IDEO is unique and one of the best of the organization in product development.

It’s
their effective process that enables them to produce fine products. There are five
phases involved in their product design process.
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Phase 0 (Understand/Observe) is mainly about researching the product, cost, and
problems the consumers are facing with the current product. Phase 1
(Visualize/Realize) is the process of coming up with possible solutions to the issues.
In Phase 2 (Evaluating/Refining), a functional model and a “look-alike” model are
delivered. In Phase 3 (detailed engineering) various aspects like product design,
manufacturability, and performance are validated. Phase 4 (manufacturing liaison)
is the final step where the team resolves issues involving the final design. These
steps enable the people of IDEO to improve the product gradually.

Organization: David Kelley head and founder of IDEO, focused on building an

organization where people can work freely without any restrictions and use their
full potential to be productive. There is no title or official post associated with the
individuals, so there is no feeling of being senior or junior among the employees. It
is okay in the organization to put forward their weird ideas with fear of being
judged for the idea is good or bad.
Each team consists of only 8-9 members, making no gap for non-performing people
to hide.

Culture: IDEO focuses on building a stage for their employees so that they can be
the most productive. Failure is not considered to be a bad thing; rather it is
regarded as a step toward success. Whenever they run out the ideas to solve a
particular problem, brainstorming sessions and arranged whose only motive is to
get as many possible ideas as possible. It is considered to be okay to get up and
walk around their desk as no one can work continuously for 8-9 hours. They also
can personalize their workspace.
Management: In IDEO the total employees are divided into small teams as it is not
easy to manage a very large team. The teams rented 8-9 buildings in the same place
because they didn’t want a single team to be very large. For every project, the most
excited member about the project is decided to lead the project instead of the most
experienced always leading. There are rewards given to the best performer to
motivate others to give their best.
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Should IDEO accept the Visor project (on a schedule less than 50% of the Palm V)?
Due to insufficient time some of the development processes of the product Visors
have to be skipped. There are generally many model prototypes created,
brainstorming sessions whenever they run out of ideas.
Taking this project will result in the only tried and true solution but not the best
one. Boyle was confident that his team could create a killer product that would
match the Palm V's design, excellence, and capability. So, the first priority should
be to try to persuade Handspring’s management to give the project more time.
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In this time limit, IDEO has to sacrifice emphasis on innovation, design, Market
Research. They also have much less time for failure testing. Palm V is one of the
competitors of Visor with inexpensive plastic housing and AAA batteries instead of
rechargeable lithium-ion batteries Visor will not be able to compete with Palm V so
from the IDEO point of view they should communicate and explain the problems
due to time constraints and how that is going to affect the sale of Visor. IDEO is
recognized for its great products so investing time in a product that they cannot
develop fully will be of no use for the firm.
On the other hand, Handspring wants to launch its product as soon as possible to
capture the market so that it can maximize its profit. Boyle is confident that IDEO
can meet the difficult deadline even if the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute.
Boyle’s team has worked smoothly with most of the Handspring team through
dozens of prior meetings and other encounters during the Palm V project. IDEO and
handspring shared a common belief in quick prototypes and a consumer-centered
mentality. So, the Handspring wants to squeeze the deadline.
Handspring and IDEO should think carefully and consider all the aspects of every
situation thoroughly as one mistake can damage both firms.
Firm having thousands of employees requires IDEO because IDEO has worked on
many products and achieved success to a very large extent. The organization has
built in such a way that everyone can contribute their maximum towards a project.
So IDEO has excelled in the field of product development. On the other hand,
companies having thousands of employees work on a major project whose sub part
is product design so they can’t focus only on this.
The firm followed several principles of brainstorming, staying focused on the topic,
encouraging wild ideas, defer judgement to avoid interrupting the flow of ideas,
build on the ideas of others, hold only one conversation at a time to ensure
introverts also got their say. These all features make IDEO perfect for the
development of any product. And also make them better compared to other firms.
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