Monster Moves is an app that gives kids the ability to create their very own monster dance party. Kid-approved by a rambunctious team of tiny beta testers, the app encourages children 5 and younger to exercise their creativity as they choreograph dance moves for a troupe of monsters. Kids develop an awareness of their creative control by sequencing illustrated tiles that correspond to each monster’s unique set of dance moves.

Whether it’s a twirl, flap, swing, or sway, the app enables kids to cultivate decision-making skills by drawing connections between their choices and the monsters’ dance steps. Each monster has a full repertoire of dance moves and accompanying musical beats, so kids can compose an original soundtrack and dance along. To encourage kids around the world to create and design, the app is available in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.

Monster Moves—available on the App Store—joins a collection of apps, including Balloonimals and Balloonimal Babies, created by IDEO’s Play Lab, made up of a team of educators, designers and toy experts who foster kids’ curiosity, play, imagination, and creative confidence.

Chronic pain changes everything. Symptoms associated with chronic conditions can make activities that were a normal part of life—getting regular exercise or even a good night’s sleep—difficult to bear.

NeuroMetrix, an innovative health-care company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, developed Quell® to help treat chronic pain in people suffering from nerve, arthritic, back, leg, and foot conditions. Using a revolutionary technology called wearable intensive nerve stimulation (WINS), this device triggers widespread relief and, in a clinical study, reduced chronic pain and use of medication in thousands of users.

NeuroMetrix came to IDEO to help create the industrial design, interaction design, and mechanical engineering to bring Quell to the consumer market. Quell is a device that is placed in a sports band with a lightweight, slim design that fits comfortably on the upper calf and delivers therapy for chronic pain in the body. Its patented OptiTherapy™ technology is customized and automatically adjusts the therapy dose for optimal relief. An accompanying app, developed by Atomic Object, allows users to track treatment sessions, measure and understand the quality of their sleep as it relates to their pain, and personalize device settings.

IDEO’s work with Quell went beyond creating the product to something bigger—reframing chronic pain. For people who are in a constant state of suffering, the ability to take some measure of control allows them to feel more like active participants in their treatment plan, and to regain confidence.

Operating a CT scanner is a delicate balancing act: The tech has to get a clear image for accurate diagnosis while reducing the patient’s overall radiation exposure. There are a lot of variables, and every second counts.

GE Healthcare, one of the country’s largest manufacturers of CT scanners, hired IDEO to redesign the console user interface to optimize the tech’s workflow, the patient experience, and the image quality. The key challenge was accommodating both junior and senior tech experience when designing a single interface, balancing support, flexibility and control. The final design allows techs to see their entire workflow up front, is optimized for “glanceability,” and draws technicians’ attention to important information. Threshold limits ensure the radiation dose never exceeds the determined amount. Ultimately, the streamlined design enables the tech to feel confident and focus on the patient’s physical and emotional well-being.

With several new hospitals using the new GE CT scanner, the impact has been evident. Within 24 hours, techs are up and running on the machines. The vision for the future looks bright and clear.

How does a 130-year-old telecom company in Bogotá appeal to a tech-savvy generation without alienating its most loyal customers? Faced with growing competition, ETB, Colombia’s oldest telecom business, wanted to modernize its entire retail shopping experience and update its branding.

The company enlisted IDEO’s help in leveraging its already highly regarded brand. IDEO created a complete blueprint for the next generation of retail centers, including in-store spaces, digital services, and new personnel role descriptions. ETB’s new retail stores are warm and bright, and self-service kiosks eliminate the need for waiting in line. The company’s brand also got a face-lift with a new color palette and brand manual.

"Working closely with IDEO, we accomplished all of our goals,” said Vice President Carlos Alberto Gómez García, “from creating organizational change to reimagining interactions with our customers to evolving the brand identity of ETB."

Her dream was to scale RepresentEd, an organization she started to support non-traditional students in securing opportunities for meaningful work. She was prototyping her idea at the University of California Berkeley with a unique cohort of students. A few had transferred to the university and some were raising children or supporting siblings, she said. A few were formerly incarcerated. My father went to prison, and I saw how difficult it was to re-enter society when his sentence was up, so I was immediately taken with her idea. We exchanged contact information, danced a bit more, and then said our goodbyes.

