Looking to understand the role of instant noodles in middle-class Chinese life, the IDEO team conducted in-home research with consumers across a range of life stages and levels of attachment to noodle culture and convenience foods. The first finding was reassuring: Everyone kept instant noodles at home. The category still had a place in middle-class kitchens. But beneath that was a more complicated, emotional story—and an unmet need for convenience and quality to coexist in a single product.

The team discovered that instant noodles are more than just a quick, on-the-go meal; they are a nostalgic comfort food that evokes fond memories. But since their heyday, their role in daily life has evolved. Once a complete meal in itself, instant noodles now often function as a versatile flavor base or culinary accent in other dishes. Because they don’t align with the healthier, higher-quality, and more novel food choices that middle-class consumers aspire to, noodle shops, delivery noodles, or fresh-cooked instant options often win out. Yet, even these alternatives come with trade-offs. Delivered noodles lose texture during transport. Sit-down noodle shops preserve quality but offer limited flavors.  Cooking from scratch meets the bar for both texture and flavor, but requires a significant time investment. As one young mother said, “If I could get the texture of fresh-cooked noodles without turning on the stove, I’d buy that instant noodle for sure.”

The research inspired the creation of a new category, which the team termed “fresh-brewed noodles.” More than just a noodle or broth upgrade, Master Kong’s fresh-brewed noodles would offer the speed of instant noodles with the quality of freshly cooked options, plus flavors not found in traditional noodle shops. The strategic positioning was clear. Executing it by making fresh-brewed noodles mass-producible, affordable, and eventually profitable presented a category-innovation challenge. To get there, IDEO designed a series of dual-track co-creation workshops with the Master Kong team and consumers.

One track focused on prototyping the core product experience: noodles, broth, and toppings. IDEO and Master Kong’s R&D team began by studying the traditional craft of Chinese noodle-making, starting in Shanxi, a region renowned for its noodles. Through successive rounds of prototyping and consumer tasting, the team identified a critical insight: for “fresh-brewed noodles” to be convincing, the innovation had to be centered on the noodles themselves.

Texture alone was not enough. Consumers needed to see a meaningful difference before they tasted the product. IDEO translated this insight into a distinctive noodle profile: irregular, dimensional shapes designed to remain springy, hold sauce and broth, and mimic the resilience of freshly cooked noodles using only hot water. Because this visible shape represented the product’s core value proposition, it became a hero feature on the packaging. The graphic design made a bold visual statement about the noodle form, turning a technical R&D breakthrough into an immediately legible consumer promise: these are not ordinary instant noodles.

A parallel track explored the broader commercial experience: trend-forward and reimagined classic flavor profiles, light yet deeply satisfying broths, carefully selected toppings, and packaging that signals a new level of quality on store shelves. One key insight was that utensils carry meaning. Conventional instant noodles are often associated with disposable plastic forks, while higher-quality noodles are eaten with chopsticks. IDEO translated this cultural cue into the design of the bowl’s lid.

Instead of treating utensils as an afterthought, the team designed a solid, rounded, heat-retaining lid that embeds a pair of small wooden chopsticks. The gesture creates a small ritual of anticipation and reframes the product—not just a convenient instant meal, but a more considered noodle experience. Once opened, the product fulfills that promise with satisfyingly bouncy noodles, a rich liquid broth pouch that replaces the traditional oil-and-powder packet, and a vegetable packet reformulated with more premium whole ingredients.

The first batch of “Te Bie Te” Fresh-Brewed Noodles—Chinese wordplay that emphasizes “special”—launched in August 2025 with three trendy and tried-and-true flavors. Within just three days, sales exceeded 100,000 bowls. Within a week, “Te Bie Te” topped the instant noodle category sales ranking on Douyin, China’s domestic counterpart to TikTok. The outcome was bigger than a product launch—it served as proof that a mature, declining category could be fundamentally reinvented to meet consumers’ real needs. For Master Kong, the project became a North Star and a model for internal category innovation in beverages, ready-to-eat foods, and beyond.

Once a popular, affordable staple, the instant noodle category in China has been declining rapidly due to shifting demographics, rising food delivery options, and increasing customer demand for healthier, more nutritious meals.

‍

According to the World Instant Noodles Association, between 2020 and 2023, China’s instant noodle consumption fell by 4 billion packs.

