Tom KraMer, BFA, IDSA is the President and CEO and a product development design engineer at Kablooe Design, a Minneapolis MN based product design and development company. He has been a member of IDSA for 30+ years and sites that the IDSA conferences, learning, information exposure, and community have been a practical grounding to keep him plugged in to the world of design throughout his career.
In his new book, Innovate The Way You Were Designed To, Tom shares what he has seen over the years as the most important drivers to creativity and creative problem solving that lead to successful, innovative products. He says,
“I began writing the book when I decided to begin compiling my experiences and learnings from working and teaching in the innovation world in 2016, after 25 years in the industry. The message I hope to convey is that we can all become excellent creative problem solvers if we tap the right resources that are already inside of us, and externally engage in productive practices.”
Professionally, Tom has decades of experience in research, development, and design for many types of medical devices and consumer products. Some of Kablooe Design’s development project partners include Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Antares Pharma, and Kodak health imaging, as well as product design and development projects for small start-up companies. Kablooe has helped develop atrial fibrillation therapies, coronary intervention devices, drug delivery devices, prostate surgery devices, and many other unique and innovative medical devices. In the consumer space, Tom’s work includes projects like guitars, the Stowboard, lipstick containers and farming tractors. Regardless of the industry, Kablooe uses a human centered design approach that is augmented by the combination left brain/right brain approach to our staff and project activities. Tom and the team at Kablooe use an internally created process called, D3 (Design Driven Development®) to help direct its customers through the development process in an innovative way.
Innovate The Way You Were Designed To is an eye-opening look into the world of design and innovation from the perspective of first understanding how our human cognitive powers work when it comes to creative thought. Filled with anecdotes from 30 years of past experience, this book gives concrete examples of experiences from the design and development world. When asked who should read Innovate The Way You Were Designed To, Tom shares,
“I think it is an insightful read for anyone who wants to be active in creative endeavors. This applies to Industrial Designers, but also to so many more professional and personal areas. It also has a very practical methodology laid out in the latter half of the book.”
Congrats Tom on the release of your book and thanks so much for your long standing support of IDSA. You can find Tom on LinkedIn or learn more about his work at www.kablooe.com and www.innovatethewayyouweredesignedto.com