A few weeks after our Lyft ride, Rashida and I met to talk about a program she was designing for RepresentEd. She wanted students to learn human-centered design because it’s a skill that employers look for in the San Francisco Bay Area. I told her about Anne-Laure Fayard, a professor at New York University who is teaching human-centered design by having her students participate in OpenIDEO Challenges, 4-month global efforts that allow people to act on societal challenges together. The theory is that they’ll learn more by participating in the design process than they will from hearing a lecture.

The timing of my meeting with Rashida was perfect—my team was about to launch an OpenIDEO Challenge in which we asked, “How might we prepare all learners for the needs of tomorrow by reimagining higher education?” Rashida brought this idea back to her students, who were excited to work on a topic that was so relevant to their lives.

A few weeks later, I traveled to the UC Berkeley campus to meet the students in Rashida’s program for the first time. Rashida asked me to lead a workshop on human-centered design and introduce them to the Future of Higher Education Challenge. The students were fired up, smart, creative, and eager to work with one another.

One of the ideas that came out of that workshop was MAPP, an interactive roadmap that supports students through college and beyond. The students spent the next few weeks building the idea out. They conducted interviews with other students, parents, teachers, and staff. They worked with Mike Atherton, a local interaction designer and OpenIDEO community member who volunteered to build prototypes that they tested with non-traditional students, faculty, and experts in the field. The students submitted MAPP to OpenIDEO and it was selected as one of the five most promising ideas to come from the Future of Higher Ed Challenge. Two of the students were flown to Boston to present MAPP at a leadership summit. They also pitched MAPP at education conferences hosted by our partners Georgia Tech and Arizona State University.

All of this innovation sprang from a Lyft ride many months ago. It’s a great reminder that when you’re open and implicitly trust others, you can build bridges and expand the reach of your work in the world.

“Opportunities are everywhere, if you’re always open,” Rashida told me. It’s the same thing she tells her students.

I was on my way to a conference in San Rafael, California. I don't have a car, so I called Lyft. I met Rashida on the ride over; she was my driver, and we instantly connected while rocking out to Missy Elliot. When the song ended, we started to chat. As a former journalist, I’ve always been curious about what motivates people, so I asked her, “What are your hopes for the future?”

When we get an auto-responder, the feeling is generally one of mild disappointment, indifference, or doom, depending on how urgent your request was.

If I took the time to compose something better, I wondered, would anyone take the time to read it? Was there a way—an opportunity, even—to shift the entire auto-responder interaction from one of scarcity (nobody’s home) to abundance (well that just made my day)?

The question became:

"How might we take one of the most automated voices we still offer to the world and make it more human?"

I started to experiment:

"I will be in a workshop this week rendering response time erratic and unpredictable. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and invite you to celebrate this moment by testing the varied edges and new limits of patience this may evoke. Who knows where it may lead? I will be back to you as soon as possible. I promise. Thank you!"

Then got a little bolder:

"I will be impossibly slow to respond today as I am currently seated deep within the bowels of our criminal justice system doing my bit as potential juror #xxxxx for Kings County. I urge patience and self management, and that's just for myself.... I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

Today you will most likely receive:

"I am abroad with the most inconsistent wifi I have ever experienced. It's the substantiation of mindfulness, the invitation to a million moments paused in the belligerent now. I will pick up with you again on July 10th when I am back in New York where the data flows like a subterranean stream and the hours are neither here nor there. Thank you for your patience in the meantime."

People responded. They read them. They liked them! And the fact that they got a momentary zing out of these absurdist missives did much to relieve my guilt over dodging people's requests. I also learned a few things along the way.

3 design principles for how to write a better OOO:

1. Insert an element of surprise
   Moments of surprise in the mundane matter exponentially. I have received many many bemused responses. From close colleagues to clients to absolute strangers. It instantaneously bonds us and shifts the exchange from “I have a request or need” to “I see and hear you.” When I eventually return and execute on that request, there are new connections, filamenty kinship has grown between us through humor and surprise. From that foundation we accomplish more, usually with speed, which is ironic when you think that the communication started with a stunting. Not particularly auspicious. This creates space for possibility.
2. Do not concede to the bot!
   Bots are helpful, available, and dare I say it, adorable at times. But to compete with them we must use our all too human, weird, silly, grammatically inconsistent voices. Besides, if they are learning from us anyway we may as well give them some good material to work with.
3. Upend expectations by being yourself
   I work in leading talent for IDEO. I'm proud of that craft. But I’m also an MFA, a poet, and you may be able to tell, a bit of a weirdo. The moment I gave myself permission to be myself in all of my communications with people—even the dryest most official ones—people started responding in kind. Free yourself and the rest will follow.

