IDEO Reviews
75% would recommend to a friend
(259 total reviews)
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Found 259 of over 315 reviews
Updated Nov 27, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Offers designers a great culture and the chance to work on interesting challenges in a range of industries." (in 42 reviews)
- "If you are old(er), raising a family, and have outside experience to know your boundaries on how much work (and bad management) should impose" (in 5 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of IDEO and is not affected by filters.
- 5.0Sep 28, 2023Senior Mechanical EngineerFormer Employee, more than 5 yearsPalo Alto, CA
Pros
I loved working at IDEO it was amazing! Best experience in the world
Cons
Sometimes the projects that I worked on didn't get made by clients in the end, but this is normal.
- 1.0Nov 27, 2023Data ScienceFormer Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
the brand name lets it attract amazing people to work there still
Cons
the business model just doesn't work anymore and the company is constantly cycling through leadership and organizational structure changes.
- 3.0Aug 28, 2023Associate DirectorFormer Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Smart, interesting people who are care about each other Opportunities to work on interesting projects If you're director+, some ability to manage your time and schedule Great benefits (lots of vacation, L&D budget) somewhat made up for lower pay
Cons
Failing business model (high cost relative to peers makes it hard to win work, especially given the commoditization of design, and organizational changes during the pandemic years made things worse) The website has the most interesting projects - don't think that all of them are about changing the world (most are not) Needs more rigor for the kinds of global challenges the org wants to take on Top leadership not accountable to business results or great at strategy Work driven by slack and too many meetings, can often be frantic (see Cal Newport's "hyperactive hive mind")
3 - 3.0Oct 31, 2023Senior DesignerCurrent Employee
Pros
unlimited vacation remote work benefits
Cons
low pay unstable business burnout lack of community not diverse
2 - 5.0Sep 12, 2023Sr. Design LeadFormer Employee, more than 10 yearsSan Francisco, CA
Pros
Outstanding people to work with and extensive supportive network of current and former employees. Supportive of growth and stretching yourself. A lot of variety of domains if that’s what you want. IDEO experience is often a ticket to amazing opportunities to follow.
Cons
High cost means clients have high expectations. Often can’t follow through so work dies on the vine on client side. Need to promote yourself and build relationships with leaders or you will have trouble advancing. Leadership tries to do the right thing but can be chaotic and inconsistent.
2 - 2.0Oct 4, 2023Senior ManagerFormer Employee, more than 8 yearsChicago, IL
Pros
Was a great place to be autonomously creative
Cons
Constant layoffs of the last four years, many of which have not been discussed or made public
5 - 4.0Oct 8, 2023Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 3 years
Pros
These people are the best, smartest, most exceptional people on planet earth
Cons
Designers don’t know operations. They fudged it for awhile but pandemic and post has exploited those cracks and left some pretty big gaping wounds.
2 - 4.0Sep 25, 2023Design LeadFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsSan Francisco, CA
Pros
Incredible colleagues Fun work culture
Cons
Tendency for employees to burnout Clients sometimes range from uninspiring to problematic
1 - 3.0Sep 28, 2023Senior Design LeadFormer EmployeeSan Francisco, CA
Pros
People, people, people. True asset of IDEO.
Cons
Leadership is too idealistic and disconnected with the real world.
1 - 4.0Sep 17, 2023Industrial DesignerFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsCalifornia City, CA
Pros
Flexibility in Time Management Collaboration with Intelligent Colleagues Diverse Range of Projects Opportunities for Learning Supportive boss
Cons
High Workload Limited Project Depth Lack of Transparency Independent Learning
IDEO Reviews FAQs
IDEO has an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on over 315 reviews left anonymously by employees. 75% of employees would recommend working at IDEO to a friend and 33% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -8% over the last 12 months.
75% of IDEO employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated IDEO 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.0 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.
According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at IDEO to be benefits, career development, culture and the cons to be diversity and inclusion, management, senior leadership.
