There’s a lot of excitement in the education sector about the need to equip students with skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, to prepare them for a global, innovation-driven economy. But that’s easier said than done. Major changes are needed to move from a decades-old model towards creating new ways to educate students. Schools and their leaders, particularly in low-income contexts, often lack the necessary resources and support.

But given the right tools, school leaders can be the key to bringing this much-needed change to their schools. Knowing this, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation partnered with IDEO and the Stanford d.school to create School Retool, a four-month-long professional development fellowship that trains principals to take a do-it-yourself approach to school change by conducting small, scrappy experiments called “hacks.”

The best part: They use the resources they already have available to address their schools’ needs now, without waiting for external funding or assistance. School Retool is available to principals at public schools where 60 percent or more of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, which is a common measure of poverty. The School Retool program provides research-based strategies for improving student outcomes, as well as training and one-on-one coaching on how to redesign school culture through easily achievable changes.

A Scaled Approach

School Retool addresses a common challenge in creating change across schools: Each school has its own people, culture, and needs, so programs need to be flexible. The fellowship helps school leaders define their aspirations, and provides them with inspiration through “Big Ideas” that have proven to be successful in different contexts in education. It then supports them to start small with hacks that help them learn how to implement these ideas in their own school. The program scales through regional cohorts of principals who learn from each other as they go through a process of setting goals, designing hacks, reflecting on the learning and progress, and making improvements to the next iteration.

Small Steps Toward Big Change

As School Retool has rolled out at schools across the country over the past two years, it’s becoming evident that small changes are adding up to major progress, and that the small hacks approach is helping leaders go from planning to doing. Take, for example, Marthaa Torres, the principal of a low-income San Francisco high school who started with a small experiment with one struggling student, trying to create a more personalized learning plan for him. “The hacking approach is a framework that will help me eventually get to the kind of school that I’m trying to create,” Torres said. To build on the learnings of her “hack,” she created and expanded a personalized coaching program for the student’s peer group of older Latino boys. Her goal is to roll out additional advisory support in the next school year. What started as a “hack” to give agency to a single student is beginning to affect the school-wide culture by incorporating student voice into decision making.

Creating a Movement

The School Retool fellowship launched in 2015 with a pilot for 16 principals from seven San Francisco Bay Area school districts, reaching more than 12,000 students. School Retool has since hosted cohorts for school leaders in Washington D.C., Detroit, Virginia, Idaho, and Colorado. By the end of 2016, 164 school leaders of over 114,000 students had participated in the fellowship program.

In addition to the in-depth work with school leaders, School Retool is creating a national dialogue around change in schools. Its first national effort drew more than 1,500 principals in the Shadow A Student Challenge, who spent a day walking in students’ shoes to build empathy and gain insight into their students’ school lives.

Learn more about how more school leaders are enacting change: bringing a sense of true belonging to a school’s culture; engaging students as active learners; hacking towards literacy; retooling for equity; and more.

WATCH: Marthaa Torres: Adopting a Hacking Mindset on Vimeo.

Remember your first View-Master? The sound and feel of that iconic camera-snapping motion, the excitement of seeing those vivid images in the form of your own personal slideshow? Introduced in 1939, this stereoscopic toy brought beautiful landscapes and famous attractions to the eyes of kids around the world.

Flash-forward more than 75 years, and the View-Master has been reincarnated to spark that same sense of wonder for the digital age. The redesigned model, the result of a project collaboration between IDEO and Mattel, is a modern case that bridges technology with play. The new View-Master preserves the classic features of the original toy, such as the original lever and wheel, but offers a much more immersive, 360-degree virtual experience.

Here’s how it works: Download the View-Master app and slide a smartphone into the sleek new red-and-white headset. From there, the phone’s camera will scan the QR codes on the reels to view a wide variety of images, such as wildlife, outer space, and a dinosaur landscape. Two slightly different images are displayed side by side on the device's screen. As each of your eyes looks at just the image directly in front of it and tries to reconcile it with what the other eye is seeing, a 3D effect is created. By moving your head around with the viewer over your eyes and taking advantage of the sensors within your phone to sense direction and position, you can travel through each of the scenes, exploring each of the different settings.

After working alongside Mattel to understand the heritage of the View-Master brand, researching the potential for VR and play, and exploring a variety of materials for the new device, designers created several prototypes that they tested with their core market: kids. As a result, the final design accounted for things like whether it could pass a drop-test or fit into kids’ hands.

Beyond the joy of pure play, the technology that powers the new View-Master also opens up a new world of possibilities for learning. Imagine turning a page in a textbook and seeing dinosaurs come to life. Or a virtual tour of an art museum through a set of View-Masters.

