One of our, now, second-year students is speaking at IDEO this Thursday. Ingrid Dragotta is a member of our pioneering cohort.

Know How Talks at IDEO
Thursday, 6/25/09 5:00 pm
IDEO Cafe*
Free and open to the public

Nick and Ingrid Dragotta (hosted by Brendan Boyle)

Nick is the artist and co-creator of Howtoons, the educational comic book and website for kids, inspiring them to build things from everyday household goods. In 2006 Howtoons was included in the Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Triennial, recognized for it's inventive way of integrating instructions into storytelling. Nick is also a freelance comic book artist, having done work for Marvel Comics, Vertigo, and the Cartoon Network.

Ingrid is the lead designer of the Howtoons projects. Having gotten her start at New Balance as a kids shoe designer and then joining Hasbro creating toys, she plays an integral role in connecting to users, be it thru comics, outreach, or the next avenue of expression.

Here's our PROGRAM for Thursday (see attached poster):
5:00 - A thought starter from Brendan Boyle, a Partner at IDEO who focuses on entrepreneurship and toy invention.
5:15 - The Possibilities are Endless - Join the Howtoons creative team of Nick and Ingrid as they explain their process and thoughts on designing informative comics for kids. Members of the audience will be invited to break up into teams and create their own Howtoons.
5:55 - Shareback - Nick and Ingrid will moderate, as members of the audience share the Howtoons that they have created.

*The Know How Talks are usually held on Thursdays at 5:00,
in IDEO's Palo Alto cafe next to our lobby at 100 Forest.
Enter from the alley between Alma St and High St.

The talks are open to the public. No need to RSVP.

To join the announcement list, please add yourself to the IDEO Know How Talks group:
http://groups.google.com/group/IdeoKnowHowTalks

Sitting through the second day of the DMI Re:Thinking Design conference this past week, it occurred to me that for all of the talk on innovation, the companies most often held-up as the shining examples are nearly impossible for others to follow. While that's a great competitive differentiator for these few companies, it doesn't give others much to gone on when they finally decide they need to jump or perish.

Companies like Apple and Nike are aberrations. For different reasons, their innovation thrives because of unique cultures. Apple has Steve Job's relentlessly demanding vision. Without someone like Steve, lessor companies can't follow this example (it's known as Genius Design and it's incredibly risky). Nike's culture is incredibly focused and their strength is in messaging throughout the entire company--every employee, partner, and (probably) customers--what they stand for, where they're going, and what is "Nike"--and not. That's a little easier to follow for other companies but not much--and it's not terribly reliable over the long term without incredible amounts of internal work.

So what are the innovation models other companies can follow, then? What's GM to do if they can't find another innovation-prodigy to take over the leadership of the company?

There are several different innovation cultures common in organization. From the book, Making Meaning (I co-authored this), this include:
• Structured innovators (about 18% of all companies)
• Creative Innovators (nearly 26%)
• Dynamic Innovators (the majority at 39%)
• Ad Hoc Innovators (10%)
• Innovative Outsourcers (8%)

Only the Creative Innovators led the process from the top. That leaves over two-thirds of the rest to innovate accidentally, or with little collaboration. The outsources, for the most part, give up altogether and just look for innovations to buy-up from others.

There are, however, models evolving that other companies can look to. Google's internal crowd-sourcing is an interesting development to explore. Proctor & Gamble's structural partnerships is another (though, technically, this too was led from the top). Anyone who is lucky enough to see into Intuit (yes, Intuit) will see an amazing model of innovation growing within the company, though it isn't yet so apparent in the products and services visible to the outside. Undoubtedly, there are more models to watch but these aren't easy to teach since the cases for these haven't yet been written (and the current ones available leave a lot to be desired in understanding innovation culture and models).

That doesn't mean that GM is completely out of luck if it desires to innovate. However, it means that it will likely have to innovate its entire culture along the way and, very likely, have to invent its own model to do so, something I doubt is on the restructuring To Do list.

