Design + strategy for a digital world
What we’re
talking about
Cooper is a design and strategy firm based in San Francisco.
Since 1992, we've designed everything from medical devices to consumer products to sophisticated business tools. Our inventive spark sets us apart, but we know that true innovation requires more than sketching a clever idea; it requires deep insight, close collaboration, and coordinated execution.
Our specialty has always been bringing clarity to complex situations. We know that "simple" isn't easy and that a breakthrough user experience begins with a deep understanding of people. Our design and research methods focus our creativity, enabling us to uncover opportunities that fit your business and inspire your customers.
We can work with you to shape a product vision, and help you express that vision with killer presentations and demos. When you're ready to make it real, we can work out the details and guide implementation to keep everyone headed in the right direction.
What's the right approach for you?
Give us a call, and we'll help you figure it out.
Clients
Experience
We've designed just about everything: analytical applications; automotive entertainment and navigation devices; consumer products; devices; CRM, enterprise, and financial services systems; HR applications; IT tools; irrigation systems; kiosks; medical software and devices; monitoring and control systems; smartphones; supply chain management systems; Web sites.... We could keep going.
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3M
Meeting systems of the future -
8x8
Enterprise IP telephony -
Abbott Labs
Consumer and hospital glucose meters -
AGFA
Radiology picture and archiving system (PACS) -
ADP
Human resources software -
Alaris Medical Systems
Hospital infusion pump -
Align Technology
Orthodontic treatment planning -
Amberpoint
Web services monitoring -
AT&T
Browser-based email (visual design) -
Analytical Graphics
Satellite tracking -
Bizrate.com
Comparison shopping Web site -
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Clinical information system -
Charles Schwab
Personal investing software, Web site -
CIGNA
Service design strategy for medical providers -
Compaq
Broadband and mobility services -
Cross Country
Healthcare talent management service design -
DePuy / Johnson & Johnson
Computer-assisted orthopedic surgery -
Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Audio control, Web site -
Dow Jones / Wall Street Journal Interactive
Web site assessment -
DriveCam
Remote monitoring of fleet vehicle drivers -
Echostar (now Dish Network)
Remote control and on-screen program guide -
Elemental Software (now Adobe)
Web site authoring -
Ellie Mae
Loan origination software -
Ericsson (now Sony Ericsson)
Smartphone -
Financial Technologies, Inc.
Private equity investment tool -
Fotiva (now Adobe)
Consumer photo management -
Fujifilm Medical Systems
Radiology systems (visual design) -
Fujitsu Softek
Workflow, storage management -
GoldMail
Voiceover image messaging -
Housevalues.com
Web prospecting tool for real estate agents -
HP
Web site, PDA, various projects -
IBM Notes
Usability assessment and consulting design -
iManage (now Interwoven)
Enterprise content management system -
Immersion
Developer tools for haptic technology -
Indicative Software
IT tools (visual design) -
Informatica
Enterprise data analytics -
Intermine
Storage management -
Johnson Controls
Automotive telematics -
J. Paul Getty Museum
Kiosk and mobile devices -
Kana
CRM software -
Kenexa
HR application -
Logitech
Scanner and game controller software -
McKesson Information Solutions
Patient monitoring and health education device -
Medco Health Solutions
World's largest online pharmacy -
Microsoft
Various Web site projects -
Minitab
Statistical analysis -
Mongo Music (now Microsoft)
Consumer music application -
NBC
Intranet -
NetApp
Storage and data management system -
Nuance
Development tool for speech applications -
Pacific Edge (now Serena)
Project management software -
Procter & Gamble
Family digital assistant -
Remedy
Enterprise workflow -
R&D Logic
Medical and pharmaceutical research system -
Sagent
Data warehouse and analytics -
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Epidemic tracking tool -
SAP
Various including ERP, CRM, analytics systems -
Shared Healthcare Systems (now Accu-Med)
Electronic medical record, facility management -
Shutterfly
Consumer photo sharing -
Sony Transcom
In-flight entertainment -
St. Jude Medical
Cardiac rhythm management -
Sun Microsystems
Wireless networking -
Sybase
Web site visual design -
Tapwave
PDA / gaming device (visual design) -
Terraspring
Server farm management -
The Toro Company
Professional irrigation control system -
Thomson West
Legal information (user research) -
Trend Micro
Web site -
Varian, Inc.