"We view this as just the beginning," said Doug Wadleigh, a Mattel executive, in an interview with CNET. "Obviously, we're getting in this space pretty early. The goal is to create the View-Master brand for the next 75 years."

Genentech is a biotech company that tackles difficult-to-treat medical conditions across the globe by creating innovative treatments. As a sponsor of the TED2012 conference, Genentech approached IDEO to partner in creating a “social space” for the TED exhibit hall that would captivate participants in an interactive brand experience and garner excitement around the future of personalized medicine.

To make leading-edge science more accessible to the masses, the team landed on an exciting new provocation: What if we could turn genes into music? IDEO worked closely with Genentech to develop an immersive genetic experiment that could incorporate traits of the TED community, using the company’s brand new technology for overnight gene analysis. A TED participant would choose a colorful trait pin packaged with a cheek swab kit and corresponding barcode, allowing them to leave a genetic sample one day and return the next day to discover that four SNPs of DNA had been analyzed overnight and translated into a unique musical track.

The IDEO team developed the concept, prototyped it with scientists, musicians, and sound engineers, and designed every element of the physical and digital experience—from the swab kit and packaging, to the built space and listening stations, iPad app, and other digital touchpoints. At the heart of the experience was music, including an algorithm that could generate 6500 unique musical combinations to reflect the genetic diversity of the TED participants.

Genentech’s “Infinite Variations” exhibit at TED2012 created the world’s first genetic symphony, an innovative and colorful blend of science and music. With the exhibit, Genentech sparked novel, approachable conversations about the role of genetics in medicine.

Of the 1850 attendees, over 1100 joined the genetic experiment in music and walked away with a new understanding of personalized science—and of their own genetic makeup.

What happens when you serve kids food made with cricket flour? And what do parents think? That’s what IDEO and Bitty Foods sought to learn during a collaboration to explore new kinds of lunchbox foods as a means to discover opportunities for alternative sources of protein.

We talked to Megan Miller, cofounder of Bitty, the Bay Area startup that makes delicious foods with cricket flour, about the collaboration.

Listen to the full audio story below, or go to Soundcloud.

On our team, our currency is joy. In a not-too-far-off and awesome future, I hope parents begin to tell their kids, “You can’t do your homework until you go outside and play for an hour.”

Even though we love those everyday objects that turn into toys, we have some favorites on store shelves too. 2018 was another year of fun in our Palo Alto office—we got to work with toy companies on everything from transformative, nostalgia-based toys to new electronic games. Here are some of those favorites, invented by the IDEO Play Lab.

1. Flipslide

If a Rubik’s Cube and Simon had a baby, it would be Flipside. This fast-paced puzzle game can be played by yourself, against a friend, or with the whole family.

2. Hungry Bunnies

Adopt a (robotic) pet for the holidays. This adorable bunny really eats, but you won’t have to blow your budget on carrots—its favorite food is paper. It also laughs, sings, and comes complete with cuddly, fluffy ears.

3. Scooby Doo Transforming Mystery Machine

Look out, meddling kids! This toy transforms from the classic Mystery Machine into Scooby and the gang’s crime fighting HQ. Perfect for the preschooler who you want to introduce to your favorite nostalgic cartoon.

4. RC Mobile Command Center

More preschool fun, but with Batman this time! Also, a missile launcher. What kid doesn’t want a toy with a missile launcher? And on second thought, what adult doesn’t want a toy with a missile launcher?

5. Creative Cafe Barista Bar

Think Starbucks, but with brighter colors and a kid-safe milk frother. Latte art stencils are included so little ones can create their own designs.

6. Barbie Dream Camper

Barbie’s had a lot of sweet rides over the years, but this one makes road trips a breeze. The camper folds out to a full two feet and includes a play pool that holds real water. After going down the slide, Barbie can dry off roast marshmallows around the campfire. Kids will spend hours discovering all the features of this toy, so a vacation for Barbie means a vacation for parents too.

7. Paw Patrol Flip & Fly Chase

Paw Patrol is one of the most popular (not to mention cutest) shows for kids. Chase the German Shepherd’s vehicle is a dual truck and rescue jet—just lift to transform your truck into an airplane!

8. Jurassic World Alpha Training Blue Raptor

You've always wanted a pet velociraptor, right? Right. Now’s your chance—this interactive toy allows you to train your own pet dinosaur. You can even use it as a guard animal, set to alert you when anyone gets too close to your office—or, uh, your kid’s bedroom.

Header image via CNET.

At the IDEO Play Lab, we believe that a good toy is one that promotes play. Of course, all sorts of things can promote play—it’s hard to top pots, pans, and a wooden spoon for a one-year old, or a giant cardboard box for toddlers. (Tip: Never recycle those giant boxes too quickly!)

