Only 20 percent of American homes are protected by security systems, and most of these systems are installed after a break-in. ‍

Home security veteran SimpliSafe hoped to convince the other 80 percent of home-dwellers to invest in preventative technology so the break-in never happens. The company approached IDEO to refresh and simplify the look and feel of its connected products to reach this wider audience and help them feel safe.

Interviews with potential customers revealed insights that informed the new design. Families told the researchers that existing security systems are expensive, bulky, and hard to install and use. Instead, systems should be unobtrusive, but responsive to your needs. They should react appropriately in emergencies, while also protecting your privacy.

Responding to those requests, IDEO overhauled the design and interaction of more than a dozen SimpliSafe products, including a wireless, touch-to-wake keypad; easy to install sensors; and a smart home base that acts as the brains of the system. Additionally, IDEO designed SimpliSafe's first step outside of the home—a video doorbell that can be used in tandem with the namesake home security system or on its own. Making the system enjoyable and intuitive to use means families are more likely to use it consistently—and correctly.

The team developed a consistent design language across SimpliSafe’s physical products, user interface, and digital presence. That clear visual language lets you know what each component does right out of the box; for example, the glass break sensor looks like a human eardrum that might actually hear a window shattering. The design also reduced the size of entry sensors by four times, while improving their range and battery life. Tapered backs and swept-front surfaces for all of these sensors help them blend into your home. The new system’s clean, understated appearance instills confidence without stoking fear of what could happen.

SimpliSafe’s keypad and base station guide you through setting up the system with voice feedback, while gentle LED lights and sound cues let you know at a glance that the system is armed correctly and you’re in safe hands. The system is also equipped with multiple layers of backup, so you don’t have to worry if the power or Internet goes down.

And the system responds intelligently, tailoring the way it reacts to match different scenarios. For instance, it sends a gentle reminder if a window is left open but a police response if a window is broken in. The design team also incorporated a first-of-its-kind privacy shutter on the system’s security camera so families can opt out of being recorded at home.

SimpliSafe launched its redesigned security system in early 2018, replacing the company’s two previous generations of products at the same price point. Already, the revamped system has cut the number of support calls from new customers.

In June 2018, venture fund and private equity firm Hellman & Friedman acquired SimpliSafe in a deal that valued the company at about $1 billion.

With a record number of applicants, stiff competition for top students, and a desire to make classes more diverse, college admissions teams are feeling the strain. Bowdoin College in Maine, one of the top liberal arts schools in the U.S., received more applications for the class of 2022 than for any other in its 224-year history.

Whitney Soule, Bowdoin’s Dean of Admissions and Student Aid, saw her staff at risk of burning out. On the advice of Bowdoin’s president, Clayton Rose, she invited IDEO to embed at the college and help design a new way of working. The IDEO team studied Bowdoin’s workflow and zeroed in on the application process as an area ripe for redesign.

By observing how Bowdoin counselors read applications, IDEO learned what drove their decisions. Mindful of how their choices could impact young people’s lives, counselors prioritized a meticulous reading of each application. But this thorough approach meant they often engaged in redundant work or delayed making final decisions.

IDEO designers translated their insights into a book for staff, featuring watercolor portraits of the admissions team and a clear articulation of their values—from integrity to inclusion. The book was IDEO’s promise that introducing a new reading process wouldn’t mean sacrificing Bowdoin’s personal touch.

Then, the designers and counselors ran A/B tests using real applications from past years, unwinding long-held beliefs about how they “should” be read. Soule and her team experimented by adjusting timelines and other factors that determine when and how applications move from a first read to a second read to a committee discussion.

Soule gave her team explicit permission to toss their typical playbook. Seeing their own process with fresh eyes, counselors realized they could be more confident in their expertise and tweak their workflow to meet changing demands.

A/B testing proved that some variables had little effect on the team’s final admissions decisions. With that in mind, IDEO redesigned the reading process and included a system called “magic sort,” which helps parse groups of applications based on a new set of counselor assessments in order to route each to its next round of reviews more efficiently.

The IDEO-Bowdoin team put the revised technique to work right away, processing 300 new applications from the annual QuestBridge program for low-income students. Counselors found they were able to make equally valid decisions while cutting the amount of overlapping work they faced by 40 percent, compared to years past.

Working with IDEO challenged us to change the way we work together—and we learned a new method of problem solving that we continue to use. We are better equipped to elicit creativity, then channel it into the practical implementation of new solutions. It’s been transformative!

WHITNEY SOULE, DEAN OF ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT AID, BOWDOIN COLLEGE

The new reading method let staff cope with a growing volume of applications, while balancing the need to evaluate individual students with the need to think holistically about the makeup of Bowdoin’s student body. Counselors adapted the technique to the rest of the year’s admissions cycle, including early-decision, regular decision, and transfer applications.

To extend what her team learned to other departments, Soule has led several design thinking workshops across campus. Her success as a leader has mirrored the growth of her team and the college; by empowering staff with new tools and the freedom to experiment, Soule and Bowdoin are leading by example in the evolving world of higher education.

For half a century, Swarovski has crafted iconic chandeliers dripping with the brand’s signature crystals. With the rise of new interface technology, the company came to IDEO for help to design the chandelier of the future.

IDEO designers set out to create beautiful, emotional experiences by layering technology onto Swarovski’s lighting offerings. Whether it’s setting the tone for a sophisticated retail experience, creating subtle ambiance at a romantic dinner for two, or providing true quality light to read a book, the team considered how a chandelier can enrich personal moments throughout the day.

Swarovski and IDEO assembled a multidisciplinary group, including industrial and UX designers, brand experts, and engineers to quickly vet, build, test, and refine their ideas.

Designers from IDEO and Swarovski worked together to completely reimagine the crystal chandelier.

Together, the team designed a new tech-infused chandelier and family of other light fixtures. At first glance, the chandelier resembles a simple, sleek metal disc. But when you turn it on and peer inside, an endless number of crystals swirl far into the distance—an Infinite Aura.

The Infinite Aura collection also includes pendant and wall lights. The team developed a mobile app that proactively modifies light settings based on the time of day, and also lets users customize their experience—including adjusting brightness and color to set a personal mood, or “Aura.”

