Inside MAYA Design's Innovation Boot Camps

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Crafty Strategy: Maya asks students to build prototype glucose meters from everyday objects: above and below, two visions of the project. | Photograph by Chris Crisman

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Photograph by Chris Crisman

On the last day of a boot camp for employees from General Dynamics, the students break into small groups. ("We have too many engineers over here," says one woman, scanning for a cross-discipline partner.) From a tool kit brimming with soft blue foam, metal tacks, and hot glue guns, they craft glucose meters for diabetics. The squat eggs and fat markers incorporate features -- alarms, USB ports, meal-planning tips -- culled from user observations and structured brainstorming.

"It's a natural propensity for some of us to get carried away with the technology, because we can," instructor Bill Lucas reminds the group, as students prepare to user-test their prototypes. "We need to resist that -- for the sake of people."