As the curtain parted on moooi’s 2022 exhibit, the audience was treated to a multi-sensory performance unlike any other: four synchronized robot scent diffusers telling a story through dance. As the robots—called Piro—swayed and dipped to the beats of a custom-designed soundscape, it was easy to forget the performers were made by a team of industrial designers and engineers in San Francisco.

The work expressed a future vision for what it means to humanize technology. Rather than design technology to make our lives more efficient, what if instead we designed technology to make life more beautiful?

For twenty years, moooi has seduced the world with bold, imaginative design. The firm, named after the Dutch word for beautiful, made its name by designing furniture and home goods that appeal to an interest in pushing the edges of form as much as function. Moooi came to IDEO looking to create an exhibit for the largest furniture fair in the world that might provoke the audience to imagine a world where design’s primary function was to inspire joy.

“Defy Gravity”: one of several experiential “worlds” moooi created for the 2022 Salone del Mobile. Each room had its own scent, soundscape, color, and digital experience.

Our process started by going wide. We presented 20 potential conceptual designs to the team, one of which moooi founder Marcel Wanders lovingly referred to as the “farting pet,” a robot scent diffuser that could walk around the home.

A scented smoke ring lingers in the air after Piro’s final crescendo.

From there, a team of IDEO designers enlisted the support of Catie Cuan, a choreographer who specializes in human-robot interaction, and Dutch sound design firm KLOAQ, to refine the concept into a four-minute performance piece.

Piro learned to mimic balletic human gestures.

The final result was technically involved: four robots moved independently, controlled by custom electronics and software designed to mimic the movements and grace of ballerinas. But in the performance itself, the complex mechanics disappeared, allowing the audience to experience not just what technology can do, but how it can make us feel.

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What happens when a designer and a classically-trained choreographer collaborate? Attendees of Salone del Mobile.Milano, the largest furniture fair in the world, got to see for themselves.

To build a climate-resilient future, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach across industries and organizations, as well as the leadership and collaboration of frontline communities themselves. 

To that end, IDEO and CSAA Insurance Group worked together to unite nine partner organizations, including Aon and the Environmental Defense Fund, to launch an open call for solutions to help communities prevent, prepare for, and recover from climate-related disasters. The goal of the Challenge was to surface actionable and scalable ideas that experiment with new technologies, models, and partnerships, then provide innovators with the support and funding they need to get their ideas off the ground and into the hands of frontline communities.

IDEO set these entrepreneurs up for success throughout the submission process, holding one-on-one conversations with participants, sharing constructive feedback on potential solutions, and developing their ideas and skill sets. The team also hosted workshop and panel sessions to grow community bonds and provide expertise on critical topics, including assessing climate risk and storytelling for impact. Hundreds of ideas came in from around the world, ranging from harnessing the power of AI, to building resilient infrastructures, to democratizing access to climate data, and more.

Once all of the ideas were in, a cohort of judges with a wide diversity of work and lived experience screened for concepts that were relevant, impactful, novel, community-informed, and equitable. At the end of the Challenge, the team chose 13 winning concepts with high potential for impact and partnerships, including Reef Rocket, which seeks to fabricate natural biocement reefs that reduce coastal flooding and erosion, and BurnBot, which is working to prevent wildfires by conducting controlled burns at scale.  

For these winning entrepreneurs, the end of the Challenge is just the beginning. Now, they are equipped with critical early funding, as well as a cohort of climate entrepreneurs, along with mentorship from IDEO, CSAA, and the other organizations. It’s a big step forward as they introduce new forms of equitable and transparent data, promote the voices of BIPOC communities, and bring to market new technologies that will protect and support frontline communities through this ongoing crisis. 

Read the Challenge Impact Report to learn more.

In the US alone, climate-related disasters cause $120 billion in damages annually. That figure is five times greater than 50 years ago, and projections are $2 trillion by the end of the century.

Nearly 90% of counties in the US declared a natural disaster over the last decade.

418

submissions

13

winners

$1M

in prizes

Every year, the NSF provides around 30 teams with up to $750,000 and a year’s worth of coaching, training, and collaboration to develop solutions for research areas like sustainable ocean use or combating fake news. Over the course of nine months, the teams learn how to uncover insights about human needs and design durable solutions for end users. But many of the scientists and experts in the program felt stretched by the idea of putting the needs of end users in the mix with their scientific testing—something few of them have been trained to do in their previous work.