NMR spectroscopy -
Varian Medical Systems
Radiation therapy and radiosurgery -
Visteon
Automotive telematics -
Webgain
Software development tool -
Wily Technology (now CA/Wi)
Web services management -
Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture)
Paid-search campaign management
We wrote the books on designing successful technology products
Reviews
User Interface Engineering
Reviews
Forrester Research
Reviews
We’re on a mission to make the digital world a better place. Are you?
Every project involves a small team of world-class designers, most of whom are dedicated to single project at a time. A typical team includes two interaction designers, who share responsibility for research, synthesis, design, and design communication; a visual designer, who ensures that the color, icons, typography, and visual style of the interface support the interaction and create an emotional experience that supports the client's brand; and an engagement lead—one of our most senior designers—who helps push the design along and is responsible for the business relationship with the client.
On projects involving hardware, an industrial designer leads the evolution of the physical form, working closely with other team members to ensure a seamless user experience. Behind the scenes, our professional HR and Operations team ensures that our design teams have the tools, environment, and support they need to pull off one superb project after another.
Cooper career openings
For 15 years, Cooper has been designing successful digital products by focusing on human goals. We've designed our company the same way.
We hire stars, then make sure they're set up for success. We plan our projects for a 40-hour work week. We don't think chaos is a necessary ingredient for creativity. We believe in coaching, clear career paths, and a workplace that's as much a community as it is a company.
We work with clients large and small all over the world. Our projects include everything from complex financial, analytical, and enterprise applications to medical devices, Web applications, and car dashboards. In a single year, a Cooper designer might work on a securities trading application, a surgical tool, and a revolutionary new phone.
We believe that smart thinking thrives with a methodical approach.
We approach all of our engagements with one objective: To help our clients create world-class interactive experiences. Depending on who we're working with, this can mean different things.
Many of our projects include components of all three of the following services. What's the right mix for you? We'll work closely with you to craft an approach that will tackle the right problems and ensure that we get to the right answers.
Vision
Vision services help our clients better understand the opportunities they face and establish a clear direction for the future.Design
Design services are all about working through the details to craft a product or service to deliver to the market.Education
Education services provide instruction in research, design and strategy techniques and spark thinking to help clients be successful when doing design for themselves.Want Help?
Call us at +1.415.267.3500 oremail .
Establish a clear vision
Whether you're designing a product from scratch or trying to figure out your next move, you know it's critical to have a clear sense of purpose. Our experienced consultants provide just the right blend of research, synthesis, imagination, and facilitation to help your organization establish and rally around a direction.
We start by establishing a common understanding of users and the big opportunities for making them fall in love with your product, collaboratively exploring a variety of approaches. We build off your best ideas, help clarify them, and inject our own fresh thinking.
Then we help you express the vision and build momentum behind it. By creating prototypes, videos, storyboards and presentations we allow you to vividly depict the direction you're heading to your team, customers, investors, and other important audiences.
For more detail on the methods employed in all of these services, check out Our Approach.
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+ see our solution +
Design a breakthrough experience
You want a world-class user experience. We know that crafting one requires up-front planning and execution on countless details. Our design services take a variety of forms depending on what you need.
Want to find out more?
Call us at +1.415.267.3500 or
email .
We can jump in and provide immediate help with a Design Intensive. We travel light in these engagements, making this approach an especially good fit for start-ups, Agile development shops, and anyone who needs an injection of new thinking or time-sensitive execution. It doesn't matter how big or small the problem is: The objective is to seek out the key issues, see around corners, and ensure that the solutions are cohesive, compelling, and useful to your team. We can lead ideation activities, provide an expert assessment of your current product or design idea, help out with detailed design, create design language studies, sketch concepts to explore alternative approaches, or any combination of these activities.
