Too many projects, so little space.
(Yes, I know I should organize this better.)

Moto WNDR /

“Virtual Reality” is set to be unleashed far from traditional desktop computing environments. Over the next decade, trends in truly ubiquitous broadband, mobile computing power (think laptop power in a mobile phone/iPod sized device), and retinal imaging will radically reshape how we interact with the world. WNDR envisions this future by imagining an overlay of relevant information directly in one's point of view. It is as if we could reach out and touch information related to our environment and change “channels” to any particular type we need.

Download a partial presentation deck (14MB) and also check out the flash prototype. My teammates were Lauren Schwendiman (now working at Motorola) and Gabe Biller (responsible for flash prototype programming).

Building Sustainable Enterprise: Beyond Awareness /

Design has been receiving a lot of blame and responsibility with regards to sustainable products and development. The thing is, “Design” hasn't really been in a position of power in the last century. This is all changing as society and companies have to reconcile with the externalities produced as a result of the Industrial Revolution and modern day corporations. We're working at a global scale and we're going to have to design not only ecologically friendly products but also Sustainable Enterprises. Check out this report.

I had the pleasure of working on large and diverse team led by Eric Wilmot. Check out the report for who else worked on the project.

The Many: Social Constructs
in World of Warcraft /

Virtual social networks are exploading as a result of the internet. While the press generally sites MySpace, facebook, among other “normal” web applications, I had the pleasure (and pain) of experiencing the most immersive social network known to man at this time: Blizzard's massively multiplayer game World of Warcraft. I used key tools from my social science training to study WOW and try to make sense of the social constructs found within. The project was too short at 7 weeks, traditional tools were woefully lacking in utility, and the group I was studying imploded in the midst of research. That said, the report (8MB) is still worth a gander.

User Insights Tool /

Learning about people in their own context is, without a doubt, the easiest way to uncover unmet or under-served needs. Unfortunately, data collected in user research is difficult to manage and turn into useful information for product teams. The User Insights Tool seeks to demonstrate how a software based database for design research could turn discrete data into a scalable, re-usable, and actionable platform for user insights.

My teammates on this project for a graduate class in interaction design included Enric Gili Fort and John Kestner. We were advised and the UIT was invented by professor Vijay Kumar and ID's Director Patrick Whitney.

PDEF Toolkit /

Developed in a Planning Workshop at the ID, the PDEF Toolkit is an integrated suite of research, analytic, collaboration, and generative tools for product definition. PDEF is built to empower and service untrained product managers in large organizations. Parts of the toolkit are currenty in use at enterprise software leader SAP.

This project was graciously funded by SAP and developed by a team comprised of myself, Enric Gili Fort, David McGaw, Min Ouyang, and advised by professor Jeremy Alexis.

CTA Citybound /

Developed in a class on service design at the ID, CTA Citybound is a new service matching the Chicago Transportation Authority's excess weekend bus capacity with unmet needs of the many tourists to Chicago. More convenient, safer, less expensive, and faster than renting a car or using a taxi, Citybound offers a unique and holistic Chicago transportation experience.

Co-taught by McDonald's Vice President of Innovation, Denis Weil, and IDEO's service design guru, Mark Jones, the class offered a unique and valuable perspective on how to integrate a customer's experience beyond products. Download my team's presentation here here.

The New India /

India's growth presents tremendous risks and opportunities. The New India is a suite of strategic recommendations for Hindustan Lever Limited, the country's oldest and most successful consumer products company. Key to these recommendations is a two part plan to enable India's agricultural industry while connecting with the growing middle class consumer population in urban areas. Interestingly, several of the recommendations have been implemented successfully by other companies. Most namely, ITC's rollout of shopping at their e-Chupal locations.

This work was completed with teammates Clinton Barth, Mark King, and Dan Greene in a Strategic Planning workshop taught by Vijay Kumar. Download the full report.

SAP Design Services Team /

The Summer of 2006, I spent in Silicon Valley working for enterprise software leader SAP. I was lucky enough to be part of the Design Services Team in the Office of the CEO, a group focused on fostering a more agile, flexible, and “design thinking” led SAP while also acting as in internal innovation consultancy.

