IDEO is a Successful Product Development Firm

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CONTEXT IDEO, one of the worlds largest and most successful product development firms often gathered here and talked. David Kelly, the head and founder of IDEO gathered his thoughts with Boyle. Boyle had just led his group at IDEO through the development of 3Com’s palm V handheld computer which designers and managers at both firms already considered a successful product with a very large comercial potential. Athought working on the palm V challenged IDEO’s engineering skills, working with handspring promised to challenge the very manner in which it operated, i.e. the principle of getting all team members to “fail often to succeed sooner” a creative process that often looked to outsiders like spinning wheels. The IDEO philosophy melded californian iconoclism with a genuine respect for new ideas and inventions. IDEO came to national prominence when ABC’s nightline illustrated its innovation process by showing its designers re-engineer a decade’s old icon, the supermarket shopping cart in just 5 days. Now Boyle had to decide whether he should suggest to handsprings management to add more time to a development schedule that was less then half of what it took to design the stunningly beautiful and palm V. History: In 1975, Kelly joined the stanford university program in product design throught part-time consulting experience he found to his surprise that most consulting firms consisted of specialist with tecnological companies lacking clear access to a general product development firm. IDEO started in 1991 when David Kelly’s design merged with two companies ID 2 led by renowned designer Bill Moggridge and Matrix started by Mike Nuttall. IDEO thus pioneered the design version of concurrent engineering. A fusiono of heart in enginee... ... middle of paper ... ...reat accessories can carry a product (the right small touches) Why has IDEO been so innovative over the years? 1. Rapid prototyping Three “R’s” : rough, rapid, and right Enlightened trial and error 2. Effective brainstorming Stay focused on the topic Encourage wide ideas Defer judgment to avoid interrupting the flow of ideas Build on the ideas of others Go for quantity and be visual Practice brainstorming with frequency, intensity, and sincerity 3. Well-honed product development process ( refer to Attc. 1 ) Get clients actively involved Suggestion: Business leaders must change how they think about innovation and must change how their company cultures reflect that thinking. Innovation can be bolstered anywhere if people are given opportunities and rewards for taking good ideas. Innovations are a matter of taking developed ideas and applying them in new situations.

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