BUY THIS BOOK FROM BARNES AND NOBLE

Kelly, Tom, & Littman Jonathan (2001).  The art of innovation.  New York: Doubleday.

IDEO's Methodology

1) understand

• the market
• the client
• the technology
• the perceived constraints

2) Observe people in real-life situations

• what they like
• what they hate
• what confuses them
• latent unaddressed needs

3) Visualize

• new-to-the-world concepts
• customers who will use them

4) Evaluate and refine

• quick prototyping
• input: internal, client, potential users, relevant outside experts

5) Implement

OBSERVATION

• Not focus groups, not traditional market research, not "experts"----actual people who use the product (or something similar).

• Inspiration comes from being close to the action…new ideas come from being there.

• "Being left handed" means seeing things in a new way, developing empathy for the needs for customers who may be very different from you.

• Find the rule breakers---people who are "jerry-rigging" existing equipment to improve its functionality.

• Keep a "bug list"---things wrong with yours or others' product.

• Look for little innovations to existing products as well as big ideas for new products.

• Think of products in terms of verbs, not nouns (e.g., not cell "phones"---cell "phoning").  Emphasize the active use of the product rather than the static product.

BRAINSTORMING

Tips

• Don't make sessions longer than one hour.
• Don't take turns speaking.

Seven Secrets for Better Brainstorming

1) sharpen the focus: start with a well-articulated definition of the problem.  Too fuzzy, and you flounder; too narrow, and you miss opportunities.

2) Playful rules:  publish rules for the session

• Don't critique or debate ideas
• Go for quantity (shoot for 100 ideas an hour)
• Encourage wild ideas
• Be visual

3) Number your ideas

4) Build and jump:  brainstorming typically builds slowly (use "building" here), takes off, then plateaus ("jump" to another topic as it wanes).

5) The space remembers: be visual and 3d.  Cover the room with paper before you being: e.g., butcher block paper on the tables, sheets on walls, post-its, lots of markers.

6) Stretch your mental muscles: do some observation homework before the brainstorming session.

7) Get physical: don't just write, DRAW.  Use sketching, mind mapping, stick figures.

Six Ways to Kill a Brainstorm

1) The boss gets to speak first.

2) Everybody speaks in turn.

3) Use nothing but "experts"

4) Always go off-site to brainstorm (Not that retreats aren't nice, but you want your regular workplace to be a creative place).

5) No silly stuff.

6) Taking notes (sure, everything gets written down, but everyone ISN'T taking notes).

HOT GROUPS

• dedicated
• tight deadlines
• irreverent
• no hierarchies
• well-rounded, and respectful of that diversity
• open, eclectic workspace
• connected to the outside world

"You find the fun and--snap!--the job's a game."

• If possible, let people pick the groups they work with.  Occasionally, let them even pick projects to work on.
• Adversity can draw a team together.
• Teams shouldn't be too geographically spread out.  Close quarters can energize a group and makes it easy to hold quick spontaneous meetings.
• There's an art to putting a team together--the right mix of specialities, personalities.

Tip:  get rid of "they"---don't spy on your employees email, don't tell them what to wear, etc.  That kind of stuff takes management from "us" to "they".

Three Questions

Three questions every team member has for the leader:

1. Do you care about me?
2. Can I trust you?
3. Are you committed to the success of our team?

The best team leaders answer these questions with actions instead of words.

Abundance:  Strive to create an atmosphere of abundance.  If there are a lot of cool projects instead of one or two, people are less likely to fight over them or insist on credit.

Cool teaching technique:  Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, tells his students on the first day of class that they all get an "A"--provided they write a letter to him, dated as if it was the last day of class, explaining why they deserved the grade.  Then they actually have to accomplish all those things.

Gifts and Awards

Give lots of gifts and awards, but not routinely (except for end-of-project awards).  Create cool gifts for surprises, and involve as many people as possible.  Create cool team and project t-shirts, too.

Playing Hooky

Sometimes, let people play hooky:

• Take the afternoon off together and do something fun. 
• Take work-related field trips together.
• Encourage unplanned breaks during the day.

Misc

• Once a year, throw a big bash---the point isn't simply how much money you can spend as much as what kind of experience you can create.

• Launch a clubhouse:  a weekly or monthly meeting that functions similar to a writer's group where people share what they're doing or what they've discovered.  Even better, cater lunch!

• What makes team meetings work?  Enthusiasm, show-and-tell, humor, and irreverence.