While I am unable to talk about the specific content of much of my work in the Office of the CEO, I got to work on projects ranging from communication enabled business processes to organizational development.

MindshareViz /

For marketers, product developers and venture capitalists who are dissatisfied with traditional trend forecasting and market research reports, MindshareViz is a real-time trend visualization tool that reveals consumer intent through online search behavior.

By visualizing real consumer's online search and blog behavior, MindshareViz allows value creators a window into the collective population's desires. If you would like to view the entire, fully audio-annotated presentation contact me for a link to download. Otherwise, download the short summary to the right.

*Update* Google ended up building a remarkably similar tool to MindshareViz called Google Trends. It uses some of the features highlighted in MindshareViz in limited ways yet focuses mainly on a stock market like view. Check it out: Google Trends

Kids & Media:
Analysis and Synthesis /

The core of the ID's education, and what in my opinion differentiates itself from all other institutions, is the work and classes taught by Vijay Kumar. Vijay's understanding and work on the process of creating breakthrough innovations at not only the product but also the system and platform level is unmatched.

The file for download is a combination of the work from two of Vijay's classes: Analysis (framing of insights) and Synthesis (concept generation and system building). As these classes were focused on the practice of methods rather than deep execution, the results are a bit thin. That said, the document is great fodder for thought. Download the combined report here: Kids & Media.

Whole Foods Market /

I did a group project at the Institute of Design which focused on finding new business opportunities for Whole Foods Market through user and market observation. My team discovered a wealth of insights related to health and leveraging Whole Foods' brand. While the project was focused on finding broad opportunities, our team designed a suite of specific solutions to support unmet consumer needs.

View an abridged version of our full presentation with only one design imperative and one solution illustrated here: download. This file requires Adobe Acrobat 6 or later to view the video clip.

OXO portfolio plan /

Portfolio planning is a key function in companies which, unfortunately, is too many times assumed rather than specfically practiced. Strategy is about making decisions about what will and won't get made rather than making everything or following a competitor.

Matt Mayfield, a veteran Motorola portfolio and product planner, taught this planning class. Individuals were assigned a client and instructed to evaluate its current portfolio to drive recommendations about strategy and future product development. Download my take on OXO's portfolio here.

Yahoo! User Experience /

I spent my summer working on a series of projects with fellow ID colleague Erik Almenberg. While the content of our work is under a non-disclose aggreement, we helped the leaders of the Yahoo! User Experience Design group evaluate the company's development process and made recommendations to promote innovation. In addition, we authored a case study on best practices at Yahoo! as well as an ongoing product planning and strategy project plan for Yahoo!'s Mobile group. Erik ended up accepting a position at Yahoo! as a Design Strategist.

cubit /

I am focused on strategy and management but I couldn't resist designing something for Designboom's Teenage Furniture competition. Picked from 3551 submissions as one of the “coolest ideas”, cubit is a fun, flexible and practical take on storage. Made of matte textured abs plastic and designed to be easily produced in many colors at relatively low cost, cubit allows individual expression through arrangement and color choice. One unit could act as a night table, tv/gaming stand, tool, or in various configurations as a wall-unit. The concept could be extended to include other sizes, shapes and specialized units and meets the needs of teens, manufacturer and furniture company.

Mercury portable media /

The Mercury portable media prototype was built to demonstrate a hybrid model of online, offline and user-selected interactive multimedia content experiences expected with forthcoming handheld and 3G wireless devices. Representing a forward thinking approach to portable music, Mercury's functionality approached the iPod of today and was built fully one year in advance of the iPod's introduction. The device actually received wirelessly delivered news content produced by Radiowave and inserted it dynamically mid-program per user preferences. View a movie of Gary Brandt, RadioWave's head of platform engineering, demonstrating Mercury here.

I executed the secondary market research and worked with C-level management to first author functional and creative requirements and then lead development.

RollingStone Radio /

In working as Experience Designer and Project Manager on RollingStone Radio, I managed all aspects of the development of the interactive media player. Responsibilites included the writing of all business, functional and design requirements, as well as setting project timeline, budget and client communications.

With this development we created the platform on which all of RadioWave's branded and terrestrial radio were based. Forty+ entertainment channels and ad services were accessed by over 2 million users per month.