The rules of the game are changing. We’re living in a hyper-customized, globalized world where consumer expectations are shifting. Brands are forced to stay relevant by evolving with these new expectations. That’s where designers come in. Designers aren’t sitting back and waiting for the change to come—they’re at the forefront of making it happen.

Are you equipped with the tools needed to address future change? 

At IIT Institute of Design, we do just that. We provide students with the skills needed to identify, dissect and solve complex problems facing organizations around the world. We invite you to take the next step in becoming a change agent by attending our Open House on February 16 where Helen Tong (MDes 2011), consumer insights manager at SC Johnson, will share her experiences at ID and how she has utilized her skills to develop her career and become a more holistic problem solver. Guests will also have an opportunity to participate in breakout sessions with staff, students, and faculty and to tour our space and view materials developed in current courses.

About Helen
Helen Tong is a MDes + Foundation graduate from the class of 2011. She is currently a consumer insights manager at SC Johnson leveraging her ethnographic design research skills on innovation and new product development projects. In her early career at SCJ, she worked in Shanghai with the China team focused on uncovering user insights in developing markets. She has conducted user research in many countries including China, India, Russia, Indonesia and South Africa. She has used her empathy super powers to tell compelling user stories and inspire new product ideas for the home cleaning, shoe care and pest control categories.

Helen has her Bachelors in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University where she exercised her left brain logical thinking. After working several years in healthcare, she decided to join ID to exercise her right brain creative thinking. While at ID, she had the opportunity to plan design thinking workshops, prototype a wheelchair, and create an interactive public art display among other projects.