I'm nearly speechless after reading the LA Times article, Apple without Steve Jobs at the helm? Some investors think it's time.

In it, two different investment advisors, Michael Obuchowski, the chief investment
officer for First Empire Asset Management Inc., and Richard Klugman, director of consumer technology for Majestic Research, don't seem to understand much about innovation. They claim that since Apple has done just fine for the past 6 months without Steve at the helm, there's really no reason why he should return. Or, if he does, he should be an innovation advisor to the firm.

It's difficult to know where to start in describing how misguided and ill-informed this advice is. To start with, Steve has been involved with the company throughout this period. He's been on campus occasionally and in contact with all of the senior managers at the company. So, Apple isn't thriving without him at all, though it is in the very capable hands of the company while he doesn't focus on the minutia of day-to-day operations.

Second, the products Apple creates takes a lot longer than six months to conceive, develop, test, and deploy. To think that those launched within the last six months without Steve's involvement is simply ignorant. Most have been in development or over a year and longer. The vast bulk of their innovative development are based on platforms and systems developed long before Steve took a leave of absence.

Furthermore, while some people still think that retirement means a life of leisure, golf, and cruises, for creative people like entrepreneurs, that is probably the quickest way to death. For sure, Steve Jobs needs to focus on his health but innovation work isn't "work" to entrepreneurs--it's the reason they get up in the morning. It's what keeps their minds sharp and off any problems in their lives. I would bet that if Steve Jobs stopped coming into Apple regularly, his health would actually deteriorate--either that or he'd be quickly focused on NeXT 2.0.

Innovation isn't a process to be managed like other business processes. It's not turned-on and off like staffing a factory or call center. Innovation is a way of approaching the world and there are no boundaries to say when you've innovated enough or not. Apple's approach to innovation is also fairly unique. To think that someone could innovate successfully "behind the scenes" as "the person who drives everyone else insane" is exactly why US businesses are in such desperate shape today and find it so difficult to innovate. If innovation isn't supported and understood from the very top of the company it can only be successful by accident. Plus, innovation isn't the "wacky" process most managers and finance-types think it is. It's methodical and relentless and exhilarating and it needs to pervade an organization.

So many companies around the world are trying to develop the "iPod" of their industry in order to duplicate the success Apple has had and they're failing because they think it's something that can be done by anyone who's seen the Nightline video on IDEO and contained and controlled by more "rational" types for calculate ROI and IRR from the safety of their desks. It can't. They only way companies are successful with this approach is when they buy other companies who have innovated with a completely different perspective.

That some investors think that they're investments in Apple are going to continue to grow by handing the reins over to capable managers but in the absence of a visionary innovator with the authority to drive his vision at all levels of the company's operations contradicts exactly how Apple has achieved that growth over the last 10 years. Someday, Apple will have to live without Steve Jobs and, then, it will need to carefully navigate the urges and advice to "settle down" and run itself like everyone else. Until then, if I had investments in First Empire or anyone else who thinks that Apple would be better off right now without Steve Jobs (I don't), I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable keeping my money with them.

Lulan Artisans Launches Textile Design Competition

Sustainable textiles innovator Lulan™ Artisans is announcing its first-ever 11˚/17˚ Textile Competition on May 18 during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Eve Blossom, Founder and CEO of Lulan, will announce it during her presentation at the Metropolis Magazine conference at ICFF entitled, "Design Entrepreneurs: Innovate" on Monday, May 18 between 3:00 and 4:00. The competition will run from June 1 to October 15, 2009 and it is open to anyone 18 years or older. The winning designs will become part of the 2010 Lulan collection and a cash prize of $1,500 will be awarded to each of the winners. Winners will be credited for the designs and promoted online at Lulan.com. Sponsors include Pentagram and Creative Commons, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Charleston, S.C., Lulan produces high-quality, hand-woven, hand-dyed natural textiles in a unique collaboration between U.S. designers and groups of gifted artisans in Southeast Asia. ("11˚/17˚" is the approximate latitude and longitude of Vietnam where Blossom was first inspired to start the business). Their work elegantly merges original contemporary designs with centuries-old Asian weaving traditions and is sold by the yard or as home and fashion accessories through designer showrooms, specialty retailers and now online at Lulan's e-commerce Web site. Lulan is also a front runner as an international for-profit social venture, emphasizing artistry and exquisite design while enhancing the economic development and sustainable livelihoods of its 650 weavers, dyers, spinners and finishers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and India.

