Case Study Analysis: IDEO Product Development IDEO's business model began as an open-minded place to design, develop, and produce new products. The last 20 years of proven innovation-driven product design has resulted in profit margins for their customers and continuous improvement of the IDEO process. IDEO pioneered "concurrent engineering," where design and engineering work together to produce aesthetically pleasing products that are also highly functional. This was different from many other similar companies which placed more emphasis on industrial design than engineering. IDEO's strengths arose from its ability to master this capability with high-tech clients. Companies turned to IDEO because they had a proven system for developing the best products using the key ingredients for an innovative strategy. IDEO was riding the success of the Palm Pilot, which at the time had become the best-selling computer product ever. This was a market they were familiar with, having previously worked on the Newton handheld for Apple. The Newton was an example of disruptive technology, but the need for a truly portable handheld computer could not offset the shortcomings of the technology or the value proposition in the marketplace. Working on these types of projects has strengthened IDEO's stature in the industry by not only producing award-winning products but also guiding consumers towards new ways of interfacing with technology. The capabilities of team members within IDEO reflect the company's doctrine of open innovation and the benefits of bringing those diverse teams together. From its customers, IDEO assimilates best practices and then integrates them into its own business and processes… halfway through… its own knowledge base through lessons learned working with a multitude of companies, each with their own distinctive characteristics, they have been able to move from a product development company to a company that offers a strategic partnership that provides innovative solutions focused on the business as a whole. Now, IDEO creates and improves some of the most creative organizations in the world. A major shift in the paradigm established in 2000 focuses on the invention and individualistic nature of product design. Innovative companies like Procter & Gamble have benefited enormously from IDEO's years of innovative evolution and learning. The more IDEO learns, the more its customers learn. This in turn helps IDEO deepen its knowledge base by creating a continuous cycle of design thinking seemingly driven by a perpetual engine that breeds success.