IDEO (before merging, est 1969-) founded by David Kelley, is an American design and Consulting firm, with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Known for their human-centered, interdisciplinary approach, as well for their involvement in the development of the mouse for the Lisa computer as well as the mechanical orca in Free Willy, and many other designs. During their years they have had clients such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Steelcase among many others.
What’s special about IDEO is that they’re not specialized in one area, but several. In their company, they have hired a wide range of designers and other people with different experiences for them to be able to help their clients in the best way possible.
The core of IDEO has always been human-centered design. They believe that the key to figuring out what humans really want lay in observing user behavior and putting yourself in the situation of the end-user.
IDEO has a certain design process, that they have used in several instances during its existence, such as designing a medical device for nurses, designing a toothbrush for kids as well as improving a hospital’s patient experience.
Here are the six phases of the IDEO design process used in their projects
IDEO’s design process heavily evolves around observing the user and putting themselves in their shoes. Seeing things with a fresh eye, and using the observation of the user as an opportunity to create new possibilities.
Sources: https://www.ideo.com/ IDEO’s own website.