Hi friends,

I’m excited to share the beginning of a new collaboration with Studio 360, the radio show produced by PRI and hosted by Kurt Andersen. As part of their long running series of redesigns, I’ll be working with some of my IDEO colleagues to reimagine one of life’s more unpleasant experiences, and make it more joyful.

What do we mean by unpleasant experiences, you ask? Good question. We’re thinking about places you kind of dread going, like the DMV, or things you have to do but wish they weren’t so joyless, like doing your taxes, or cleaning the house. The kinds of things that don’t regularly feature on this blog, in other words. 

And the best part is, you get to decide what we design! All you have to do is tweet or instagram a place or experience that you think needs more joy to me, @ingridfetell, @studio360show or @ideo with the hashtag #bringjoy. We’ll pick one, and then use the ideas from Aesthetics of Joy (and some designer’s ingenuity!) to transform it into something that makes you smile.

I chatted with Kurt about joy, design, and why this topic is so important to me on this week’s show. You can listen to the segment here. 

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that the whole reason I do keep writing this blog and keep researching this topic is to make joy tangible, to find ways to bring more of it into the objects and structures that surround us. I believe that the world was not “designed for joy,” and there are so many places that could benefit from a spark of warmth, light, and beauty. So for me this is a truly exciting opportunity to get to practice what I’ve been preaching over the past few years, and to do it with my brilliant IDEO colleagues, who care so deeply about putting truly human-centered design work out into the world. I’m so grateful to both IDEO and Studio 360 for making this happen!

So, please submit your ideas, and share with others. And stay tuned for more updates over the next month as we work to #bringjoy to one of life’s most trying experiences!

Ingrid