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IDEO's prototype of a more user-friendly grocery cart is on display as part of the exhibit 'IDEO Prototypes the Future.'
Palo Alto exhibit envisions a future by design
By Heather Zimmerman
Not all of Silicon Valley's best innovation necessarily happens at software companies, as proven by a new exhibit of prototypes created by top Bay Area design firm IDEO. "IDEO Prototypes the Future," which runs through Sept. 10 at the Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, highlights a collection of IDEO's concepts and prototypes that rethink or remark on aspects of everyday modern life.
The Palo Alto-based IDEO has made a name for itself as a group of creative thinkers whose designs boost the functionality of everything from a PDA to a baby stroller. IDEO has clients around the world from virtually every industry, including healthcare, telecom, financial, computers and electronics and many others. The company is known for building its designs based on insights about how people interact with products and services.
One of IDEO's first major projects is still one of its most familiar: In 1980, the company refined the computer mouse--a longtime Silicon Valley concept--into a viable commercial product for Apple Computer.
IDEO's numerous projects also include the first laptop computer for GriD Systems, and the Palm V PDA. But in addition to products, the firm also designs services and environments, such as rethinking how patients and staff interact at the Mayo Clinic or redesigning the entry area at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. IDEO also helps companies find ways to build innovative thinking into their cultures.
So it's no surprise that "IDEO Prototypes the Future" includes a collection of objects with a wide variety of purposes. Steelcase Q Concept builds an entire workspace into a small structure that can be driven like a car; Identity Cards uses business cards to explore possible new social systems; Ha-Ori Shelter is a spacious yet foldable and completely portable shelter. The exhibit also includes IDEO's redesign of a grocery cart that the firm created for the TV news magazine Nightline to demonstrate its design processes.
The Palo Alto Art Center offers a number of programs in conjunction with the exhibit, including "Design Thinking: The Historical Perspective," a discussion with design historian Barry Katz on Aug. 3, 7 p.m., and "Sustainability: A Lens for Design," a talk about creating sustainable design with presenter Bob Adams of IDEO, on Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free. For more information, call 650.329.2366 or visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/artcenter.
