IDEO (pronounded “eye-dee-oh”) is a design firm that has a “human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow.” This company has worked on a spread of projects from designing hotel rooms to a heart monitor. Their three major focuses when designing are viability, desirability, and feasibility. These three together make innovation.
We would like to focus on one project that IDEO worked on with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Fishing for Better Data, as the article title calls it, is an effort to create a better way for fishers to report data such as their catches and planning for future trips. “Fishermen need better tools to report their catch and plan future trips; scientists need a system that can help them navigate vast libraries of fishery data; and consumers want to know more about the origins of the fish on their plate.” This project is still being brought to life by NOAA and being presented to local fisheries. The project is centered on the West Coast groundfish fishery which spans from California to Oregon.
This project, along with the other IDEO projects, is critical for the future of our world because they are tying innovation to the improvement of important industries. The fish market is in danger from over-fishing, and by being able to track the catches we may be able to pull this problem back to a safe amount. Innovation is the introduction to the future and IDEO is helping design it.
Written by Elise Mazur, AGS Intern, 6/23/2015