IDEO Labs

In January, Jerry O’Leary and I launched a Kickstarter campaign (currently <3 days to go) for the world’s thinnest watch, the CST-01. This is a watch we have worked on outside of project work while here at IDEO. On IDEO Labs, our aim is to share our process and give our readers an “under-the-hood” look at some of the things happening here at IDEO and, occasionally, beyond our walls. With that in mind, we wanted to recount the evolution of the design of the CST-01 from early CAD sketches to fully working “design validation units” made from real production parts.  Click through for the full story and our process images:

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At IDEO, “What if we…?” is a phrase you hear a lot. This “What if?” mindset, plus our love of playing around with new ideas, can lead to some fun experiments. A few months ago, for example, we used agar as a design medium to grow and biohack an electrical circuit.

It all started on a day when Matt Brown and I (Rodrigo Martinez) were both playing around with some sensors, resistors, batteries, and speakers. Matt was building a prototype for a new synthesizer, and I was sketching a biological circuit.

At some point we began discussing how we might make a living circuit.

“What do you mean living?” asked Matt.

“What if we grow a part of the circuit, you know, as in grow rather than buy?” I said.

For a while we discussed how the “living” dimensionality of the circuit would influence our own perception of the exercise and its implications. Yup, at that point we were over-thinking the whole thing.

Finally we just decided to make it.

We asked five designers at IDEO to submit a pattern they thought was interesting. Here is what they came up with:

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