I was in Peru for less than 24 hours when my IDEO team told me I was headed to the Amazon jungle for design research: “Did you get that Whatsapp this weekend about getting shots for yellow fever? Did you have time to do it? We bought your ticket…” Fast…

Interview with an MIT researcher on science, design, and optimism — It was Thursday night at the Asian Art Museum. Opaque black balloons hovered over a grand stairwell leading to the main event. Hosted by Perennial Restaurant owners Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz, the night’s exhibits invited attendees to explore food, drink and their impact on the environment.

Lessons from learning español — Shop owner: ¡Hola! ¿Como estas? Me: Bien, gracias, ¿y usted? Shop owner: Bien, pero … indecipherably fast Spanish… My confidence level: Plummets quickly to zero. Learning a foreign language is never an easy undertaking, and as an adult, it feels especially daunting. To make matters worse, learning in a classroom…

How business can inspire early ideas in design Co-authored by Rosaria Mannino, now at ClassPass and illustrated by Alicia Pompei The idea of balancing form and function often dominates conversations about design, and “business thinking” — the consideration of factors like distribution, pricing models and costs — is typically left…

What I learned at the Milan EXPO — Earlier this summer, I visited the Milan EXPO, the latest in the series of World Fairs that have introduced such wonders as the Eiffel Tower and the Ferris wheel as well as more practical innovations like the telegraph and the electric light. World Fairs have since transitioned their focus from…

I am a dog person. Yet, somehow, Neko Atsume, a mobile phone game designed for Japanese cat lovers, sucked me right in. Yup, you heard me right. A game for Japanese cat lovers. How did this happen? How did I, a cat-allergic, dog-loving, not to mention fairly busy person, suddenly…

Lessons from my five-week experiment with a capsule wardrobe Living with less came with the typical emotional roller coaster associated with any change: first excitement (so much closet space!), then fear (did I really only bring one sweater?), and finally, acceptance (another day, same sweater). And since I know the…

My five-week experiment with a capsule wardrobe — First things first: I love clothes. The evidence is obvious — I spent a few years running my own accessories label and currently have a room dedicated to sewing the designs floating around my head. I enjoy helping friends develop their style, and I even made a courthouse wedding dress for a friend a few weeks…

You may know IDEO’s role in shaping the process known as design thinking and how that informed the first Apple mouse, the shopping cart, and the insulin pen for Type-1 diabetes. But fewer know about business design, a discipline at IDEO that has formed over the past decade. There are…