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424 case study 11 • IdeO: servIce desIgn (a)
on behalf of its clients. These range from advertising and branding firms to contract
manufacturers.
Another important change at IDEO has been its transformation from an organi-
sational structure based primarily around geographies, to one where there is more
emphasis on practice areas. According to Alan South, Service Design and Innovation
principal and also head of IDEO Europe, “IDEO used to be able to be considered a loose
federation of independent studios, each with their own profit & loss”, united by a strong
shared culture. Today, IDEO is organised around seven practice areas (see Exhibit 1 for
details), with a stronger sense of “one firm”.
The organisation of the firm around practice areas is similar to the organisational
structure of more traditional consulting firms. “With practices you can talk to clients
with one voice. It allows us to focus on their broader needs and serve them more effec-
tively,” says Tim Brown, CEO. 3

The IDEO innovation process

As such, everything is now subject to innovation—not just physical objects, but also political
systems, economic policy, ways in which medical research is conducted, and even complete
“user experiences”.
Laura Weiss, IDEO 4
IDEO’s core competence is primarily in the process of design and innovation, followed
by an understanding of specific domain knowledge. According to Laura Weiss, a prin-
cipal of the Service Design and Innovation practice at IDEO, clients “hire us to think
about things in ways that [they] don’t think about every day. [They] hire us to bring in
a sense of wonder.” 5
On projects, IDEO views itself as a cross between a movie producer and a director
– bringing together and coordinating the various “stars” (some of whom may be
external) and then determining what has to be done and how. Key to its creative pro-
cess is “radical collaboration”, the intense, all-encompassing way that IDEO works
with the client and external partners. Unlike mainstream consulting firms who tend
to camp out at the client site, IDEO usually brings the client into its own work-
ing environment. By working closely and continuously with clients and external
partners, IDEO ensures that the client is intimately involved in the creative process
and, more importantly, that there are no last minute surprises or costly mistakes
on its part. IDEO goes as far as actually sharing its innovation process with clients,
advising them on how they themselves can become more innovative (through its
Transformation practice).
Another critical factor in IDEO’s recipe for innovation is the use of interdisciplinary
teams. On any project, an IDEO team is usually composed of people from disciplines
ranging from cognitive psychology to industrial design. IDEO employees oftentimes
find themselves working with employees from other offices or on projects staffed at
different office locations. This fluidity ensures that ideas have a chance to propagate
through the organisation, and that the creativity within the organisation is stimulated
through the continual injection of new influences.
Although the IDEO innovation process is constantly evolving (see Exhibit 2), there
is an underlying “project journey” or set of steps:

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