Idea Product Development

IDEO Product Development

Executive Summary

IDEO is a design and innovation consulting firm founded in 1991 with the merger of ID Two, Matrix, and David Kelly Design whose, founder, David Kelly, became CEO. The resulting company had the ability to design, develop, and manufacture new products and thus pioneered the design version of “concurrent engineering” combining art and engineering to produce products that were both aesthetically pleasing and technically competent. IDEO established itself as a leader in the field and consistent recipient of industry awards.

IDEO’s culture could be described as eccentric, fun, creative, and innovative. The outside-the-box working styles and shifting of working groups help to keep thinkers fresh and constantly on their toes. In the early 1990s, the organization was flat to the point of creating occasional ambiguity for staff and management, but this was seen as providing fertile conditions for the generation of innovative thinking and ideas. By the late 1990s, IDEOs culture had become slightly more bureaucratic, to the chagrin of the executives and founders.

IDEO’s innovation process was also unique. Prototyping and brainstorming were both central to the product development process which followed several phases. Phase 0, the “Understand/ Observe” phase sought to develop a comprehensive understanding of the client’s business and product feasibility. The closely related Phase I, “Visualize/ Realize” focused on choosing a product direction based on ideas, technologies, and market perceptions and culminated in a rough three-dimensional model of the product and a general idea of the manufacturing strategy that would be used. During Phase II, “Evaluating/ Refining,” the focus shifted to engineering and the team enhanced the design prototypes through testing functional prototypes. At the end of this phase the team had a functional model as well as a “look alike” design model. The team completed product design and verified the...