Or we can take a deep look at the problem and craft something game-changing with a Design Blueprint. We start by understanding the opportunity space. We explore a variety of approaches, develop a clear vision, and then dive into the nitty gritty details to think through every interaction and to refine the visual expression of the product. We express the designs through detailed prototypes and specifications to support implementation.
Training
At Cooper, we help our clients and students face the challenges of design in the real world. Stodgy textbooks and abstract design theories aren’t at the core of our approach to teaching and mentoring. Instead, we draw directly from our 20 years of experience designing products and services for companies all over the globe. No matter where you are in the product service or life cycle, we can empower you with applicable skills that you can immediately put to use in your work and teams.
Training can take three forms: mentorship from our design team during a project, Cooper U’s custom coaching and training for companies, or our Cooper U classroom courses. In all of these situations, expert practitioners will teach you the techniques, methods, and best practices we use to design products and services that delight.
To work with us or discuss custom training
Call us at +1.415.267.3500
or email .
Delivering outstanding products
Great design goes nowhere without great execution. Our integrated product development approach incorporates aspects of agile and lean product management and development with Goal-Directed Design techniques to plan, test and refine product ideas.
We deliver insight into your users and customers, their goals, and what it takes to reach them. You get working code and clear visibility throughout the project with early and continuous delivery of working software focused on meeting your business needs and users' goals. Our collaboration includes working with you to share our knowledge of and experience with Goal-Directed Design and agile development methodologies.
If you're looking to launch a mobile app, start up a new product or service company, or bring a fresh approach to an established business, an integrated engagement can set you in the right direction, release a great product, and train your people to carry your vision forward.
Want to know more?
Call us at +1.415.267.3500
or email .
At Cooper, we preach what we practice.
Upcoming courses
See the full schedule of courses.
Notify me when new courses are added.
Courses
Interaction design
Learn how to use Goal-Directed Design to create products and services that people love.
Mental models
Understand your customer's thought process and how to translate it into a meaningful product or service strategy.
Learn user experience design and use your powers for social good.
Get notified
We're excited that you're considering taking a class with us! Tell us about yourself, and we'll let you know when the next courses are scheduled.
Our instructors bring a wealth of experience
from start-ups to
global corporations.
Cooper speakers can come to you
Onsite or Custom Training
If you have a large group to train or you want a course focused on specific needs, consider treating your whole team to a Cooper U course. Our standard courses work well for most companies, but if off-the-shelf just won’t do, we’ll work with you to develop a customized program. We often provide abbreviated versions of our standard courses, exercises that relate to your current projects, or one-day workshops that combine training with design consulting to solve specific problems.
Speaking
Getting your company excited about design is usually the first step in changing attitudes and incorporating design into your processes and culture. Our inspiring staff speaks about a myriad of topics including design research, sifi interfaces, healthcare innovation, the future of journalism (to name just a few).
Frequently speaking: Alan Cooper, Chris Noessel, Doug LeMoine, Jim Dibble, Kendra Shimmell, Nick Myers, Stefan Klocek, Susan Dybbs, Suzy Thompson, Teresa Brazen.
Need someone to inform, inspire, or shake things up? Call us at +1.415.267.3500 or email business@cooper.com.
There’s no substitute
for an inventive spark*
Clever ideas are the heart and soul of a great design, but craft is essential, too. Delivering a delightful product or service requires commitment to a vision, considered decisions, attention to the details, and careful coordination of all the moving parts.
Our structured approach focuses our creativity on the right opportunities and provides a robust context for collaboration. We sequence decisions in a meaningful way, so that you're closely involved, well informed and are able to plan with confidence. And, we help you communicate the vision as it emerges, so you can build momentum towards delivering a successful product.
We start by understanding people & context
How to get started
We take project planning very seriously around here. During the engagement planning process, one of our engagement leads (a senior Cooper designer, not a sales person) works with you to shape a project that balances your goals with your schedule and budget. Give us a call or drop us a line and we can walk you through the process.
We start by working with key stakeholders from your organization to get a clear understanding of your vision, business goals, and constraints.
Then we interview and observe your users, digging deep to understand how they think and behave, what motivates them, and where the pain is. User research not only gives us a concrete understanding of environment, tastes and workflow, but it also fuels our intuition and inspires our empathy. We don't just want to design things that look cool—we also care about making people's lives better.