To make that process feel more achievable, the teams built out prototypes and received guidance on refining and pitching their ideas along the way. IDEO joined the project as an innovation partner, facilitating hands-on workshops and creating “Science TV” episodes that could help the program reach a broader audience, deepening its impact now and in the future.

To help grantees get vulnerable, and evolve their ways of working, IDEO sent grantees to improv training  so that they could learn to build off each other. The team also took them to magic shows and on ghost tours in downtown San Francisco to learn the value of compelling storytelling in their work. The fun was part of the plan—gelling as a team and building relationships meant participants could make mistakes in front of one another. Being wrong doesn’t come naturally to academics, but it’s a key part of the design process, and a crucial part of solving complex problems .

Each year, a select group of teams move onto the next phase of the “coop-etition,” receiving up to $5 million in additional funding. And all of the participants leave with valuable new skills they can use to break out of their own silos and create human-centered, ground-breaking solutions for the rest of their careers.

When the NSF launched the Convergence Accelerator and made the radical move of bringing together teams from different disciplines, these academics, scientists, and industry partners didn’t have a shared language to move their ideas forward, and needed a structured approach to coming up with new solutions.

164

trained research teams

$200M

in federal support granted to AI-driven innovation, quantum technology, food security, sustainable materials, opportunities for people with disabilities, and more

IDEO and The Earthshot Prize built a nine-month Fellowship program and a five-day, in-person retreat to give Finalists the best shot at reaching the Prize’s ultimate goal: to scale the solutions that will repair our planet this decade.

To build out the new Fellowship, IDEO took a deep dive with the previous year’s Finalists to uncover where they needed critical support. This research revealed that the Finalists needed more ways to leverage the Earthshot platform, connect with potential partners to help scale their ideas, and build community with each other. The IDEO team then used those insights to create a set of recommendations The Earthshot Prize team could implement to create a more supportive and structured experience. Ideas they took forward included assigning a designated “Leap Advisor” who could provide guidance and assistance for each Finalist, as well as an advisor from the Prize’s Global Alliance Network who could partner on specific growth initiatives, like scaling product design, or policy change. 

Next up: the design of the retreat itself. Together, IDEO and the Earthshot team had three goals for the cohort’s week together in Windsor: focus on new forms of leadership and movement building, spur action through storytelling, and foster community.

The team developed the curriculum with leaders from Google X and Speed & Scale, alongside startups like UPSIDE Foods. They designed moments to build community, like paired walks and a chocolate-making workshop where Finalists could get to know each other away from the noise of meetings. 

Photographers captured the event to create assets for Finalists to use when pitching their ideas, and Finalists honed their storytelling skills. But what most remember is the magical moments of coming together as a cohort of next generation climate leaders who will help each other make an impact on the problems facing our planet, long after The Earthshot Prize has concluded.

The problems facing our planet are enormous, spanning industries, borders, currencies, and regulatory environments. Meaningful solutions will require leaders who can work across those lines.

30

climate solutions accelerated in first two years

Reprinted from the SHRM Executive Network’s People + Strategy journal.

Derek Robson, our CEO, and Tim Brown, our Chair, believe that the fundamental role of leadership teams has changed.

The fundamental role of the C-suite has changed. In the past, the leadership team's job was to keep the existing machine humming, optimizing for efficiency and profitability. But now the challenge goes beyond delivering business results to driving transformation—in effect, building a new machine that will thrive in the future and, ideally, the present.

And the demands placed on most senior leaders of organizations have grown exponentially. Not only are they required to be constantly reinventing the company, but they must also navigate the growing expectations of employees, investors, and other stakeholders who believe that corporations and their leaders should play a larger role addressing broader issues in society that historically fell outside the purview of business. And the demands these leaders face will only increase given that relentless disruption and uncertainty are now facts of life.

Who can live up to this superhuman job description? It's time to start contemplating a mindset shift and possible reimagining of how the C-suite operates. We see four fundamental shifts that can help executives teams evolve.

How might we shift from answers to questions?

It used to be that chief executives were expected to have all the answers to any question, as if they were Athena, the goddess of wisdom. But in our conversations with CEOs over the last few years, many share the opinion that the primary role of chief executives has to shift to being constantly curious rather than all-knowing.

In a sense, the CEO needs to move from being chief executive officer to chief inquiry officer. The ability to ask the right questions is arguably more important for the CEO than having the right answers. That's because questions provide long-term focus for companies, whereas the right answer in one context can quickly become the wrong answer amid shifting contexts.