"Over the years, thousands of textile designers inspired by Lulan's commitment to craft and design have inquired as to how to get involved with us," said Blossom. "This competition allows us to celebrate craftsmanship, promote talent and provide opportunities for textile artists who are perhaps as yet undiscovered. In addition to the competition, designers will have the option of participating in our "No Design Gets Left Behind" Creative Commons initiative where any design they submit, with their permission, will be made available for artisans around the world to use, forging global connections."

Entries will be in linen and cotton and highlight the weavers' skills by focusing on the "woven by hand" aspect of production while still incorporating the contemporary modern aesthetic so as to complement the existing Lulan 11˚/17˚ offering.

The distinguished panel of judges includes renowned designers Ted Boerner, Agnes Bourne, Laura Guido-Clark, who collaborated on Lulan's first two collections, Laura Kirar, Mary Jo Miller, Diane Paparo, Mark Pollack and Cameron Sinclair as well as Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis and a noted design authority.

For more about the competition, visit www.lulan.com.

In addition to readings and films to watch, we're encouraging our students to spend some time over the Summer carefully observing and sketching. Sketching is one of those critical communication skills that only gets better with practice. It's core to visual communication whether someone is drawing a picture, a diagram, or a system. Each week, we'll take a new theme and share the best of our sketches for comments and feedback but, mostly, the point is simply to loosen-up our wrists and arms and practice.

Hands
Shoes
Trees/Plants
Building in Perspective
People Shopping
Skyline
Landscape
Portrait
Animal
System
Self-portrait
Emotion (can be representational or abstract)

In addition to the reading list, we've also chosen a wide variety of 6 films to watch as a community in preparation for the coming Fall semester.

The Future of Food, dir: Deborah Koons Garcia (2004) Netflix Amazon

Koyaanisqatsi , dir: Godfrey Reggio (1982) Netflix Amazon

Helvetica , dir: Gary Hustwit (2007) Netflix Amazon

9 to 5 , dir: Colin Higgins (1980) Netflix Amazon

Flash of Genius , dir: Marc Abraham (2008) Netflix Amazon

Brazil , dir: Terry Gilliam (1985) Netflix Amazon

This Summer, we've chosen 7 books to read together as a community (though optional). Some are fun, some serious and, together, represent a wide variety of perspectives and ideas. While the students and faculty will be discussing these within our online learning system, we wanted to share the list with everyone in case they want to read along.

Powers to Lead by Joseph S. Nye, Oxford University Press, ISBN: 978-0195335620

Plan B 3.0 by Lester R. Brown, W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN: 978-0393065893

Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows, Chelsea Green Publishing, ISBN: 978-1603580557

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Penguin, ISBN: 978-0143114963

78 Short Essays on Design by Michael Beirut, Princeton Architectural Press, ISBN: 978-156898699920

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, Picador, ISBN: 978-0312427993

The Spell of the Sensuous by David Adams, Vintage, ISBN: 978-0679776390

SmallSteps:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Erin Jacobs
Erica Meade
Kathryn Hautanen
Kate Ranson-Walsh

SmallSteps is a high-touch service that provides people with the necessary tools to reduce their environmental impact and lead a more balanced life. SmallSteps is dedicated to developing accurate, reliable and customized information, educating about existing alternatives and providing specific actionable steps.



