Field Observations with Fresh Eyes

Tom Kelley, IDEO

IDEO’s General Manager, Tom Kelley, shares a case study demonstrating value opportunities that arise when designers, innovators, and entrepreneurs see with fresh eyes. He cites his company’s challenge to design a new children’s toothbrush. Rather than relying on industry assumptions, his team did hands-on field research and discovered new ideas on how children actually go about brushing their teeth. Subsequently, IDEO’s new take on an old product became a bestseller for their client, and caused an industry-wide re-design by other toothbrush manufacturers.