100,000+

“Te Bie Te” bowls sold in the first 3 days on the market

#1

on Douyin’s instant noodle category ranking within one week of launch

Taylor’s legacy began in 1969 with the founding of Taylor’s College and soon expanded to include Taylor’s University, one of Southeast Asia’s top private universities, as well as many other institutions that serve 35,000 students per year. The family-owned group also operates Taylor’s International Schools, Garden International School, and Nexus International School for students ages 4 to 18. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city, annual tuition at premium private schools like these ranges from about $10,000 to $25,000 USD. Taylor’s wanted to do something different: provide the same level of academic rigor and immersive learning experiences at one-third the cost.

IDEO began by speaking with over three dozen students, parents, teachers, and experts across the capital to understand what was working, what wasn’t, and what was missing from such moderately priced international schools.

A few themes quickly emerged. Families, students, and teachers were worried about the stability of these new private schools, which tended to have higher-than-normal teacher turnover rates and were plagued by financial instability, negatively impacting talent attraction and retention, as well as student learning. Parents appreciated that the schools offered holistic learning experiences, such as field trips to rural areas, including jungles, but wished they were more consistently part of the curriculum. And now, the looming challenge of AI—how to use it, how to teach it, and how to teach with it—was in the background, a persistent cause for concern. The big unmet need? Reassurance that Taylor’s was thinking long-term and systematically about developing the skills, knowledge, and mindsets that would prepare students for an ever-changing world. Parents wanted a school that measured growth in academic, social, and character terms over generations, not just school semesters.

With these insights in hand, IDEO began developing a design Playbook for Taylor’s new brand—Lexel International Schools. A combination of “lexicon” and “excellence,” Lexel’s mission is “building what lasts, learning for life.”

The schools are centered around three key differentiators: 

• Always Ahead: Lexel schools commit to staying current with the topics and subject matter they teach, as well as the tools they provide to students, parents, and teachers.s.  
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• Learning That Builds for Life: The schools ensure programmatic, systemic, and consistent learning experiences from Pre-K to Year 11. Interested students can even continue their post-secondary journey in partnership with Taylor’s University and other higher education institutions within the Taylor’s ecosystem.
  
  
• Educators for the Long Run: These schools commit to ongoing investments in professional growth opportunities for teachers and stable learning environments for students.

Four Lexel Literacies—AI, Digital, Financial, and Nutrition—integrated into the Cambridge Curriculum bring the school’s vision and mission to life.

By systematically integrating AI literacy into its spiral education framework, in particular, an approach where major topics are revisited multiple times through a curriculum to build fluency over time, Lexel ensures parents that the school is thinking a decade ahead from Day One, setting the school apart. In addition to enhancing AI fluency, Lexel offers unique end-of-term experiences called Jungles & Junctions.

Combining three important strands of learning—community engagement, nature-based personal and interpersonal development, and career and university exploration—Jungles & Junctions leverages Taylor’s extended educational network and Lexel’s strategic founding campus within the Gamuda Gardens development in Selangor. Surrounded by tropical rainforests, the township’s residential neighborhoods, theme park, and various sports facilities, including an Olympic-length swimming pool, are transformed into an extended Lexel campus, with a GenAI-driven planner to help teachers streamline the organization of class outings. “The Township is Your Campus” became the tagline for this approach.

In September 2025, just months after IDEO’s collaboration ended, Taylor’s began classes at its first Lexel International School. By mid-year, the new school had achieved 115% of its year-one student enrollment target, with significant inbound demand for Year 2 already demonstrating the school’s market resonance.

The modern campus features spacious classrooms, science and technology labs, a library, a multipurpose hall, and a canteen. Annual tuition ranges from about $2,800 USD for pre-K students to about $6,100 USD for secondary students.

Most importantly, by combining Taylor’s deep academic expertise, Gamuda Land’s development prowess, and IDEO’s innovative design Playbook, Lexel brings quality, affordable international education closer to home for Malaysian families. According to one parent, “My daughter looks forward to going to school every day … and has a lot of opportunities to express herself. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give [Lexel] an 11.” Based on the IDEO Playbook, a second flagship campus in the Southern Klang Valley, which is scheduled to open in September 2026, has already exceeded its year-one target enrollment expectations, with plans to continue extending the Lexel network to other parts of Malaysia and the wider Southeast Asian region in the near future.

Malaysia’s private international school sector has grown significantly as parents seek quality English-language education. However, high tuition fees and limited access to reputable schools are continual challenges for those in the emerging middle class.