SmallSteps members take a short test to calculate their environmental impact. After establishing this baseline, members make changes in their lives that help counterbalance their impact. There are various easy-to-follow guides that help members reduce their environmental impact in all aspects of their lives and help make these small change permanent.



To support members on their journey, members are assigned dedicated Mentors and given the option to attend weekly meetings with the SmallSteps community, led by those who have successfully completed the SmallSteps program and have had additional training from the SmallSteps Institute.

Play Bank:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Nicole Trautsch
Jennifer Pechacek
Tim Bishop
Ingrid Dragotta

PlayBank's toy rental service prolongs the play life of toys by allowing children to check out toys and return them once they have exhausted their interest in the toy. In creating this play service, children get access to a wider variety of toys at a lower cost to their parents. It solves several issues around current toys:

• Parents feel their children have too many toys
• Many toys outlast a child's attention span and interest
• Parents often do not know what to do with old toys
• There are no existing alternatives to the trash can for broken and incomplete toys

PlayBank helps shift childrens' perceptions of ownership during a key developmental period in their lives. In building a service industry around toys that satisfies an impulsive desire for new toys to play with, PlayBank aims to show the value in service economies, and have a lasting impression on the wastefulness of current linear systems. PlayBank reduces the need to manufacture so many new toys and recycles and reuses toys to an optimal level.



PlayBank will accept new, used, broken and incomplete toys of all kinds. Following a sorting and inspection stage, broken and incomplete toys are fixed, if possible. Toys meeting Toy Loan criteria for toxicity and playability are cleaned and entered into the Mutual Fun, PlayBank's Toy Loan (rental) cycle, allowing the toys to live an extended life in the hands of many children. With an account, kids are allowed to take Play Loans (rentals) and make deposits (donations) into the Mutual Fun.

Toy Deposits that are beyond repair, or missing too many parts to be useful in their current state are booked as Toxic Assets and set aside for repurposing. PlayBank's Toxic Assets are given a final shot at continued life by the Adventure Capitalists, a team that promotes creative resourcefulness through toy building workshops and imaginative use for the toy materials. In the workshops, kids are encouraged to get creative while building Monstrous Hybrids, toys pieced together from miscellaneous, broken or lost parts from other toys. Toxic Asset value may also be captured by supplying sorted materials to recycling centers for use in products such as recylced plastic lumber.

Rethinking Disaster Housing:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Rowan Edwards
Erik Ehrke
Carla Voorhees

The Interim Community system is made up of ISO container homes that can be rapidly and effectively deployed and thereby act to immediately limit the human losses and trauma, which typically continue to occur after the immediate cause of the disaster has passed. In addition, our physical solution is part of an integrated strategy that includes:

• Planning that would allow the homes to be staged for instantaneous transport and placement
• Policy that provides a Job Corps program to speed recovery, protect mental well-being and engage, community
• Design for self-sufficiency that provides mobile Community Modules that house essentials like water and power, but also laundry facilities and community spaces.

After our interviews and competitive analysis, we determined that a single shelter solution would not adequately meet all of the needs that we identified, especially to "Foster a Sense of Community." We believe that the human cost of the disaster far outweighs financial cost, and protecting the lives and well-being of those who have been displaced is crucial.



Shelter:
Using ISO containers as a basis for disaster housing is more sustainable because there are thousands of ISOs sitting unused at ports and railroad depots all across the country. Upcycling these material and energy-intense containers and giving them a second life as a house for someone. In addition, ISOs are standardized, having been designed to function as a global, intermodal shipping medium. This ensures easy, system-agnostic transportation and storage of our solution. ISOs fit on railroad cars, semi-trucks & container ships. Lastly, ISOs are 95% recycled steel & require few modifications.