Unlike most fixtures, Infinite Aura doesn’t just give off ambient light; families can also benefit from high-quality functional light, directed downward to help them focus on a task or diffused upward and downward to create a subtle ambiance. In a similar way, the chandelier can expertly illuminate a library, hotel lobby, or concert hall.

The new lighting line adds greater functionality and emotional resonance to today’s smart buildings, while retaining Swarovski’s timeless elegance. Infinite Aura debuted in Frankfurt, Germany in March and will be available internationally in fall 2018.

More than half of Americans don’t have the cash to cover a $400 emergency expense like a car repair or trip to the hospital. Taking that reality to heart, American Family Insurance, a Fortune 500 company that offers auto, home, business, and life insurance, was seeking a way to make an impact by helping people earn and protect—not just insure—the things they value.

American Family approached IDEO with an ambitious goal: to innovate in a way that would help working families—many of them existing American Family customers—who need a financial cushion in case of the unexpected. This new mission fell in line with American Family’s overall orientation toward increased social responsibility, including committing to a liveable wage for all employees, helping with student loans, and providing college scholarships and tuition reimbursement for employees’ children.

In early discussions, American Family thought people might need budgeting tools, but from the very first research interview, a different urgent need emerged: people needed a way to shore up their savings enough to protect against unforeseen needs. This same story came from numerous places. In Tennessee, the IDEO design team sat in the kitchen of a working single mom of four, who explained how her lifestyle was built around her extremely constrained budget. She couldn’t afford childcare, so she’d organized her home to allow her 11-year-old to watch the younger kids: partitioned snacks, timers on the TV, chore charts on the fridge. She managed her budget meticulously, it was clear, and she didn’t need new financial tools. What she really needed, she said, was extra income cushions so a surprise expense like a doctor’s visit or stretch investment like a kid’s basketball uniform wouldn't derail her plans. Like many of the people the team visited across the country, she didn't want to take on debt; she wanted extra work and the dignity and peace of mind that comes with it.

Could we, the team wondered, offer people who already have jobs the extra hours and income they need in a way that reduces, rather than exacerbates, the stress they already face? Would employers get on board?

The short answer was yes. Today’s businesses depend on on-demand work, including seasonal warehouse and retail shifts. Typically, companies look to temp agencies whose model is built on staffing with the goal of permanent placement. Moonrise enables companies to tap into a workforce that's already employed, allowing them the benefits of passive recruiting (reliability, consistency), but for short term work.

Knowing innovation was the path to growth, American Family took a chance by embracing a radically new brief: Create a service to help families living on the edge bridge the gap between the size of their paychecks and the size of their dreams. The result was a new business venture called Moonrise.

When customers told us that having an easy way to earn extra money could improve their lives, we were compelled to pursue a solution. Moonrise is a business with a human-centered mission. We’re proud it’s part of our American Family.

Jack Salzwedel, Chairman & CEO, American Family Insurance

The Moonrise platform lets workers sign up for shifts with partner organizations through a simple text message interface, and get paid as soon as their shifts are done. Employers who sign up to partner with Moonrise can list open shifts on the platform.

“Moonrisers” are W-2 employees of Moonrise, not contractors, so they don’t have to pay self-employment taxes. They also get personalized business and comment cards to take to job sites, making their interactions with employers feel more professional. In this way, Moonrise helps workers not only build a buffer against unexpected bills, but also explore new positions and fields—and perhaps even land new full-time work with Moonrise partners.

To test the program in real time, IDEO and American Family assembled 11 Moonrisers, six employers, and a team of designers and programmers to work out kinks in the platform. During a one-week live pilot in Wisconsin, Moonrisers finished a combined 28 work shifts, earning an average of $121 each, while IDEO designers worked behind the scenes to keep the process running smoothly.

Based on the success of the pilot, American Family created a new startup company called Moonrise, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of American Family. Moonrise launched to the public in the Chicago area in 2018, with plans for an eventual nationwide rollout. Moonrise signed Enterprise Rent-A-Car as its first employer and actively matches workers in Chicago with shifts, while continuing to build more corporate partnerships.

Since launching in 2018, over 7,000 people have applied to become Moonrisers, more than 7,000 shifts have been fulfilled, and over $500,000 has been put into the pockets of hardworking Moonrisers. Additionally, Moonrise will be expanding into 3 additional states in 2019.

IDEO and American Family Insurance interviewed customers of The General—a division of American Family—about how they budget to make ends meet. In this conversation, customer Chandra told designers how $62 could be the difference between breaking down and breaking even for her family.

It’s not always easy for established companies to innovate, especially outside their core business. But innovation is a high priority for American Family. Creating an employee -centered startup like Moonrise solves an urgent problem and distinguishes them from their competition. Together, American Family and IDEO identified a pressing human need and built a program from the ground up to meet it.

I spent years facilitating process improvement and lean management, work that was effective at driving efficiency but rarely got into deeper questions. It lacked the rigorous patient focus I wanted to see in the efforts I took on for health systems. That frustration drew me into human-centered design (HCD). HCD opened up entirely new ways of seeing people and problems, and I was inspired to create solutions that were far more meaningful and human. Still, something was missing; I hadn’t yet found a way to connect the immediacy of design to the larger, longer-term forces shaping the world around us.

Around this time, I met futurist Bob Johansen. Listening to him describe how leaders could anticipate multiple plausible futures truly unlocked something for me. I could see how process improvement, human-centered design, and futuring could come together: the rigor of operational change strengthened by the empathy of design and the expansiveness of foresight. That moment was transformative; I had found a way to unlock real transformation. So I became a futurist. 

Fast-forward 15 years. I recently joined the Creative Confidence podcast to share lessons in strategic foresight and better decision-making. 

During the course of the conversation, so many people wrote in with questions that we couldn’t answer them all. But I didn’t want to leave these insightful thoughts floating in the ether. Here are answers to some of the most intriguing. ‍

What do you see as the biggest misconception about futures thinking?

