The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It's flagship gathering, the Aspen Ideas Festival, was founded on the belief that ideas should not exist in isolation, even if such a thing were possible. Since 2005, the Aspen Ideas Festival has gathered the most incisive, paradigm-shifting bits of insight, and has enabled them to be presented by (and to) the most active, engaged thinkers in the world.
Projects
Cultivating the Magic of Ideas
Sector
Social creativityOffer
Product innovationClient
Aspen Institute
Our approach
Design question
The summertime festival brings together brilliant leaders and thinkers from around the globe to discuss the ideas that will not only shape the future but deepen understanding of the present. For one intimate week, from sunup to sundown, attendees explore critical current issues and discover ideas that spark wonder. But how does that venerable tradition evolve in the face of major leadership and programming changes?
Design response
Organizational psychology has a massive impact on design processes and outcomes of any kind, but especially service design. When the material of design is not atoms or pixels per se but emergent human behavior, the culture and tacit assumptions operated upon by the delivering organization has an outsize influence on ultimate designed experiences. Attendee feedback is important for iterative responsiveness of course—and understanding the emotional and functional needs of the operational team itself is equally important. By walking alongside the Institute in its post-flight analysis through deep qualitative research, we shed light on opportunities for improvement and innovation alike.
