Author: Emma Creighton
Module: Interactive Media in Society
Tutor: Parag Deshpande
Date: 1st October 2008
‘The Deep Dive’
an ABC Nightline Broadcast
“Being playful is of huge importance for being innovative.
If you go into a culture and there are a bunch of stiffs going around,
I can guarantee, they’re not likely to invent anything.”
Dave Kelly, IDEO
The ABC Nightline broadcast, ‘The Deep Dive’, features a shopping cart re-design project
undertaken by one of the leading product development firms, IDEO. The main purpose of the feature
is to outline the process of designing a better product, using IDEO’s design process as an example.
This video clip not only shows a design process in action, it also gives an insight into the society and
culture of IDEO, as a workplace.
On initial viewing of the Nightline broadcast it is apparent that there is a definite design process
employed by IDEO in the creation of their innovative products. Instantly the broadcast submerges
right into the centre of the IDEO workplace and shows the design process from the outset. As Dave
Kelly, of IDEO, outlines that they are “not experts in any given area” but that they are in fact “experts
in the process of how you design” (Kelly, Nightline ‘The Deep Dive’). The video clip portrays a concise
account of the design process that is successful, for many reasons, which are outlined throughout the
video.
IDEO adopt a user centered approach in their design process. A great deal of focus is placed
upon field research which is carried out to obtain the necessary information in order to design a
successful solution. This is clear from the beginning as the designers put into action their ‘practical
techniques’ undertaking research in supermarkets after an initial design briefing. It is at this stage of the
design process that the designers look, ask, try and learn while involving the users and allowing the
users to actively participate in the design process. This enables them to fully assess the product they
are re-designing as well as the culture and society that the product is being designed for. It is at this
stage of the design process that the designer gathers information to allow them to understand the
user and the needs and requirements of the user.
The structured method employed by IDEO in the initial stage of their design process is, as
Krippendorf outlines in Product Semantics (2006), “A systematic inquiry into how people attribute
meanings to artifacts and interact with them accordingly”. Their user centred approach is “a vocabulary
and methodology for designing artifacts in view of the meanings they could acquire for their users and
the communities of their stakeholders” (Krippendorf, 2006, Product Semantics). IDEO reaslise that
they need to observe , interact and talk to the users of the artefact that they are designing in order to
learn the ‘meanings’ that the artefact has for the user. This approach enables the to successfully design
innovative products.
At IDEO the information gathered during the initial stage of the process is then presented. This
stage is followed by an intensive brainstorming session which at IDEO is called ‘the deep dive’. It is
during this stage of the process that requirements are drawn up and ideas are generated. The
Nightline broadcast outlines this element of the design process in good detail, showing the mantra of
the company; ‘one conversation at all times, stay focused on the topic, encourage wild ideas, defer
judgement’. This stage of the process is described as ‘focused chaos’, where the staff are totally
immersed in the problem at hand. The hundreds of ideas generated during ‘the deep dive’ put on the
wall are then voted upon by the designers themselves.
After this stage, the focus is then re-ordered by the ‘self appointed group of adults’, as they are
dubbed in the Nightline programme. This is one of the few times that the viewer is shown a hierarchy
type approach in the IDEO design process. The process now moves onto a focus on the needs of the
user at the design stage. Four teams design under individual ‘need areas’, developing designs and
prototypes. These prototypes are then scrutinized in preparation for the final stages of the design
process.
The four concepts are then combined and re-designed into a final design, resulting in a final
working prototype. The final stage of the design process shown is then evaluated in context, gathering
further feedback. The results are clear that the IDEO design process employed in the design of IDEO
products, such as the example of the shopping cart, is successful.
However it is not the design process alone that is documented in this programme. On
examination of the video clip one gathers more of an insight into the deeper issues of society and
culture and how these in turn affect the overall ethos of the company, what makes the company work
so well and what are the factors that make it so successful. It is the society and culture that has been
built within the IDEO workplace that leads to such innovative work.
It can be seen from the video that there is a great deal of emphasis placed on teamwork. The staff
are essentially a group of individuals who directly interact with each other, thus defining them as a
society in themselves. Similarly the IDEO way of working or way of life can be seen as a culture. It is
the culture and society built within the workplace of IDEO that makes them such a successful and
influential product development firm. Dave Kelly himself refers to the culture within IDEO as an
‘innovative culture’. This ‘innovative culture’ is not the product of lone individuals, it is an evolving
product of the staff at IDEO interacting with each other.
It can be seen throughout the broadcast that hierarchy is not important in the workplace at
IDEO. In the opening few minutes and throughout the video clip, the viewer is shown a group of equal
individuals working together. As the staff are introduced, there are no titles among and no assignment,
except in the case of Dave Kelly and Peter Skillman, team leader. It is only at crucial points of the
design process that hierarchy comes into play to focus and re-direct the process if the need arises. It is
this structure of people working together and interacting on the same level that creates the right type
of culture.
Communication is also key at IDEO. This is an important factor as communication can be seen as
a way of binding people, the staff at IDEO, together in a society. Throughout “The Deep Dive”
common rituals of communication can be seen such as, sharing, participation, association, fellowship
and the possession of a common faith.
The fun and playful environment of the workplace built within IDEO also contributes to the
success of the company, and creates the right type of society and culture in which individuals can be
innovative. Within moments of viewing the ‘The Deep Dive’ it is apparent that IDEO workplace,
“where the crazies live” is unlike any other. The staff are encouraged to create their own work space,
thus allowing them to shape their own society in which the ‘play’ and work. A huge emphasis is based
upon playfulness which is one of the contributing factors that leads to such an ‘innovative culture’, as it
is referred to by Dave Kelly. At IDEO they have built a culture and a process where the staff routinely
think of new exciting and ideas and develop these into final products. The ‘innovative culture’ that leads
to such success has led to companies approaching IDEO to not only design products but also to remake their corporate cultures. As Dave Kelly states; “If you can build a culture and a process where
you routinely come up with great ideas, thats what the companies really want.”
‘The Deep Dive’ broadcast is an accurate and useful account of a design process in action. The
Nightline programme successfully outlines the process of how designing a better product is done,
using IDEO’s design process as an example. The initial stages of the design process are documented
well, however there is very little shown of the final design and prototyping stages. The full extent of
the work involved at every step of the process has not been portrayed in enough detail portraying an
inaccurate account of the full design process of taking the design from the initial concept and
prototyping stage right through to the final design.
The design process employed within IDEO is a successful approach to the design of products
with the user at the center of the process. It is apparent that the ‘innovative culture’ and the society
built within the workplace have a strong influence on the design process and can be seen as main
contributing factors to the production of innovative designs.