Posts tagged innovation

We had the pleasure to visit one of the most influential creative companies in the world, IDEO. The company has been working with such innovations as the original Apple’s computer mouse and Bank of America’s Keep the change. 

Our host was the gifted designer Ellen Sitkin who introduced the company and their New York premises to us.

Key learnings from IDEO

• Design is all about people and empathy. You always design to people and the key is to step into their shoes. For example IDEO staff spent days in a hospital bed without moving, trying to empathize with paralyzed people.
• “It’s not about the industry, it’s about the way we think” - IDEO works with customers accross all industries. This enables them to learn from each case, think wider and take best practices from industry to another.
• IDEO staff works with only one project at a time. Sadly, very few Finnish companies are even able to hire six creatives for a month’s project in concept design.
• “If we want to work with the most creative companies in the world, we also have to be on the list of them.” - PR is everything for a creative company. You have to be recognized as and idea machine.

The meeting was very encouraging in the sense that we are on the right path. Maybe it was also a wake up call for us to aim the more international markets.