It is about making predictions. Futuring does not predict; instead, the focus is on imagining multiple plausible futures. It enables individuals, governments, and organizations to anticipate the various ways tomorrow can unfold so that they can either capture opportunities (going on offense) or prepare for risk (going on defense). What people often overlook is that futuring is primarily about building the capacity to live with uncertainty. The true value of futuring lies in cultivating adaptability and creativity in the face of change.

Can you tell a story of a time when futuring helped unlock an innovative solution? 

In 2024, IDEO partnered with KQED to reimagine the role of public media in a future shaped by rapidly evolving technologies and changing cultural habits. By combining human-centered design, strategy, and futuring, we helped KQED’s leadership surface tensions between their legacy of trusted journalism and the demands of an increasingly fragmented and personalized media landscape. By crafting narratives and artifacts from the future, participants envisioned a more participatory, interactive, and community-embedded role for KQED, as a dynamic presence across platforms and generations. The work evolved from future visioning into a strategy-building process that engaged voices across the organization, creating a bold new roadmap and a deeper sense of shared ownership, along with a nimble resiliency in shaping the future of public media.

What are some simple ways to facilitate a futuring session with non-designers or skeptics?

Success comes from making the future tangible and human. Instead of starting with abstract scenarios or long trend decks, begin with something familiar. I like to ask participants to imagine their birthday in 2040 or to write a headline about something that will happen in their community far into the future. These provocations lower the barrier to entry for futures thinking and spark imagination grounded in the familiar.

The key is to give people something they can react to. Prototypes, such as speculative artifacts or visual storyboards, help shift conversations from the theoretical to something people can actually experience. Futurists need to help people practice balancing multiple possibilities simultaneously, which is actually quite a difficult task. When people can see, touch, or even laugh about the future, they start to take ownership of the ideas, making futuring far more actionable.

How do you actually start a signal scanning practice? How do you bring it into your weekly routine or regular process? (Where do you look? How often? How do you track what you find?)

Starting a signal-scanning practice doesn’t need to be overwhelming—it just requires leaning into your own curiosity. Think of it as building a habit of paying attention to the edges of culture, technology, and behavior. Signals appear in unexpected places that feel a little unconventional or out of step with the mainstream, such as an experimental product launch, an emerging subculture, or a policy change in a small town that hints at something larger.

I often recommend weaving it into a weekly ritual. When I started futuring, I set aside 30 minutes every Friday to scan a handful of sources: news sites, academic journals, niche blogs, and social media. The point is not just to look at the usual suspects, but to stretch into places that spark your imagination. I find myself asking, What’s weird here? What’s new? What’s showing up that feels different? Who is benefiting from this? Now I tend to capture signals endlessly, but I still carve out time each Friday to explore them, look for patterns, and so on. In the past week alone, I have gathered signals in areas as broad as agentic AI payment protocols, outsourced “moms,” lab-grown spinal cord nerves, and virtual relationships-only AI dating apps.

Tracking is key for adding structure. Many teams use a tool like Figma to quickly capture what they’re seeing and gather signals together. The tricky part is that over time, signals become stale and need to be refreshed regularly, especially in areas where change occurs rapidly, like in technology and media. Having signals in a format that allows them to be easily viewed and moved around to combine with other signals is critical. It allows patterns to emerge across the collection, sparking insights and stories of possible futures. 

What kind of mindset shift do you need to become a future-ready organization?

A future-ready mindset embraces uncertainty as a resource to be explored rather than a threat to be minimized. You have to shift from a posture of certainty and control to one of curiosity, adaptability—and above all—organizational flexibility. Instead of anchoring on a single, short-term vision, leaders must help their organizations map out multiple plausible futures at once, building the nimbleness to pivot quickly, experiment with new pathways, and respond creatively across a range of possible scenarios.

How can teams move from being risk-averse to welcoming it?

They need to value experimentation as much as execution, and treat prototyping and testing as essential tools to become more proactive, flexible, and anticipatory.

How do you measure the ROI of futuring work—especially when outcomes are years away?

When people ask about the ROI of futuring, my instinct is to turn the question around. It's difficult to calculate ROI on something that hasn’t happened yet, but the cost of failing to anticipate change can be enormous. Kodak is the best example. The company actually invented the first digital camera in 1975, but failed to see how quickly digital photography would upend film. By clinging to its film-based business model, Kodak lost market dominance and became a cautionary tale.

Traditional ROI frameworks struggle here because strategic foresight isn’t about the yield of one project; it’s about building the organizational muscle to spot signals early, test ideas, and avoid expensive missteps. You measure it by looking at the risks you didn’t take, the dead ends you avoided, or the resilience you gained by having already prototyped tomorrow. Futuring pays for itself when leaders say, “We saw that coming, and we were able to pivot.”

What’s a future trend or shift you’re excited—or concerned—about today?

One of the shifts I find most fascinating right now is around aging, specifically, what happens to work and purpose as people move into what we’ve traditionally thought of as “retirement.” Futurists are seeing a wealth of signals about how people in their “golden” years are reimagining later life: seeking out new forms of community, finding ways to stay mentally active, and extending their financial participation.

The trends and drivers round out the plausibility. Global fertility rates are dropping, life expectancies are increasing, and economies will need older workers to remain in the workforce. These factors raise provocative questions: How do we design systems of lifelong learning? What does work look like if “retirement” is no longer a given? And what shifts in behavior and policy should we be making now if this is the direction our futures are headed? These are just some of the plausible futures I’m excited to continue exploring. 

How have you been using AI in your futuring process, and any cautionary notes?

AI can be a powerful amplifier in futuring. It can help scan vast amounts of content, pulling together trends from across industries and geographies that might otherwise go unnoticed. It can rapidly outline starter scenarios, artifact ideas, or speculative narratives that expand a creative range of what’s possible. When it is used alongside human-centered design, it can iterate on a futurist’s speculative images, prototypes, or interactive experiences that stakeholders can react to. AI is also well-suited to helping teams stress-test assumptions and edge cases. AI is frequently my research assistant, helping me organize and then chase down areas to explore.