115%

of Lexel’s student enrollment target reached during the launch year of its first campus
‍

Year 1 enrollment target exceeded

at Lexel's second campus several months ahead of classes commencing

‍

The American news industry has long been a competitive and saturated market. This has only intensified with the emergence of social media outlets and AI-generated news. Even so, SAN’s rigorously unbiased, fact-based reporting style and rich video storytelling had enabled the ambitious startup to rise above the media fray in just three short years.

With a strong foundation to build on, IDEO sought to further differentiate SAN’s cutting-edge news product and build deeper engagement with a wider audience through a new user experience.

‍Collaborating closely, IDEO and SAN began by delving deeply into media consumption habits. They met with early SAN superfans, news consumers who spent hours a day absorbing content from traditional outlets like Fox and USA Today, and those who looked to their Ring doorbell app or Reddit for news. The takeaways? People were tired of clickbait and clunky interfaces. They sought clear, factual news that was easily accessible, with additional context to help them interpret events and understand their significance. They craved more than one perspective on important topics, so stories felt balanced rather than polarized. They also valued having control over how they consumed news, so making it easy to switch between text, video, and audio formats was crucial.

Together, IDEO and SAN created features across SAN’s website and app that put facts, trust, and transparency at the core of the product experience. Fact Cards distill key data points into clear, shareable units, while the Sources feature allows readers to trace information directly back to its original source. To make complex stories easier to grasp, Big Picture insights drill down into why events matter, surfacing underlying themes, historical parallels, differences in reporting, and common ground. The Why This Story Matters section provides readers with clear framing and sets the story within a broader context, while the Timeline illustrates how events unfold over days, months, or even years. An antidote to news polarization, See All Sides presents left, right, and center narratives for key topics side-by-side, and Media Landscape visualizations reveal how coverage varies across outlets. Finally, to ensure SAN fits seamlessly into readers’ daily lives, the redesigned Today Page is organized into three highly scannable sections: Latest News, Top Stories, and SAN Originals. The combined features create a balanced, clear, and non-polarizing news experience, making it easy for readers to delve deeper into the sources of their news.

SAN now delivers a news experience as modern, dynamic, and trustworthy as its journalism. A month after its debut, the SAN app’s page views increased 1,170 percent year over year compared to June 2024, while active users rose 700 percent. Readers also give the updated mobile experience a 4.8 rating on the Apple App Store. “Our team is delivering reporting that’s both deeply factual and accessible,” said Derek Mead, SAN’s Chief Content Officer. “This redesign is pivotal to the direction journalism needs to take and the leadership role Straight Arrow News is taking on as we help guide the news industry into a brighter future.”

SAN built a loyal readership and gained recognition for its unbiased reporting. To expand and stand out from legacy media, SAN  wanted a redesigned user experience that reflected its commitment to fact-based journalism.

1,170%

increase in app page views YoY 

700%

increase in active users

4.8 rating

on the Apple App Store

Sanofi was the first company to supply the polio vaccine worldwide. Because of the global fight against the disease, endemic wild poliovirus transmission is now limited to just two countries. However, attitudes toward vaccines and immunizations have shifted significantly. To ensure a smooth launch of Beyfortus in a time of increased vaccine hesitancy, Sanofi asked IDEO to conduct research across four important and very different healthcare markets: Germany, Spain, China, and the US.

IDEO worked with parents, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and healthcare administrators to identify potential barriers to vaccine adoption and understand the emotional needs of all stakeholders involved in the immunization process. Navigating cultural differences and diverse healthcare environments, the team uncovered a set of insights.

For healthcare professionals, the team discovered there was no one-size-fits-all approach to immunization training across Sanofi’s 20-plus global markets. While consistency of key information was important, trainings needed to be flexible and customizable. This way, regardless of whether the vaccine was administered by midwives, OB-GYNs, nurses, or doctors, they could  confidently discuss the pros and cons across cultural contexts and administer the drug correctly.
‍
For new parents, receiving information about a new immunization immediately after giving birth could be too stressful. But simply leaving pamphlets about Beyfortus in waiting rooms didn't address their real concerns, either. Caregivers needed to engage in conversations earlier in their pregnancies and continue them after leaving the hospital, when they might have additional questions.