That then raises the question of whether one person can realistically be expected to be able to have all the knowledge, expertise, and insight required to explore new territory and create those questions. The answer to that is almost certainly no, and that creates a bit of a dilemma for the CEO.

Where do they get the help to be constantly curious? It may be too much to expect that support from their direct reports, given that their primary responsibility is to execute the strategies that emerge from those questions. The board may not be much help, either. Boards, for the most part, are not expert enough. They have an important role to play, and maybe some board members can play that role. But it's not something that boards are generally set up to do. They are governance mechanisms more than knowledge-seeking mechanisms.

One possible solution for providing more support to CEOs is for them to have a small set of peer advisors around them to help them figure out what the right questions are. For this to work, the CEO would need to be able to treat that group as true peers. And they not be on the payroll of the organization, so that the CEO doesn't have to also worry about the motivations of employees who might be looking to be promoted.

In most of their day-to-day interactions, CEOs have to be concerned about side agendas and ulterior motives. And for this advisory group to work, it would have to have a singular goal of helping the CEO think through challenges and questions, in the same way that U.S. presidents have assembled "brain trusts" to offer guidance on issues. The goal for the group would be to provide a series of perspectives on a problem, rather than trying to provide the answer, and help the CEO build their confidence and courage for navigating uncertainty.

How might we create more fluidity in executive roles?

This question underscores a fundamental tension in the role of the CEO and other members of the C-suite. At a time when people expect more of their CEO and their leaders—authenticity, humanity, inclusivity, greater visibility, constant communication—these senior executives also need more time away from the office to simply think, to calm the noise and figure out what questions they should be asking but aren't. And there's no way to do that other than being either intensely disciplined about it or by sharing the load. That thinking time is crucial, even if it is just to step back and ask yourself whether you are making progress on the big goals that you've articulated for the organization.

In theory, the responsibilities of leadership in organizations should be shared and spread across the other executives. One challenge there, as we mentioned earlier, is that the C-suite is primarily focused on executing the strategy, rather than contemplating new strategies.

In addition, those roles themselves are facing their own existential crisis. Not only are the responsibilities of each traditional role expanding rapidly with the complexity of the world, but we are seeing more C-suite leaders wearing multiple "chief" hats.

For example, many chief human resources officers are now also responsible for real estate, given that the future-of-work policies they are devising have enormous implications for their requirements for office space. As if that weren't enough, they are also taking on responsibility for communications—both internal and external—since it makes sense for them to be aligning corporate messaging with efforts to recruit and retain employees.

As new issues come up, responsibility for handling them will likely fall on the shoulders of the existing leadership team. But this model isn't set in stone, and it should be revisited.

We can look for lessons on fluidity from outside the world of business. Some years ago, we worked with the government of Dubai to create new ministries—including establishing the Ministry of Possibilities—and merge existing ones to address the evolving challenges and issues that society faces. Should businesses start to think the same way? Should we start to imagine C-suite leadership roles that are more agile and can be continuously restructured to deal with the challenges of the moment while also considering the future?

What's the strategy? Does the organizational structure match it? In many cases, it doesn't. You kind of drift away one degree every year, and suddenly you're a long, long way away from delivering against what you've set out for your shareholders and for the company itself.

How might we balance performance with regeneration?

As we contemplate the future of C-suite roles, another question arises: Can we structure the jobs so they aren't so reliant on people who have a tremendous amount of stamina and energy, or those who have the capacity to work constantly?

It's almost as if a requirement for the job now is to be able to score well in the equivalent of an NFL "combine," where potential draft picks are tested in various speed, skill, and agility drills. To sign up for these C-suite jobs requires a certain amount of internal drive but also pure physical endurance.

Is it possible to imagine doing this job without requiring that level of relentless physical and mental effort? Sports are often used in useful ways as a metaphor for business, but there is a key difference between the two. In sports, you don't spend all your time just playing the game. You spend a lot of time training. And the same is true for other pursuits like dance and music—you are practicing most of the time and performing for a relatively small amount of time. But in the workplace, we don't have that concept, and so we assume that leaders can both practice and perform at the same time all the time. And if you really want elite performers, that may not be humanly possible.

We may be expecting simply too much out of human beings to have them be practicing and performing to extremely high levels for thousands of hours a year. So, what can be done about that?

Organizations have to spread the load so leaders can regenerate some of the time and perform some of the time. But businesspeople are not very intentional about how we regenerate today. We are quite intentional about it in the world of sports, where there is a whole science around what it takes for an athlete to regenerate both physically and mentally. Could we be intentional in the same way in the world of business, rather than having leaders run so hard all the time that they're not giving themselves time to recover?

