Profile of IDEO

IDEO’s project portfolio is rich with innovations that have often broken new ground in their respective industries. Below, we highlight some of the most notable and distinctive client engagements and design projects that IDEO is known for, demonstrating the firm’s breadth and creative impact:

• Apple’s First Usable Mouse (1980s): One of the foundational projects tied to IDEO’s heritage is the design of the Apple Lisa and Macintosh mouse. Although this predates the official founding of IDEO, it was David Kelley’s firm (which became part of IDEO) that Apple approached to engineer a mouse that could be mass-produced affordably and function reliably. The solution – using a rolling ball mechanism adapted from a deodorant ball and a simple, single-button shell – resulted in the first widely used graphical user interface pointing device. This project not only helped Apple revolutionize personal computing, but it also exemplified IDEO’s ethos of rapid prototyping: the team built countless rough prototypes to test on surfaces, refining the design until it was right. The Apple mouse became an icon of intuitive design and is often cited as a legendary moment in design history that IDEO contributed to.
• GRiD Compass Laptop (1982): Bill Moggridge, who would later co-found IDEO, designed the GRiD Compass, the first clamshell portable computer. While at his own firm, Moggridge’s work on the Compass for GRiD Systems established many features of the modern laptop (flat display, foldable form). IDEO as an entity inherited this legacy of cutting-edge tech design. The Compass was used by NASA and inspired future laptops. IDEO’s lineage thus includes this milestone, showcasing how understanding user needs (e.g., portability, durability) can birth entirely new product categories. It’s a standout in IDEO’s story because it shows their DNA goes back to the earliest days of mobile computing.
• Oral-B “Squish Grip” Kids’ Toothbrush (1997): A smaller-scale but notable consumer success was IDEO’s design of a children’s toothbrush for Oral-B. Research by IDEO found that kids held brushes differently and often too tightly, so they created a chunky, cushioned grip (dubbed “Squish Grip”) that was easier for kids to control. The colorful, ergonomic toothbrush was a hit in the market and helped Oral-B capture young customers. This project is often highlighted in business books as an example of finding insight through user observation (watching children brush their teeth) and then executing a simple yet effective design change. The kid-friendly toothbrush remains a classic case study in how human-centered design can rejuvenate a commodity product.
• Palm V PDA (1998): When personal digital assistants were the smartphones of their day, IDEO was enlisted to design the Palm V for Palm Computing. The Palm V was groundbreaking for its sleek, minimalist aesthetics – a departure from the chunky gadgetry of the time. IDEO’s team delivered a slim aluminum device that felt almost like a fashion accessory, significantly boosting Palm’s image. Importantly, the design balanced form with function, keeping the device robust and the interface (which was mostly digital) user-friendly. The Palm V became one of the most popular PDAs and symbolized the convergence of technology and elegant design. For IDEO, it was a high-profile example of their industrial design excellence in consumer electronics and showed how a well-designed product can differentiate a tech company in a crowded market.
• Steelcase Leap Chair (1999): In the late 90s, IDEO collaborated with Steelcase, a major office furniture maker, to develop the Leap chair, an ergonomic office chair. This project stands out because it combined deep research in human physiology with clever engineering. IDEO and Steelcase studied how people sit and move throughout a workday (including using tools to track spine posture changes) and then IDEO helped design a chair with a flexible back that mimics the movement of the spine, adjustable in multiple ways. The Leap chair launched to great acclaim, winning design awards and becoming a best-seller in the office furniture industry. It proved IDEO’s ability to innovate even in mature product categories like office chairs by focusing on comfort and health for the user. The Leap is often mentioned as one of the most ergonomic chairs available and helped cement IDEO’s relationship with Steelcase (which, as noted, also invested in the firm).
• “The Shopping Cart” – Nightline Redesign Challenge (1999): Although not a commercial client project per se, the redesign of the shopping cart in one week on national television has become one of IDEO’s most famous endeavors. In the Nightline episode, a multidisciplinary IDEO team went from field research (observing carts in use at grocery stores) to brainstorming (generating wild ideas) to prototyping a functional cart prototype – all under time pressure. The final concept featured innovations like modular baskets (so shoppers could detach a basket and carry it, making checkout easier), improved child safety seats, and enhanced maneuverability. While this cart didn’t become the new industry standard (it was more a demonstration), the impact of the project was huge in terms of showcasing IDEO’s process. It became a teaching tool in design and business courses globally. Many people first learned about IDEO through this engaging example, and it arguably sparked countless companies to approach IDEO wanting similar innovation magic for their products or services.
• Bank of America “Keep the Change” Program (2005): This project, discussed in the financial services section, is a hallmark of IDEO’s service design. Keep the Change was an IDEO-designed banking service that automatically rounds up debit card purchases and puts the difference into the customer’s savings account. Launched by Bank of America, it resonated with customers, especially those who found saving money difficult. Within a year, millions of customers had enrolled, and Bank of America saw a significant increase in savings account openings (many by first-time savers or lower-income customers who benefited from this painless way to save). Keep the Change won awards for innovation in financial services and is still cited in case studies as a brilliant example of aligning a business goal (encourage savings/loyalty) with user behavior insights. For IDEO, it demonstrated their prowess beyond product design – showing they could innovate in the realm of intangible services and customer experience to deliver measurable business results. The success of Keep the Change led many other banks globally to consider similar behavioral design approaches in their offerings.
