We work with technology startups, small and medium sized businesses, and R&D or innovation teams within large organizations. We also partner with other design and innovation consultancies.
Our clients share the need to innovate. They may be developing new-to-the-world products, rethinking an existing product, devising ways to exploit intellectual property, or designing business processes for in-house teams. Often these projects require expertise outside of traditional discipline boundaries or corporate departments.
Since establishing in 2005, we have worked in diverse industries with clients including Motorola, BBC New Media & Technology, AutoFarm, OCLC, live|work, and Thermo Fisher Scientific on complex projects at various stages of the innovation process.
Services
We provide clients with the following services.
- Interaction design Design of interfaces between people and technology including screens/web, devices, interactive environments, and services.
- Information design Design of the organization and visual presentation of data, e.g. numbers, words, and images, to make complex things easier to understand.
- Product design Design of the aesthetic and technical aspects of a physical product, including form, materials, and mechanical engineering.
- Service design Design of offerings that extend over time involving people, processes, and multiple touchpoints.
The output of our work varies from project to project but typical deliverables include:
- Research documentation
- Insights and design strategy recommendations
- Collections of design concepts
- Proof of principle prototypes
- Experience prototypes
- Usability reports with design recommendations
- Wireframes and screenflows
- Information maps and diagrams
- Service blueprints
- Design styleguides
- Specification documents
- Assets for software development
We typically interface with senior managers, product and project managers, branding and marketing teams, hardware and software engineers, and in-house or contract manufacturers. Our engagements range from a few days to many months where we act either as an outsourced resource or as embedded members of an internal team.
When projects require, we draw on our network of experts in complementary areas including copywriting and naming, branding and corporate identity, ethnographic research, model making, and software engineering.
Approach
User centeredness, quality and simplicity are key values for our work. Our approach is informed by the practice of User Centered Design and Design For Six Sigma quality methodology.
We use structured design methods and techniques in our work and see innovation as a repeatable, creative business process. A sample of these methods used on past projects are presented in the right hand column.
As technology continues to influence our lives more and more, we are guided by the idea that "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler".
This idea is captured succinctly in Chinese aesthetics through "dan4", pinyin for a character meaning refined simplicity, or reduction to the minimum without loss of essence or quality. Applying dan4, our aim with every project is to make our clients’ propositions clear and compelling, and to deliver good technology experiences for end users.
About
Dan4, Inc. is based in the Bay Area midway between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. We established the company in 2005 as Dan4, Ltd. in London, England, and incorporated in the US in 2007.
Athena Anagnostopoulos, Co-founder
Athena brings 12 years of interaction design, information architecture, user experience design, and service design expertise to her clients. She works on screen-based applications and portable devices, interactive environments, business processes and technology-enabled services.
Before Dan4, Athena produced and managed the BBC's award-winning New Media Showcase in London, a state-of-the-art interactive environment. As a designer for the BBC, she was responsible for the design of web applications including the BBC's first large-scale content management system. Prior to the BBC, Athena worked as an interaction design consultant for IDEO in Boston for clients including Xerox, Pepsi and Amtrak. Her work has earned three Business Week IDEA design awards and has been featured in numerous international publications.
Athena holds an MA in Computer Related Design from the Royal College of Art in London and a BSc in Engineering Design and Ergonomics from Brown University.
Max Bielenberg, Co-founder
Max has expertise in new product development, design strategy, service design, and engineering. He has 13 years of experience working on products and services for the commercial and public sectors in industries including automotive and aerospace, consumer electronics, medical devices, food and beverages, furniture and architectural installations, and domestic appliances.
Before Dan4, Max worked as a design consultant for IDEO leading projects with startups and large clients such as Cadbury Schweppes, Airbus, Villeroy & Boch, and Visteon. He has worked as a Design Strategist for the UK's Design Council helping high-tech startups raise capital and commercialize technology, as a design and manufacturing engineer at General Electric, and as a senior product designer at Ron Arad Associates.
Max holds an MA in Industrial Design Engineering from the The Royal College of Art in London and a BA in Engineering from Cambridge University.
Contact
We would be very glad to find out more about your needs and discuss how we could help. We look forward to hearing from you.
(415) 684-8150
contact@dan4.com
San Mateo, California