For my latest project I worked with a healthcare company to improve doctor decision-making during a medical procedure. In addition to usual data scientist tasks, I spent a lot of time with the team trying to understand the way physicians currently work. Here’s a peek behind the scenes:

7:30 AM: Podcast time

This morning I’m off to meet my team at a hospital for field research. On my way, I’m listening to a podcast called “The Impact” that explains the consequences that laws and regulations have on people’s lives. There are a few episodes that relate to data and medical outcomes, so it’s serving as inspiration for my current project.

8:00 AM: Field research

At the hospital, we talk to doctors, nurses, and medical techs and observe them in action. Listening and observing helps us understand the needs of the people we’re designing for. We’re thinking about optimizing decision-making for doctors, which could involve a lot of things, ranging from information and data display to AI assistance. I watch for clues about how this works, and how potential data sources might get recorded.

11:00 AM: Data science group meeting

My home base is Chicago, but I’m stationed in Palo Alto for my current project. Luckily, I can still keep up with what the rest of the data scientists at IDEO are doing through a weekly video call that we can all dial into. We help each other troubleshoot problems we’ve encountered in our projects, share new methods we’ve learned, and talk about personal projects we’re pursuing. This week, one of the other data scientists is telling us about a website he’s making that allows his parents to see where he is (but not his exact location). We have a separate meeting on Friday mornings for those of us in Palo Alto specifically. I like both meetings because they help me keep up to date with how our data science practice is evolving, since it’s the newest design discipline at IDEO

12:00 PM: Lunch break

After a morning of research, I grab lunch at the studio. Today is a special treat—lunch has been provided for us. Everyone sits in the kitchen or our outside patio to eat, so it’s a great opportunity to meet other coworkers and hear about the interesting design challenges they’re working on. I like to sit with designers from IDEO’s PlayLab. They’re usually working on designing cool new toys, and have lots of interesting side projects. Many of them (and others in the PA studio) worked on this Burning Man installation, for example.

1:30 PM: Synthesis with the team

The team comes together to download and synthesize what we learned through our research observations. We transcribe things we saw and heard on Post-it notes, and cluster them so we can spot patterns. We’re seeing themes about the consequences of delays in decision-making during the procedure, and the effects of training on team efficiency. As we start to develop concepts based on the pain points we’ve discovered, I suggest that something like a personalized training program could increase team efficiency by helping people skill up faster.

3:30 PM: Digging into some data

Our client has provided us with some data from a clinical trial related to the medical procedure we’re studying. Today I’m combing through the dataset to find insights that will inform our design process. I use the knowledge I’ve gained from interviews and field research to inform what would be useful or desirable from a human point of view. Later in the project, I’ll use this data to create a prototype that demonstrates how we can help doctors assess risk during the procedure.

6:00 PM: Hosting a women in Machine Learning and Data Science meetup

Tonight I’m hosting a meetup for the Women in Machine Learning and Data Science group about the basics of deep learning with my coworker and fellow data scientist Jane Zanzig. More than 40 women have come to learn and do a hands-on demo. I love working at a company that supports building the women in data science community because one of my personal passions is working to increase the number of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM and design.

9:00 PM: Good night, Jackie

Every night before I go to bed, I make sure I hang out with my pet rabbit Jackie. I brought her from Chicago to Palo Alto with me, so we wouldn’t be apart while I worked on this project. I think she’s been enjoying living in California, and I’ve even taken her to visit the IDEO Palo Alto studio.

When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, “I use data to design products and services to improve people’s lives.” Working as a designer and data scientist involves not only coding up solutions, but understanding what people need in the first place.

Creativity Challenge #5: Encourage and accept constructive feedback

To practice creative confidence on a team, members need to feel free to experiment, even during early efforts when results will be far from perfect. For that experimentation to translate into learning, however, at some point you need feedback in order to identify weaknesses and make adjustments the next time. We all instinctively know that constructive critique is essential. And yet it can be hard to listen to and absorb feedback without letting our egos and defensiveness distract us from what may be a valuable message.

We have found the tool “I like, I wish” immensely useful in introducing constructive critique into the innovation process. This framework can be used in a small group to review concepts or in a large group to receive feedback about a class or workshop experience. Feedback starts with honest praise, in the form of positive sentences that begin with the phrase, “I like...” Suggestions for improvement then begin with “I wish...”

Tool: I Like, I Wish
Participants: Groups of any size
Time: 10 to 30 minutes
Supplies: A means of recording feedback. For example, in a large group we frequently keep an open Word document and type up notes in real time. In a smaller setting, Post-its or index cards will work.

