IDEO Reviews

Current Employee – been working at IDEO full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Great work life balance. Good health care. Great benefits.

Cons – Don't always pay the most but are pretty generous

Former Employee – worked at IDEO part-time for more than a year

Pros – be creative enjoyed the planet

Cons – too many people to prosper

Advice to Senior Management – join the fun

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at IDEO as an intern for less than a year

Pros – When the company says they care about your growth, they really mean it. I was placed into the projects I wanted to work on and cared about.

Cons – The structure of the company is very open, so that might take some time to get used to for some people. I personally experienced and think that people who are more proud and stubborn tend to dislike the company and leave fast.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at IDEO full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Was able to work on various projects with IDEO's top tier clients

Cons – Can't compete with other companies in terms of salary so they've been losing talent since everyone comes to recruit IDEOers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at IDEO full-time for more than a year

Pros – IDEOers are very talented and being new to the company you'll learn from one another everyday. It feels like a family. The projects are amazing and the environment as well.

Cons – Often designers want to build stuff. This is hard to achieve in a consultancy business.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at IDEO full-time

Pros – Cool people, snacks everywhere and toys!

Cons – Crappy clients, constant calls, no personal space

Advice to Senior Management – Get nicer clients!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at IDEO full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – IDEO is consistently full of smart, talented people. We may all be doing different things, but we're all working together, rather than at cross purposes. In my many years there I have had only a tiny number of bad experiences with other IDEO people. In most of those cases, the people didn't stay at IDEO very long.

Cons – You really have to make your own way. If you wait for 'management' to show you how to be a success, you'll never succeed. You have to be a self-starter and self-promoter. This can be frustrating & confusing at times. It is hard to connect with people you're not working directly with. Its hard to connect with peers, since at most levels your peers are doing similar jobs on different projects.

Also, its time to move beyond the philosophy of "you don't come to IDEO for the pay." Please make it as hard as possible for me to consider working somewhere else. There have been too many stories of people leaving IDEO to double their pay.

Advice to Senior Management – As the company continues to grow, please make sure you stay connected to the core of the designers on design teams. While its great for our reputation that senior leaders speak at TED, Davos, and other globally influential events, make sure that remains relevant to the guys and gals pulling 125% billable weeks doing the great work that leads to the great stories you can tell.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at IDEO

Pros – IDEO has amazing staff, connections and clients. The range of consulting projects is truly mind-boggling. From highly detailed mechanical engineering innovations for the healthcare industry to brand-strategy, government work, consumer electronics, campaigns, web experiences, food and beverage, startup incubation, non-profit work, the list goes on. Employees are highly capable and motivated and come from a wide range of design disciplines. IDEO takes quality of life seriously and goes out of its way to make a good working environment for staff and support them in their personal and extra-curricular endeavors. It's a great place to get a lot of design experience under your belt. Newly generous vacation policy is nice too.

Cons – Since the work is project based, your whole experience depends on your client and your project leader. If a project is over-scoped you might end up working some intense hours. Monetary compensation leaves something to be desired. Being a very flat hierarchy there aren't many opportunities to advance into mid-level management roles so it's a common pattern for people to spend several years as a designer at IDEO and then head to another company for a more senior role.

Advice to Senior Management – Increased transparency with senior management decisions. Continue working to get the compensation level in-line with local markets.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at IDEO

Pros – Fun, young culture that has lots of perks.

Cons – Support staff is usually overworked and underpaid.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at IDEO

Pros – Great projects, some of the meatiest design challenges around!
Smart co-workers.
Good culture.
Great alumni network.

Cons – Minimal opportunity for career advancement into senior ranks.
A bit "cult-ish".
Some senior leaders in prominent positions are very bad at managing people.