{"id":21305,"date":"2014-08-19T15:09:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T19:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/designlife\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2014-08-19T15:09:38","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T19:09:38","slug":"ideology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/2014\/08\/19\/ideology\/","title":{"rendered":"IDEOLOGY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt IDEO<\/span> we\u2019re in a great position,\u201d says Danny Stillion<\/span> [\u201892 MGD<\/span>],\u201dClients are coming to us either at the top of their game and they\u2019re looking for what\u2019s next, or there\u2019s been some disruption and they\u2019re having to reinvent themselves. We\u2019re constantly getting these interdisciplinary teams together to really focus on exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stillion<\/span> [who served on the College\u2019s Leader\u2019s Council] finds himself constantly in the thick of things as a design director and associate partner at IDEO<\/span>, where he is intimately involved in a wide variety of projects.\u201cRegardless of the details of any particular design problem IDEO<\/span> is tasked with, it\u2019s constantly going back to three lenses of design thinking: business viability, technical feasibility and, of course, what\u2019s desirable from a human centered perspective,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

IDEO<\/span> is a global design consultancy firm entering its third decade with some 550 employees \u2013 and work spanning almost any industry you can imagine. Yet they work hard to maintain a company culture focused on people-centered perspectives that remain nimble and highly responsive. Stillion<\/span> explains, \u201cThe interdisciplinary teams generally distil<\/span> their approach into a few key concepts such as: \u2018How do you change the game?\u2019 and \u2018How do you innovate through a challenge in the marketplace?\u2019\u201dThese phrases dovetail perfectly with the mantra the company has made famous: \u201cHow Might We?\u201d<\/p>\n

Stillion<\/span> describes IDEO\u2019s<\/span> heavily collaborative design approach: \u201cIt begins by going out into the world and getting inspired by extreme users and looking at the interesting technologies that are being brought to the table by a range of clients in order to help them come up with a new angle.\u201d The process is nothing if not collective, a quality that is easy to pick up on even without Stillion<\/span> reciting the disciplines a typical IDEO<\/span> design production team entails. \u201cIt\u2019s business designers, industrial designers, interaction designers, design researchers, electrical\/mechanical engineers all coming together to really focus on an issue and break new ground,\u201d he explains. That breadth of interactivity is not what you\u2019d likely encounter in many design offices but it is the most exciting part of the equation for Stillion<\/span>. \u201cIt\u2019s where the magic happens,\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n

