Deep Dive Innovation at Ideo

Questions from the Deep Dive Documentary

1. “From the buildings in which we live and work, to the cars we drive, or the knives and forks with which we eat, everything we use was designed to create some sort of marriage between functionality and aesthetics.”

2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the design process, which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.

3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?

       -The designers need to figure out how the shopping cart can be improved, so they get out into the field to talk with experts and average consumers to help them know what areas need improvement. They also take pictures of various sticky situations where shopping carts fail, like crowded check out lines. They also research facts and statistics online, such as shopping cart theft rates, then present all of this to the entire team so everybody can be brainstorming the same issues.  

4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.

a. Online research for facts and statistics

b. Research in the field, interviews, taking pictures, observing (not behind a desk!) 


5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:

a. Stay focused on topic

b. Encourage wild ideas

c. Differ judgement

d. One conversation at a time

e. Build on the ideas of others


6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?
      -Wild and crazy ideas should never be ignored because it's those kinds of ideas that end up being really innovative. You need to work with those wild ideas to trim them down into something else that's better.

7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by voting for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also doable in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called?- This phase is part of the concept design and feasibility assessment.

8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a group will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.

9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for?
     -The small groups were a part of the design phase since ideas from each prototype would be used in the final build.

10. The leaders at IDEO believe that playful behavior and an exciting environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.

11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for permission later.

12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under?
     -This phase would probably be the design requirements phase.

13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to fail often in order to succeed sooner.

14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?
     -100%

15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design?
     -Go out to a real supermarket and test it in real life situations and ask the supermarket employees their opinions.

16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
     -Natural things. Nature. Fruits, trees, rocks, and much more.

Ideo's Futuristic Shopping Cart