A recent article on the freelance workplace refers to an Intuit study that predicts 40% of the workforce will be freelance by 2020. To many, this is an exciting idea where talented and creative individuals get to leverage their skills free from the tyranny of the "boss." To others, it is a scary pro...

Project teams and small groups need to easily congregate—and then just as easily wander into private spaces for design iterations, coding sessions, etc. The mix of project rooms, smaller conversational nooks, and individual phone booths makes this possible. Our studio also allows for the high percen...

I am fascinated by how things are made. For me, having a sense of where something comes from gives me a much deeper connection to a product. That is why I love the segment in Gary Hustwit’s movie Objectified that shows Jasper Morrison’s Air Chair on the production line, and the interview with Apple ...

How often have you experienced unfriendly or grumpy service on an airline, in a restaurant, or in another service environment? Quite a few times, I imagine. In the vast majority of cases, I would take a bet that this is not so much a result of poor hiring or training, but a reflection of a poor inte...

Apologies for tooting IDEO’s horn here, but I am quite proud that this week the award-winning American news program 60 Minutes aired a profile of David Kelley and IDEO. Hosted by Charlie Rose, it covers David's life and IDEO's work and culture. Watch the full 60 Minutes segment here. You can also w...

Most prognostications about the future of work have explored how technology is disrupting work patterns or enabling new forms of work. Mostly they do not question the core motivations for why we work, or the value we should expect to unlock. Will Work For is a design provocation and conversation st...

Recently I recommended that you watch David Kelley's TED talk on Creative Confidence, one of 10 talks chosen by TED for a playlist about the beauty—and difficulty—of being creative. Since then, Harvard Business Review magazine has published an article by Tom and David Kelley that expands on the con...

This week TED published a playlist called 10 Talks About the Beauty—and Difficulty—of Being Creative. Included in the playlist: David Kelley’s 2012 TED talk, “How To Build Your Creative Confidence,” and my own 2008 talk, “Tales of Creativity and Play.” There’s a powerful relationship between creati...

“When I walked into Heath it sounded so different from my office." It was this visceral difference between the sounds of a small ceramics manufacturer and those of a consulting design studio that got Cathy Bailey started on the path to co-leading Heath Ceramics. In partnership with her husband Robin...

I spoke with writer Warren Berger recently for his Harvard Business Review post on "the secret phrase top innovators use." What's the phrase? Three words: How Might We. Within this deceptively simple phrase each word plays a powerful role in spurring creative problem-solving. "How" assumes that so...