HP Innovation Journal Issue 05: Winter 2016 | Page 15

DESIGN LEADERSHIP FORUM

Design thinking , where innovation and creativity connect

At HP business groups , innovation begins at ideation
by Stacy Wolff , Global Head of Design , HP ; Lance Hill , Global Head of Insights , HP ; Kevin Massaro , Global Director of Consumer Product Design , HP
Things at HP Inc . have changed . Under new leadership , and with new imperatives to guide them , the company has undergone a shift — a big one . In the process , HP began the lengthy process of positioning itself as something new , something … innovative . Stacy Wolff , former director of notebook design and current global head of design , helped to lead that charge .

Back in 2011 , HP Inc . underwent a shake-up , implementing company-wide changes that saw new leadership , new directives , and new goals . For then CEO Meg Whitman , in particular , this meant a complete change of focus . Going forward , Whitman wanted HP ’ s design teams to focus on answering one , very specific question : “ Is it beautiful , or not ?”

With that in mind , the company began what would become four years of change — at every single level . Most important among these changes was a shift in focus , from products — cost , technology , and addressable markets — to design . How HP ’ s products are created , and why , became the through line .
Stacy Wolff , after being brought on as global head of design under Whitman ’ s leadership , helped to lead this effort . And , with the
introduction of Dion Weisler as CEO in 2015 , changes in focus have continued apace . Weisler , for his part , is a “ tinkerer .” His focus quickly became a continuation of what began under Whitman ’ s leadership — a passing of the baton , if you will .
All of these changes were made with specific goals in mind : to enable product design
that is fresh , even iconic , and to enable leading design that will inspire .
For design teams at HP , that directive was and remains the “ aha ” moment .
Unify to diversify
The past four years have seen HP undertake the long , arduous journey of becoming a leader — with products that are consistent , and consistently stand out .
Before anyone could invigorate product design , though , HP ’ s design team faced the challenge of creating unified design guidelines for an already expansive and diverse line of offerings . Not only that , they needed to reinvent the thought process behind even the most basic product design .
In the process of accomplishing all that , the company saw significant upheaval . Processes were centralized , designers moved departments , budgets were centralized , and new investments were made . When the dust settled , HP had successfully brought together budget and people , and removed existing siloes .
You could call the first few years of change a revitalization . It required the necessary work of getting the house in order . And , doing so successfully positioned the company to take their first steps into a new world . Those steps ultimately led to progressive form factors , harmonious design , and — in our opinion — iconic products that people desire . That ’ s design innovation .
The golden ratio
In the process of entering this new world , the real challenge became finding a way to create unified design guidelines for a company with such an expansive and diverse line of products . After pushing the limits of creativity , the design team at HP settled on three overarching goals : Product design should be progressive , harmonious , and iconic . Together , these attributes create the acronym , “ PHI ,” the Greek letter representing the golden ratio .
“ Progressive ” refers to the way product design moves forward year after year . The team chose the word “ harmonious ” ( rather than consistent ) to encourage designs that
Issue 5 · Winter 2016 · Innovation Journal 15