Masters of Design: Angela Shen-Hsieh

Spreadsheets. Search-engine results. Reams of raw data. We have it all, but we can’t make sense of most of it. Angela Shen-Hsieh aims to change all of that. The Harvard-educated architect is bringing real meaning (and sanity) to this info-besotted world by redesigning the way we look at it. Shen-Hsieh, 39, is taking the cool but largely unmet promise of data visualization and applying it to serious business problems. Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, she’s a pioneering cartographer of a new user interface that helps senior decision makers from some of the world’s biggest companies–including Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Microsoft–seize solutions out of complex data. Ultimately, Shen-Hsieh fulfills the highest ambition of any designer. By bringing clarity to complexity, she’s helping companies cut through the clutter and see the big picture.

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

• J Mays, VP of Global Design, Ford Motor Co.
• David Kelley, Founder and Chairman, IDEO
• David Macaulay, Author and Illustrator
• Burt Rutan, 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, Principal and founder, William McDonough + Partners
• Tom Ford , Former Creative Director, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent
• Jonathan Ive, Vice President of Industrial Design, Apple Computer Inc.
• Marcia Lausen, Founding member, AIGA Design for Democracy

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

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

Collaborators: Champions who help make great design happen

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

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

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

A Jury of Their Peers

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

Lessons From the Masters

These five ideas will help you incorporate design principles in your work — and better connect with customers and colleagues.