IDEO translated these research insights into a highly accessible global communication toolkit that uses simple, straightforward language, metaphors, and illustrations to support informed conversations between healthcare providers and parents before, during, and after a child is born. IDEO then conducted a series of market-fit co-design workshops with representatives of Sanofi’s global immunization business to iterate on the print and digital tools, make them more resonant with regional customers, and ensure compliance with local regulations. IDEO handed the toolkits over for development to support the launch of Beyfortus in January 2024, just in time for RSV season.

Beyfortus saw enormous demand in its first year, demonstrating strong efficacy in real-world applications and achieving blockbuster status as a $1.8 billion therapy. Sanofi’s global launch team credits the patient-centric toolkit with increased requests for communication materials from its regional markets as well as from healthcare and government organizations that have typically been hard to reach, key goals of its global-local launch strategy.

Since its development, Beyfortus has received swift regulatory approval from the US, EU, China, and Japan, with patient demand causing Sanofi to triple its worldwide manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of the 2024-25 RSV season. Ahead of the larger global distribution of Beyfortus, IDEO and Sanofi partnered with equity expert consultants, Fearless Futures, to conduct a DEI review and worked with doctors and nurses who participated in the initial drug launch to make the materials even more accessible, relevant, and successful for 2025 and beyond. To date, six million babies—and counting—have been immunized with Beyfortus.

Worldwide, childhood vaccination hesitancy among parents fluctuates between 25-45%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a trend it considers one of the biggest global threats to public health.

85.9%

‍reduction in hospitalizations for infants who received Beyfortus compared to those who did not (2023–24 RSV season)

$1.8B

in first-year sales of Beyfortus

‍

Take a look at ChatGPT or other generative AI systems, and you’ll notice they look a lot like a Google search bar.

We’re still in the awkward, early phases of AI, where the technology is so new, the only way people have figured out how to interact with it is a way they’re already familiar with—even if it doesn’t make the most of the new technology. (ChatGPT itself admits its interface wasn’t designed with users in mind.)

Given where we are in the evolution of the technology, we decided to imagine new models for how we would want to interact with A.I. We borrowed a little inspiration from the Joaquin Phoenix movie Her, about a man who falls in love with the operating system in his phone, and the concept of calm technology, which is unobtrusive and embedded in our everyday lives, to come up with seven ideas for AI interaction paradigms we’d like to see in the world. There was only one rule: no chatbots. (Spoiler: We broke the rule.)

Here’s what we came up with.

1. Neverending Story Book: AI-generated bedtime stories 

This hardware device uses generative AI to always tell a new tale—and one that users can help shape. While some inputs are constrained, like the genre knobs, the subject matter open input box can accommodate as much creativity as the user can produce. This combination of constrained and flexible inputs provides guardrails for how users are meant to interact with the device, and by extension generative AI.

2. Tamaglitchi: An AI pet, embodied

It’s about time somebody made a pet with an off button. Tamaglitchi uses models trained on thousands of hours of dog and cat noises, behaviors, and interactions with humans to create an experience that is so close to having an actual pet, your parents can’t say no. (A prototype to meow at, via Character.AI.)

3. Portals: Handheld, AI-enabled circular lens that enhances connections

With so many devices that command our attention and pull us away from our physical environment, Portals are windows that allow us to refocus on the people in our lives and the natural world. Leaning into the passthrough quality of augmented reality, Portals allow users to capture memories and style inspiration in real time with minimal disruption to their field-of-view. Using machine learning models, Portals provide users with valuable social nudges and additional context to objects, people, and places in their environment.

‍

4. RemixRemote: Custom entertainment content on demand

The future of personalized entertainment: When you have a specific amount of time available and an inkling of what you might like to watch, you can generate something that meets your specific needs. The RemixRemote uses generative AI to create unique content tailored to your taste and time availability. Collect ideas of what you’re interested in, then press down on the voice input dial to describe qualitative aspects of your inspiration. Pressed for time? Each turn of the dial cuts (or adds) 15 minutes to your content’s duration, making sure you can fit this into your schedule.

‍

5. Collective Sentiment Mirror: An installation that summarizes conversations 

This AI will gauge the conversations in a room and spatially map them in an installation in the ceiling. Each person is represented by a glowing dot, and as they interact with other people, interconnections between the dots grow. Opt-in poetry: The ceiling can also generate poetic summaries, picking up nouns or a single word based on the conversations happening in the space. 