However, there are significant limitations and risks associated with the use of AI in this space. AI reflects the bias of the data it’s trained on, which means it will always reproduce “used futures,” or outdated ideas about the future that resonated in the past but are no longer relevant. That data is the sum of its experience, so AI can also magnify well-documented content and underrepresent marginalized, edgy, or more local viewpoints. As a designer and futurist, it’s important not to outsource your imagination or creativity to AI, or treat the output of AI work as anything more than a prompt or starting point for human creativity and discussion. Futuring is ultimately about culture and values as much as it is about trends and technologies, so relying on AI risks stripping away the deeply human context that makes foresight meaningful.

If you’re curious to learn more about futuring and missed the Creative Confidence episode, you can find it here. If you’d like to work with us on a futuring project of your own, get in touch.

About 15 years ago, I stepped into the role of Managing Director for Innovation and Strategy at Kaiser Permanente. My remit was broad: performance improvement, innovation, and leadership and culture development.

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At IDEO’s Play Lab, Dreamforce serves as a reminder of how quickly technology evolves and shapes the world our kids are living in. It prompts us to consider what’s next for people, especially young learners growing up in an AI-shaped world, and how play can serve as a powerful tool for tackling complex, often intimidating challenges with curiosity and creativity.

So, when I learned that IDEO was partnering with Salesforce on a student-focused event ahead of this year’s Dreamforce, I jumped at the chance to speak with Dr. Ron C. Smith, Vice President of Philanthropy at Salesforce. The lifelong educator and Bay Area native leads Salesforce’s global education philanthropy team, directing millions of dollars in strategic philanthropic investments to build AI literacy through public school education around the US. While some worry that AI will replace jobs, Smith is an optimist; he sees AI’s potential to unlock new interests and career opportunities. His team’s role? Preparing today’s young people to be educated and ethical AI consumers and creators so they can step into their still-being-imagined future careers—and training the adults who teach them along the way. I spoke with Dr. Smith about how to help young people thrive in a future that’s still taking shape, and why optimism, access, and play will matter more than ever.

Keren Ruth Wong: You were a former Network Superintendent at Oakland Unified School District and a classroom teacher, and now you’re leading philanthropic giving at one of the world’s largest tech companies. With your background, I imagine you have an interesting perspective on what a valuable partnership with public schools looks like.

Dr. Ron C. Smith:  For 20 years, I worked as a teacher, then principal, and then led schools and managed school transformations. Then, eight years ago, I joined Salesforce. At the heart of everything we do at Salesforce are the young people we serve, ages 13 to 22, and the teachers, counselors, principals, and superintendents who work with them.

Technologically speaking, the world we live in has changed so much. And I know it continues to change. We used to have a sense of what tech jobs are out there, but that’s all changing so quickly. I know some students feel discouraged because I often hear, “There aren’t any jobs,” but that’s actually not true. A lot of new and diverse industries are seeking tech talent, including gaming and medical and education technology, among others. On top of that, there’s what AI can offer. These types of jobs are perfect for the young people we work with. They’re not afraid of technology. They understand the concept of working across different learning modalities. People tell kids, “Oh, you have to be a doctor or lawyer,” which are great professions, but there are other paths; they’re just not recognized as careers yet.

For far too long, there has been a strange disconnect. There’s been education on one side, and the workforce on the other. But actually, there’s a through-line from education to training and skill development to a career. When you think about it like that, you can ask how to get the right resources to support that continuum. Our goal at Salesforce is to identify and support nonprofits and educational institutions that serve young people who are furthest from success, empower them, provide career counseling and mentoring, and enable them to navigate society’s uncertainties. Salesforce is not going to solve every problem, but by working with great partners like IDEO and Formula One, among others, who engage and inspire students, we can be stepping stones to change and be part of the overall solution.

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Keren Ruth Wong: Salesforce made a very specific choice to focus on AI education grants and AI fluency. What was behind that decision?

Dr. Ron C. Smith: AI has been around for a while, but it has only become a mainstream topic in the last two years. At that time, my team and I took a step back and embarked on a listening tour with our nonprofits and partners. We asked them, “Where do you see your work intersecting with AI now and in the future? What are your needs, and where can we support?” We discovered three things.

One: The nonprofits that focus on work and skills training said, “We need to start training young people earlier.” Two: Our partners in the education system said, “We need more support, more training, and more access for educators helping our young people dream about their future careers.” And three: everyone is preparing our young people for unknown careers. Because at the time—and even now—no one says, “I got an AI job!” What is an AI job, anyway? They’re still being created. So, we were intentional about considering partners that focus on AI literacy and fluency, specifically. That means knowing how to use AI safely and ethically, as well as being able to be an AI creator. Having that concrete baseline gives everyone a fairer starting point.

What we also knew was that we couldn’t wait. Now’s the time to invest, especially for the young people we serve, because if we waited until everybody’s ready and felt great about AI, we’d already be behind the eight ball. The education system works notoriously slowly. It just is what it is. We’re saying: let’s take a chance. What we don’t want is for our partners to wait and stay stagnant, potentially pushing those young people who are already behind further behind as they prepare for their futures. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to engage, invest, and partner with school systems, nonprofits, and all stakeholders involved in public education.

Keren Ruth Wong: It sounds like co-creation between you, the nonprofits, and the students. You’re deciding and preparing together for whatever the jobs might be, five, 10, or 15 years from now. 

Dr. Ron C. Smith: One hundred percent. It’s also about working with school leadership. During our listening tour, we invited superintendents from our partner districts, Oakland and San Francisco, as well as superintendents, CEOs, chancellors, and executive directors from across the country, to share their initial thoughts on the role they saw AI playing in their school systems. Our goal was twofold. We wanted to learn what types of training and skills they needed, so we could find partners that could provide that. Then, we wanted to know how they, as leaders, were building AI into their overall infrastructure. Because it’s one thing for leaders to say they want to do something. It’s another if they make AI part of their overall goal, mission, and strategic plan. 

Keren Ruth Wong: As a former teacher, you were in the classroom when laptops, smart boards, and other technologies were introduced. What makes AI feel different—if it does—than any other wave of classroom technology?