Community:
Village Lay-outs: Each village layout depends on geography, location and needs. Villages are initially organized into units of 100 ISO homes, grouped into five sub-groups of 20 dwelling units, spaced out sufficiently so as to provide space for expansion. Open spacing provides some privacy and allows families and friends and neighbors to join encampments that they have affinity for. ISO homes can be easily moved - even back to damaged communities as those communities are rebuilt. FEMA wishes to provide flexibility to accommodate people's location needs. Each camp is organized around central recreational and community spaces (including library, tool lending library, computer rooms and meeting rooms).



Modules: Community Modules to support the growth and recovery of the affected area will be located in each village. Some of these include a water supply tank, back-up generator shed with green-energy options, community center, tool library, community kitchen, library, laundry facilities, mobile medical van and hygiene facilities.

Job Corps:
All able-bodied men and women older than 18 in your household may assist in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts for 40 hours per month in lieu of paying rent for ISO shelters during the first year. Certain private sector jobs may meet this requirement as well. In addition, if your regular job has disappeared due to the disaster, there are opportunities for you to work full-time of the clean-up effort for $15 - $50 per hour depending on experience and skill levels.

Bike'Topia:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Adam Dole
Beth Berrean
Henry Liu
Jason Hui
Sara Kozlowski
Ayano Hattori

Bike'topia is a premiere, privatized, easy to access bicycle sharing program to begin in San Francisco and grow to other cities. Its goal is to facilitate more everyday bicycle riding by providing bicycles to SF residents and those commuting or visiting the CIty from other parts of the Bay Area. Bike'topia aims to make it easier for our customers to choose cycling as their preferred means of transportation by providing a convenient and affordable alternative to cars. Bicycles are the most efficient way of transport - especially for distances of 5 miles and less - perfect for urban areas This system is designed to human powered transportation, making errand-running easy, accessible and downright cool. Bike'topia's vision is a pedal for every citizen; and our mission is to become the preferred cycle sharing program of the Bay Area by offering more bikes in more areas in all shapes and sizes with self-service and rewards.

Bike'topia moves people in more ways than one! :

• Provide urban areas with easy, convenient, and affordable access to bicycle travel.
• Create a healthier lifestyle
• Reduce the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere in multiple and systematic ways
• ncreases support to local businesses and the buy local movement
• Make the benefits of bicycling safely transparent

Our core offering is easy bike rental at strategically located stations all over San Francisco. Initially the bikes offered will be our basic bicycles by the hour. As the company grows, Bike'topia will offer premiere bicycles to their basic bike menu. The self-service kiosk is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Memberships include a discount on hourly rates and include bicycle liability insurance (for lost or theft.) The coverage is adjusted according to years of membership..

The bike menu allows options to choose a variety of wheels for a spin as well as accessories. Choose from a state of the art hi tech roadster or a sturdy commuter, from cargo bikes for shopping to trailer bikes for family outings. Premiere bikes will have special tracking devices, allowing the bikes to be reserved in advance for our members. Foldable helmets, locks and light gear will be available for purchase.



Bicycles
Bike'topia makes every effort to make each aspect of the products and services of the company more sustainable, and this includes the bikes. The core basic bicycles we offer in mass use the latest technologies for durability. The bikes are chainless and have airless tires which reduce the amount of breakdowns significantly for our users, and reduces general maintenance needed on a regular basis and the environmental impact from those activities.

Stations
High traffic Bike'topia locations feature a unique retrieval system capable of delivering a bicycle to the user from sub-level or elevated storage, allowing bicycle parking as an offer to our community cyclist After selecting a bike and swiping payment, the patented proprietary Bike'topia pedal will be dispensed for the rider. The pedal is attached to the bike by the user, used much similar to a key for cars. The bicycle is returned to any bike station, and the pedal is returned back to the kiosk for the next user.

The Pedal
After selecting a bike and swiping payment, a pedal featuring RFID technology is dispensed. The technology is used for tracking bicycles usage and for user metrics to encourage bicycling and route tracking, and is powered solely through kinetic energy. This in turn also supports part of our contextual and radial advertising. The detachable aspect of the pedal also aids as a theft deterrent for bicycles. ..



