The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with IDEO to explore how to harness the potential of technology to support teachers in delivering high-quality education at scale.

By talking to the people on the front lines—teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and technologists—IDEO discovered a dual challenge: Teachers need a broader array of quality tools to use in the classroom, and the ed tech entrepreneurs need a window into the classroom to create the most effective technology products.

With this insight in hand, IDEO worked with the Gates Foundation to design, build, and launch Teachers Know Best, a digital platform aimed at connecting those creating new tools and technologies with the people who ultimately use them. Powered by the results of a large-scale survey of 3,000 educators and 1,200 students, the interactive resource acts as the bridge to connect entrepreneurs to classrooms. The site provides invaluable insight to help startups focus, refine, and scale their work, and provides essential information on how schools find and select products to use in the classroom, as well as a forum for teachers and students to rate and respond to more than 500 existing resources.

The resulting platform is a boon for tech entrepreneurs, educators, and students alike—giving entrepreneurs a clearer understanding of what's needed, and giving teachers and students a voice. Teachers Know Best launched in May, 2015 for entrepreneurs and educators at the New School Ventures Fund Summit.

What’s the future of libraries? As information goes digital and reading rooms become a thing of the past, what’s the best use and function of libraries going forward?

Chicago Public Library and Denmark’s Aarhus Public Libraries, together with IDEO, wanted to find out. With a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they created the Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries: reading and workshop materials that can be used by any front-line library staffer to adapt to library users’ changing needs.

Using the Toolkit, library staffers engaged with patrons to test out brave new ideas that change our perception of the typical library: an anything-but-quiet teen expression lab with music- and art-making tools, a “tech spa” for users looking for how-to information, and a series of narrative storytelling workshops for kids that use play as a springboard for learning. In Chicago, these experiments spurred the implementation of a new play space in the children’s library section of the Albany Park branch, and the creation of new roles for librarians that focus specifically on teens’ needs.

You can download the toolkit, and find more resources, at designthinkingforlibraries.com.

Major League Soccer champions the Chicago Fire wanted to convince new fans to come to its stadium, but knew that competition for fans’ attention—and wallets—in Chicago was fierce. The Fire partnered with IDEO to create memorable marketing campaigns and fan experiences to get more Chicagoans fired up and filling its seats.

Inspired by Section 8 fans and fervent Club supporters, IDEO homed in on six defining brand personality traits: human, gritty, irreverent, indie, Chicago pride, and globally curious, then used them to design game-day experiences to match. In addition, knowing the Fire’s marketing pockets weren’t as deep as its competitors, IDEO zagged and took a different approach to messaging: Eye-catching billboards featured headlines lifted directly from Section 8 fan chants, edgy posters showed soccer players as superheroes, and anything-but-traditional scarves and t-shirts sported bold wording and graphics of players’ faces.

While reconstructive spinal surgeries can be life-changing, even minimally invasive spinal procedures can require hours under anesthesia for patients, and be physically demanding for surgeons and staff. Over time, the repetitive physical strain can limit the ability of highly skilled orthopedic surgeons to perform these surgeries.

Spinal-surgery company Medtronic partnered with IDEO to design, engineer, and build POWEREASE, a next-generation surgical instrument system that revolutionizes the techniques used to perform spinal surgeries. The result is a system of powered medical tools created specifically to meet the needs of surgeons during reconstructive procedures.

By integrating cutting-edge industrial design, human-centered research findings, and boundary-pushing engineering work, the team was able to solve some highly technical challenges, like efficiently breaking off set screws while imparting minimal torque on the surgical construct in the patient, and seamlessly integrating nerve monitoring and image navigation capabilities into the instruments.

Medtronic’s initial tests show that when compared to manual instruments, the new powered instrument system significantly reduces the time and improves the accuracy of reconstructive spinal surgery procedures.

7:10 AM: A Reluctant Jog

I run to Fort Greene Park, where I’m rewarded with a Seurat-like tableau of what seems like all the dogs in Brooklyn. I’m not a jogger, but I’m doing a six-week food-and-fitness challenge with coworkers. I'm grateful for the peer pressure, because it may be the only thing keeping me going.

7:45 AM: A Bristling Problem

As I brush my teeth and stare into my rusty medicine cabinet, I decide it’s time do something about the crowding in there. Since the space is so small, I probably can’t find an off-the-shelf fix, but maybe I can come up with a bespoke solution.

8:35 AM: Swift Passage

This sweeping view across the East River and the Manhattan skyline is my favorite part of the morning commute. It reminds me of the hope and excitement I felt when I first moved here 12 years ago. On the way, I steal some winter fashion ideas from my fellow commuters, noodle through a crossword on my phone, and listen to a podcast about the perils of multitasking.

9:10 AM: I Loaf This Place

IDEO New York sits on an invigorating corner of the city where tourists, tchotchkes, and street food collide with colorful chaos. Upstairs in the studio, the best part of the week awaits: A selection of delicious, crusty bread and a variety of spreads. It’s Loaf Day! Bonus: Someone has scrawled on the kitchen chalkboard: “Might as well face it, you’re addicted to loaf.”