We bring the research to life
We make the research actionable by creating a set of communication materials to facilitate conversations about the user audience and their needs and desires. We model key behavior patterns observed during research with a set of personas (descriptions of archetypal users) and examine usage contexts and the opportunities they present.
These personas provide a consistent conceptual thread throughout the project. We use personas to focus our attention when we're establishing a direction and generating design ideas, and to test our ideas before they're evolved enough to share with real users. We can move the design forward with confidence, knowing we can trace every decision back to a disciplined understanding of real people.
We begin designing
by telling stories
Once we have a solid sense of who we're designing for and clearly see the shape of the opportunity space, we shift into imagination mode. We start by telling stories. We imagine each persona's ideal experience with your product or service, and describe these experiences in a narrative format that we call a scenario.
Scenarios form the backbone of our creative process. They highlight what it will take to delight your users, and they help us express the requirements of the experience from functional and emotional perspectives. The real power of storytelling is that it's highly collaborative; it's easy for all kinds of stakeholders to meaningfully contribute their ideas.
Storytelling is also flexible; we can iterate through many different ideas in a very short amount of time. You could say that a good story is the earliest stage of prototyping: We use scenarios to establish a vision in a way that allows for communication, evaluation and evolution. This helps us work with you to prioritize capabilities, and to establish a strategy for how your product or service will reflect and extend your brand in order to appeal to your target market.
We set a clear design direction
Once everyone agrees we've got the plot right, we start sketching. We explore a number of approaches to key interactions and to the visual and physical expressions of your product. We go broad before we go deep, generating piles of ideas to find elegant answers to the big questions.
Then we build from these ideas, storyboarding the scenarios with rough sketches, while establishing a high-level design language. We make the vision concrete by focusing on critical interactions, anatomy, and how it all fits together. The whole time, we work with you to make sure we staying true to your objectives, and with engineers to start prototyping in order to assess feasibility and begin the implementation process.
How long does it take?
Carefully crafting a world-class user experience takes time. Grounding our ideas in a solid understanding of users and getting to a fair degree of depth and breadth with some iteration often takes between two and six months.
If you're short on time or money, we can accelerate our approach to help you move forward in as little as two or three weeks.
We craft the details
We create powerful communication tools
We collaborate with developers as we go to clearly communicate the designs for construction. With pixel-perfect screen drawings and detailed explanations of behaviors, controls, visual style, and guidance for extending the design, developers know exactly what to build. We're equally as comfortable creating lightweight design notes and complete detailed specifications; we'll help you
figure out exactly what you need. Once things start looking and feeling real, we can create prototypes, videos, storyboards, and presentations to clearly and powerfully communicate the product vision to executives, investors, customers and other team-members, helping you build momentum towards a successful product.
We work closely with you along the way
We can teach you and your team how to do all of this
We're transparent about our methods and thinking so that you can understand where we're coming from and learn how to pick up where we leave off. We also facilitate workshops and teach courses to provide more formal instruction and practice in how we think about design and strategy.
Our project teams include a combination of interaction designers, visual designers, and industrial designers. Our people are very experienced and entirely accessible to their clients. Our teams are almost always dedicated to only one project at a time and are assigned for the duration of the engagement, so you don't have to worry about an ever-changing cast of characters. Our process and team models are intended to
keep our clients in the driver's seat, allowing ample opportunities for input and feedback at all levels of design. Our process and practices also help us stick to the plan without any unpleasant surprises. Our approach also enables us to closely integrate interaction, visual, and industrial design, as well as implementation, ensuring that all aspects of the product or service work together in concert to create a simple, compelling user experience.
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Calm in the chaos
Parking in busy urban areas is stressful and chaotic. It's as much a competition for space as competition for drivers' attention. Parker™ needed to help drivers navigate the streets easily yet safely.
By designing with context in mind, the Cooper team was able to create a dynamic map highlighting nearby spots that provides hands-free guidance for drivers to their destination without distraction.
Numbers indicate the parking spots available on each block.
The yellow dot shows the best place to park based on where you're going.