‍

6. Scent Capture: Meet the eNose

eNoses digitize odors using a graph neural network. Once scent is recorded, scent capture will organize, tag, and combine smells to create AI-generated scents as unique as you. Relive your experiences by sending your custom scent profiles to be translated into physical forms like perfumes, candles, and essential oils.

And for the last one, we tossed out the rulebook, leaning into chatbots.

‍

7. ArticulateGPT: An LLM that reduces articulation barriers

ArticulateGPT seeks to address one of the biggest issues users face today: their ability to translate their thoughts into words. It gives users options for what to say, so they don’t have to deal with the paralysis of a blank slate. But it’s not just to help with speech or written communication; users can flow between multiple media types, like text, code, imagery, video, audio, and even 3-D. 

How do you want to interact with A.I.? We’d love to hear from you: ai@ideo.com

Special thanks to Grishma Rao, Neal Boyer, and Ceci Gomez for their work in coming up with these concepts. 

When humans design paradigm-shifting technologies, they often create a similar interaction model as the technologies that came before.

He made a plea: “I need your help. If you have looked at computers, they look like garbage. All the great product designers are off designing automobiles or buildings … People are going to spend more time interacting with these machines than they do interacting with automobiles today.”

Jobs foresaw a future where those machines—computers—would be central to our lives. But he also knew that if mass adoption was to happen, they’d need to make them more beautiful, intuitive, and delightful. In other words, more desirable. 

So what does that have to do with the climate crisis? 

Climate solutions already exist. Whether based in nature or in state-of-the-art technologies, we have the means to halve emissions in the next decade. But if we are to avoid the most dire consequences of climate change, these solutions must be adopted much faster, in more places, by many more governments, businesses, and people.

The climate crisis is a technology challenge, an investment challenge, and a regulatory challenge. But it is also a crisis of adoption, where we need to accelerate the uptake of climate strategies, solutions, and jobs. Fast.

The climate crisis is also a crisis of adoption.

Just as happened with computers in the 1980s, public interest in sustainable solutions is growing, but has not yet reached mass appeal. It makes sense: When was the last time you saw a house that looked better with the addition of solar panels? Or a community excited to install wind power in their backyard?

Desirability can help. What if regenerative agriculture could be a simpler business for farmers and a more affordable option for people? What if alternative meats tasted demonstrably better than a burger made of beef? What if repairing something you already have could be as much of a thrill as buying something new?

Since our early days, IDEO has centered people’s needs and desires—often hidden or latent—in how we think about design. Over time, that work has extended into helping the world’s leading companies make sustainability desirable, from designing electric cars with Ford, or removing waste from H&M’s supply chain, to helping Conservation International design strategies that protect natural resources.

We see three ways design can make the greatest impact toward accelerating and scaling effective climate action. Each supports our central thesis: The climate crisis is a human crisis. If we want businesses and people to make a climate-positive choice, make sure it’s a desirable choice.

1. Create compelling future visions, especially for leaders.

‍Nobody is willing to embrace the pain of change unless they see potential for a better future on the other side—including both new opportunities and ways to avoid loss. We see leaders experience a symphony of emotions over the course of climate-centered work, from denial to acceptance to purpose. That angst is the hallmark of a shifting mental model—from seeing sustainability as a business constraint to seeing it as an opportunity for growth. Futuring—the craft of creating informed and plausible visions of the future—is a key design tool to help that process along. When leaders explore potential futures, they realize they can’t opt out of the climate crisis, and start to see the extraordinary potential of the moment they’re in.

2. Design iconic products, services, and experiences, specifically for the Climate Era.

The competitive advantage of the future will be enjoyed by companies that thrive within planetary boundaries. The pressure is coming from constraints on resources, more stringent regulation, and shifts in public sentiment. But that’s an opportunity too: to make iconic things that could only be designed in, and for, the Climate Era.

One example: The Ford F-150 is currently America’s best-selling truck. IDEO helped Ford design its latest edition: the electric F-150 Lightning, which has been described as the best version of the truck. Here’s why: The Lightning has more power and torque than any of its predecessors and more electric sockets than the average apartment. When there’s an emergency, like the catastrophic storm that hit Texas a couple years ago, the F-150 saves the day by acting as an emergency power backup. There is also the “frunk” (a storage compartment where the internal combustion engine once was) that doubles as a cooler, and a tailgate that can be converted into a workbench for power tools, laptops, and more. Is it sustainable? For the truck owner, that’s not the point. The point is that it’s a better truck.