Dr. Ron C. Smith: I mean, I started in the classroom with chalk. There are young people who’ve never touched chalk!

Computers, the internet, interactive smart boards: they’re all tools. They’re about accessing information. The thing that’s different about AI is that it’s interactive and personalized. You can ask deep questions, have a conversation, and get information about something that’s specifically for you, not just “What’s the capital of Montana?” When you’re talking to Claude, Perplexity, or Gemini, it’s as if you’re talking to a friend. It feels more personal and intimate—less like a tool and more like a partner or assistant. And it’s just getting stronger and wiser because it has more information. The better the questions asked of it, the more meaningful the partnership that can be developed between the AI and the human, which is key. I keep hearing this phrase, “It’s not AI leading humans to an answer, it’s humans leading AI to an answer.” We need to help young people develop the skills to ask better, deeper questions.

Keren Ruth Wong: What role does critical thinking play in helping students have intelligible, meaningful conversations with AI?

‍Dr. Ron C. Smith: When you think about reading and writing, you’re using critical skills like inference, drawing conclusions, and summarizing. Those same skills are needed when working with AI. Asking AI a simple question can get you basic information. That’s level one. What you can get by Googling. If you want to go to level three, four, or five—really go deep—you have to be able to summarize, draw an inference from the answer, rephrase, and ask it to try it another way.

I recall writing my dissertation. My editor said, “Ron, remember, it goes: good, crap, good, crap, good, crap. The second you realize every other sentence or thought is not good, you’re going to get better.” It’s the same with asking AI questions. The more you engage, the better questions you learn to ask, and the more you start to process what your own ideas are. The young people in the future who can ask the right questions will get ahead faster, and likely stay ahead of those who simply tell AI, “Find me the best restaurant.”

Keren Ruth Wong: Tech is moving so quickly. It feels like the conversation is more technology-led and technology-driven, rather than human-centered. What keeps you optimistic these days? 

Dr. Ron C. Smith: For me, it’s humans and technology working together. It’s not a war game! It’s the next evolution of a technology that’s been around for a while. We can’t be afraid of change. 

At the same time—and this is the part we must take to heart—if those who are furthest from success don’t have access to the same tools of change, the gaps that already exist will become chasms. These kids will be left behind and never catch up. And that’s something that we, as a society, should not let happen. We should be pushing everyone forward. 

Keren Ruth Wong: It’s heartening to hear that the conversations you’re having with different stakeholders in the education system are informing where Salesforce grant dollars go, eventually impacting what jobs are created and what the future looks like.   

Dr. Ron C. Smith: Look, my team is amazing. We all come to our work with deep knowledge and experience. Despite this, we believe we should never tell those who are part of the education system what to do. They should tell us what they want, and then we need to agree on how to support that. If we go in with an idea, saying, “This is what’s gonna work,” most nonprofits or education systems that are starving for resources will say yes to the money, then change the idea to meet their needs. A better, more effective path is to say, “Let’s partner. Come up with an idea that aligns with both our strategies and goals.” Now, you’re building together. 

‍Keren Ruth Wong: Are there any programs or grantees that you’re particularly excited about?

Dr. Ron C. Smith: Yes! aiEDU will be leading one of the AI sessions for the students we’ll be hosting at IDEO. They’re an amazing group. Not only do they offer AI literacy training for young people, but they also train and empower educators and school leaders to use AI tools. They understand that having a strong pedagogy to dive deep into the tools is different than using them. Having that back and forth is awesome.

Another group that will be part of our IDEO event is the Hidden Genius Project, based in Oakland. What we like about them is that they engage in a lot of hands-on learning with computers, 3D printing, and other technologies. They’re trying to infuse AI into all of their work. 

Those are just two of our high-quality partners. There are so many more.

Keren Ruth Wong: It’s been such a pleasure speaking with you. Any final thoughts? 

‍Dr. Ron C. Smith: This sounds like the start of a Star Trek episode, but we cannot be afraid of the future. Let’s play together, work together, and figure out how to drive change for those who are in greatest need.

Looking to use AI to shape the future of work and learning? Get in touch. We'd love to help.

If you live in San Francisco, like I do, October is synonymous with Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual mega conference that gathers hundreds of thousands of technology professionals—both in-person and online—to hear about the latest advances in AI.

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By creating microbe and bio-based materials that are both durable and beautiful, it’s proving that circularity and innovation can go hand in hand, and that the future of materials can be one of abundance and delight.

Hydefy’s model is in line with IDEO’s thinking—that we can make a far bigger impact on climate if our products are sustainable, yes, but more importantly, more desirable. I’m inspired by the way Hydefy is reshaping what’s possible, not just in fashion but in how we think about the everyday things we touch and use.

Recently, I sat down with Rachel Lee, Hydefy’s General Manager, to hear more of the story behind the work. From her career spanning BCG and the Gates Foundation, to her leadership guiding Hydefy from scrappy experiments to a Paris runway debut with Stella McCartney, Lee has unlocked a method for building breakthrough solutions.

We chatted just before Climate Week NYC 2025, where Stella McCartney was honored with a “Fashion Steward” award at the first-ever NAT Gala for her pioneering role in fashion sustainability, including the use of more eco-friendly materials such as Hydefy in her collections.  

Keren Ruth Wong: I’ve admired your work for a long time, both as someone who also works in the innovation space and as a dear friend, so this is a really cool opportunity. Would you mind starting by telling us a little more about Hydefy, and how it’s different?

Rachel Lee: At Hydefy, we create high-performing, planet-friendly biomaterials. We utilize nature-derived inputs to produce textiles and leather alternatives that minimize our reliance on animals and fossil fuels. The materials we are initially commercializing—the ones featured this year in Stella McCartney’s Paris Fashion Show Spring/Summer collection—use fermentation of sugarcane inputs and a microbe from Yellowstone National Park. That’s the connective tissue to Nature’s Fynd, the parent company that utilizes the same microbe, called “Fy,” to create alternative meat and dairy protein products. Both Hydefy and Nature’s Fynd are part of the Fynder Group. We’re both interested in creating new solutions for consumers that have a lower environmental footprint.

