Why Would Anyone Want to Buy That?

Design gurus Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things, and Patrick Whitney, Dean of IIT Institute of Design, address the reasons why most companies continue to miss the mark on what people really want and how design strategy can help them deliver more value. Focusing on the intersection of design and business, they will engage in a conversation how a user-centered approach can help organizations mitigate risk and lower costs.

Beyond design of products and services, the talk will illuminate how to design organizations to be more responsive and nimble, and how systems thinking can help address complexity.  Register here.

Presenter(s)

Don Norman is both a businessperson (VP at Apple, executive at HP, executive of an online startup) and an academic (Harvard, UC San Diego, Northwestern, KAIST). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, IDEO fellow, and trustee of IIT’s Institute of Design. As co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group he serves on company boards and helps companies make products more enjoyable, understandable, and profitable. He gives frequent keynotes and is known for his many books, including Emotional Design, Living With Complexity, and most recently an expanded and revised edition of Design of Everyday Things. He can be found at www.jnd.org

Patrick Whitney is dean of IIT Institute of Design. He has been called a "design visionary" by BusinessWeek, a "master of design" by Fast Company, and one of six members of Forbes "E-Gang" for his work in human-centered design. Patrick is the principal investigator of several research projects at the Institute of Design, including "Global Companies in Local Markets," "Design for the Base of the Pyramid," and "Schools in the Digital Age." His recent work has been supported by several grants, including funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, SC Johnson, the Steelcase Foundation, and numerous corporations. www.id.iit.edu