Glide, a video communication software startup, came to IDEO to collaborate on the design of its first hardware product. With current Apple Watch models not including cameras, Glide sought to design a compatible band that would empower users to capture and share photos and videos directly from their wrist.

Faced with this challenge, IDEO designers embarked on a six week-long design sprint, involving users in the research to understand how they might use the band for interactions such as taking reminder snapshots and intuitively sharing photo and video messages with friends. The team then brought these ideas to life through a comprehensive industrial design and engineering process, working to meet a range of technical and performance requirements along the way.

IDEO’s final band design elegantly integrates two cameras—one nestled in a wave-shaped notch above the watch face, and the other on the band’s outward-facing surface. Together, the cameras ensure that, between recording themselves and the vibrant world around them, users never miss capturing a moment worth sharing.

IDEO also designed a compatible, on-the-go charging dock that conveniently refuels both the watch and band with a single plug-in, completing an effortless user experience.

Today’s younger workers are more comfortable dressed casually. They prefer an impromptu meeting over coffee, than at the conference table. They’re used to working flexibly, collaboratively and creatively. And, via smartphones, tablets and laptops, they’re accustomed to having everything from hailing a cab, to doing work, to getting groceries, at their fingertips.

Tech-savvy, independent, entrepreneurial, demanding: this new generation of business people and the lingering impact of the financial crisis, are reshaping hospitality.

To that end, Crowne Plaza approached IDEO to understand the needs of this audience, the macro trends impacting them, and to develop a new meeting and work offer that expressed the brand’s values.

Research, sensor data, surveys, interviews with potential customers revealed what modern travelers wanted, but lacked: informal, flexible experiences; energizing and uplifting spaces; peer-style service; curated choices; and integrated technology to control it all.

IDEO translated those customer insights, and Crowne Plaza’s promise—Making Business Travel Work—into an integrated, designed and built-out branded offer. Launched with two pilot schemes in Atlanta, Ignition is a free-to-use, innovative new meeting and working experience, housed in the lobby of Crowne Plaza hotels.

Spanning space, food and beverage, service, and digital, every touchpoint is designed to keep travelers in a state of flow, and heightened productivity. From single-person Pods, to the Nooks and Huddles for four-person impromptu meetings, to the 10-person Apartment (bookable by the hour), Ignition’s spaces cater to every professional’s needs, whether they’re on the road or in their home city.

Food and beverage offerings have been redesigned specifically for work meetings. Delivered to where you’re working, it’s non-drippy, made to be eaten one-handed, and served on square plates to sit neatly alongside laptops. Out of hours, a new self-service marketplace offers 24-hour premium sustenance.

A new role, the Host, provides peer-style support, whether greeting guests’ guests, helping with meetings, or sourcing local restaurants for a client dinner.

Underpinning Ignition is a new tablet-based ordering system (Food To You), and Host chat platform, to easily get everything from photocopies to coffees.

But ultimately, IHG’s ambition for Ignition goes beyond its existing guests. It’s designed to become a local business fixture in its own right, attracting people to meet, and work, irrespective of whether they’re staying. As one guest summed it up: “There is nothing any hotel brand in this range is doing to stand out. This concept, however, could completely change that. It could even live on its own. It’s what you would seek out.”

Fender, a brand that’s been synonymous with rock ’n’ roll since 1946, is best known for its iconic electric guitars—think Stratocaster—played by everyone from Eric Clapton to The Edge, the lead guitarist of U2. Less well known is the imprint Fender has made on the acoustic space. IDEO worked with the company to design a new family of acoustic amplifiers: one professional and one with stereo effects.

After gathering insights from amateurs, professionals, music magazine editors, and producers, the team explored portability, storage, materiality, and form through a series of early prototypes that they tested with users.

While most acoustic amps in the market don’t look all that different from their electric cousins, the new Fender product line reflects the pure, natural sound at the core of acoustic. This new line of amps uses a unique manufacturing technique with bent plywood that’s new to acoustic amp design. Not just a design statement, the innovation also improves sound quality.

The acoustic amps were also designed with simple, intuitive controls, and with illuminated features that balance high-tech performance with a satisfyingly analog experience. The design emphasizes portability and maneuverability, targeting the acoustic artist who often may have to make a tough choice between traveling light and using the often unreliable house PA.

Pi Jacobs, a singer-songwriter who participated in the design research process, said acoustic sound requires its own unique medium. "Acoustic is raw, pure, no bells and whistles. You see someone playing and singing, it’s like looking through a window into someone’s soul," he said.

For Fender, the work proved to be transformative. "Working with IDEO was an eye-opening and refreshing experience," said James Gifford, vice president of design for Fender. "The result of the work that was done with IDEO on the acoustic amp project was a game-changer that challenged the traditional definition of the design and experience received from using acoustic guitar amplifiers."

To better articulate the Bigelow family values—obsessive about ingredients, environmentally conscious, community-oriented—the company asked IDEO to help convey its story to a younger demographic, for whom tea was popular but the Bigelow brand was not. Any changes to the product or its packaging would have to improve the offering without alienating Bigelow Tea’s loyal customers.

IDEO worked with the company to update its positioning statement, brand identity, and packaging. After many interviews with tea drinkers, IDEO and Bigelow executives learned that the brand could differentiate itself by crafting a strong point of view—one that cultivates and celebrates tea enthusiasts with a superior yet accessible product. With a refined positioning statement in hand, a refreshed identity system followed.