• Create a team icon.

Characters

Hot teams need characters.  Even a couple of certifiable weirdos.

8 types of Characters

1) Visionary: to see into the future

2) Troubleshooter: chief fix-it person

3) Iconoclast: someone to challenge the status quo

4) Pulse Taker: the heart to counterbalance the head

5) Craftsman: a shop wizard

6) Technologist: a resident geek

7) Entrepreneur: keep spin-offs within the fold instead of losing them

8) Cross-Dresser: self-educated (though he/she may have been educated in a different field), but loves the area.

• PROTOTYPING
  Prototype.  Do it NOW.  The water is rising, and if you don't act soon your project will be under water.  Besides, once you start drawing things, you open up new possibilities of discovery.  Doodle, draw, sketch, build--especially when you're facing "writer's block".

• Be iterative (i.e., make several prototypes):  rough sketch, cheap model, etc. and use them to keep everyone informed of what you're doing.

OFFICES

• There's a connection between space and innovation. 

• Creating the right workspace may be nearly as important as hiring the right people.  The best offices celebrate teamwork.

• Create neighborhoods---spaces that draw workers in and encourage interaction (e.g., a big table acts as a "park" for every 3-4 persons.

• Give everyone a say.  Team heads design the overall look of their space but let each team member mold their space as they see fit (and encourage playfulness).

• Use building blocks (e.g., IDEO's foam cubes).

• Consider "prototype" (temporary) spaces, too, for the duration of a project.

• Density yields buzz.  Too little space and people feel like sardines, but too much space is bad, too.

• Hierarchy is the enemy of cool space.  Don't reward superiors with superior space.

• Give workers a view.

• Make your entrances "storytelling entrances".

• Keep a "magic box" full of odd cool stuff and gadgets.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Velcro, saccharine, ivory soap---all were invented serendipitously.

Seven Tips for Cross-Pollination

1) subscribe and surf: "idea wade" (browse) lots of media

2) play director: watch people like a film director composing a movie.

3) hold an open house to spread your best practices

4) inspire advocates: cultivate individuals who celebrate different viewpoints.

5) hire outsiders: hire occasional fresh blood, and get people that are slightly off center.

6) change hats: impersonate your products' users.

7) cross-train: pick up ideas from other businesses.

BARRIERS & BRIDGES

NO                              YES

hierarchy-based            merit-based

bureaucracy                  autonomy

anonymous                   familiar

clean                            messy

experts                         tinkerers

CREATING EXPERIENCES

• Think verbs, not nouns.  You don't just create a product, you create the experience of using that product.

• Divide the experience into small steps and consider what could go wrong with the experience at each step.  Then consider how the experience could be improved at each step.

• Make experiences entertaining (learn from Las Vegas).  Add a little spice to the experience (e.g., buying fish at Pike's Market in Seattle).

• Tell a personal story about your products (e.g., Restoration hardware).

• Look at Apple Computer's "out of the box" experience.

• Study badly designed experiences to learn what NOT to do.

• Little experiences count.  Instead of ugly temporary paper badges, IDEO visitors get a snazzy laminated badge with their picture as a keepsake.

COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES

• Make joyful failures.  Many companies (e.g., Charles Schwab's online brokerage) fail a lot before succeeding.  But design so that failures are less burdensome (e.g., Klutz juggling bags make failure a lot easier than if they'd used balls).

• Rules sow the seeds of bureaucracy.

• Examples: Shoebox greetings, Target, Swatch.

• Search for the elegant simplicity of the "Wet Nap" interface ("Tear open and use") or the "low mass" solution of the Frisbee (no moving parts, no instructions, delivers fun with little practice).

• Beware "featureitis".

HOW TO MAKE GREAT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

1) Make a great entrance: make the people who use your products feel welcome

2) Make metaphors or phrases to guide development

3) Think briefcase: devices that cross over between work and home.

4) Color inspires

5) Backstage Pass: let people know what's going on behind the curtain (e.g., confirmation and status messages)

6) One click is better than two: faster and simpler is better.

7) Goof-proof: failing that, provide "undo"

8) First, do no harm: take the pain out of your goods and services

9) Checklist: compile a list of critical features and compatibilities and make sure you have/meet them.

10) Great Extras: great accessories can carry a product.

LIVE THE FUTURE

• Browse toy stores, bike shops, and other places to get ideas.
• Go where the action is.
• Cultivate your sages.
• Make "concept cars". 
• Make "movie trailers".