When asked about the top qualities a designer needs to have to be an entrepreneur or game changer, Stillion<\/span> responds quickly with no shortage of ideas, \u201cFor me it always starts with curiosity \u2013 especially in the digital realm where things are always changing. Couple that with a\u00a0passion for your skill and for working with others \u2013 I think those are key areas for breaking new ground. Getting out in the world and understanding other people\u2019s frames of mind and the context in which products or services are going to be deployed is really critical as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current passions for Stillion<\/span> are his projects in the transportation field. \u201cRight now we\u2019re working on car-sharing perspectives for a large manufacturer \u2013 helping them think about how they move from traditional ownership approaches to trends we\u2019re seeing today of shared ownership of vehicles,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work in the automotive industry right now. They\u2019re in a kind of Renaissance period.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the topic turns to design education, Stillion<\/span> sees room for improvement extending all the way down to early elementary level design fundamentals. \u201cAt IDEO<\/span>, we\u2019re often finding talent from overseas,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause they have maintained their culturally-imbued sensitivity for design from their early years. If we can get back to having a bit more of a balanced approach we\u2019ll be better seeding the next generation of designers.\u201d It is easy to see that Stillion<\/span> has given careful thought to the question before. \u201cI owe my existence as a designer to my fifth grade art teacher,\u201d he reflects. \u201cI\u2019m hoping we can continue to do things at all education levels in the US. Certainly, there are some other things that are already happening at the College of Design involving more disruptive ways to teach in terms of embracing entrepreneurship and the barriers to getting things out as a student today with Kickstarter<\/span> and other things.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still room for improvement by bridging over more of those types of barriers,\u201d he insists. \u201cSparking what we can do with young designers and empowering them in different ways are really the bookends for what I\u2019d like to see happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDesign is a way of life and it\u2019s empowering through your creativity. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all about here at IDEO and it\u2019s exciting to see schools like the College of Design bringing up the next generation to allow that to happen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\u201cAt IDEO<\/span> we\u2019re in a great position,\u201d says Danny Stillion<\/span> [\u201892 MGD<\/span>],\u201dClients are coming to us either at the top of their game and they\u2019re looking for what\u2019s next, or there\u2019s been some disruption and they\u2019re having to reinvent themselves. We\u2019re constantly getting these interdisciplinary teams together to really focus on exactly that.\u201d\n\nStillion<\/span> [who served on the College\u2019s Leader\u2019s Council] finds himself constantly in the thick of things as a design director and associate partner at IDEO<\/span>, where he is intimately involved in a wide variety of projects.\u201cRegardless of the details of any particular design problem IDEO<\/span> is tasked with, it\u2019s constantly going back to three lenses of design thinking: business viability, technical feasibility and, of course, what\u2019s desirable from a human centered perspective,\u201d he says.\n\nIDEO<\/span> is a global design consultancy firm entering its third decade with some 550 employees \u2013 and work spanning almost any industry you can imagine. Yet they work hard to maintain a company culture focused on people-centered perspectives that remain nimble and highly responsive. Stillion<\/span> explains, \u201cThe interdisciplinary teams generally distil<\/span> their approach into a few key concepts such as: \u2018How do you change the game?\u2019 and \u2018How do you innovate through a challenge in the marketplace?\u2019\u201dThese phrases dovetail perfectly with the mantra the company has made famous: \u201cHow Might We?\u201d\n\nStillion<\/span> describes IDEO\u2019s<\/span> heavily collaborative design approach: \u201cIt begins by going out into the world and getting inspired by extreme users and looking at the interesting technologies that are being brought to the table by a range of clients in order to help them come up with a new angle.\u201d The process is nothing if not collective, a quality that is easy to pick up on even without Stillion<\/span> reciting the disciplines a typical IDEO<\/span> design production team entails. \u201cIt\u2019s business designers, industrial designers, interaction designers, design researchers, electrical\/mechanical engineers all coming together to really focus on an issue and break new ground,\u201d he explains. That breadth of interactivity is not what you\u2019d likely encounter in many design offices but it is the most exciting part of the equation for Stillion<\/span>. \u201cIt\u2019s where the magic happens,\u201d he exclaims.\n\nWhen asked about the top qualities a designer needs to have to be an entrepreneur or game changer, Stillion<\/span> responds quickly with no shortage of ideas, \u201cFor me it always starts with curiosity \u2013 especially in the digital realm where things are always changing. Couple that with a\u00a0passion for your skill and for working with others \u2013 I think those are key areas for breaking new ground. Getting out in the world and understanding other people\u2019s frames of mind and the context in which products or services are going to be deployed is really critical as well.\u201d\n\nCurrent passions for Stillion<\/span> are his projects in the transportation field. \u201cRight now we\u2019re working on car-sharing perspectives for a large manufacturer \u2013 helping them think about how they move from traditional ownership approaches to trends we\u2019re seeing today of shared ownership of vehicles,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work in the automotive industry right now. They\u2019re in a kind of Renaissance period.\u201d\n\nWhen the topic turns to design education, Stillion<\/span> sees room for improvement extending all the way down to early elementary level design fundamentals. \u201cAt IDEO<\/span>, we\u2019re often finding talent from overseas,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause they have maintained their culturally-imbued sensitivity for design from their early years. If we can get back to having a bit more of a balanced approach we\u2019ll be better seeding the next generation of designers.\u201d It is easy to see that Stillion<\/span> has given careful thought to the question before. \u201cI owe my existence as a designer to my fifth grade art teacher,\u201d he reflects. \u201cI\u2019m hoping we can continue to do things at all education levels in the US. Certainly, there are some other things that are already happening at the College of Design involving more disruptive ways to teach in terms of embracing entrepreneurship and the barriers to getting things out as a student today with Kickstarter<\/span> and other things.\n\nThere\u2019s still room for improvement by bridging over more of those types of barriers,\u201d he insists. \u201cSparking what we can do with young designers and empowering them in different ways are really the bookends for what I\u2019d like to see happening.\u201d\n

\u201cDesign is a way of life and it\u2019s empowering through your creativity. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all about here at IDEO and it\u2019s exciting to see schools like the College of Design bringing up the next generation to allow that to happen.\u201d<\/blockquote>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Global design consultancy firm IDEO utilizes three lenses of design thinking: business viability, technical feasibility and, of course, what\u2019s desirable from a human centered perspective. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":21371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-21305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-experience","category-uncategorized","tag-graphic-design"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}