Hasta La Ideas

The 2011 Northeast IDSA Conference is right around the corner! As a preview to this weekend’s conference at RISD, we asked keynote speaker Scott Wilson of MINIMAL to share some thoughts on entrepreneurship and connecting the dots to innovative product design. Wilson gives us insight on being fearless in a world of non-believers, the importance of community and how designers’ brains are the key to a better future.

BONUS: IDSA Northeast is offering a group discount to Core77 readers—10% if you can get a group of 5 people to register together. But you must call IDSA to get the discount Just call Katie Fleger, manager of member relations, at 703.707.6000 ext. 112 with any questions or to register, or call Jill Richardson, membership coordinator at 703-707-6000 ext. 118 and she will get you registered.

Core77: The last time we spoke, you had already blown away all expectations for Kickstarter with the TikTok + LunaTik. Now that we see people on the subway proudly sporting their watch kits, what’s next for this innovative product?

Scott Wilson: Well, we have hopes that Apple realizes they have a huge opportunity to own the wrist in the future by developing a more feature rich and open iOS on the Nano. If they do, then we will happily offer future versions of TikTok+LunaTik. In the meantime we will be releasing new colors and some pretty cool limited editions as well as working with some celebs and other brands on collaborations.

Most IDSA members are familiar with the challenges of creating a product from concept to prototype. As both an entrepreneur and designer, what are some of the biggest challenges of getting products to market?

It’s the non-believers, period. This results in indecision and lack of confidence that plagues most companies. Whether it’s internal team members, retail buyers, clients, supply chain, etc. it really comes down to not connecting the dots, lack of confidence and fear. They are their own biggest obstacle and its almost an epidemic. Companies that are able to empower the individuals in their organization with vision, those with proven track records of consistently delivering disruptive and sustainable design solutions that connect emotionally with users, those are the ones that have the advantage in today’s market.

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