10:00 AM: Team Standup

Our project is about investigating how cities and workplaces can support human potential and resilience. Today we’ve got a lot to do, including hosting some research participants in the afternoon. Deliberately coming together at the start of each day helps our team align and stay on track. In our project space, we take turns sharing our energy level on a scale of 1 to 10 and write a long punch list for the day.

10:30 AM: Download & Synthesis

We’ve spent the last few days traveling for research and speaking to lots of people in the field. We transcribe the important things we’ve learned, filling Post-it notes and boards with quotes and observations. We start move things around into clusters, looking for patterns that will lead us to insights. One theme we're seeing is how hiring systems often overlook valuable skills that are hard to quantify, kicking qualified applicants out of the process early. “So much of the hiring process is gaming to get past the system,” reads one quote.

11:30 AM: Scrappy Prototyping

We take a break and head to the office makespace. We think we might want to make something printed, so we grab some construction paper and markers and each create some prototypes. Should we make a gallery walk of posters? A tabloid-size newspaper printed on pulp? Maybe a giant book with an accordion fold!

12:30 PM: Fun With Lasers

It's lunchtime and I can’t stop thinking about the toothbrush situation. I make some quick sketches of a slot-in shelf that would allow the toothbrushes and toothpaste to sit above the floor of the cabinet, still be easily accessible in the short vertical space, and cover up the unsightly rust. I transfer the specs to Adobe Illustrator, grab some spare acrylic, and fire up the laser cutter. A few minutes and a little glue later, I’ve got a prototype of a tiny shelf that I can take home and try out.

3:00 PM: Learning from Users

As part of our research, we’ve invited a few people into the studio to share how they think about themselves in relation to their jobs. We take them through a hands-on exercise, asking them to pick objects that represent the key attributes and skills they value in themselves. As they describe their collections, we begin to see a rich picture of their work-life experiences and connections.

4:30 PM: Moodmaking

I gather visual inspiration for our deliverable. I troll design sites, look through books, and research brands and designers that have been on my radar recently. As I pin up images, I think about how the various elements of typography, color, photography, illustration, and scale could come together to create a unique look and feel for everything we’ll design for our client and the people they serve.

6:30 PM: A Melodic Exit

Time to head home. As he often does at the end of the day, Jared, our experience lead and sometime maestro, is slaying with some live guitar and singing. Today he’s accompanied by Kati on ukulele, and together they send us off down the elevator to the strains of "Wild Horses."

7:20 PM: Installation

It’s in! The tiny shelf is a big improvement, but in practice it’s still a bit tough to reach the toothbrush in the back. Next iteration needs more simplicity and maybe some better color matching. It’s back to the sketchpad for tomorrow’s prototype.

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When people ask me what I do for a living, what I really want to do is just show them. For me, graphic design is about finding the best way to bring ideas to life: posters, film, installation, animation, or even objects. So, a day at IDEO is following ideas wherever they may lead and getting distracted (I mean, inspired) along the way.

I recently tested myself and found I was averaging four hours per day on my phone, with most of that time lost to Instagram and Facebook. This mindless scrolling was primarily happening in the day’s in-between moments—while waiting in line for a coffee, sitting on the train, and even in the bathroom.

A recent talk by Manoush Zomorodi got me thinking: When was the last time I put away my devices and chose to do nothing instead? When was the last time we all let ourselves experience pure, unadulterated boredom? And is it possible that replacing time sitting around checking email with time just sitting could help us be more creative in both the short- and long-term?

I dug into some research and found that moments of boredom often allow us to take our biggest imaginative leaps. Here are three ways to get yourself there:

1. Schedule time to let your mind wander

Research shows that daydreaming ignites a collection of brain regions known as the default mode network. According to psychologist Dr. Sandi Mann, as our minds wander, our thinking stretches beyond the conscious and dips into the subconscious. It’s in this zone that we’re often able to connect disparate ideas, solve some of our most nagging problems, and do autobiographical planning—reflecting on our lives and setting goals. It’s no wonder that so many of us come up with our best ideas in the shower.

Where and when do you daydream? Allow time in your calendar to stretch those moments out. Skip the express for a slower train. Try designing new routines into your day, like walking around the block during lunch, to help spark new thoughts.

2. Do something mind-numbing before your next brainstorm

To test the creative-boosting powers of boredom, a group of researchers from the University of Central Lancashire conducted a study where half of the 80 participants were instructed to copy numbers from a phone book (experimental group), and the other half were not (control group). They were then asked to brainstorm as many uses as they could for a pair of plastic cups. The phone book group came up with significantly more ideas.

The researchers ran the same test again, but added a third group tasked with something even duller—reading the phone book. These participants came up with even more ideas.

Before your next creative meeting, try tackling those boring-but-necessary tasks that clog up your to-do list. You just might unlock your next big idea.

3. Tap into your childhood self

According to psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, the capacity to be bored can actually be a developmental achievement for children. Unstructured time motivates kids to invent their own entertainment from scratch, and gives them the freedom to explore what truly interests them.

