ATM 500, ATM Technologies, 1983-84
First system for cashless gasoline purchase.
Increasing your company’s value. That’s how we measure our own.
Creativity is a business asset.
Making everyday experiences more beautiful is what drives us—because it builds business value for the companies we work with.
Partnership, not just projects.
Our most successful products, services and strategies don’t belong to us. They come from deep client partnerships, often lasting years or decades.
Awards are great, but customers are what matters.
Clients appreciate the accolades and visibility we’ve brought them, but they only win when their customers win. So that’s where we focus our efforts.
Our Purpose
Ziba exists to design authentic and meaningful experiences that are created at the intersection of a company’s brand, target consumer and organization within the context of time.
Defining Moments
We’re a unique team of innovators.
Diverse in every way.
Ziba’s team includes anthropologists, engineers, strategists and—yes—designers. From all over the world, and a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. This broadens our insights so we can tackle more complex problems.
Relentlessly curious.
Best practices are great — until there’s a better one. That’s why we specifically seek out people who never stop questioning and pushing.
Fiercely empathetic.
Being human-centered means understanding humans. So empathy is one of our core capabilities: it drives our research, informs our approach, and underlies every solution we create.
Leadership Team
Timeline
One of our favorite things to make is history.
Of course, all design and innovation firms can and often do say this. But ask them for a list of those successes. Not for two or three projects, but consistently and increasingly over the past two or three decades. Ask them how they transformed a company. Ask them how they transformed an industry. The proof, as they say, is always in the pudding. And we invite you now to taste a little bit of ours. More accurately, we invite you to sample some of our clients’ success stories. Bon appétit.
80'S
Cirrus Drive, LaCie, 1986
Established LaCie as the premier external drive company differentiated through design.
PC Viewer, In Focus Systems, 1987
First LCD projector system; established the industry.
Monitor 500, Nike, 1988
First wearable fitness monitor.
Bathroom Squeegee, Clerét, 1989
First squeegee designed to be both functional and beautiful.
Revenues of $16 million in its second year just from this one product.
Acquired into the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
90'S
System 1000, Althin CD Medical, 1990
Pioneered next generation of dialysis instruments; considered industry standard.
Woodzig Pruners, Blount Corporation, 1991
First handheld electrical power pruner for an aging consumer.
Business Week - Best Consumer Product
Intouch System, General Magic, 1993
Precursor to current day smartphone.
Biojector, Bioject, 1993
First portable needleless injector.
Remains on the market today and has been used to deliver millions of injections in a wide range of health care settings.
IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Awards Gold Award. Best of Medical Equipment
Flat Panel Monitor, Hewlett Packard, 1994
First commercial touchscreen flat panel display.
Natural Keyboard, Microsoft, 1995
First ergonomic keyboard for the mainstream consumer.
The keyboard gained popularity quickly, selling over 600,000 per month at its peak and established the market.
Business Week/Industrial Designers Society of America + IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Awards, Silver Award
THX Home Theatre System, Kenwood, 1995
First digital touchscreen remote control for THX system.
Business Week/Industrial Designers Society of America + IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Awards, Gold Award
Safe Keep Monitors, Coleman, 1996-97
First easily accessible disarming and testing “broom” button for smoke detectors.
Achieved a 40% market share in under a year.
NCPC - New Concept Personal Computer, Fujitsu, 1997
Rover, Aria Enterprises, 1997
An immersion gaming device; a precursor to VR gaming.
00'S
Flash Drive, M-Systems, 2000
World’s first universal USB flash drive.
Ready Mop, Clorox, 2002
First wet mop in the supplemental cleaning industry; shifted aisle placement strategy.
79% growth in profits within the first quarter and a 7% volume growth in its household products division alone; biggest product launch in history for Clorox with over $200 million in its first year, ranking among the top ten largest consumer product launches of the decade.
Mobile Metro Laptop, Intel, 2002
Precursor to the super thin PC laptop.
