Teaque Lenahan

I taught innovation and human-centered design in a 4-hour intensive in the Technology MBA program for the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.

I was invited to speak at FEI, with a talk entitled, "Inspire Change, Don't Just Manage It." My topic abstract:

Change is hard, though when people are inspired by what's possible, they run towards it, not away. And a great customer experience starts with an awesome employee experience. The problem is, too many growth and transformation efforts wait until close to launch before creating what is often an overly formal, not very human-centered, change management strategy. In this talk… Show more

I was invited to speak at FEI, with a talk entitled, "Inspire Change, Don't Just Manage It." My topic abstract:

Change is hard, though when people are inspired by what's possible, they run towards it, not away. And a great customer experience starts with an awesome employee experience. The problem is, too many growth and transformation efforts wait until close to launch before creating what is often an overly formal, not very human-centered, change management strategy. In this talk, we'll immerse in the human-centered design methods that can rally the troops, align conflicting priorities, and accelerate the move from idea to operationalization. Show less

Spoke about the Future of Mobility at "OEM Next 2019." An impressive roster of speakers, including my fellow panelists RJ Scaringe, founder of Rivian, Vincent Zappa, founder of Clutch, David Versical from Automotive News, Joe George from Cox Mobility, and Heiko Schmidt from Mercedes-Benz, and my co-presenter from Accenture Interactive, Christopher McNally.

Delivered presentation and led interactive workshop with premier agents on the topic of human-centered innovation and its implications for real estate. Explored the topics of empathy, trust, and connection as key to developing services that matter.

FJORD's Seattle studio hosted an interactive, hands-on cooking event (our "Kitchen") at Tom Douglas's Hot Stove Society. We invited thought leaders from top companies and public sector organizations to provoke debate on the nature of truly holistic health across physical, mental, economic, educational, and civic lines. We used Fjord's "Healthy is the New Wealthy" trend from our 2016 trend report. The night was a success: the conversation stimulating, the food delicious, and the concepts… Show more

FJORD's Seattle studio hosted an interactive, hands-on cooking event (our "Kitchen") at Tom Douglas's Hot Stove Society. We invited thought leaders from top companies and public sector organizations to provoke debate on the nature of truly holistic health across physical, mental, economic, educational, and civic lines. We used Fjord's "Healthy is the New Wealthy" trend from our 2016 trend report. The night was a success: the conversation stimulating, the food delicious, and the concepts provocative. Show less

Panel discussion on the future of UX careers - where the industry is headed, what trends are affecting companies and roles, and how to develop as a professional in that context.

Co-created frogLabs as a platform for frogs to stretch their creative legs on passion projects that anticipate human needs, potential technology, and client futures. Ran global competition for ideas and moved forward with explorations around a select few. The platform continues to operate as an innovation platform for frog.

Talk: "Design as Strategy: Facilitating Agency for the Kickstarter Generation"

Conference hosted by the integrated design, engineering, and MBA programs at Northwestern as a way to gather thinking and perspectives across those disciplines. I presented my thoughts on this year's theme, "Design as Strategy" and took the perspective that design thinking can be applied internally, and not just to one's customers/consumers. At frog, this has taken the form of the creation of frogLabs, a… Show more

Talk: "Design as Strategy: Facilitating Agency for the Kickstarter Generation"

Conference hosted by the integrated design, engineering, and MBA programs at Northwestern as a way to gather thinking and perspectives across those disciplines. I presented my thoughts on this year's theme, "Design as Strategy" and took the perspective that design thinking can be applied internally, and not just to one's customers/consumers. At frog, this has taken the form of the creation of frogLabs, a platform that was created by frogs, for frogs, and harnesses passion that is good for the firm and for our clients. Show less

Designed and delivered a presentation and workshop to the executive leaders at Outerwall, Inc. that discussed "hero's journey"​ elements of storytelling, what a brand/positioning is, how they both relate to personal career pathing, and how to integrate all do that into a story that clarifies who you are as an exec and where you're going.

"CAN vs. SHOULD: Balancing Human-Centered Design with Engineering Possibilities to Create Meaningful Automotive Experiences"

In a world of expanding technical possibilities, the temptation to introduce ever-greater technology in the car is a strong one. In frog’s 40 years of experience, focusing more on the human-centered experience will help not only design environments that meet the evolving needs of consumers, but also help clarify priorities within product development and… Show more

"CAN vs. SHOULD: Balancing Human-Centered Design with Engineering Possibilities to Create Meaningful Automotive Experiences"

In a world of expanding technical possibilities, the temptation to introduce ever-greater technology in the car is a strong one. In frog’s 40 years of experience, focusing more on the human-centered experience will help not only design environments that meet the evolving needs of consumers, but also help clarify priorities within product development and engineering. This talk explored the process and principles of human-centered design in an automotive context, and introduced ways of helping companies decide what to go make, often in the context of internal competing perspectives. Show less

Worked with amazing experts from frog, UNICEF, MIT, and select relevant companies and clients to create potential solutions for transportation issues that touch on safety, women's rights, and global health. Some ideas are already moving into prototype stages.

Designed and led a 150-person workshop to apply innovation principles to the complicated global challenge of ensuring the rights of children. Worked with talented teams from frog and UNICEF to craft a meaningful experience over two days at UNICEF headquarters in NY.

Co-designed and facilitated the Seattle instantiation of the AIGA's national effort, "Design for Good." The two-day workshops with members across the design, health, and public sectors were described as part of "a movement to ignite, accelerate and amplify design-driven social change."

Designed and led a summit for the ~30 companies within the Innovation Learning Network's on the increasing gamification of healthcare: how to engage and improve health.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/using-game-mechanics-to-solve-health-care-problems/

Teaching various classes on innovation methods, in contexts of product development courses, advertising courses, and strategy. Using practical experience, academic research, and project-oriented innovation methods themselves to create a compelling and educational experience. Biased towards learn-by-doing and getting students' hands dirty.

gravitytank, an innovation and growth consultancy based in Chicago, completed a comprehensive study on mobile apps - those bite-sized applications on smartphones that are changing how we interact with software, our phones, big brands, our health, and much more.

We created a 4-minute mini-documentary (https://vimeo.com/5539728) that drew from the 20 ethnographies we did with app users, and how our perceptions about apps evolved over the course of the study -- from fun games to valuable… Show more

gravitytank, an innovation and growth consultancy based in Chicago, completed a comprehensive study on mobile apps - those bite-sized applications on smartphones that are changing how we interact with software, our phones, big brands, our health, and much more.

We created a 4-minute mini-documentary (https://vimeo.com/5539728) that drew from the 20 ethnographies we did with app users, and how our perceptions about apps evolved over the course of the study -- from fun games to valuable tools that have a potentially profound impact on unexpected industries. The documentary augments the 1,000-person quantitative survey and 20+ app developer interviews that were integral to the study.

The study itself has been presented at leading industry conferences and was covered by the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. Show less

Was keynote speaker on "Wisdom Recycled: Rethinking the Consumption Compulsion" at industry-wide sustainability conference. Main thesis was that the initial "green consumer" isn't a Prius-driving, Nalgene-carrying locavore...it was our grandparents, saving tin during the War and creating victory gardens.

Scott and I led a keynote and mini-workshop at Arizona State University's College of Design as part of the "Exposed" conference. The session was centered around inspiring and driving new behaviors through new activities, and driving change via human-centered methods.