There are no easy answers to these questions, but they need to be asked now, before the C-suite becomes unsustainable. Rather than worshipping at the altar of the CEO, organizations need a more collaborative approach as we look to the future. Ultimately, the goal would be to create more of a collective leadership body, rather than relying on one person, the CEO, or their direct reports.

Reprinted with permission from SHRM, ©2023. All rights reserved.

Given the growing demands on leadership teams, particularly the CEO, the current structure for leading companies may no longer be sustainable.

When we're dreaming up futures, we often overlook the very human challenges that such futures might present. But we need to remember, it's us people living there, muddling through the everyday problems that future tech will inevitably toss our way.

This holds true even when our future is projected into outer space.

In October 2021, a rocket engineer from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) joined IDEO Tokyo for a month-long "cross-border study program”. This resulted in exploring the intriguing intersection of human-centered design and space exploration. The question at hand: what would space travel feel like when it's no longer just for astronauts but for the rest of us?

This posed a unique challenge: to reimagine space travel with a human touch, crafting an enjoyable experience for everyone, regardless of their physical abilities or cultural backgrounds.

Crafting the Future User Journey

At IDEO, we value creating new experiences by empathizing with users. But with space travel, we're dealing with a unique situation—the user may still be beyond our reach.

To envision the future of space travel in the most comprehensive manner, we leaned into expert interviews. These dialogues with specialists in various fields provided invaluable insights for designing future experiences and services.

We discovered from spacecraft engineers the mental and physical challenges astronauts face. An Experience Designer from IDEO's PlayLab further provided tips on how to craft experiences that preemptively mitigate discomfort.

What dawned on us was that space travel isn't just about the Overview Effect. It starts way before hitting the 'Book Now' button and lasts way after you're back on Mother Earth.

Experiencing the Future

In our quest to enhance empathy, we devised a method to immerse ourselves in the user's world, to get under their skin and understand their experiences more intuitively. At IDEO, we call this the Empathy Exercise. As Bill Moggridge, one of the founders of IDEO and a product designer, succinctly put it, "The only way to experience an experience is to experience it." So, we thought, why not bring a taste of space right here on Earth? Thus, our makeshift 'space camp' was born, where we mimicked the space traveler's journey under as-real-as-it-gets conditions.

Our space camp menu? Only freeze-dried food to be rehydrated with hot water, akin to space cuisine. We rationed water, limiting each participant to 3.5L per day for cooking, drinking, and freshening up—just like on the International Space Station.

We even simulated the trials of toilet use in space. You see, in a spaceship, you've got to don diapers or use a wall-mounted toilet while other passengers are just a step away. During the camp, we used portable toilets for urination. For the other, ahem, business, we had a two-person arrangement in a private room: one person turns a blind eye while the other does their thing.

While it may sound like a game at first, spending a whole day under these restrictions opened our eyes to various insights. For instance, the novelty of freeze-dried meals wore off after the first few bites. Eating straight from the package or ziplock bag was not only visually uninspiring but also cumbersome. So, we started getting creative with the packaging from the second meal onwards to make the food more palatable.

The bathroom experience was another big takeaway. In our daily grind, the loo is a private space, a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle. But in a cramped spaceship with no privacy, it's quite the stress-fest to hurry up to spare the waiting person and to keep any, well, olfactory offenses at bay.

Writing a 'One-Star Review' for Future Experiences

Our research revealed a number of human-centric problems hidden in space travel. To share these findings, we created a fictional news program from the future, featuring 'one-star reviews' penned by space travelers.

These fictional viral tweets aren't just complaints, but a launchpad for designing more enticing space travel experiences. By forecasting the everyday snags of a future where space travel is as common as a trip to Hawaii, we're one step closer to engineering a genuinely otherworldly experience.

Creating the Design Principles for the Future

Once challenges were identified, the impulse to dive straight into problem-solving was strong. However, at IDEO, we use 'Design Principles' to maintain our focus on the user's perspective.

For instance, our experience designer highlighted the need for psychological safety within a spaceship. Building trustful relationships is crucial for everyone to fully engage in the experience during space travel, where varied groups share a confined space.

We also learned from former astronaut Naoko Yamazaki about the value of fostering creativity. Space, free from gravity and conventional rules, allows for the redesign of norms. Rather than preparing all experiences in advance, we found that leaving room for travelers to create their own unique enjoyment might lead to more memorable journeys.