Keren Ruth Wong: So there’s this microbe-based alternative material. And now you’re looking at many different applications, whether it’s across both food and consumer products, is that right?

Rachel Lee: Yes. We started with Nature’s Fynd, where we created meat and dairy alternatives that we commercialized nationwide, mostly through Whole Foods Market. Those initial offerings truly represent the ethos of what we’re working on: delicious and nutritious products with lower environmental footprints. I joined the company to work specifically on biomaterials because there was a rising interest on the retail side around these new types of sustainable innovations and textiles. There were no other commercial options available, actually, when we started working on it.

‍Keren Ruth Wong: When we look at other products or materials on the market that are alternatives to leather, what are those typically made of? How are they different from the material you’re working on and the material that ended up being used in the Stella McCartney bag?

Rachel Lee: Most of the vegan leathers that you see in the market are made from polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride, so they’re essentially plastic, which means, in addition to using fossil fuel resources, there are also potential health implications, depending on what type of inputs went into it. We’re trying to give consumers a third category of options that don’t rely on animals or petroleum.

Keren Ruth Wong: Let’s go back to you and your rich career journey. You didn’t start out focused on sustainable products. You’ve gone from BCG to Gates to biotech entrepreneurship with Hydefy and Nature’s Fynd. What’s the throughline that connects these experiences for you? 

Rachel Lee: The connecting theme throughout has always been the mission of the organization, or a particular passion or problem that I want to contribute to. This has served as my North Star, particularly in relation to natural resources and equity.

I became interested in the innovation and biomaterial space, in particular, because while my work at the Gates Foundation allocating resources was extremely important, I also wanted to be a part of creating new solutions. I believe that’s what’s needed for meaningful change for the next generation. So my desire to create more options for consumers led me to Nature’s Fynd and Hydefy. I definitely do not have a formal materials science background, but I think it shows that sheer enthusiasm and passion can really go a long way!

Keren Ruth Wong: Can you tell me a bit about what’s gone on behind the scenes at Hydefy? What were some unexpected changes in direction or pivots that ended up being really interesting or beneficial for the company?

Rachel Lee: The sustainability landscape is constantly changing. Initially, we responded to brand requests because we wanted to make our customers happy. Eventually, we decided that we can’t just be swayed by whatever the new flavor of sustainability is that year. We needed to be intentional, take a stand based on our principles, do something that we feel good about, and build a business around that.

One big decision: we fundamentally changed the process and formulation halfway through. We started with a more traditional, tanning-like process, similar to the one used for animal hides. We would grow these sheets of microbe and bio-based materials and use different chemistries to achieve what tanning traditionally does: making the raw material stable, durable, and giving it a nice hand feel, among other benefits. However, we realized we were trying to play the game that a traditional industry is based on. Ultimately, we needed to leapfrog that. 

To truly have an impact, we also needed to be able to handle volume. So when we took a step back and thought about what would enable that, and also play to our competitive advantage and strength of being based in the US (a lot of the best tanneries and equipment are in Europe), we decided to redesign the whole process so it actually doesn’t look anything like leather processing. Thanks to the brilliant scientists on our team, who have cross-functional backgrounds in other industries, we now utilize plastics industry equipment used to produce materials such as flooring and laminates. 

So, that was the big pivot. There were trade-offs because some properties that high-end luxury companies valued were more feasible with the older process. It was an intentional decision to adopt a more scalable process that would enable us to serve a broader audience and, ultimately, relocate anywhere, as the equipment we use is widely used globally in manufacturing.  

Keren Ruth Wong: I would love to hear more about the early days at Hydefy. What it was like just to lead your team through trying to produce a breakthrough, both in terms of product and process. I’m sure there were a few moments of scrappiness.

Rachel Lee: “Scrappy” is the greatest compliment. With any early-stage startup, it’s critical to prototype quickly, de-risk at each stage in an iterative manner, generate proof of concepts that will convince investors to provide additional funding, and be able to hire talented people. In hindsight, scrappiness went beyond extending our runway and increasing ROI. I think the biggest lesson we took away from those early, scrappy days was the importance of team culture and mindset. The positive, compounding effect of a “can-do” spirit has propelled us forward, even as the stakes and our lab continue to grow and become more professional. To this day, it’s our greatest asset.

Another effective practice at Hydefy was creating a flat hierarchy. We have a culture that encourages every person to contribute—and contribute beyond what their role might traditionally allow. Because when you’re navigating new scientific breakthroughs, you can’t just follow an existing playbook and have a former fermentation engineer and a former F35 fighter jet scientist do the same things they did at their last jobs. Everyone has to think a little out of the box. I don’t think traditional manager-led team meetings and processes would have gotten us there.

People often discuss team culture, but I think the reason it’s been a superpower is beyond making it fun to go to work every day, which is special in a hybrid work world. It’s also a smart business decision. A solid team culture means you have good retention, low to minimal turnover, and very few HR issues. Because, at the end of the day, every company issue is essentially a people issue.

Keren Ruth Wong: I want to get a little bit more into the product itself, particularly because it made such a big splash earlier this year on the Paris runway. Can you tell us, in a few sentences, about the bag you created in collaboration with Stella McCartney?

Rachel Lee: The crossbody bag is part of Stella McCartney’s newest Ryder collection. She unveiled it at her Spring/Summer 2025 runway show in Paris. Stella McCartney is a vegan brand, so they already use a lot of vegan materials—predominantly polyurethane leathers. We’re one of their few suppliers of next-gen materials. The brand has been an innovative leader, consistently showcasing as many natural and sustainable materials as possible. We created a custom color for them: silver metallic. It was a very interesting collaboration—a new design, featuring a new material, in a new color.

Keren Ruth Wong: I want to do some myth-busting here. I think that we often view vegan leathers as being somewhat inferior to luxury animal leathers. To me, as an outsider, it’s remarkable that you were able to collaborate with such a renowned fashion and luxury brand as Stella McCartney. Yes, it’s a vegan brand, but how did you convince them that a mushroom-based material could be aspirational, desirable, and luxurious? 

