Is it beyond the call of duty to ask your design team to kayak out on Lake Michigan at 5:30 on a cold Chicago morning and dunk-test a Nike outdoor watch? Kathleen Brandenburg doesn't think so. A graphic designer by training, the 33-year-old Brandenburg is one of the country's premier practitioners of immersive design. (That doesn't necessarily mean dunking things in water; immersive design involves close study of how something is used in the real world.) So Brandenburg and her IA colleagues listened to more than 100 customer-service calls to improve the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Web site; they played pool with customers in their homes to understand how to rebrand Brunswick Billiards. Says Peter Lawrence, founder of the Corporate Design Foundation: "While many firms profess an [immersive] approach to design, very few practice with this kind of commitment." Another one of Brandenburg's commitments: return on investment. IA's suggestions for Nike helped its new watch line triple in sales. All of which proves Brandenburg's theory: Before you can execute the design, you've got to live the design problem.

Peak Performers: Four masters who are leading the world of design

• J Mays [1], VP of Global Design, Ford Motor Co.
• David Kelley [2], Founder and Chairman, IDEO
• David Macaulay [3], Author and Illustrator
• Burt Rutan [4], Founder, President, and CEO, Scaled Composites

Impact Players: Four high-impact projects that shaped the year in design--and the people who launched them

• William McDonough [5], Principal and founder, William McDonough + Partners
• Tom Ford [6], Former Creative Director, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent
• Jonathan Ive [7], Vice President of Industrial Design, Apple Computer Inc.
• Marcia Lausen [8], Founding member, AIGA Design for Democracy

Game Changers: The risk takers and agitators who are rewriting the rules

• Adrian Van Hooydonk [9], President, DesignworksUSA
• Maurice Cox [10], Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia
• John Maeda [11], Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT
• Arnold Wasserman [12], Chairman, The Idea Factory

Collaborators: Champions who help make great design happen

• Robyn Waters [13], Founder and president of RW Trend, LLC
• Kun-Hee Lee [14], Chairman and CEO, Samsung electronics
• Sam Farber [15], Founder, Copco, OXO, and Wovo
• Bob Porter [16], Executive Vice President, SSM Health Care

Next Generation: Meet four rising stars who are charting the future

• Yves Behar [17], Founder, fuseproject
• Kathleen Brandenburg [18], Principal and Cofounder, IA Collaborative
• Geoff McFetridge [19], Founder, Champion Graphics
• Angela Shen-Hsieh [20], President and CEO, Visual i/o

A Jury of Their Peers

Introducing 11 jurors [21]--top leaders from universities, cultural institutions, and business--who helped us select our 20 Masters of Design.

Lessons From the Masters

These five ideas [22] will help you incorporate design principles in your work -- and better connect with customers and colleagues.