Description
IDEO U Leadership
Founder and Dean of IDEO U
Suzanne’s work focuses on transforming individuals and organizations through teaching and sharing thought leadership. As one of IDEO’s senior leaders, Suzanne has led the Systems and Organizational Design Studio, a business unit focusing on influencing change in public, private, and social sectors. She has designed award-winning online learning experiences and corporate innovation labs. She also led IDEO’s global Insights capability, pioneering many of the techniques now at the forefront of practice today. Suzanne has written and spoken about designing social movements, scaling innovation, and design for education.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, where she studied Archaeology and African studies, and a master’s from the University of Chicago, where she focused on Anthropology. She has worked in Zimbabwe, Israel, China, and India and is a passionate traveler, educator, research geek, climber, sailor, and mom.
Executive Design Director of IDEO U
Coe Leta teaches global audiences the skills of design thinking, human-centered research, rapid prototyping, and storytelling. Since joining IDEO in 2006, she’s led numerous creative teams across diverse organizations including Microsoft, Target, Intel, Wells Fargo, Ford, eBay, Hasbro, Sesame Street, and Government and Healthcare groups. Known for expertise in digital design, play, and data, her work has won international awards, patents for clients, and been featured in the New York Times and Wired. Coe Leta has a Ph.D. in Education from UC Berkeley and guest lectures at Stanford University’s d.School.
About IDEO
IDEO has practiced design thinking for over 40 years. Every day, hundreds of designers, builders, entrepreneurs, engineers, data and behavioral scientists, teachers, researchers, and other specialists come together at IDEO to use the methods and tools of design to solve challenges alongside some of the world’s most forward-thinking global companies.
In the beginning, we used design thinking to design products—the first mouse for Apple, the first laptop that folds, kitchen products, medical devices, and more. Over the years we’ve asked ourselves, what more can design do? And that question has fueled us and led us to places we never anticipated.
Today at IDEO we design products, services, brands, experiences, and systems. We help organizations build creative cultures, sustain innovation, and launch new ventures to fuel growth. Recently, we’ve tackled bigger challenges like launching a new school system in a developing country, making a more inclusive voting system, designing the first all-in-one, wearable breast pump, and launching a nationwide venture that redefines and simplifies how customers engage with their pharmacy.