Best for: Innovation consultancy, service design, healthcare, education, social impact, enterprise transformation
Services: Design research, service design, product strategy, organisational design
Notable clients: Kooth, plus healthcare, education, and public sector programmes
At a glance
- Founded
- 1991
- Location
- San Francisco, plus offices across the US, England and China
- Team size
- 500+
- Budget
- $$$$
- Hourly rate
- Not published
Healthcare is where IDEO's method shows most clearly, because the obvious solution in a clinical context is usually the wrong one. Engagements begin upstream of the brief, mapping the problem before anyone proposes an answer, and the output of an early phase is frequently a redefinition of what the service should be rather than a design for what was asked. Their published work with Kooth on a mental health platform is the current reference point.
Research evidence and structural depth both score maximum, the only agency here to take 10 in either column twice. Accessibility scores lower than those two, which is worth noting on a healthcare page specifically, since much of the output is service and strategy work that cannot be tested as a deployed interface.
Not the right fit when your brief is clearly scoped and what you need is execution. You would pay consultancy rates for a discovery phase you have already completed internally.
Rating history Q3 2026 — 9.7 to 9.6, aligned with the composite recorded on the main ranking






