IDEO Product Development
... Firstly IDEO employee Dennis Boyle must make his mind up before going into a meeting with CEO David Kelley as to whether he accepts the challenge of taking on the new “Visor” development which flies in the face of IDEO’s development philosophy, or try to persuade the client to postpone the Visor launch The development cycle for this venture is approximately ten months before hand-off to production. ... The timeframe does not concern Boyle, but rather the fact that the IDEO team would be sacrificing innovation and design in order to meet the client’s goal. ... As a result IDEO was looking at redoing its compensation strategy and planning to do more equity deals and seek royalties. IDEO was formed in 1991 and is one of the world’s largest and most successful product development firms. The IDEO philosophy melds Californian iconoclasm (breaker of images) with a genuine respect for new ideas and invention. IDEO pioneered the design version of “concurrent machining”- a fusion of art and engineering to produce aesthetically pleasing products that are also technically competent. ... IDEO were perfectly positioned to take advantage of a gap in the market when it came to combining the two disciplines of engineering and design. ... By the late 90’s IDEO employed over 300 people and had branches around the world. ... As the company grew, Kelley had to design and redesign IDEO. ... He believes strongly that human capital is a key driver for IDEO and this is borne out in all decisions he makes. ... There was a great deal of autonomy given to employees IDEO, for example, they were encouraged to design their own workplaces to reflect their own personalities. ... The role of prototyping was central to IDEO’s design philosophy and they sought to bring as many ideas as possible early in the design process stage through almost daily brainstorming sessions. The product development process followed several different phases; from phase one which was to understand / observe, through to phase four implementation/ manufacturing liaison. Despite the phases delineated, IDEO were not in favour of the formalisation aspect of the innovation process. ... Colin Burns, the head of IDEO’s London operations in 2001 is quoted as saying, “I wouldn’t say we’re a democracy. ... According to Colin Burns, the core of the IDEO culture is the concept of the studio. ... IDEO’s designers may take the starring role in a particular project and then find themselves back in the chorus on the next project.