None of the F-150 Lightning features can be copied by a truck with an internal combustion engine. They are all creative affordances of the core technology behind the F-150 Lightning—electrification. 

In other words, in the Climate Era the goal should not be to create a sustainable version of a given product. It should be to create a far better version of a product in ways made possible because it’s sustainable. 

Ford’s F-150 Lightning is an example of an iconic Climate Era product, and it’s showing the way for the entire industry. The world needs many more.

3. Merge product innovation and sustainability into one team.

The vast majority of  sustainability-related challenges begin at the design stage, yet most of today’s efforts are focused on compliance—reducing the negative impacts of things that are already in the market. 

Transforming a business to operate within our planetary boundaries is an innovation challenge, not a reporting, marketing, or PR one. So nature-positive thinking needs to show up from the start, with innovators, designers, and technologists who are versed in sustainable strategies. Leading organizations are now hiring combined Heads of Innovation and Sustainability. 

As the decade progresses, we foresee corporations transitioning from an umbrella, organizational level of accountability—“getting to Net Zero”—to requirements and norms that operate at the level of individual products. Allbirds’ net zero shoe, Apple’s net zero watch, and the regenerative packaging solutions created by Notpla serve as early examples. The teams behind those products will inspire others and be the engines of change for our economy—and they’ll attract funding, talent, and customers faster than anyone else.

One large grain of salt: Designing for desirability is one of the reasons why we’re in this mess. 

Design has fuelled mass consumption of disposable goods. Can the force that helped create the problem be redirected to help solve it? We believe it can and it must.

Government policy and private and public investment create the conditions that push the adoption of climate solutions, but it’s desire that creates the pull. That’s why making climate solutions desirable is a critical piece of the climate action puzzle. Push and pull. We need both.  

Back in 1984, Jobs closed his speech to designers with this: 

"We at Apple feel that … we are at the right place at the right time to put something back. [M]ost of us didn’t make the clothes we’re wearing, and we didn’t cook or grow the food we eat … We are constantly taking.

The ability to put something back into the pool of human experience is extremely neat. I think that everyone knows that in the next ten years we have the chance to really do that. And we will look back and say ‘God, we were a part of that!’”

Especially in industrialized regions, like Europe and North America, we built our lives and economies around taking whatever we wanted from the planet.

It’s long past time to stop taking. We have to put something back. And that means redesigning much of our world to meet the demands of the Climate Era, and to do it within our lifetimes.

Change at such a scale can only happen fast if it’s what people want.

In other words, it’s time to make better things … because it’s a way we can make things better.

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In Dubai for #COP28? Please join one or more of the IDEO Climate Lab sessions, where we’ll explore these questions in greater depth.

‍If you want to know more about IDEO’s climate-centered work, please get in touch: climate@ideo.com.

We stole this headline from Steve Jobs. In 1984, five months after Apple introduced the first Macintosh, Jobs spoke at the International Design Conference in Aspen.

Founding Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known to most as the d.school, was a big part of that. The goal of the d.school has always been to bring diverse disciplines together to solve problems, and to help people gain creative confidence.

But we’ve never wanted our methods and capabilities to be siloed within our walls. That’s why I’m so proud to share the collection of design guide books the d.school has published, written by colleagues and friends with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work and teach. To give you a sense of what you can find in them, I’ve asked the editors at IDEO to spotlight some of the things they particularly liked, so that we could have the pleasure of sharing them with the broader community. I am giving them as holiday gifts this year and our friends at Porchlight Books are offering a special discount  if you want to do the same. Enjoy!

—David Kelley

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The Secret Language of Maps by Carissa Carter

Whatever you think this book might look like, get ready for a surprise. Instead of a dry how-to, Carissa Carter, the academic director at the d.school, opens her book with the first chapter of a murder mystery, using a set of clues to illustrate a lesson on the wide range of forms that maps can take. Cartographic formats, data exploration, and methods are woven in between the chapters, drawing on the clues and themes to not only help you solve the mystery, but also expand your definition and understanding of what maps can be, and how you can craft your own. More than a clever manual that is useful for anyone making maps or graphs, The Secret Language of Maps breaks ground on an entirely new genre of instructional storytelling.

‍

Design for Belonging by Susie Wise and Design Social Change by Lesley-Ann Noel

Together, these two books offer paths to help navigate building a more inclusive world. 