When I was younger, I would pretend to teach a Harry Potter-style “Intro to Spells,” complete with paper wands. Today, teaching design classes at Stanford and leadership workshops for girls brings me the same joy and inspiration. And when I get bored, my mind still races around new design curriculum.

Need a reminder of the things that used to inspire you? Call your parents, siblings, or old friends to help playback stories from times past.

There will always be another something to check, update, or scroll through on our devices, but if we let our minds run free instead, who knows what brilliance our boredom might lead to?

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In our always-connected world, it’s easy to fill every spare moment with another feed to scroll through, notification to check, or calendar to update. Each activity may feel productive in the moment, but at the end of the day we have nothing to show for it.

In one sentence, who are you?

Cindy [sin-dee]: a quirky, creatively neurotic, unapologetic creature who has paintbrushes for fingers and toes—with a laugh that rumbles the ground.

What do you do? How did you get into it?

I am a picture book author and illustrator. Ever since I was a little, I had narratives running through my head for just about anything. My path as a teenager led me to theater and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where I got involved in puppetry—building puppets and touring my own one-woman shows. In the back of my mind was a dream I couldn’t let go of: I wanted to write and illustrate children’s picture books.

After I moved back to California, I began painting with acrylic on gigantic canvases, but eventually transitioned to working a bit smaller. That’s when I discovered the unpredictable beauty of using watercolor and ink. From there, I spent years diligently working on my illustration skills and developing characters, and I have been working on my craft of storytelling ever since.

As an adult, picture books are a way to collaborate with my little self. And together, we create weird books for weird kids. My debut book as an author and illustrator is How to Walk an Ant (Roaring Brook Press, 2019).

What are your three most beloved possessions?

1) A tiny armadillo sculpture with a broken tail

2) A collection of letters from my grandmother

3) An embarrassing diary from my middle school years—with creepy drawings of all my crushes

What are your favorite tools of the trade?

I make my own paint brushes. I pluck the hairs out of old, scraggly brushes and bind them together to create new brushes. I also use sticks, wires, and clay shapers when I paint. They make imperfect, expressive lines. And I like that.

What does a typical work session look like?

Before I begin any work, I obsessively wipe down all surfaces, organize my materials, and even make my bed. This helps my mind become a blank canvas. This also helps me rediscover things in my studio I may have forgotten about—like that piece of Styrofoam pool noodle I cut out into shapes to make stamps, or that tiny drawing of a bug with a coy expression.

When I finally sit down at my art table, I start by making some spots on paper. The result is not supposed to be good, nor do I want it to look like anything. This is just a way to warm up my hand. It also helps to whisper: “Good morning, hand...Good morning, brush...Good morning, inkblot!”

After a healthy session of experimenting, I transition into working on one of my current picture book projects, which involves a happy balance of planning and spontaneity.

How do you get over creative block?

I intentionally make very ugly art for a few days. That means putting wrong colors together until they are muddied, ripping up paper to make monsters, and pouring a whole bottle of black ink on top of a pretty landscape. Afterwards, I eat too much chocolate and melt into the floor. If I can make myself laugh—really, truly have a good ol’ laugh at myself—that block will get smaller.

How do you see the world in 2078?

If a drone can deliver a rainbow sprinkled donut to me while I’m lying on my death bed...I’m happy.

What’s your number one bucket list item?

I would like to retrace the steps that my late grandmother Marian Mountain took on her journey while creating her book The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation. She had a fascinating life. She was a student of Shunryū Suzuki for many years, and helped record and transcribe all his lectures.

She traveled around in a RV with her typewriter most of her life. And she used to be a puppeteer! Before she died, she was working on a follow-up book titled Snail Zen. I’d like to help complete that book.

Who are you creative crushin’ on lately?

Leonard Baskin. I recently discovered his work while doing research at The Letterform Archive in San Francisco. His lines are haunting, expressive, and honest.

I have been stalking illustrator Cindy Derby’s work on Instagram for longer than I care to admit. She creates worlds for children’s books, but her unique characters and experimental style capture the imagination of adults just as easily. For this installment of our Creative Crush series, I set out to learn more about Derby and her process.

If you think about my hometown of Munich, surfing is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. So what do you do if you love surfing but live deep down in Bavaria? You just have to make it happen. Take a bunch of crazy surf dudes, add the freezing cold "Eisbach"—a small man-made river located at the English Garden in downtown Munich that provides the perfect "standing wave"—and there you go. There is always someone taking a ride—early in the morning, when the city is still asleep and you are on your way to the office, at noon during a quick lunch break, in the afternoon for a sunset session, or even at night or in the snow. (The Eisbach has even lured professional surfers like Kelly Slater, Gabriel Medina, and Mick Fanning.) Hang loose can be found everywhere around the world—you just have be creative.

Human-centered design requires us to observe human behavior with beginner's eyes, so that we can spot the innate ways people interact with the world around them. We call these intuitive and unconscious reactions Thoughtless Acts, and IDEO designers collect photos of them to inspire their work.

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.