way to come up with ideas or to gain clarity about a topic of exploration. They are extremely versatile, and we use them all the time. From coming up with ideas for a family vacation to identifying home projects to tackle over the weekend, mindmaps can be used for all sorts of problem solving. They help you chart the recesses of your mind surrounding one central idea. The further you get from the center of the map, the more hidden ideas you can uncover.

Tool: Mindmaps
Participants: This is usually a solo activity
Time: 15-60 minutes
Supplies: Paper (the bigger the better) and pen

Instructions

Step 1: On a large blank piece of paper, write your central topic or challenge in the middle of the paper and circle it. For example, you might write “A great dinner party for friends.”

Step 2: Make some connections to that main topic and write them down, branching out from the center as you go. Ask yourself, “What else can I add to the map that is related to this theme?” In the dinner party example, you might write down “everyone in the kitchen” and “make your own sundaes” as two avenues of thought. If you think one of your ideas will lead to a whole new cluster, draw a quick rectangle or oval around it to emphasize that it’s a hub.

Step 3: Use each connection to spur new ideas. For example, under “make your own sundaes,” you might write “have dessert first” or “cook at the table.”

Step 4: Keep going. You are done when the page fills or the ideas dwindle. If you are feeling warmed up but not finished, try to reframe the central topic and do another mindmap to get a fresh perspective. If you feel you’ve done enough, think about which ideas you would like to move forward with. After drawing the mindmap shown here, David threw a big dinner party in which guests changed tables after each course, enabling them to talk to everyone in the room. Each challenge presents an opportunity for innovation.

Tips from the field

Generally the first set of ideas that branch from the center will feel cliched or obvious. That happens to everyone. Those concepts were in your head and were just waiting to be captured on paper. As the map progresses, however, your mind will open up, and you’ll likely discover some wild, unpredictable, dissociative ideas.

As you experiment with mindmapping, you may find it valuable in all sorts of creative endeavors. As David’s former colleague Rolf Faste used to say, mindmapping can:

1. Get you started and help you overcome your fear of the blank page.
2. Help you look for patterns.
3. Reveal the structure of a subject.
4. Map your thought process and record the evolution of an idea. (You can trace it backwards later in search of new insights.)
5. Communicate both the ideas and the processes to others, so that you can guide them on the same mental journey.

You may be wondering when a mindmap is better than an ordinary list. Lists are great at keeping track of things we don’t want to forget. But the to-do list assumes we know what we want to put on it, whereas, at the start of a mindmap, we don’t yet know where it’s going to lead us. Mindmaps are good at facilitating divergent or unconventional thinking; lists are good for capturing the best answers among the thoughts you already have. Mindmaps help to generate ideas. As such, mindmaps are particularly useful early in the creative process. Lists are better later on, when you want to capture the ideas you’ve generated and are looking for a best solution to pursue. Each of the chapters of Creative Confidence started as a mindmap. Later they evolved into lists of stories and ideas that we wanted to weave together. When you are trying to create something new, use mindmaps to generate ideas and lists to capture the best ones. Together, they can be a powerful combination.

This post is the first in a series of exercises taken from Chapter 7 of . Purchase the book for more on how to use creativity to solve problems.

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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.

In our practice, we believe that cities are catalysts for innovation—every citizen and developer shares responsibility for the city in which they live, and equally shares the potential to bring positive change to that place. Here are six things we can’t stop thinking about redesigning, from the humble sidewalk, to the decentralized workplace, to the way we build our neighborhoods.

Bridging Physical and Digital

My smartphone upstaged my city. I no longer need to walk to the bank, stand in lines, wander through stores—I can do it all faster online. The majority of physical spaces we used to rely on have lost their initial purpose, become underutilized, abandoned and some—like the mall and big box stores—out of business. What should be located in these spaces? How should banks represent themselves in a physical world? What is the future of the service-based businesses?

I’d like to discover a way to reconnect physical and digital innovations, and make these obsolete spaces useful again with shared ownership models and disruptive technologies. I’d love to see more sustainable and flexible business models around “micro-leases,” square footage-based ownership, and so on. The digital era has opened a fantastic opportunity to reshape our relationship with physical spaces, collaborate more, and integrate the architectural world into the discourse around innovation.

— Kateryna Romanova

The Way We Create Buildings

The more cities I visit, the more I realize how similar most of them are—and not in a good way. As an architect, I always find the lack of variety disappointing. The problem begins with the way we construct buildings. Automation has been taking over the construction process, and although there are positive features of this new approach, it leaves out the nuance of human input, which is key to diversity and uniqueness in the built environment. As construction technology marches ahead, I would love to find a way to amplify the voices of the people who will eventually use those buildings, documenting their opinions and needs during the design process. If we can connect the two, then the resulting buildings will be as varied as the people they house.

— Matt Avallone

Sidewalks

Sidewalks are our doorstep to the city. They are a meeting ground for the public—they provide space for eating, exercise, and rest; they house wildlife, foliage, and even micro-businesses. As our cities evolve to be less car-centric and more people-oriented, I would like to envision a continually active role for this diverse strip of land we call the “sidewalk.” In the face of climate change, sidewalks could become permeable strips of land that enable more resilient flood response. They could become extensions of our cultural institutions and art museums, drawing them out of their building envelopes. Sidewalks turned into green belts could convert concrete jungles into urban oases and productive farms. Sidewalks are two-dimensional strips of democracy, and because of their scale, they can serve as a key variable in how we prototype our urban life.