Instructions

Step 1: Set the tone for a constructive conversation and explain the I like, I wish method. For example, “I am interested in hearing about how this workshop experience has been for you. Please express feedback in the form of I like, I wish. You might say, ‘I like that we have started on time every morning. I wish we had 30 minutes to every afternoon to stretch our legs.’” We have found it helpful to model good feedback by demonstrating “I like, I wish” in action.

Step 2: The participants take turns expressing I like/I wish statements, while the facilitator records their statements. For example, if you are reviewing a work-in-progress for a new personal finance software tool, you might offer support such as “I like that you have incorporated five different ways for customers to view their current financial status.” After describing other pluses, you might then say something like “I wish we could make the website easier for first-time users to navigate” or “I wish we could help people examine their financial situation from the long-term perspective of years, not the short-term perspective of months.”

Make sure people receiving feedback just listen. This is not a time to defend decisions or challenge the critique. Ask everyone to listen and accept it as a well-meaning offer of help. You can ask for clarification and engage in further discussion at a later time.

Step 3: Stop when participants run out of things to say in both the “I like” and “I wish” categories.

Tips from the field

You may want to gather just the “I like” comments first, and then ask for the “I wish” statements. In other groups, it may make sense to let the give-and-take of statements flow organically. Feel free to play with the format.

“I like, I wish” signals that what you are stating is your opinion—it’s not an absolute. Instead of pointing fingers, you are offering your view or perspective. The goal is to move the listener away from a defensive posture so that they can more objectively consider alternative ideas and take them to heart, when appropriate. We all naturally tend to become invested in our own ideas, and seek to defend them. But in a creative culture, candid feedback that is sensitively conveyed is a sign that colleagues care enough to speak up. The message can be delivered quite clearly, without resorting to the negative language of “That will never work” or “We tried that before and it failed.”

This post was taken from Chapter 7 of Creative Confidence. Purchase the book for more on how to use creativity to solve problems.

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Everyone is creative. This belief runs through everything we do at IDEO, and in 2013, it led my brother David and me to write a book that would help others—even those who don’t think of themselves as “creative types”—to unleash their creative potential. Creative Confidence has inspired thousands of people to adopt a creative mindset and apply it to the diverse real-world challenges they face. In this series, we’ll share some exercises from the book that can help you approach your challenges from a new perspective.

In one sentence, who are you?

I'm living in Chicago, trying to be a good person, trying to keep growing, currently working as an artist.

What do you do? How did you learn it?

I'm a visual artist. I mostly paint right now, but I do some freelance design work as well. I did some scene painting in college, but other than that I'm self-taught. I've been learning about painting through trying things and making a lot of work and also a lot of mistakes.

3 favorite possessions?

Art from my travels, a sculpture that was my dad's, and my bathtub.

What does a typical work session look like?

Honestly, most days it looks like sitting in a chair in a room by myself and painting for 12-plus hours while listening to various things—too much NPR, podcasts, music, silence. I usually take a couple of breaks. Lunch, maybe a beverage run or a walk. One yoga break around 8pm—that's become essential for me. Sometimes I draw, or I have to package things in boxes or order boxes or answer emails—stuff like that.

How do you get over creative block?

If I can, I walk away from life and travel. If I can't, a break from all creative work is a good step. Time in nature helps, or I often get new ideas that pop up during times when I'm able to turn off my thinking brain—like driving long distances, meditating, walking, taking a shower, dreaming, etc.

What was the last item on your to do list?

Answer interviews! And before that: vote. And before that: Finish design for laser cut wall hanging.

How do you see the world in 2078?

We are all so many beautiful colors and we have free healthcare and college and the old white men running the show are gone so all of the guns are also gone, and we've collectively gotten over being addicted to the internet and our devices and working way too much, plus marijuana is legal everywhere and we're all smoking it so we're all way more laid back and calm and hugging each other a lot. We have four-day work weeks and use land-line phones and record players, but we also can fly to Japan in 2 hours. It's going to be great.

What’s your number one bucket list item?

Own a tiny beach hut somewhere warm and abroad where I can escape the winters, be in nature, and paint and volunteer and meet people.

No matter where you run into her work—whether it's a larger-than-life painting on the side of the Ace Hotel or an animated GIF popping up in your Instagram feed—Laura Berger's art immediately transports you to another world. A world of soft curves, clean lines, and warm colors. A world where women of all shapes, sizes, colors, and hairstyles, literally and figuratively lift each other up. This world of abstract dreamscapes and female camaraderie has been like a salve for me in recent years. Laura shared a peek into her life as a self-taught artist, and reminded me (as she always does) that we are all so many beautiful colors.

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.