Emerging Technology and AI within the Industrial Design Process at IDEO
Interview with Jenna Fizel + Zoey Zhu of IDEO
Can you start by giving us an overview of your roles at IDEO and how you collaborate with the broader team to integrate emerging technologies into client projects?
Jenna: I lead our Emerging Tech Lab, so this is pretty much my job description!
I split my role between acting as an advisor and SME in emerging tech to client and business development teams, and our experimental and public practice, including publishing, speaking and building with and for emerging tech tools.
Zoey: My official title is called sr. software designer. However, because of my strong interdisciplinary background mixing spatial design and computer science and project-based culture at IDEO, my role varies from AI prototyper, visual storyteller to UX/UI designer. I also led projects and initiated research within Emerging Tech Lab, focusing on human and AI storytelling.
What will you be presenting at CDFAM in NYC, and how does it reflect the intersection of AI and emerging technology with design practices at IDEO?
Broadly, we’ll be talking through a typical design project process at IDEO and how emerging tech is relevant at each major stage. We’ll emphasize how both experimentation and constraints are critical to both our process and responsible and creative use of technology.
With AI becoming more prevalent in idea generation and client work, how do you approach the legal and ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in your design process?
We’ve spent a lot of time internally with our community, and our legal team, to create practical and legible guidelines to help everyone at IDEO feel confident and responsible when we use these tools.
We’ve actually also written about this publicly, which you can take a look at here. We’re constantly reevaluating the edges our practices through our experimental work, as we believe the best way to anticipate the consequences of the future is to try to experience it for ourselves.
As technology continues to democratize design, how do you expect AI tools and emerging technologies to enable non-experts to contribute to design and fabrication processes at IDEO?
We’re already using AI tools in our experimental practice to help IDEOers build in ways they haven’t been able to in the past.
For example, one of our leaders who has spent decades as a product designer has been able to build some of the small software tools she’s wanted for her personal practice with the help of LLMs. Coding is, of course, a great area of application for these tools and like most programmers our software designers are using tools like Github Copilot.
We’ve also been inviting in new startups like Flux.ai, a PCB designer, to share with our community about their tools that may be relevant to us in the future.
Finally, what do you hope to take back to IDEO from your experience at CDFAM?
Jenna: I’m most excited to meet and reconnect with other emerging tech practitioners! My background is in a mix of many technologies, including digital fabrication, and so I’m excited to see both old friends and new.
Zoey: I can’t wait to be inspired by amazing emerging technology and digital fabrication experts in the field and exchange ideas and thoughts. I’m excited to broaden my horizons and explore opportunities for exciting collaborations.