INSITUM Director Martin Zabaleta presentation during Interaction South America '12

1. PEOPLE + PROTOTYPES
Martin Zabaleta | INSITUM
INTERACTION SOUTH AMERICA 2012 | SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL | 11.02.12

2. BILL MOGGRIDGE 1943-2012

3. Photo credit: IDEO

4. PEOPLE + PROTOTYPES
(a powerful combination!)

5. Let me start by
introducing myself.

6. INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER

7. PRODUCTS

8. EXPERIENCES

9. SERVICES

10. STRATEGIES

11. AWARD-WINNING DESIGNS THAT NEVER MADE IT TO MARKET...

12. I am privileged to have
worked for the best
company in the world:
IDEO

13. What can you say when your project space and prototype are between a pool table and a football table…

14. Now I am helping build
the best innovation
agency in Latin America.

16. INSITUM IS AN INNOVATION AGENCY
WITH A USER-CENTERED APPROACH
We help companies develop new products, services, brands
and strategies through a deep understanding of people.

17. 10+ YEARS
700+ PROJECTS

18. 100+ PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE
DISCIPLINES AND BACKGROUNDS
antropología, psicología, periodismo, economía, filosofía, sociología, lingüística, ingeniería, mercadotecnia, diseño industrial,
diseño de información, diseño gráfico, comunicación social, semiología, historia del arte, diseño de interacción, relaciones
internacionales, administración de empresas.

19. CHICAGO
MÉXICO CITY
BOGOTÁ
SÃO PAULO
BUENOS AIRES
+
MUMBAI
SHANGHAI
HONG KONG
Insitum offices
Alliance with external partners

20. But I am not here to tell
you about how great we
are at INSITUM. (We are!)

21. Let me share a
revelation…

22. As an industrial designer,
I was trained to think in
terms of product-based
solutions…

23. Then at some point in my
career I realized that the
solution to a given
problem not always
had to be a product…

24. Better yet, as a designer,
I already had the “tools”
to identify problems and
to define any kind of
solution!

25. Those “tools” could even
help me integrate several
solutions to create
meaningful experiences
for people.

26. What are those “tools”?

27. Exactly.
People + Prototypes

28. As an example, let’s think
about the METRO
experience.

29. You could design the
train seat. Or the ticket.
Or the website where
you check the schedule…

30. But what if you could
design the entire journey?

31. From the moment you
decide you need to travel
by Metro, to the moment
you leave the station and
tell your friend how great
the trip was.

32. This is what we did
yesterday during the
workshop. Check it out...

36. The teams created a
new and improved user
experience by focusing on…

37. You guessed it.
People + Prototypes

38. PEOPLE

39. “The only important thing about
design is how it relates to people.”
Victor Papanek, designer and educator (1923-1998)

40. Very early in my career,
2 people made it very
clear to me that design
was about people.

41. One of them will speak
here tomorrow.

42. Don Norman taught
me that design was
not about things,
but about people.

43. Victor Papanek made
me aware of the impact
of design on a social
(and ecological) level.

44. IMPACT

45. I believe designers need
to be people’s advocates.

46. Who would otherwise
care about people?

47. Let’s see…

48. DESIGN
TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS

49. “Innovation begins with an eye.”
Tom Kelley, IDEO

50. OBSERVATION

51. Why observe people?

52. SOCIAL COGNITIVE
CULTURAL EMOTIONAL
PHYSYCAL

53. Who to observe?

54. EXTREME USERS

55. We also observe people
looking for empathy.

56. Sometimes empathy
takes us to interesting
places...

57. Luis Arnal, Founder and
President of INSITUM

58. PROTOTYPES

59. “It´s about failing often to succeed sooner.”
David Kelley, co-founder of IDEO

60. Why prototype?

61. Photo credit: Steve Bishop

62. A prototype is a tangible
representation of an idea.

63. We build prototypes in
order to learn about an
aspect of our idea and to
make it better.

66. I believe in prototyping
as an attitude...

67. An attitude of
experimentation,
risk-taking, learning,
failing, fearlessness...

68. Prototyping should be
quick and iterative…

69. BUILD LEARN REFINE

70. Prototypes should cost
nothing… but are priceless

72. Different levels of fidelity
depending on what you
are trying to achieve

73. What can be prototyped?

74. Anything!

75. PRODUCTS

76. FOOD

77. BRANDS

78. INTERFACES

79. INTERACTIONS

80. APPS Photo credit: IDEO

81. SERVICES Photo credit: IDEO

82. EXPERIENCES

83. STRATEGIES

84. BUSINESS MODELS

85. So…

86. This focus on people and
prototypes allows us to
approach any kind of
problem.

87. Today, there are
designers working with
NASA to create better
missions to space…

88. … they are collaborating
with governments to
improve citizens lives…

89. … or trying to find ways
to improve living
conditions for people
in low income areas.

90. What’s common is the
attitude and approach to
problem solving.

91. You may have heard of
Design Thinking…
(don’t say it too loud,
it’s controvertial!)

92. “Design Thinking refers to […] the ability
to combine empathy for the context of a
problem, creativity in the generation of
insights and solutions, and rationality to
analyze and fit solutions to the context.”
Source: Wikipedia

93. INTUITIVE ANALYTICAL
THINKING THINKING

94. What’s cool about all this
is that it’s also happening
in Latin America!

95. “HOW MIGHT WE IMPROVE EDUCATION
IN SCHOOLS IN LATIN AMERICA?”

104. Remember. It’s all about
People + Prototypes!

105. OBRIGADO!
martinzabaleta@insitum.com