Website
The Bike'topia web site will guide new users to the services available, as well as provide useful information for our members. It includes a running meter of the miles the community and individual members has ridden, pounds carbon dioxide emissions saved, and finally, calories burned. Incentives will also be offered by our advertisers as promotions. The website also offers a social component for peer recognition, route sharing and advise.

CollaboRent (The Rental Accord):
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Nicole Chen
Paul Colando
Erica Frye
Mei Lan Ho-Walker

CollaboRent is a non-profit organization dedicated to measurably improving the sustainability of rental homes. To this end, CollaboRent has developed a program, The Rental Accord, that engages renters and owners to collaboratively create efficient, comfortable homes and raise awareness of how their choices affect their communities and the environment.

Specific objectives of The Rental Accord are to:

• Create collaborative relationships between renters and owners
• Raise awareness of residential resource consumption
• Provide assistance to owners to maintain and upgrade their buildings sustainably
• Improve the health, efficiency, and comfort of rental housing
• Engage renters as partners in the community
• Inspire behaviors that benefit the community and environment

Unique conditions make addressing sustainable retrofitting of multi-unit homes challenging, requiring a different approach from solutions that exist for new or owner-occupied housing.

Rental Challenges:

• Split Incentives: The party that pays for upgrades or utilities and the party that benefits from them are often not the same. For example, an owner who purchases a new, energy-efficient appliance for a rental unit must pay the upfront cost, but if the renter is responsible for utility costs they are the ones who enjoy the savings. Conversely, an owner is motivated to upgrade efficiency if he pays for utilities, but in that case the renter is not motivated to conserve.
• Power Imbalance: Renters often do not feel empowered to suggest changes to their living units and even fear that landlords will retaliate by increasing the rent or imposing eviction. This leads to a lack of control and feeling of insecurity in one's living environment, which ultimately leads to less personal investment in the residence.
• Mistrust of Renters: Just as renters do not believe landlords will address their needs, property owners often do not trust their renters to take good care of their buildings. They will, however, work harder to keep tenants that have proven to be responsible and respectful.
• Knowledge Acquisition: Finding information and resources about what changes are most effective, what financing options are available, and how to execute these changes is cumbersome. This presents a significant barrier to initiating building improvements even when the property owner is motivated.

From these findings, it is clear that improving the renter-landlord dynamic is necessary to encourage sustainable building improvements in multi-unit buildings. In addition, an effective solution must address the fundamental renter and landlord needs CollaboRent identified in its primary and secondary research.

Renters' Basic Needs:

• Find the right apartment: Preferences regarding attributes such as price, location, security, amenities, comfort, and utilities are the key factors for renters in choosing a new unit.
• Experience physical comfort: Renters want to be physically comfortable in their living environments, but often there are issues such as temperature or mold that are discovered only after moving in.
• Feel in control: While renters understand their rights are limited, they still want to feel some control over their living spaces and be given the freedom to decorate and initiate improvements.
• Have reliable landlord: When problems do arise that are out of the renter's control, renters want to know that they have a reliable landlord that will address the issue promptly.

Landlords' Basic Needs:

• Be in control: Owning a rental building is a large investment, and property owners and managers need to feel like they are in control of this investment and have the ability to make decisions that affect their buildings.
• Improve property value: Because the building is a financial investment, property owners desire to maintain and ideally improve property value of their buildings.
• Identify and retain reliable tenants: They need to feel that tenants living in their buildings are reliable and responsible. They wish to identify good tenants at the time of lease, and will work hard to retain those that have proven to be responsible and caring of their living spaces.
• Reduce burden implementing changes: Planning and implementing changes can be time consuming and costly, as property owners must deal with building codes, materials, vendors, and financing. Initiatives that can reduce this burden would encourage proactivity.
• Stay in compliance: Property owners must ensure that their buildings are compliant with local government regulations. Rules can be complex, and owners often must seek outside help to navigate the web of building codes.

