Top Product Design and Engineering Firms Merge to Form IDEO; David Kelley, ID Two and Matrix Combine Worldwide Resources

June 10, 1991 — Three of the world’s top industrial design and engineering firms Monday announced they will merge to create IDEO, the first completely integrated full-service product development firm with 125 employees worldwide and clients in 19 countries.

IDEO combines the resources of David Kelley Design, Matrix Product Design, ID Two and its associated companies in Europe. Together, the three firms have created more than 500 products for both established and emerging companies, including Apple Computer, British Petroleum, Cholestech, Eli Lilly, Ford Motor Co., Go Corp., Microsoft, Minolta, NeXT, Proctor & Gamble, Samsonite, Smith Sports Optics, Steelcase, Tokyo Gas, Tupperware, Vidal Sassoon and XEROX.

“Companies are adopting a new mindset about product development in the 1990s. The best and most successful have a multi-disciplinary approach to product development and leverage their core technologies to bring innovative products to market faster, and more often, than their competition,” said David Kelley, IDEO president and chief executive officer.

“IDEO has been formed to give companies an added competitive edge with a unique blend of capabilities focused on achieving total product integrity and manufacturing efficiency.”

Founding principals of IDEO are Michael Nuttall, president of Matrix Product Design; Bill Moggridge, president of ID Two and Kelley of David Kelley Design. Over the past 10 years, the firms have collaborated to create more than 60 computer, telecommunications, consumer, medical and industrial products. Independently or in collaboration, the firms are responsible for developing:

– The GRiD and Go computers, the only pen-based systems in the U.S.;
– 68 desktop and workstation computers, 17 laptop and notebook computers;
– 37 telephones;
– Consumer products from ski goggles to car radios;
– Medical devices for both home and hospital use, and more.

IDEO’s product development methodology is based on the complete integration of industrial design and engineering processes and a synergy between the in-house and outside teams. IDEO’s methodology can help companies reduce time-to-market and improve manufacturing efficiencies.

“With today’s consumers facing more product choices than ever before, companies are looking to design to set their products apart. Many are realizing the hard way that it takes more than just bold styling to keep consumers coming back for more. The real product stand-outs are the ones that blend aesthetics and engineering — a synergy between the outside design and inside functionality. As more and more technology is added to everyday products, that balance is getting harder to achieve,” commented Nuttall.

Headquarterd in Silicon Valley with six offices on two continents, IDEO will employ an international team of industrial design, human factors, ergonomic specialists, cognitive psychologists, engineers and manufacturing experts. -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: Teleconference to announce merger and discuss product development issues scheduled for Monday (June 10) at 9:30 a.m. PDT. For information, call 415/967-4444.

CONTACT:
Neale-May & Partners, San Francisco
Maura Kendrick or Jennifer Doettling, 415/967-4444