The new packaging ties together all of Bigelow’s lines of tea. Each box features bold graphic elements like a larger, easier-to-read logo, instructions for brewing a perfect cup of tea, a caffeine “caff-o-meter,” and the name of the team member who packed the box. Bigelow boxes now stand out when stacked on store shelves, winning over tea drinkers and retailers alike.

I had just relocated to the Bay Area after five inspiring years at IDEO Chicago. The Chicago studio is a tight-knit family of roughly 70 or so friends, often known for taking extra moments out of our day to inspire, uplift, thank or prank one another in the course of the work we do.

The IDEO San Francisco mothership, however, is much larger; nearly 200 strong across four independent studios. As such, it can be difficult for a new guy to know exactly how our forgiveness in lieu of permission culture manifests itself across locations.

It turns out quite well, I found.

Nine days into my tenure at IDEO SF, someone snapped a photo of Ethan, who had come up with a clever solution to shade his eyes from the passing sunlight as he worked (see above). The photo went out in an email to the entire location. The subject line: "Innovation".

If you're anything like me, you simply cannot see a photo like this without your mind beelining to Photoshop Battle. So, I made a few quick edits and offered up my reply-all:

It would be an understatement to say that I succeeded in learning what I set out to about my new colleagues. When the dust had finally settled, the thread was comprised of more than 50 unique entries submitted over three days.

Check out some of our favorites, below:

The original photo is on Instagram now. Share our glory.

I was barely into my second week at IDEO's San Francisco location when a particular opportunity to get to know my new colleagues presented itself.

‍

Less apparent to outsiders is the fact that the creative license that comes with making IDEO eye-candy serves a very important purpose: It’s an antidote to the intense and often prescriptive nature of designing for clients. Event posters allow us to stretch our legs, color outside of the lines, and take a new tool for a walk around the block. And in a collaborative culture that is driven by the “we” and not the “me”, these one-offs offer a rare moment in the spotlight for the artist.

Check out the entire collection on Pinterest.

Be visual. It’s one of IDEO’s seven rules of brainstorming. Not too tall an order for those who are quick to start sketching when attempting to communicate pretty much anything. So when a special event gets dropped on our calendar, lots of hands shoot up volunteering to design a poster.

Where did the idea for Antibotics come from?

Stina Jonsson: It started as a simple brainstorm idea. I was doing a project in Boston around nerve monitoring, and I drew a small pill on a Post-It that looked like a little character. It had nothing to do with pills really, or the project at hand, but I liked it so much that I brought the Post-It back with me.

From that initial idea grew a larger one, to think about how we could use these characters and storytelling to help people with their medication. We’d done a ton of adherence work for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, as well as helping people take their insulin. Eventually the characters become little robots and the Antibotics were born.

Can you explain how the Antibotics work?

When a child is prescribed antibiotics, their parent receives a pack of the Antibotics. The pack holds clear pills that have individual robots inside them. The child picks one and swallows it. Their parent then logs onto a computer or tablet, and along with the child, proceeds to read the first chapter of a fun, educational story about the robot-fighting bacteria inside the child’s stomach. Each day after that, parent and child pick another robot to join the crew, and with each episode learn more about how antibiotics work, until the course and story finishes.

What problem is Antibotics trying to solve?

The overuse and incorrect usage of antibiotics—not finishing the entire course, for example— can make bacteria multi-resistant. Without effective antibacterial drugs, a simple operation might lead to an infection that can kill. And the economic consequences are huge, one estimate puts it at £1bn annually in the UK alone.

You’ve got a background in cognitive psychology. Can you explain the science behind using storytelling to improve adherence?

Research on the impact of storytelling on memory shows that the human brain is better at retaining and recalling information and concepts when they are presented in a story format.

Information structured through a narrative makes for very powerful mnemonic devices because stories provide order, allowing new information to slot into existing schemas and cognitive maps we already have about the world.

The story format provides familiarity and predictability, setting us up to take in new information and vicariously deal with emotional stress and conflict through the the story’s protagonists.

Studies have also shown that stories affect brain chemistry, which is connected to behavior change.

What’s next for the concept?

At this stage Antibotics is only a concept, but we’re looking for someone to work with to take it further.

*The Antibotics were brought to life with help from communications designer Jack Haslehurst and interaction designer Miha Feus.

Bacteria beware, here come the Antibotics. Created by London-based interaction designer Stina Jonsson, these cute robotic germ-fighters educate kids and parents alike on how to take antibiotics properly, and defeat the rising army of resistant germs. We asked Jonsson to tell us more about how the 'botics came to life.

At least that's what the listeners of Studio 360 said when host Kurt Andersen asked them to suggest places or experiences that could use more joy as part of the WNYC radio program’s Redesigns series. Inspired by IDEO Design Director Ingrid Fetell’s Aesthetics of Joy blog, our New York team did an extreme Monday makeover—in three weeks.

But first, the team interviewed the founder of a pet-therapy program and explored the physical and emotional benefits of chuckling with a laughter yoga teacher. A teammate’s 5-year-old daughter, quickly dubbed the “giggler-in-residence,” upped the joy quotient, as only a small child can do.

The result is MonYay!, a collection of objects and digital concepts designed to make Mondays fundays.

Listen to the Studio 360 episodes and check out our microsite to get a behind-the-scenes peek into the design process.

‍

The shrill beep of an alarm clock. The rush-hour commute. A calendar that looks like a failed game of Tetris. Of all the weekdays, Monday looks most like a problem in search of a solution.

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.

‍

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.