1. Understand
the market, the client, the technology, and the perceived constraints on the problem . Later in the project, we often challenge those constraints, but it’s important to understand current perceptions.

2. Observe
real people in real-life situations to find out what makes them tick : what confuses them, what they like, what they hate, where they have latent needs not dressed by current products and services.

3.Visualize
new-to-the-world concepts and the customers who will use them. Some people think of this step as predicting the future, and it is probably the most brain-storming-intensive phase of the process. Quite often, the visualization takes the form of a computer-based rendering or simulation, though IDEO also builds thousands of physical models and prototypes every year. For new product categories we sometimes visualize the customer experience by using composite characters and storyboard-illustrated scenarios. In some cases, we even make a video that portrays life with the future product before it really exists.

4. Evaluate
and refine the prototypes in a series of quick iterations. We try not to get too attached to the first few prototypes, because we know they’ll change. No idea is so good that it can’t be improved upon, and we plan on a series of improvements. We get input from our internal team, from the client team, from knowledgeable people not directly involved, with the project, and from the people who make up the target market. We watch for what works and what doesn’t, what confuses people, what they seem to like, and we incrementally improve the product in the next round.

5. Implement
the new concept for commercialization. This phase is often the longest and the most technically challenging in the development process, but I believe that IDEO’s ability to successfully implement lends credibility to all the creative work that goes before.

Pour en savoir plus : http://www.ideo.com