Rachel Lee: Our strategy of working with luxury partners and brands is very attractive for a number of reasons. It creates a feeling that these materials are aspirational, rather than inferior. In this case, there was synergy because many European luxury brands have incentives to adopt these types of materials due to the upcoming 2030 emissions targets. From a business perspective, it makes sense. Luxury brands also have the highest standards, because their items are expected to last much longer than typical fast-fashion purchases. This means the development timeline may actually be longer if innovators were to target the luxury brands, which is a bit of a risk.

When Hydefy got started, there were maybe three other companies tackling alternative leather. Now, there are over 70. Novelty will only get you so far. For a product to endure, it needs to have a unique feature, value, performance, or something that goes beyond. In our case, we anchored on performance attributes and durability. With other products in our pipeline, we offer not only performance and durability but also customized aesthetics and optical effects, providing designers with something new. When the economy is strong, sustainability may be of interest on its own. When the economy’s not doing well, some of the first things to go are R&D, sustainability, or other nice-to-haves that don’t directly contribute to the company’s P&L and performance in the short term. It becomes even more important to have product features that go beyond traditional options.

Environmental regulation is really interesting because it changes the baseline. At a certain point, the base materials that manufacturers work with may no longer be viable, in which case they might have to scramble to find other options sooner rather than later. Personally, I would not build a whole business that relies on a specific regulation being passed within a certain time frame, because we have seen how unpredictable that can be. However, if new innovators are considering which materials to pursue within the biomaterial space, regulation is worth examining, as it can completely alter the rules of the business overnight.

Keren Ruth Wong: Ultimately, the breakthrough product isn’t just going to last because it’s shiny and new. It has to be attractive enough to sustain a business.

Rachel Lee: Totally. And it needs to align with the metrics that your customers care about. In our case, there are multiple “nested” customers. There are designers who value a material’s novelty, aesthetics, performance, and so on. Then, there are the strategy and sustainability teams, which focus on risk mitigation and carbon emissions. A material needs to be able to compete on all the factors. It’s a complex ecosystem of decisions.

Keren Ruth Wong: So, Climate Week NYC is underway, and Stella McCartney is being honored for her sustainability leadership. What does it mean to you to see a brand you work with be recognized this way?

Rachel Lee: Stella McCartney is not only at the forefront of publicly advocating for more sustainable practices and influencing key decision-makers, but also acts on her words by collaborating with numerous companies, such as Hydefy, as well as with some of our peers, who are working on equally exciting, bio-based, next-generation materials. It underscores the crucial importance of partnerships among like-minded individuals and groups in driving change forward.

Keren Ruth Wong: Looking ahead, what does success look like for Hydefy, whether it’s in fashion or any other categories? Where might Hydefy be making headlines next? 

Rachel Lee: There’s, of course, the typical business success around other collaborations we’re working on, which, hopefully, we can talk about soon. And then there’s thinking about our next wave of products. We’re continually striving to enhance our materials, making them stronger, softer, and more sustainable. 

But success is not just about our bottom line. For me, success would be if we encourage new innovators to enter this space. Or, if more brands adopt some of these materials. Or, more importantly, if we can shift traditional companies, such as large tanneries or chemical companies that produce plastic to develop more sustainable products. If some of the major manufacturers adopt greener chemistry, that will truly have an impact. Hopefully, Hydefy and other innovators in this space will demonstrate that there’s demand for creating more nature-friendly alternatives to the mostly petroleum-based ones, and move everyone forward.

Keren Ruth Wong: If you could wave a magic wand and change how the world thinks about materials, what would you wish for? 

Rachel Lee: First and foremost, I would want us to think about materials more. Whether it’s the laptop that we’re working on or the clothes we’re wearing, where are these materials coming from, and where are they going in their afterlife? Once we start thinking through these questions, I want us to evolve in how we think about the cost and value of these materials. The true value of a material should encompass its lifetime value, durability, circularity, carbon footprint, and impact on human well-being throughout the supply chain. My hope is that we can start moving away from a system that views materials as commodities and begin to appreciate them for their true value, which I believe is the precursor to any meaningful change.

Looking to create desirable sustainable products or businesses? Get in touch. We’d love to help.

In a world where buying “sustainable” products can often feel like a compromise (too expensive, not well designed, not the right aesthetic), the Chicago-based materials company Hydefy is taking a radically different approach.

Way back in 2015, we collaborated with IKEA and students from Lund University and Eindhoven University of Technology on Concept Kitchen 2025, an exploration of how we might cook, eat, and socialize in our homes in the future. Our focus was on behaviors rather than specific technologies or devices. The intent was twofold. One, inspire IKEA’s product development teams to look far beyond normal product development timelines; and two, inspire suppliers, manufacturers—even food companies—to design for future ways of living that IKEA hoped to support. We unveiled the full-scale prototype kitchen for 250,000 visitors to explore during the 2015 Salone Del Mobile and EXPO Milano that spring and summer. 

Fast forward a decade. Now that the future is here, we thought it would be fun to look back at a few of our predictions to see whether the 2025 we envisioned has come to pass.

👍 Cities are denser. Living spaces are smaller.

In 2015, we envisioned a future where cities would be more crowded and apartments more compact. Today, that’s more than an assumption—it’s a lived reality. Even in the US, a market not historically known for small living spaces, the average apartment size has decreased over the last decade. 

Around the world, micro-apartments and co-living arrangements have gained traction, and most of us think twice before bringing home large, single-function, bulky appliances that crowd precious real estate (think countertop ice makers or one-trick bread makers). 

In our design, we explored how the kitchen might blend into other spaces of the home. What if cooktops could completely disappear when not in use? What would happen if we stored and celebrated our food like we do our most important mementos? 

Now, the need to do more with less space is here. Not only do many IKEA products, such as mini kitchenettes and portable, hangable induction cookers, address this need, but modular kitchens, on the whole, are increasingly popular choices for their practicality, affordability, and instant nomadic style. 

👍 Food waste remains a pressing issue.‍

During in-home research with consumers and interviews with chefs, we observed how small oversights—a bag of forgotten spinach in the back of the fridge or confusion over expiration dates—could quickly add up to mountains of wasted food. In 2015, an estimated 31 percent of the US’s total food supply was thrown away. Food waste was one of the key areas we wanted to address in Concept Kitchen 2025. 