• Innova Schools (2010s): IDEO’s partnership with Innova Schools in Peru showcased design thinking applied at a systems level. Tasked by the Peruvian conglomerate Intercorp with creating a scalable network of low-cost private schools, IDEO’s education team started from a blank slate: researching Peruvian parents’ and students’ needs, teacher workflows, and learning outcomes. They designed everything from the modular school architecture (allowing buildings to be constructed affordably and quickly, with lots of natural light and flexible spaces) to the curriculum model (a blend of personalized digital learning and collaborative project-based learning) to the training program for teachers (since they would be doing more facilitation than lecture). The result was a school experience that delivered high-quality education at a fraction of typical private school costs. Innova Schools expanded to over 60 campuses in Peru and has begun expanding to Mexico and other countries. This project is notable because it’s not about a product or a one-time service, but about designing an entire integrated system with long-term social impact. It earned IDEO recognition in the education world and showed that design thinking can address complex challenges like educating emerging middle-class populations in developing markets. Innova’s success has been written about in the New York Times and presented at the World Economic Forum, attributing to IDEO’s design the ability to simultaneously improve education quality and maintain affordability.
• Clean Team Toilets (2011): As part of IDEO.org’s early projects, the Clean Team sanitation project in Kumasi, Ghana stands out as a model of social innovation. In partnership with Unilever and a local NGO, IDEO.org designers tackled the lack of indoor plumbing in low-income areas. They designed a subscription service where families received an easy-to-use portable toilet installed in their home, and a Clean Team crew would come regularly to collect the waste cartridges and safely dispose of them, much like a trash collection service. The design challenge was not only the toilet unit (which IDEO made low-cost, odor-sealing, and appealing enough to have inside the home) but also the service model (figuring out collection logistics and payment methods that would work for the community). The pilot was successful and has since influenced similar sanitation ventures in other countries. Clean Team is notable among IDEO’s projects as an example of human-centered design for extreme affordability and for tackling a basic human need. It demonstrated IDEO’s commitment to projects that improve lives at the bottom of the pyramid, not just serve affluent consumers, and it highlighted how iterative prototyping and community feedback (IDEO.org staff lived in the community to test prototypes) can produce a solution people actually adopt.
• Willow Wearable Breast Pump (2010s): In the realm of health technology, IDEO worked with the startup Willow to design a completely new type of breast pump for nursing mothers. Traditional breast pumps are bulky, loud devices that tether mothers to a wall outlet and involve bottles and tubes. The Willow pump, developed with IDEO’s design, is a small, cordless device that fits inside a bra, allowing women to move freely while pumping discreetly. IDEO’s engineers and designers helped figure out the complex mechanics and form factor, testing dozens of configurations to ensure it could mimic a baby’s nursing motion quietly and efficiently. When Willow launched, it was hailed as a game-changer for breastfeeding moms, making headlines in tech and parenting media. This project stands out as a convergence of biomechanics, user empathy (understanding mothers’ challenges), and elegant engineering. It won multiple innovation awards. For IDEO, it’s a strong example of designing a hardware product that solves an overlooked user experience problem, in this case freeing women from an outdated technology. It also highlights IDEO’s increasing role in developing femtech and health devices that improve quality of life.
• GOV.UK Digital Service Design (2013): IDEO’s London team was involved in advising and contributing to the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) in its early days. The GDS’s flagship project was the overhaul of GOV.UK, the British government’s website, making it user-centric and unified. IDEO worked alongside civil servants to apply user-centered design principles — such as simplifying language, focusing on top user tasks, and rigorous user testing of web pages. The resulting GOV.UK site launched in 2013 to widespread acclaim, even winning the Design of the Year award in London for its clarity and simplicity. While GDS was largely an internal government effort, IDEO’s influence and training helped shape the culture that produced it. This is notable as a project because it’s a case of a government completely redesigning how it communicates and serves citizens online, and IDEO had a hand in that transformation. The success of GOV.UK inspired other countries (Australia, U.S., etc.) to pursue similar digital service reforms, often with design firms like IDEO as consultants. It underscored that good design can make government more accessible and that IDEO’s methods are applicable even in bureaucratic contexts.
• Ford Motor Company – Model T and Mobility (2008): To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Model T, Ford enlisted IDEO to conceptualize what a Model T for the future might look like. IDEO’s designers and futurists created a range of forward-thinking concepts for the future of mobility, some of which included car-sharing ideas and sustainable materials – essentially anticipating trends like rideshare and the shift to electric vehicles. While these concepts were exploratory, they influenced Ford’s perspective on innovation (Ford later invested in mobility services and human-centered approaches). Separately, IDEO has worked with automakers on things like in-car experiences and even autonomous vehicle interactions (e.g., how self-driving cars should communicate with pedestrians). The Model T project is emblematic of how IDEO often engages in visionary work to push clients’ thinking beyond incremental changes, imagining future scenarios that could shape strategy. It showcased IDEO’s ability to blend historical insight, trend analysis, and design creativity.
• Medtronic Patient Monitoring System (2010s): In the medical field, IDEO collaborated with Medtronic, a leading medical device company, to redesign the patient monitoring experience in hospitals. This involved rethinking the hardware and software of bedside monitors and the central nurses’ station system that tracks patients’ vital signs. IDEO’s human factors experts spent time in hospitals to see how nurses interact with these monitors, noticing issues like alarm fatigue (too many beeping alarms) and confusing displays. The resulting design recommendations included a more intuitive touch-screen interface, smarter alarm management that differentiates urgency, and a visual language (colors, icons) that’s easier to interpret under stress. They also worked on the physical design of monitors to be less obtrusive and more friendly in patient rooms. This project is noteworthy for its potential to improve patient safety and workflow in healthcare. It’s an example of IDEO tackling highly technical, high-stakes design problems and making a difference by reducing cognitive load and stress for medical staff, which can directly or indirectly save lives. It highlighted how applying design thinking in healthcare technology can result in more compassionate, efficient care environments.

