Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 I. Introduction 3 IDEO’s organization 3 IDEO’s processes 4 IDEO’s management 4 Role of prototyping and experimentation 5 II. Problem Definition 6 III. Alternative Courses of Action 7 Reject Handspring’s proposal 7 Accept Handspring’s Proposal 8 Recommend a New Proposal to Handspring 8 IV. Recommended Course of Action 9 Managing the Visor project 10

Executive Summary
Product development firms like IDEO have invested time and effort in constructing methodologies and processes that make them succeed in every territory they venture in. IDEO is one of the largest and most successful product development firms that has contributed to many of the products that we take today for granted. Some of IDEO’s inventions include the first Apple mouth, Oral B Squish grip, Nike sunglasses, 25 feet mechanical whale and even medical equipment.

IDEO has worked with a company called 3Com for years to develop the breakthrough Palm V handheld device. IDEO is a company that emphasizes design as well as engineering and is now met with an offer from a new company called Handspring to develop the next handheld computer which would directly compete with the Palm V. Handspring is a company created by two of 3Coms successful employees, and whose objective is to duplicate the success of the Palm V by selling a fully compatible but less expensive handheld device, which can also add more functionalities. This later came to be called the ‘Visor’.

The problem however, is that IDEO is given half of the time already taken to develop the Palm V. Finishing on time is not of concern to IDEO’s management, because they are confident that they can. However, the challenge is that this tight schedule may “require them to bypass many of the early development stages that the firm was particularly good at” (page 2) and that differentiates