The Key Aspects of the Product Innovation Process at IDEO

Subject: Company Information
Pages: 2
Words: 496
Reading time:
2 min

Introduction

IDEO places people at the core of the design process, both as a business and in the solutions it develops. According to the company, user experience is a crucial element of design thinking, and it will continue to be so as the approaches change in response to new, complicated situations (IDEO, 2018). It is worth emphasizing that the organization always puts people first while developing solutions. Entrepreneurs, instructors, physicians, architects, programmers, journalists, anthropologists, engineers, toy makers, filmmakers, and others organize the global team, each with their distinct viewpoint (IDEO, 2018). Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation are the three phases of IDEO’s human-centered design, defined as a creative approach to problem-solving that begins with people and concludes with innovative solutions. It is worth noting that human-centered design examines how people think and what they do with it.

Main body

The conventional linear economy follows a take, make, and dispose of model. In general, this is not a long-term, sustainable strategy for businesses or the environment. As a result, IDEO supports the transition to a circular economy, in which materials, nutrients, and data are continually recycled, and circular design plays a key role in achieving this goal (Grönman & Lindfors, 2021). The above aspects play a big role in the design; however, empathy is the key to unlocking IDEO’s innovative solutions. The company does this by studying user behavior and their personal experience to comprehend people’s experiences entirely (Grönman & Lindfors, 2021). A medical equipment manufacturer asked IDEO to build a gadget that nurses would use to submit data during surgery.

The customer imagined a sleek, futuristic device that the nurses would be able to handle with both hands during the procedure. However, when the IDEO team observed the medical procedure, they spotted something that would render a two-handed device unfeasible (IDEO, 2018). Patients were nervous and fearful as they entered the operating room. As a result, practically every nurse began comforting the patient by holding their hand—an evident human factor that their client had overlooked. IDEO conducted their research to explore potential solutions, and they devised a gadget with a thumb scroll that allowed nurses to accomplish everything with one hand. Instead of going into the project with preconceived preconceptions about what the solution should be, the IDEO team began by studying how the device would meet the expectations of the end user (IDEO, 2018). Then they utilized that knowledge to guide their thoughts, and even though they ended up building something that was not exactly what they had in mind, it was a far more human experience for everybody involved.

Conclusion

A circular economy focuses on creating products, services, and enterprises that are beneficial for people, the environment, and businesses. IDEO’s mission is to assist innovators and entrepreneurs in making the shift from a linear economy’s short-term thinking to a more long-term, restorative, and regenerative approach to business. Thus, it is the one that produces new value and leads to long-term economic, social, and ecological prosperity.

Reference List

Grönman, S. and Lindfors, E. (2021) “The Process Models of Design Thinking: A Literature Review and Consideration from the Perspective of Craft, Design and Technology Education”, Techne Series – Research in Sloyd Education and Craft Science A, 28(2), pp. 110–118. Web.

IDEO (2018). IDEO Design Thinking. [online] IDEO | Design Thinking. Web.