Dr. Susie Wise, the founder and former director of the K12 Lab Network at the d.school, breaks down Design for Belonging into three chunks: the feeling of belonging, the moments during which belonging occurs, and the process of shaping your context so that belonging can emerge. The first chunk has exercises to help designers uncover what it really feels like to belong, while the second invites you to deconstruct belonging in your own life and the systems you dwell in—from the experience of entering a place of work to shopping in a grocery store, to how you share invitations with others. The final third details the design levers you can pull to engender inclusivity, from the spaces you meet in to the rituals and groupings you create—even what you choose to wear. “When people feel like they belong, they are able to be their best and do their best,” she writes.

‍

In Design Social Change, author Lesley-Ann Noel offers a roadmap for transforming social norms, structures, and behaviors. The book includes a process guide that lays out all the steps of social change, from building a team to generating ideas and refining prototypes, but also opportunities to look inward, raise critical awareness, and understand the different types of oppression in the world around you. The “Checklist for Equity in the Design Process” is a particularly useful tool for designers to check their assumptions, ensure that they’ve considered all the stakeholders, and think through the consequences of their designs, while “Strategies for Thriving in the Face of Hostility” offers helpful methods for anyone trying to dismantle systems of oppression.

‍

You Need a Manifesto by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn 

Why do you need a manifesto, you ask? “In this age, where it seems like everyone is being recruited by everyone else every moment of the day, you need a way to recruit yourself to your own cause, a method for collecting and considering your own power to create and to make positive change in a world that sorely needs it,” writes Charlotte Burgess-Auburn, director of community at the Stanford d.school. What follows is a guide to composing your own manifesto, with recommendations for sources of inspiration and wisdom, thoughts on 21st Century design ethics, and even how to spread the word. Figure out what to say yes and no to, and what you want to go after by following this helpful guide.

‍

Make Possibilities Happen by Grace Hawthorne

The first page of this book declares it an “operator’s manual for you and your wits!” That includes a long list of activities to help you activate your ideas and creativity, including Duchamp-inspired exercises and visualizations, a guide to focusing on the things in your project you can actually control, and help crafting a pitch of your idea. Both a kick in the pants and a hand to hold, this book is great for folks looking to get their creativity into the world. 

‍

‍The full collection also includes: Drawing on Courage by Ashish Goel; Navigating Ambiguity by Andrea Small and Kelly Schmutte; This Is a Prototype by Scott Witthoft; Creative Hustle by Olatunde Sobomehin and sam seidel; and Experiments in Reflection by Leticia Britos Cavagnaro.

At some point in my career, I shifted from being the guy designing the thing, to the guy building the stage for others to do the work.

To make gifting a little easier, we’ve pulled together a list of IDEOers’ favorite things, from the best pens for drawing to our favorite pottery, and even a superior garbage can. We asked our Play Lab to weigh in on their favorite toys, too. So make your list, check it twice, and take a stroll through our 2023 Gift Guide.

FOR THE CRAFT

Pentel Sign Pens, $8 for a box of 12‍

Offering amazing ink flow with tips smaller than Sharpies, these pens are one of our designers’ favorite drawing tools. 

‍

Culture Hustle: Black 4.0, $49.99‍

According to the company, it’s the blackest black paint “in the known universe.” 

‍

Stanford d.school Book Collection, $128

We’re big fans of this collection of 10 design guide books, which is “designed to help you adapt to change, see things in new ways, work well with others, and peer into our collective future.” Give the whole set, or break them up—You Need a Manifesto is helpful for anyone navigating change, or running their own practice, while Design Social Change is a great guide to meeting the current moment.

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Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information by David Byrne, $98

EEEI not only shows that PowerPoint can be art, it contains one of our designers’ favorite definition of knowledge management

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Manufactum Notebooks, $18

These are small enough to fit in a pocket, but with enough pages to last you for months. 

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FOR THE KIDS ON YOUR LIST

Magformers, $54

The fun, fidgety way these building blocks snap together makes them perfect for kids of all ages to build all sorts of things with—and of course, smash apart! Magna-Tiles may be more popular, but we prefer Magformers with their rounded edges.

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Books from Ashay by the Bay

This black-owned bookstore specializes in African-American and multicultural kids books, from baby board books all the way up to novels written for teens. It’s based in Vallejo, California, but ships across the country and to Canada. 

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Bitzee, $25

This interactive Tamagotchi—like toy with a techie twist includes 15 cute little pets for kids to discover, nurture, evolve, and play with.