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Ultimately, we crafted five core design principles, each considering various perspectives from physical fitness preparations for the journey to designing an inclusive spacecraft interior. As we begin to design concrete concepts, these principles serve as our compass, enabling us to continually envision a future of space travel that is fundamentally human-centric.

In these uncertain times, we must remember the people are always at the heart of our evolving narrative. As we dream, our focus should extend beyond technology to include the everyday challenges it brings along.

With a touch of creativity and a playful mindset, let's 'experience' this future together. The secret to a brighter tomorrow might well be hidden in the most mundane problems.

Learn more about the project at spacetravel.ideo.com. (Japanese Only)

Once, Frederik Pohl, famed science fiction author, left us pondering a nugget of wisdom: A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.

Earlier this year,  Snapchat introduced My AI, a relentlessly cheerful chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. The avatar, pinned to the top of your chat feed, was ready to respond to every passing thought, be your 24/7 rant buddy, or even…your new best friend.

You might imagine that Gen Z, cradled by the arms of technology from their earliest friendships found on Club Penguin or Minecraft, would welcome My AI. After all, this is a generation for whom dating starts with the subtle “like” of a post or in the DMs of a swiped-up Instagram story.

But in a surprising twist, Snap’s chatbot was an instant flop, resulting in a spike of 1-star reviews.

That tracks with the responses of the 13- to 21-year-olds we spoke to, all of whom voiced a resounding “no” to the idea of AI infringing upon their relationships. Rather than forming attachments to the programmed responses of AI, they are interested in cultivating genuine bonds with others that don’t require an algorithmic intermediary.

“How does this change our expectations of real life people?” asked one 19-year-old. “I feel like that could be super problematic for friendships because you're like, oh, I just want this person to be different. Why can't they talk like this? Why do they laugh like this? Why can't they understand this? Why don't they know everything about me? Why can't they read my mind?”

Young people already feel the damage social media has had on their relationships and mental health. And they're wary that AI will interfere with the relationships they’re just learning to foster.

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Meanwhile, brands are in an arms race to create AI companions and AI clones that can be integrated into products and services. But when our team put a series of hypothetical Gen AI-powered relationship products in front of a group of young people, they balked and even expressed discomfort. They want technology that augments human relationships, not bots that replace them.

These insights led to three principles that we’re using as guideposts as we design this space.

1️⃣ Skip the engineered reality; reflect authenticity

Perfect, personalized AI bots might breed dissatisfaction with flawed human friends. Plus, they’re just plain spooky. Gen Zs told us they would prefer tools designed to help them embrace the imperfections of relationships and help them navigate. “I don't like the idea of being able to mold someone,” one respondent told us. “One of the teachings that I feel is super valuable in my life is acceptance and being able to go, okay, this is where I can meet this person.” Wary of social peacocking, face filters, and all the doctored images of social media, they feel AI friends would only further the fakery they’re actively trying to undo.

2️⃣ Elevate human intuition and empathy

There is a real concern that an over-reliance on AI could cause people to lose touch with their intuition. Gen Zers know that awkward moments with others—conflicts with friends, job interviews, even a bad vacation—are part of the human handshake. “Relationships are about you learning as you go,” another respondent said. “You're not going to learn how to resolve conflict by yourself, you're not going to learn how it feels to be lonely and push yourself to go meet people.” At the same time, they’d gladly accept help with maintaining friendships. A personal coach that could suggest activities or check calendars for times when you’re both free? Sure. Relationship advice? Bring it on. Perfectly streamlined interactions? No thanks.

3️⃣ Build in transparency to gain trust

The people we chatted with were concerned about AI accessing their conversations. “There's a lot of personal things that my friends and I talk about. And I wouldn't just want a third party listener all up in the mix or storing photos or information. I wouldn't want to feel like it knows my whole life.” They want to know how much listening AI is doing, and how their data will be used by the companies that create it. They’re concerned about the racism that has surfaced, and how a system that reflects human bias might shape their perceptions of their own identity and the world. The concern is well-founded, and presents an opportunity for companies to be transparent about the information they collect and use to improve AI models, and mitigate unintended consequences.

Snapchat's My AI and the host of potential AI-powered relationship products may seem attractive, promising the allure of companionship and understanding. Yet, this generation, while tech savvy, recognizes the value of genuine, organic human connections. The charm of flawlessly crafted bots pales against the nuanced, idiosyncratic, tender core of human interactions.