— Nicholas Pajerski

Bringing the Future Forward

Despite the emergence of fast-moving technology that constantly challenges and changes the way we live in our environment, we still mostly design and build in the same old ways. We can dream up all the amazing spaces and experiences in the world, but if we don’t evolve how they truly come to life, we are bound to fail, and our designs will always be stuck in the “future.” If we could find a better way to close the gap between the conceptual ideas of designers and the reality of the user, we’d have a better chance of transforming the lived experience of urban environments.

— Haemi Chang

More Playful Cities and Streets

Play! In the last year, I have started chasing and capturing playful moments in the streets— from graffiti, to a group of kids playing in the water from a broken pipe, to lovers dancing on a street corner. This journey of capturing playfulness in the streets made me more aware and even obsessed with the idea of how we can design the right conditions for playfulness in the city. Why playfulness? Because playing means engaging, engagement brings care. If we are more caring and careful about the streets of the cities we live in, we might build stronger connections for healthier communities. Being playful on the streets requires courage, builds trust, allows for discovery, create communities. Playfulness is fundamental to our social nature, so it’s a useful framework for thinking through how we can build stronger cities and communities.

— Nazlican Goksu

The Car-Centric City

Cities are becoming denser than ever, yet while density forms the perfect conditions for alternative transport, cities are still designed primarily with automobiles as the top consideration. If we were to design first for walkability and safer cycling experiences, we could inspire and incentivize individuals to choose car-free options for getting around.

Designing walkable cities is not limited to creating more sidewalks—a paradigm that still puts drivers first. Walkability requires a serious reconsideration of an entire transportation and urban infrastructure, putting people first and cars second. We need to consider infrastructural changes at multiple scales and from multiple perspectives: creating denser, more mixed-use walkable neighborhoods; optimizing for green public spaces for gathering over sprawling parking lots; better integrating bike storage and building protected bicycle lanes; dispersing art and street lighting throughout major walkways to encourage people to walk more; and lowering speed limits in pedestrian-dense areas to ensure safer, more enjoyable walking and cycling experiences.

— Courtney Song

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Members of the environments design team at IDEO are constantly thinking about the ways we shape cities, and the ways cities shape us. Innovating around established and out-of-date spaces, new forms of retail, the future of living, and mobility is part of our daily lives—and something we don’t turn off when we head home for the day, or even when we go on vacation.

For one, creating keeps you inspired, giving you something to cling onto during those moments when the daily grind gets you down. It also forces you to push your edges—creatively, mentally, maybe even physically. By exploring your own creativity on your own terms, you’re bound to uncover new ways of thinking and working that will serve you in more ways than one.

Not sure where to start? Soak up some inspiration from IDEO designers whose side projects keep them sharp and creatively engaged.

1. If you want to learn a new skill...

IDEO New York’s Alex S. calls himself a “digital alchemist”—in other words, he loves making weird stuff on his computer. When he decided to teach himself 3D coding, he embarked on a slightly unsettling but majorly entertaining side project to create an online, 3D dance floor for his virtual colleagues to get jiggy with it.

READ: How I Taught Myself to Code in 3D

2. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and make something…

In his role as a design director at IDEO Cambridge, Michael Hendrix spends his days thinking big (and staring at screens). To keep his fingers nimble and his mind open, he started a simple yet satisfying side project: Making a paper collage every morning.

READ: I Chop Up Faces Every Morning and So Should You

3. If you’re looking to start a business on the side…

Kim Powers spends her days designing the experience of working at IDEO San Francisco. Two years ago, Kim and her husband purchased an abandoned dry cleaners and transformed it into a coffee shop—and the journey turned out to be directly relevant to her work.

READ: Thinking About Starting a Side Business? Read This.

4. If you want to find a way to mash up your passions…

Legal designer Sean Hewens has a taste for the absurd. On one hand, he’s a fictional mapmaker, and on the other, he brews his own beer. Sean’s side project manages to combine those seemingly unrelated hobbies into what he calls “the ultimate beer drinking experience.”

READ: What Brewing Beer Taught Me About Design

5. If you'd like to build your kids something special…

When she’s not designing software at IDEO Cambridge, Ashley Holtgraver is busy raising her newborn son. To help him grow up healthy and unscathed by the pressures of today’s digital world, she used her programming skills to build her son a “Slow TV.”

READ: Why I'm Building a TV For My Baby

6. If you want to get involved in your community…

Jacob Waites spends his days designing for emerging tech with IDEO CoLab, but on the side, he’s a founding member of Foremost, a creative collective intent on bringing culture to small town Florida. Together, the collective gutted an old gas station and transformed it into a community art center.

READ: How We Turned an Old Gas Station into a Community Hot Spot

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At IDEO, we’re passionate about our jobs—and everything else. Our writers, designers, and researchers spend their spare time going after everything from beer making to starting their own businesses, making toys to writing stories. Why? Because big, small, physical, digital, experimental—no matter what we create, we know it’s valuable.

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.