Back then, we designed a kitchen that keeps food visible and trackable, making it easy to use before it spoils. Open shelving with transparent containers put ingredients in plain sight, and a smart table recognized foods placed on its surface and suggested recipes to use them up. Another system tracked the freshness of foods, prompting timely action, while a compact composter turned unavoidable scraps into clean, odorless “pucks”—helping keep more food on plates and out of landfills.

Fast forward to today. Despite growing awareness and efforts to reduce food spoilage, households around the world still discard a significant amount of groceries. According to the FDA, US food waste is now estimated to be between 30 and 40 percent, resulting in more spoiled food reaching landfills than any other waste product.

 👎 People still use fridges—not induction-powered cooled pantries—to keep food fresh.

One of our more radical concepts? Eliminating bulky, energy-inefficient fridges from kitchens entirely, replacing them, instead, with induction-powered cooling technology embedded into pantry shelves. Food placed on these shelves in RFID-tagged transparent storage containers would automatically keep individual food items at just the right temperature. While this innovative concept didn’t make the journey to our current reality, more consumers today are buying glass-door refrigerators for their homes, which allow them to quickly see what food they already have on hand—a step in the right direction.

👎👍 Pivoting sinks, compost pucks, and gamified recycling stations haven’t exactly taken hold, but mindful waste reduction strategies are more commonplace. ‍

In 2015, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Package, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation released its “Towards the Circular Economy” report, both of which encouraged the transition from a “take-make-dispose” economic model to one where resources are kept in use for as long as possible. They encouraged us to consider how the kitchen might help recycle and keep materials in closed loops—or even turn waste into value.

Our prototype kitchen’s thoughtful water disposal system (a pivoting sink basin that tipped to one side to drain off toxic “black” water and to the other to siphon off undrinkable, but otherwise safe “gray” water that could be used to wash dishes or water plants) pointed to a future where resourcefulness is second nature. A built-in grinder beneath the sink squeezed water from organic scraps to form tiny compost pucks, eliminating the mess (and odors) associated with traditional compost bins and providing fertilizer for indoor herb gardens. A sensor-driven recycling station even tallied how well (or poorly) recyclables were sorted, rewarding responsible behavior with energy credits.

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While teeter-totter sinks, compostable discs, and recycling bins that keep score aren’t commonly found in today’s homes, there is a larger societal push to reduce single-use plastics, and the concept of mindful disposal is more mainstream, thanks to companies like IKEA, Ridwell, and others. Many municipalities now offer compost bins alongside recycling bins, and several brands, including Patagonia and Kiehl’s, run take-back programs. Reusing gray water has become more commonplace, and zero-waste advocates on TikTok share tips to minimize waste. Additionally, there are compost solutions that aren’t too far off from our puck concept. With food prices rising in many places due to inflation, tariffs, and climate change, our initial focus on reducing food waste has become even more urgent.

👎👍 We’re not all cooking on AI-enabled induction tables—yet—but our kitchens are “smarter,” and we still crave coziness.

Our biggest challenge with Concept Kitchen 2025 was blending futuristic technology with the timeless, tactile pleasure of cooking. Our smart table concept—where you could place leftover vegetables under a camera that would then project recipes and cooking tips—predicted how multimodal large language models (LMMs) could radically simplify cooking routines. Today, AI can interpret images and text simultaneously, so the idea of a camera scanning your broccoli and instantly serving up recipe ideas is more realistic than ever. These new LLMs make visual interactions more intuitive, allowing you to rely on a single seamless system rather than juggling multiple apps or devices.

Today’s everyday home chef may not be chopping broccoli on a full induction cooktop table like we envisioned—even though they do exist!—but discreet smart speakers, subtle sensors, and AI-driven apps that suggest recipes based on what’s in your fridge are everywhere. While kitchens have indeed become smarter, the technology we continue to choose for them feels more like a thoughtful helper than a sci-fi intrusion, enabling our kitchens to stay cozy and comfortable. Ultimately, it’s about harnessing technology to enrich our culinary experiences, rather than overshadowing the human joys of cooking and connecting over good food.

‍👍 The kitchen continues to be the home’s social hub.

IKEA’s Concept Kitchen 2025 emphasized the kitchen as a communal, creative space—where a leftover tomato might spark a conversation, or a table’s camera might amuse and inspire friends who gather around it. A decade later, the kitchen endures as the heart of the home.

As part of our design investigations, the team also explored community kitchens for entire neighborhoods, ways to encourage kids to “play with their food,” and live-streaming cooking sessions via countertop cameras, indicating broader social, home-like experiences surrounding cooking. Today, cooking has indeed expanded its community dimension—from co-cooking apps to shared commercial kitchens—reinforcing the kitchen as a central gathering place, regardless of the level of technology involved.

‍👍 Prototyping remains a powerful way to explore future possibilities.

The future moves in spirals. Sometimes we adopt expected changes in unexpected ways, and sometimes we revert to old habits. What remains true, looking back at Concept Kitchen 2025, is the power of prototyping to make the future real.

A decade on, the project remains a fascinating blueprint for the kinds of everyday cooking and eating moments we’d see in our homes. Sure, not all details, such as shelves with RFID temperature tags or transparent cooling containers, may have become a reality, but that’s not the point. When we envision a decade or more in the future, we’re looking to identify the trajectory of desirable behaviors, rather than specific objects or technologies (as they are bound to change and evolve). By transforming the behaviors we hoped to see into an experiential prototype that 250,000 people could physically explore in Milan—and millions more online—we brought the optimistic reality of 2025 one step closer to the lived reality of 2015.

And that's the real takeaway: prototyping’s tangibility enables us to step into the future. It provokes conversations. Inspires us to make better decisions every day. And helps steer us toward a collectively brighter tomorrow. 

Looking to do some futuring at your org? Get in touch. We'd love to help.

“Det er svært at spå, især om fremtiden.” —Danish proverb

(“It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”)

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.