Retail of the Future, Umpqua, 2003
Redefined the concept of retail banking.
Within nine months, first redesigned branch had a record $50 million in deposits; increased overall assets from $2.9 billion to $12 billion; and recognized as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for, three years in a row.
Business Week/Industrial Designers Society of America IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Awards, Gold Award
XM, Sirius, 2004-6
Defined satellite radio for mainstream in the iPod age.
Sirius subscriptions were up 97% and revenues up 250% in the third quarter of 2005 compared to third quarter of 2004, leading to a merger of XM by Sirius.
Herbal Essence, Procter & Gamble, 2006
Revived the brand and transformed hair care aisle produt placement by showcasing shampoo + conditioner together; strategy now adopted by industry
Sales increased by $30 million in the first year
Retail, Li-Ning, 2007
First brand in China to create an end-to-end brand experience across all touch points including product design, product strategy, retail, brand, logo, and environment
Increased revenue over 4 years from $418 million to $1.44 billion
10'S
Jumpseat, Ziba Labs, 2010
First all wood, super compact, folding auditorium seating; now licensed and manufactured through Sedia Systems.
TDK Life On Record, Imation, 2011
Recaptured an iconic brand from the past through brand and product strategy and product development.
Immediately adopted into mainstream hip-hop culture when American rapper, Snoop Dogg custom ordered the 3-Speaker Boombox.
Ketchup Bottles, H. J. Heinz Company, 2012
Reinvigorated iconic brand to create instant product recognition on grocery shelves.
$10 million a year saved in packaging costs.
M-Go, Technicolor & Dreamworks, 2012
First user-friendly cross platform integrated digital media platform to create seamless streaming service for all devices.
Modal, Best Buy, 2013
Defined and created a new private brand of mobile electronics and accessories.
Junctional Tourniquet, SAM Medical, 2013
First junctional tourniquet designed to control bleeding in areas where standard tourniquets would not be effective.
Honored with Greatest Innovation Award by U.S. Army; fielded by the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency; recognized with immediately saving lives on the battlefield.
XSTAT, Revmedx, 2013
First hemostatic device for the immediate treatment of gunshot and shrapnel wounds; transformed approach to gunshot and shrapnel triage.
Received immediate FDA approval for military use, and less than two years later received clearance for civilian use.
Popular Science Invention of the Year
Gear Case, Adidas, 2013
First portable interactive digital display to tell the story of a product.
600,000 unique impressions achieved over a three-year period.
Citifyd, Ziba Labs, 2014
First integrated Smart Mobility platform that facilitates transactions between commuters, parking and transportation providers and businesses.
Private Label, New Seasons Market, 2016
Defined the brand DNA and store experience, revamped the house brand and its visual identity, and kept customers happy and engaged during a period of rapid expansion.
Double digit sales growth within a year including the addition of 7 new locations.
HVAC Cos, Honeywell, 2017
We created the most cohesive visual and interactive brand experiences (VIBE), including design language, for the four different HVAC companies of Honeywell.
Set the design strategy standard for other Honeywell business units.
Detroit Connect, Daimler, 2017
The first Telematic platform was created for Daimler, North America’s largest and most innovative heavy truck manufacturer.
The platform has been installed in over 50,000 vehicles, and operated by 42 of the largest freight hauling companies in North America.
Body Pain, GSK, 2018
Defined product and service opportunities in pain management through extensive international/multicultural consumer research and front-end innovation.
LEO, FedEx, 2019
Defined and designed the digital user experience for the new courier delivery tool.
Leo was initially rolled out to over 40,000 US couriers, but has expanded globally since launch.
20'S
CX Strategy, AARP, 2020
Aligned member experience with the values of the organization through an extensive national consumer research activity.
The CX strategy has been applied across the brand’s touchpoints.
Food Waste Reduction Program, World Wildlife Fund, 2021
Created an effective messaging campaign to reduce food waste within the hospitably industry, through behavioral design.
The campaign has been rolled out to resorts, hotels and cruise ships in North America.