The combination of direct challenges to sustainable rental housing and general user needs that must be addressed therefore makes the issue of improving the sustainability of rental housing complex.

PopCycle:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin

Vinitha Watson
Suzanne Randolph
Mattia Nuzzo
Heike Rapp-Wurm
Gwen Armbruster



Many college students move out of out the dorms and live in an apartment for a limited timeframe before they graduate and move on. During this period they require furnishings that are affordable, durable, functional and comfortable. Yet, oftentimes the furniture they end up with fails to meet all of these requirements and is left curbside as trash after graduation. Our solution to this problem, PopCycle, meets the college student's needs while simultaneously reducing the amount of waste generated and furthering existing social goals.

• PopCycle repurposes furniture donated to Goodwill that would otherwise be sent to the dump utilizing sustainable practices and materials.
• PopCycle expands the current Goodwill system to train individuals in professional upholstery techniques and create a new profit-generating venture.
• PopCycle establishes short-term pop-up shops as venues to sell refinished pieces to college students.

The Process
PopCycle provides a fun, community-based, and affordable purchasing experience. The integrated furniture repurposing process between PopCycle and Goodwill entails the following five steps:

PopCycle Step 1: Donation

• Items that would normally be sent to the dump are directed to the Goodwill's Pier 50 facility.

PopCycle Step 2: Sorting

• Goodwill Sorting staff evaluates pieces and sets those items deemed acceptable for repair aside.
• Additional items are designated to be stripped for fabrics and other salvageable materials.

PopCycle Step 3: PopCycle
Workshop

A key component of PopCycle is the PopCycle Workshop which combines career training with furniture repurposing. Elements include:

• A six month hands-on training program located at Pier 50. Three hour classes are held five nights a week.
• During each training period, 20 participants learn to reupholster and refinish pieces using professional techniques and 100% sustainable materials.
• A minimum of 30 pieces are produced for sale at the PopCycle Pop-Up Shop. The pieces use donated fabrics and reclaimed materials in creative ways to appeal to college students.
• Participants become certified upholsterers ready for job placement with private employers or to be hired by PopCycle Medic at the end of each training period.

PopCycle Medic

The second primary component of PopCycle is the profit-making Medic service with the following elements:

PopCycle Step 4: Pop-Up Shop
The pop-up shop is a vibrant, carnival-like experience that is set up in the center of a campus quad. As SF State already has a community service relationship with Goodwill SF, they have been chosen as the first school with which to test the pilot program.

• The pop-up shop will appear during move-in week at the beginning of the Fall semester, for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). During this time a tent on the campus quad will erected. Inventory would contain at least 30 items that were reupholstered and refinished in the PopCycle workshop.
• Site-specific signage using re-cycled materials would be designed and constructed by the PopCycle Medic trainees as the final project of their training period.
• Furniture will be affordably priced to compete with IKEA (e.g. sofas would range from $150 - $250).
• Program participants work with college students to manage the sale.
• Program participants will also gain business skills as they work with college students to manage the sale.

PopCycle Step 5: Repeat - "ReCycle with PopCycle"
Sustainability (Adaptive Reuse) + Social Goals (Career Training) + Target Segment Needs (Comfortable Furniture) = Fabulous Solution

• A PopCycle label will be attached to each piece of furniture, which contains the signa tures of all the participants who worked on it.
• The label will include a statement: "Please don't throw me away. Reuse. When you move on into the big world, bring me back to PopCycle, or sell me to your friends. Don't let me become landfill." 1-800-pop-cycle

Patagonia beSpoke:
From the course: Market Insight Studio, taught by Steve Diller

Adam Dole
Ayano Hattori
Beth Berrean
Jason Hui
Sara Kozlowski



In the spirit of the traditional custom tailoring of Saville Row, beSpoke is a modern day, elegant and functional offering designed especially for the urban bicycle commuter. Out clothing and accessories are:

• made to order
• artisanal quality
• handcrafted
• customizable
• personalized
• locally made

Patagonia's beSpoke label exists to provide righteousness to bicycle commuters.