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COOKEEZ MAKERY Cinnamon Treatz Oven, $51

Mix the ingredients into dough, mold it into a pet, pretend to bake it in the oven, and surprise! Out pops a plush pet. The trick here is finding it—it’s incredibly popular, and comes highly recommended by the Toy Lab.  

Twister Air, $15

The one toy on our list that we helped make, Twister Air is an active, digital take on the classic game. Challenge your friends to move their hands and feet to the beat—or play solo! For an app-based game, it’s a great way to get moving. 

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FOR SOMETHING MORE PERSONAL

Block Shop Textiles, $145-$195

The Southern California textile, art, and design studio run by two sisters has such big fans at IDEO, we actually interviewed them to learn more about their craft. Gift ideas range from a bandana printing kit to beautifully patterned bathrobes.

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Monastery Skincare, $48-$293

This brand is a big favorite in IDEO’s skincare lovers’ Slack channel. Fans love it for its beautiful, luxurious texture and scent. 

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Anecdote Candles, $26-34

An IDEO alum is behind these scented candles that also “spark a conversation.”

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Casio Men's Casual Classic Digital Bracelet Watch, $22

Missing the features of a smart watch, sure, but this Casio is a classic favorite that won’t have your emails popping up on your wrist.

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Concha Coin Purse, $7

A sweet gift with a sweeter price point, this coin purse would make a great stocking stuffer. But if you’re looking for something bigger, Chicago’s Mestiza focuses on Latinx artisanal products, and ships around the country. 

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FOR THE KITCHEN

Sichuan Chili Crisp, $17

At this point, Fly By Jing’s perfectly savory, spicy, crispy condiment needs no introduction from us, so consider this a gentle reminder that delicious gifts make the best gifts. 

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Yes, Chef Gift Box, $46

Thrill fans of The Bear with four of Oaktown Spice Shop’s favorites, vadouvan, urfa biber, umami sea salt, and kampot peppercorns. Bay Areans can visit the store in Oakland or Albany, but it ships across the country, too. 

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Kinto’s Travel Tumbler, $34

One IDEOer is a big fan of Kinto’s minimalist and refined design aesthetic, and the tumbler in particular, which has held up over the years with just a few dings and dents. “ As a product designer, you really can’t argue with any detail on those products,” he says. 

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Mill, $33-$45 per month

Composting. Great for the planet, not always great for the smell in our kitchens. Mill is something different, a bin that dehydrates and shrinks your food scraps, and a service that picks them up. One of our designers calls it “life-changing.”

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FOR THE HOME

Herringbone Outdoor Scraper Door Mat, $31

This doormat is a serious defender of the cleanliness of your floors, and won’t cause a wood deck to discolor or rot.

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Rubbermaid Defenders Step-On Trash Can, $217

If it’s good enough for infectious waste, hopefully it can handle whatever is going on at your house. One IDEOer recommends these garbage cans for their clean, classic lines, robust construction that can handle kids and dogs, and their ability to contain smells. 

Daxue Folding Garden Lounge Chairs, $265 for two

Folding chairs aren’t known for their looks, but these wooden numbers have an attractive design, don’t hold water, and are easy for kids to climb on. 

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East Fork Pottery, $40-$94

The Asheville, N.C.-based ceramics company makes pottery with clays from the American Southeast, crafting everything from mugs and plates to vessels that hold candles. Check out gifts under $100, like a four-pack of bowls in panna cotta, or a mug in Henri’s red. 

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FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

AI Against Humanity, $40‍

Made by a former IDEOer, this dystopian take on Cards Against Humanity puts the future of the world in your hands. It comes complete with 200 cards of technological turmoil and venture capitalist wild cards. “Get ready for a dystopian deck where Silicon Valley fantasy gets a reality-check.” 

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Session Bong, $185

IDEO alum Vinh Pho’s Session Goods has created award-winning glass bongs and other smoking essentials for the well-curated home. 

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Actually Curious Cards, $25

The original version is less a party game than a deck of cards with questions that are designed to spark conversations that help people get to know each other better. Want something more light-hearted? Go for the Happy Hour edition.

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Pluto Pillow, $160

Part travel pillow, part sensory deprivation tank, this product IDEO helped design will get you to your destination as well rested as anyone on a plane can be.

Wondering what to get the design-obsessed in your life this holiday season? We’ve been there.

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.

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