Insights

Many friends of Design Concepts have probably already heard that we are moving our Madison office from the suburban office park that has been our home for the last 15 years to a new building in the heart of a redeveloping corridor downtown.

I remember the first time my business partner, design strategist Stefanie Norvaisas, was critiquing a meeting presentation and challenged the presenter with “So what?” on an important slide.

Rapid invention and evolution in the state-of-the-art have made it difficult to stay versed in the ever-growing variety of components, devices, and technologies that could be used in the design of a product.

In a world where we can go from a CAD model to a 3D printed part well within a typical working day, it’s easy to get excited about just how fast one can iterate and explore design alternatives.

At Design Concepts, we have a pretty great mission statement: “We design cool stuff to drive business success and make life better.”

It wasn't too long ago that the Lyric building was some columns and elevator shafts.

While there are many different types of trends you can and should reference throughout the new product design and development process including macro, consumer and industry, aesthetic design trends may be some of the harder nuts to crack.

The Nintendo Switch has a lot of great features, but the modular design leads to some clunky compromises. Ultimately, does it matter?

My colleague Roshelle Ritzenthaler and I recently presented at South by Southwest on “How to Give Design a Seat at the Lean Startup Table.” There was a line around the corner for our talk, which tells me this is a topic on a lot of designers' minds.

Stefanie Norvaisas and I recently returned from an amazing trip to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, where we had the opportunity to host a workshop on Designing Decisions.

It can feel like the world is changing at lightning speed and at the same time it can feel like nothing has changed.

How do you design better products for women? Our female researchers, designers & engineers compiled seven principles for individuals and companies to consider.

How do we know the difference between a designer handbag and a knockoff?

You can probably point to a medical device or healthcare service that left you feeling dissatisfied or, even worse, disrespected.

The Internet of Things (IoT) presents an amazing opportunity to make many things better. With over 50 billion devices expected to be connected by 2020, some experts say IoT is bigger than the internet itself!

You can probably point to a medical device or healthcare service that left you feeling dissatisfied or, even worse, disrespected.

You can probably point to a medical device or healthcare service that left you feeling dissatisfied or, even worse, disrespected.

Accessible, also called assistive, designs that consider the needs of the disabled are often adopted more widely as others find new uses for them.

Have you noticed how many crowdsourcing hits fail to bridge the chasm between viral video and sellable product?

The design of products and services for the most human of needs, healthcare, has a history of being less than humane.

Engineering details, manufacturing processes, and material choices can all be used to inspire your own designs and decisions.

We undoubtedly live in a time where change is constant.

I’m a fan of frameworks or techniques that help people understand our complex environment and reduce risk.

Product design is an iterative process. Models are a critical part of that process.

Many of us go through our day using things like a toothbrush, kitchen utensils and other simple items.

I thought 2016's divisiveness seems like a good reason to revisit my "United We Stand" state flags project, tweak some, and make them available to download.

I recently returned to Design Concepts after a deeply meaningful six-month world trip with my husband and elementary school-aged daughters.

When you have to make a bunch of something or something where failure isn’t an option (a parachute, for instance), you better make sure that you’re making the right thing and that you’re sure it will work.

Innovation is risky business. It is expensive and time consuming. The faster you move, the longer you can survive.

I was given a personal example of the power of a multidisciplinary approach to innovation a few weekends back when I found myself coincidentally working on very similar parts of cars built in two very different eras.