In doing so, Patagonia delivers self expression, a sense of urban adventure and conscious consumption and it offers functional, durable, customizable slow-fashion embedded with safety.

In the midst of the current bicycling zeitgeist, beSpoke offers bicycle commuters, a financially significant subset of the outdoor market, handcrafted, customized clothing and accessories line that can take you from bike to boardroom.

SigWuff:
From the course: Market Insight Studio, taught by Steve Diller

Nicole Chen
Henry Liu
Erica Meade
Mattia Nuzzo
Heike Rapp-Worm



SIGG WUFF exists to provide urban, engaged, active dog owners with a new breed of dog products that say "I care." In so doing, it makes fulfilling the responsibilities to one's dog enjoyable while delivering a means of self-expression to customers. Towards this end, it offers functional, fashionable and healthy products.

SIGG would launch with six new dog products, based on its aluminum manufacturing expertise:

• To distinguish the new dog products from SIGG's established human line, the new pet line will be marketed under the name "SIGG WUFF"
• The SIGG WUFF marketing strategy relies on SIGG's current brand positioning of optimism and hope, of forward thinking and positive action.

Raising a Reader
From the course: Business Models and Stakeholders, taught by Naomi Stanford

Beth Berrean
Ingrid Dragotta
Nicole Trautsch



Three of our students worked with the Raising a Reader program, a part of San Francisco's United Way chapter, to rethink their business model and overall strategic direction. Their innovative insights were complemented by their innovative presentation.

It's been a long time since we applied for clearance to enroll international students in the Design MBA program and we've finally heard back from the US Government to do so. We've had four accepted students waiting for this moment and we hope that it comes in time for them to still join us in the Fall.

This year, the students have worked closely with a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations in several of their classes (including the Market Insight Studio, Business Models & Stakeholders, and Leadership by Design). These have mostly been ad-hoc relationships organized by the students themselves. However, as we move into the next year, there will be many more opportunities to expand these relationships for projects. As such, any organization (for-profit, non-profit, and government agencies alike), interested in having our students work with them, should contact us.

Here are some of the organizations we've worked with this year:

CCA
Goodwill
Interface
Leap...imagination and learning
Modern Cabana
Olabisi Wines
Raising a Reader Program
Rickshaw Bags
Tiffany
The Crucible
The GAP
The Wall Street Journal

We've been fortunate to have some fantastic people come speak in the program this year. This is one of the most valuable ways our students can learn about innovation, sustainability, and design thinking intersecting the business world. Since we haven't been posting these as they have happened in the courses this year, I wanted to post a list of all of the speakers who were generous enough to come share this experience and insights with us over the past nine months:

Jack Anderson, Chevron
Steve Bolton, Cradle to Cradle, MBDC
Fritjof Capra, Center for Ecoliteracy and Noted Author
Lindsey Collins, Pixar Animation Studios
Sheila Davis, SiIicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Michael Dimock, Roots of Change
Phred Dvorak, Wall Street Journal
Mark Dwight, Rickshaw Bags
Catherine Gray, The Natural Step
Mary Hansel, Biomimicry Guild
Randy Hayes, World Future Council
Steve Kowalski, Genentech
Jeff Mendelsohn, New Leaf Paper
Mari Morikawa, Pacific Institute
Debbie Mytels, Acterra
Bonnie Nixon, HP
Chris Noessel, Cooper
Sara Ortloff, walmart.com
Ted Nace, Author
Robert von Goeben, Green Toys

This past Sunday evening was the last day of instruction for the first year of the DMBA program. It's difficult to think that a whole ear has gone by. In the next two weeks, as e finish grading and other administrata for the the semester, we'll be posting some of the student work so others can get an impression of the types of projects our students are doing.