The next generation has opinions about what we build, and their message is clear: AI is welcome to augment, enhance, and support, but when it comes to forging meaningful relationships, humans must remain at the helm. It’s a potent reminder that while technology shapes our world in novel ways and companies vie to be first to market, the essence of humanity—the value of mutual understanding, the beauty of our imperfection, and the need for companionship without a whiff of profit motive—should never be sidelined.

As we step into a future where AI is integrated into every experience, let’s remember that the best guides are our own instincts, not a bot trained on reading the internet. The collective wisdom of Gen Z might just be the compass we need.

Is your organization interested in designing more human-centered AI experiences? Let’s talk.

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If you've missed Parts One and Two of our Gen Z + Gen AI series, you can catch up here and here.

AI helped you with your final paper and made your workout plan—why not have it help resolve a conflict between you and your friends, or help you pick your career?

Because that’s where artificial intelligence crosses the line from innocuous to intrusive—at least for the group of 13- to 21-year-olds with whom we spoke. To better understand how the next generation will respond to a new wave of AI products, services, and experiences coming online, we prototyped hypothetical apps to elicit feedback. “AI Passion Coach” for one, is a guide that identifies your skills and makes suggestions for how and where to apply them. That didn’t go over so well. “I’m all for AI helping me find the most optimal way to learn once I know what my passion is,” a college freshman told us, “but finding a passion for me? Not so much.”

After sharing six concepts, we came away with some strong hunches about how this cohort wants to show up in the world—both in person and digitally. They’re not looking for products that can be creative for them, they want tools that help them be creative themselves—a subtle but important difference.

Just as digital maps have ruined our collective sense of direction, Gen Z fears that the generative AI’s shortcuts and automations may diminish their ability to form their own identity.

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As one 19 year-old explained, “It's so much more valuable when you experience and learn something yourself versus being told it.”

Several feedback sessions on AI Passion Coach, along with two other hypothetical concepts: AI Venture Accelerator, a creative co-founder that helps you bring your idea to life, and AI Muse, an idea generator that accelerates your creative pursuits, yielded insights from which we drew three design principles for creating products and services that are more aligned with what young people want. If your business is integrating generative AI, consider these guidelines:

1️⃣ Use AI to Scaffold the Creative Process

The Gen Zs we talked to don’t want to be handed the answer. They want to develop the capabilities to create something of their own. “I think there's a line where AI can provide the groundwork and help be a resource, but then we get to choose what we do with it from there,” one 19-year-old said. Exploration, experimentation, and reflection are important parts of the creative process that young people don’t want to see stripped away.

To align with that desire, companies can create AI services that help users discover and learn why and how something is created. Those aged 12 to 25 told us over and over again that being able to adjust their level of input, and add their own vibe was very important to expressing who they are.

2️⃣ Lower the Barriers to Entry

This cohort recognizes that there are tactical skill sets that they and others may not have access to. They welcome AI opening up opportunities for those who may have great ideas, but lack the knowhow to execute them. “I’ve been working on developing an app for sustainability. I can't code, and I don't know how to make an app, but I had the idea and wanted to make it real,” a college freshman shared with us. Instead of removing humans from the equation, companies could leverage AI to help users jumpstart their ideas and offer access to the resources and knowledge necessary to turn those ideas into reality.

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3️⃣ Connect Creative Communities

Gen Zs find a sense of belonging and community through creative pursuits and look for those who share similar interests. “I feel like the beauty in creating things is definitely the insights I'm getting from other people,” said a 19-year-old entrepreneur. Just as mobile phones consume our attention, they suspect that other emergent technologies will isolate people and put optimization and productivity above the slower process of sharing ideas. “You achieve things more quickly,” said a 20-year-old student, “but you're lacking the relationships that you build over time when trying to achieve those things together.” For companies looking to augment human creativity, this presents an opportunity. Instead of being a generator of machine-made solutions, AI can be a facilitator of human collaboration, allowing people to share tips, learn from diverse experiences, and build community.

As generative AI upends the way humans work, there’s a lesson to glean from this research. Generative AI’s omniscience and ability to generate staggering creative output almost instantaneously is undeniably seductive. But the fundamental values that we cherish—our creative agency, our ability to actualize new ideas, and our need to bond with others through collaborative work—are all key to the successful adoption of the AI products and services of the future.

These principles are a good starting point for how to innovate wisely with human needs in mind. In Part III of this series, we will dive into how AI might impact the next generation’s relationships and mental wellbeing.

Missed Part One of our Gen Z + Gen AI series? Head here.

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.