Process

IDEO is a global design and innovation company that's been designing products, services, and experiences for over four decades.

The build happened fast; we started on March 10.

We pulled in IDEOers from all disciplines, and used AI tools wherever we could (because it would be strange to build an AI duck without them). Part of why we did this was to find out what speed to market actually looks like when you build with these tools. The answer this time was three weeks.

Want to quack at us? duckduckduck@ideo.com

A run of freshly printed duck parts laid out during prototyping — Our first round of production prints in all four colorways.

Figma designs and open studio session — We sketched in Figma (left) and used OpenStudio (right) to visualize how the duck might feel as a physical object

Early form sketch of the duck enclosure — Figuring out printable CAD that could work with our electronic guts took many revisions

Disassembled early prototype — We started with a simple lasercut version, shown here stripped of parts taken for further prototypes

Desk chaos during the build sprint — In the end our desks were just covered in capacitors, and ideas

Andy Deakin

Quietly making "build to think" look easy at IDEO since 1990.

Andy Reischling

Tries to turn base metals into gold, mostly unsuccessfully. Lives near a cemetery. Small business owner of various computer companies.

Becca Carroll

Unpublished children's book author.

Danny DeRuntz

An area man who thinks most of humanity's problems can be solved through better desktop notifications.

Dave Vondle

Failed Kickstarter creator.

Jack Boland

Practicing making things while learning how to make other things.

James Smalls

Just a guy who wants to buy your old CDs.

Jason Robinson

Is convinced that design is just an explosion in reverse.

Jenna Fizel

Cultivates emotional relationships with robots and spent last summer slowly polishing a rock.

Shelby Guergis

A person named after a car.

Tomoya Mori

Currently going through some major puppy blues.