When you’re under 40, buying a life insurance policy may seem about as practical as buying a Humvee. That makes insurance a tough sell for a 165-year-old company like MassMutual. To find a way to become relevant to this generation, MassMutual partnered with IDEO with a mission to get young people interested in their own spending habits.

Over the course of two years, the teams set out to learn about how people across the US spend and save their money, and they uncovered a simple theory: you either have a smart money mindset or you don’t. When it comes to being mature about financial issues—chipping away debt, saving to buy a car—it doesn’t always come naturally. If anything, many feel disconnected from money-related matters, even if it’s in their best interest to know more.

"I hate going to a bank and not really knowing what I am doing when it comes to money," said Simon Bowers, a 31-year-old who works in public relations, featured in an article in Fast Company about the MassMutual-IDEO collaboration. "They don’t seem to take into account that this might be scary for us."

So how to invite this wary demographic to the table? Design an accessible way to meet them wherever they are: online and on their phones. IDEO helped build the new venture from the ground up—designing a brand identity and experience focused on transparency, meeting users where they are, and helping people navigate complicated financial situations so they can live life on their own terms. It’s called Society of Grownups, and you can think of it as a sort of master’s program for adulthood. Each piece of the program builds on a common vision that continues to iterate every day.

After building and testing full-scale, live prototypes, the brick-and-mortar Boston location opened in 2014 and operated much like a supper club—a warm, inviting space where young people could hang out, feast on delicious meals, attend talks, and learn about things like 401Ks, living on a budget, and how to pick good, cheap wine. After two years of continued prototyping, MassMutual recognized that the digital channel has the most potential to grow and closed the brick-and-mortar location to focus their investment in building out the bespoke online financial tools to reach more people across the nation.

From leeches to gene therapy, how we treat sickness has changed beyond recognition over the centuries. But one question asked by ancient healers and modern doctors alike remains the same: “How are you feeling?”

“We’ve had the ‘quantified self’ for a number of years—sensors that measure steps, weight, blood pressure,” said Bruce Hellman, cofounder of UK-based digital health startup uMotif. “But by only focusing on the quantitative, we miss the whole picture of a person.”

Hellman cofounded uMotif in 2012, inspired by the self-awareness he gained when tracking his sleep after his baby was born. uMotif gives people the tools to record and track their mood, sleep, and clinically relevant symptoms like dizziness or breathlessness on their mobile phone app, and share the resulting data with their doctor and care team to better inform appointments, and treatment plans.

Named as one of 50 UK "scale-ups" that could grow to over £100m in revenue by not-for-profit organization Silicon Valley Comes to the UK, uMotif’s software and apps have been deployed in dozens of hospitals, and profiled in The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The London Times. With a view to scaling strategically, Hellman applied to IDEO Europe’s first Startup in Residence, a three-month-long program to accelerate companies through design thinking. “We brought the whole of uMotif to IDEO: product, organization, branding, approach, and business model,” said Hellman. “We were keen to re-consider just about everything.”

During the residency, the uMotif team embedded with IDEO’s London studio to work closely with an eclectic team of interaction, business, and communication designers, and design researchers, to explore every aspect of the business.

The team found that although uMotif’s organic growth had reflected the rapidly expanding digital health market, the offer was somewhat fragmented as a result. In response, uMotif decided to tighten its sales focus from 14 branches of medicine to just two: oncology and cardiology (with mental health as an R&D area).

In-depth interviews with patients, nurses, doctors, and executives revealed a clear opportunity: “simple symptom tracking for people going through an acute or serious period in their health, to activate and extend the patient-care team relationship,” Hellman says. The focus switched from the Quantified Self to the Qualified Self, coined by the team to reference uMotif’s unique approach to measuring how people feel.

Designers set about reconfiguring and prototyping aspects of the brand, product, business, and organizational model for delivery. Whereas the original uMotif product had been designed with a single clinician in mind, the team designed a new dashboard catering for the reality of modern healthcare—multiple caregivers.

Ultimately, uMotif’s offer is not just about helping patients understand their own health; it’s about providing meaningful insights that enable them to have richer conversations with their care teams—allowing them to work together to improve care plans and outcomes.

“We are a much more focused, confident, and clear organization, truly prepared to scale sales, delivery and clinical impact,” says Hellman, referring to the impact of their participation in the Startup in Residence program. Now back in its own headquarters, the team takes with it a toolkit of IDEO systems and processes with which to run their business and to apply to new projects, products, and services.

“Health systems around the world are quickly adopting digital channels,” he said. “We aim to be at the forefront of this inevitable shift, using design thinking to put people at the centre of their care, improving quality of life, treatment outcomes, and healthcare experience.”

WATCH: uMotif: Sam's Story.

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IDEO designers wanted to take on a challenge: How might we help kids make better decisions around food and being active?

Designers moved forward with three concepts that addressed this challenge from three completely different directions:

• Top Chops, a hands-on cooking adventure that builds kids’ confidence in the kitchen by working toward becoming a Top Chop “master chef.”
• Daredevils, a wearable device that measures the intensity of energy exerted, but doesn’t prescribe the activity, which kids can use to dare each other to reach activity goals.
• Presso, a set of child-size kitchen tools that slice and dice fresh food in imaginative ways, making cooking fun and helping kids feel they have a role in making their own healthy food.

The design team behind this work was featured on 60 Minutes, and some of the resulting concepts were featured on CBS This Morning.

In updating the popular and industry-defining PalmPilot, Palm Computing wanted to reposition the next-generation Palm V as a high-design accessory to set it apart from its many imitators.

Together with IDEO, it crafted a sleek, elegant device, half the thickness of the original in an anodized aluminum housing. Incorporating an internal lithium-ion battery that recharges in the dock, the side rails act as an open architecture to provide attachment for a variety of styluses, cases, and other add-ons.

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.