A Year in the Life: 2023 at argo
We’re no strangers to innovation, having worked at the edges of design and technology since our founding 10 years ago. But even for us, 2023 was a doozy. The unleashing of Generative AI on the world has reshaped almost every aspect of how we work and design for our clients and ourselves. It’s been a testament to argo’s commitment to ‘Design for the World Ahead’, as we navigate the challenges presented by this technological sea change and harness its power in visionary yet practical ways. Here are a few highlights from the year the future arrived.
Our work designing the form and interface of one of the world’s first general-purpose humanoid robots happened in 2022, but its unveiling in August was a high watermark for argo and our client Apptronik. With coverage in CNN, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Engadget, and more, Apollo’s launch reignited the conversation around the role robots will play in society.
An Executive Workshop for Generative AI
In October, we opened our doors to 50 executives and design professionals from around the country to delve into the quickly evolving space of generative AI, and how to apply a user and value-centric approach to employing it. Participants imagined real applications against real challenges, using an immersive, participatory framework developed in-house at argo. The ideas generated provide a hint of the wide-ranging business problems that can be solved with AI. If you’re interested in holding an AI workshop custom-designed for your company, shoot us a line at spike.jones@argodesign.com.
As humanitarian crises become more prevalent and pervasive, the need to make sense of the massive amounts of data behind them grows more urgent. Our work with the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs focused on developing a tangible technology roadmap to turn their vision into reality. Walking the tightrope between reinforcing platform fundamentals and recommending strategic expansion areas, the argo team coalesced technical feedback on 5 critical opportunity areas and sequenced the organization’s work over the next 18–24 months.
We were gratified to be a part of developing Microsoft’s new logo mark for Azure AI Studio, the company’s space for building, evaluating, and deploying AI solutions. Microsoft tasked us with designing a logo to embody a visual representation of AI. Using the monogram of ‘A.I’, the resulting icon abstracts the letterform into a strong mark, with sweeping radii serving to inspire waves of transformation. The mark was unveiled onstage at the company’s Ignite conference in November by CEO Satya Nadella.
Our founder has been working with the NoG team since 2010, but in March we became the official design partner to a company dedicated to creating digital commerce with purpose. We’re helping build a revolutionary platform that connects local merchants and national financial institutions to fund community-minded programs in their area, giving people the power to choose where their dollars go. We look forward to driving continuous innovation of the SaaS platform to benefit communities around the globe.
When the storied financial institution wanted to evolve its digital presence, they turned to argo. As its long-term strategic design partner, we helped deliver a robust website that builds financial literacy, communicates the value of agents, and lowers the barrier to start a conversation. The site’s official launch in September marked a new phase in the continuing evolution of its 178-year legacy.
For every startup building the latest consumer app or enterprise plug-in, there are burgeoning organizations operating at the edges, creating new capabilities that don’t yet have a ready language. Aspinity’s analog signal processing is just such an innovation, one for which the startup needed a tangible vision to verify it was headed in the right direction. Our vision playbook for the company was highlighted in an in-depth video on Freethink, a YouTube channel for world-changing ideas.
Last but not least, we put out two engaging reports in 2023, part of our aim to funnel more of our expertise and experience out into the world. In partnership with House of Beautiful Business, we examined how Generative AI will change the user experience. And our in-house strategy team outlined product strategies to determine your next leap forward in Building the Next Big Thing.
The year ahead is ripe with possibility, especially as AI moves into its next phase. How different will our lives be this time next year? Keep an eye on our LinkedIn page and watch this space to find out.
