Innovating Products & Services

Here are just a few stories of organizations that have transformed products and services by applying Design Thinking principles to better understand end-users' needs, engage employees, and rapidly prototype and test innovative ideas.

San Francisco Opera

Motivated to reinvent itself and attract new audiences, the San Francisco Opera worked with design thinkers to rapidly identify a new model for the orchestra, test it with an audience, and use it as a model for a new 299-seat facility. "Barely Opera" tells the story of how even historic "services" can be reinvented and the importance of testing assumptions. 

MassMutual: A new approach to life insurance

MassMutual leveraged the Design Thinking expertise at IDEO to develop a deep understanding of its customers' (and prospective customers') needs. The result? Life insurance made simple, affordable, and digital. 

Nordstrom: finding the perfect sunglasses

This video from the Nordstrom Innovation Lab shows how their "Flash Build" model, which uses design thinking principles like going into the field to understand customer needs, rapidly prototyping, and testing with users in real time, helped them build an Ipad app to help Nordstrom customers find the perfect pair of sunglasses.