I attended RecruitID at the Institute of Design a couple years ago. It’s a recruiting event. Employers interview former and current students for employment. It’s where I met Gabe Biller. It’s also where I met Nikki Pfarr, our 2009 summer intern. I attended RecruitID 2010 last week in Chicago. I sat down and talked with 23 terrific students. I stood up and talked with even more. Some students had already graduated; others were graduating this year, and others graduating in a year or two. I gave a brief lunch presentation to these fine students while they grubbed on Potbelly Sandwiches. I explained that there are three reasons why I like to hire students from ID:
- ID students do research to understand people. ID students want to improve the lives of others. They use observation techniques to see what people do. They also listen. Gabe has worked on several projects to understand people since joining Artefact from ID. One example I can share is the work he did to undertand what people care about when shopping for snowboard gear.
- ID students frame insights. ID students organize their observations in ways to help themselves and others analyze and think. Frameworks and models are ways to develop and express insights. These frameworks tend to be visual and easy to read and understand. Gabe wrote a really nice paper the other month about what to know about designing for china. He framed his insights around ’10 Tips + 1 Caveat.’ He quotes The Wu-Tang Clan, Young MC, and several others that helped him frame his insights about China.
- ID students explore concepts and frame solutions. ID students generate ideas to the problems they see. They sketch concepts. They prototype their ideas. They describe the value proposition these solution ideas. Value will be described for users, as well as the business or organization that provides the solution. Gabe has been instrumental on many Artefact projects in exploring new product concepts and shaping the key principles of future products and services.
I enjoyed my time at the institute. I met very talented people. And I believe we’ll be hiring more students like Gabe, that have attended the Intitute of Design.