What is the 3I Model in Design?

The 3I model for design is a thinking framework created by IDEO which is a renowned international design firm founded by David Kelley in 2008. When it comes to design thinking and user-centric product development, few organizations have had as much impact as IDEO and the 3I model has been one of the most popular models from IDEO. The model was developed in the year 2001 and back then it was created to focus on innovation for social purposes but now it is widely considered as a great design thinking framework for a project. The 3Is in this model stand for:

1. Inspiration
2. Ideation
3. Implementation.

The inspiration phase involves concentrating on the issue or chance that spurs the quest for answers, the ideation phase involves developing the process of generating and testing ideas, and the implementation phase involves really starting the project development phase in people’s life.

Design thinking frameworks are a great way to ensure that the design team is following a proper design thinking process before you can move on to working on the actual design. The 3I model for design is one such design thinking framework created by IDEO which is a renowned international design firm founded by David Kelley in 2008. The 3I framework for design outlines the three key phases of the design process – inspiration to understand people, ideation to generate ideas, and implementation. The model was developed in the year 2001 and back then it was created to focus on innovation for social purposes but now it is widely considered as a great design thinking framework for any project. In this article, we will discuss what the 3I model for design is and what are some best practices around it.