We all operate in a world where we bump up against other’s expectations or assumptions of who we are on a daily basis. Those assumptions don't change on their own—that's your job! And it's as easy as writing a good OOO email! I am not HR, I’m HCH. Hello.

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The dreaded OOO. You've probably already gotten one today. The tone is usually perfunctory, most likely generated by a bot, or a bot-like impulse on behalf of the sender, who is hastily trying to sign off before that vacation, workshop, excuse to get away for five minutes of uninterrupted peace.

I found this outside of a grocery shop in Tokyo. Someone used the plastic bottle to replace the broken rain gutter. You can tell from the scratches on the plastic that the water bottle has been there a while, outlasting countless rainstorms. Who knew a water bottle could be so strong!

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.

In 2016, with only a college internship in archaeology under my belt, I stumbled on a social media post calling for volunteers to dig in Jerusalem. Before I knew it, I was winging my way to Israel with knee pads, sweat bands, and plenty of SPF 50. I spent two to three weeks of each of the following summers in Jerusalem with Dig Mount Zion, helping excavate priestly homes from the time of Jesus, Roman mosaics and frescos, and hints of bloody Crusader battles.

I returned from my latest session in a dusty Jerusalem pit in July to start my new gig as an editor at IDEO. Believe it or not, being a part-time Dirt Hound has really helped my work. How?

1. Archaeology sparks curiosity

I knew nothing about design when I started at IDEO. Likewise, before college I knew zilch about archaeology beyond what I’d seen on TV. The aggressive learning curve kicked me out of my comfort zone and forced me to ask questions of everyone, all the time. What’s a sherd, or for that matter a fill, a balk, or a locus? How did people live in the time of King David or King Herod, and how do we know?

Constantly asking questions can make you feel a bit naive, but I’ve found this sort of curiosity is a great way to learn fast, shake up stagnant systems, and radically expand my view of what’s possible.

Designers know this well. They start with questions: How might we incorporate VR into online experiences? Why are schools bound by four walls? Could play help prisoners? This inquisitive, unbiased approach is what allows them to identify fundamental needs and find creative solutions.

In the same way, I try to broach new concepts I come across, such as designing for social change, with no preconceived ideas, and keep poking and prodding until I unearth the story.

2. Hard labor can be good for you

In pop culture, archaeologists find perfectly preserved, fully excavated structures (I’m looking at you, Indy). But in reality, someone has to remove tons of dirt and rock; sweep the area with a metal detector; sketch and photograph the features of the site; wash, sort, and catalogue finds—and then begin again the next day, on the next layer of earth. Slowly, a complete picture is revealed. It’s meticulous, backbreaking work.

At the Jerusalem dig site, the physical challenges and my lack of formal training helped me understand my limits and accept guidance from the seasoned archaeologists in charge. At the same time, the digs showed me that I’m capable of withstanding heat, stress, language barriers, and lots of pickaxing. These experiences have given me confidence that I can master a new language—design—and tackle stories about IDEO’s most complex, cross-cultural projects.

3. Digs build trust & teamwork

In a given year, Dig Mount Zion includes about 15 staff, 20 students, and 60 wide-eyed volunteers. Participants range from 18 to 86 and hail from Germany, Russia, the Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, and beyond. Being tossed into a pit in 95-degree heat and told to move a mountain of dirt has bonded complete strangers into fast friends.

Working in a place so steeped in history, alongside people from all walks of life—from an Ohio school bus driver to a Messianic Jewish missionary to a particle physicist—helped me build trust and tolerance and let me glean wisdom from people with radically different points of view.

Likewise, diversity of experience and perspective on a single project is IDEO's secret sauce. Our designers have created everything from apps to amps to appliances and I'm charged with capturing those inventions in a way that's easy to understand. Archaeology has prepared me well to incorporate new modes of thinking and work with colleagues from Silicon Valley to Shanghai.

Hopefully, they won’t mind all the dirt under my fingernails.

Photos courtesy of Rachel Ward. For more, please contact rwardphotoclt@gmail.com.

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When I was eight, I defected from a high-stakes game of summer camp capture-the-flag to hunt for fossils in a nearby creekbed. Twenty years later, I still obsess about all things ancient—the first civilizations, the evolution of religious thought, and the latest dinosaur find. If this is a phase, I never grew out of it. In fact, I’ve become something of an amateur archaeologist, with surprising benefits for my work life.

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.