The above list is not exhaustive – IDEO has hundreds of other remarkable projects: from designing a $300 house concept for developing countries, to creating the IDEO “Future of Voting” project that proposed new voting booth designs to make elections more accessible, to helping IKEA conceptualize future kitchen experiences that reduce food waste. There’s also plenty of behind-the-scenes innovation strategy work IDEO has done that is not public, where they help companies establish innovation processes or internal incubators.

What unites these examples is that IDEO’s projects often become reference points in their industries. Whether it’s a product like the Apple mouse or a service like Keep the Change, an educational system like Innova or a social innovation like Clean Team, these projects demonstrate IDEO’s core principles in action and often spark wider change. For instance, after the success of Keep the Change, many banks started looking at behavioral economics and design for their services; after the shopping cart episode, countless business teams tried to replicate IDEO’s brainstorming style; after Innova’s success, other school networks in different countries sought similar design help to innovate their models.

Not every IDEO project is public or award-winning, of course. Many are confidential engagements helping corporations plan strategy or design something proprietary. But the ones that do become public case studies serve to inspire and influence practitioners far and wide. They also reinforce IDEO’s brand as the go-to firm for tackling tough, ambiguous problems with a creative, human-centered lens. Each notable project adds to the narrative that design thinking can lead to breakthrough solutions across domains.