Product Talk | What Actually Makes a Product Innovative?

What if the greatest value of design isn't what we see, but how it changes the way people experience the world? For Cheryl S. Durst, executive vice president and CEO of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), design has the power to create opportunity, foster belonging, and improve lives. In this ICYMI audio edition of an interiors+sources feature by Carrie Meadows, Durst reflects on the profession's responsibility to make design more accessible, develop a deeper understanding of human behavior, and demonstrate its influence well beyond aesthetics. Recognized as one of the Changemakers featured at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Durst draws on her personal experiences and decades of industry leadership to explore why designers should see themselves as advocates for positive change. She also considers what empathy requires in practice, why human understanding remains essential in an AI-driven world, and how the profession can better articulate both the financial and emotional value of design. From education and healthcare to workplaces and public spaces, this episode offers a thoughtful reminder of the influence designers have—and the opportunities that come with it. Read the original article: Design as Power: Cheryl Durst on What the Profession Can Do Article by Carrie Meadows, interiors+sources. Presented as part of the I Hear Design ICYMI series.

What does “commercial grade” really mean when a piece of furniture lands in a hotel lobby, guest room, or restaurant? In this episode of I Hear Design, host Robert Nieminen talks with Hayley Pernsteiner, Director of Hospitality at Empire & Co., about the gap between product specifications and real-world performance. Drawing on her experience across design and procurement, Pernsteiner explains what ANSI/BIFMA standards can—and can’t—tell designers about durability, why hospitality environments create unique performance challenges, and how brand standards can sometimes complicate the equation. The conversation also explores why procurement partners should be involved earlier in the specification process, how the convergence of workplace and hospitality is expanding product choices, and why lifecycle may be one of the most meaningful ways to think about sustainability in hospitality FF&E. For designers and specification writers, the takeaway is simple but important: ask more questions, choose partners carefully, and look beyond the specification sheet to understand how a product is actually going to perform.

Inclusive school design has traditionally focused on creating learning environments that accommodate the varied needs of students. But what about the educators who spend their working lives in those same spaces? In this ICYMI episode of I Hear Design, we revisit an interiors+sources article exploring new research from Corgan and the ASID Foundation that examines how school environments affect educators with disabilities, chronic illnesses, sensory sensitivities, and other conditions. The findings challenge designers to think about accessibility in a broader way—not simply whether someone can use a space, but how much physical and cognitive effort that space requires throughout the day. From storage and circulation to acoustics, flexibility, and restorative spaces, the research offers practical strategies for creating environments that better support educators of all abilities. The lesson extends well beyond schools, too. Truly inclusive design begins by asking who may be missing from the design conversation.

New doesn't always mean innovative. This episode of Product Talk explores how designers and specifiers can look beyond the “innovative” label to understand what a product actually changes. Lauren Brant examines examples that expand the function of familiar products, improve performance and material health, respond to human needs, introduce new creative perspectives, and integrate technology into the built environment. The result is a broader view of innovation as something that can happen through technology, refinement, application, design, and cultural storytelling. Companies mentioned: Kvadrat Acoustics Foster + Partners Designtex Shaw Contract KI HBF Textiles Momentum Cisco

Artificial intelligence is quickly moving beyond image generation and into the everyday workflows of interior designers and architecture firms. But as AI becomes more capable, designers are also confronting questions about accuracy, privacy, intellectual property, creativity, sustainability, and how much trust to place in AI-generated information. In this episode of I Hear Design, host Robert Nieminen draws on recent interiors+sources reporting to explore how firms are using AI for visualization, research, data analysis, storytelling, knowledge management, and other design tasks. He also examines what industry leaders are learning about the technology’s limitations, why AI literacy involves more than writing better prompts, and how designers can experiment without losing sight of the people and places their work ultimately serves. The episode includes insights from Gensler, Mattoboard, Spectorgroup, Design Appy, ASID, and other voices examining how artificial intelligence is reshaping design practice.

Technical knowledge and creativity are essential to becoming a successful interior designer, but another skill can determine whether a great idea gains traction: communication. In this ICYMI episode of I Hear Design, we revisit an article by Rachel Robinson, Creative Director and Design Principal at Ted Moudis Associates and Co-Chair of IIDA NY’s In-Studio Committee, examining why firms are placing greater emphasis on communication training for emerging designers. From explaining the “why” behind design decisions to presenting confidently in front of clients and translating creative concepts into business value, Robinson explores how storytelling, mentorship, practice, and structured training can help junior designers become stronger collaborators—and prepare them for future leadership roles.

In the third and final episode of the Future Ready by Design series, host Robert Nieminen concludes his conversation with Mark Bryan, chief research and strategy officer at IIDA, about the provocative ideas emerging from IIDA’s Certified Design Futurist program and Futures Readiness Index. Following Part 1’s focus on Prove It and Part 2’s focus on Feel It, this episode turns to Sustain It—a broader look at how design can create longer-lasting value by reducing churn across workplaces, products, retail environments, and the built environment. Bryan discusses the rise of the two-speed workplace, where AI adoption is creating different speeds of work, decision-making, and confidence among teams. He explains why this is not only a technology or management issue, but a design challenge that requires new spaces, systems, and tools for making human judgment more visible, trackable, and transparent. The conversation also explores how repair, refurbishment, take-back programs, deconstruction planning, and circular systems may reshape expectations for furniture and products. Bryan describes repair not only as a sustainability strategy, but as a potential community experience, service model, and new form of engagement between manufacturers, dealers, sales teams, facilities teams, and end users. Finally, Nieminen and Bryan discuss the idea of anti-impulse retail and how physical stores may evolve as shoppers seek calmer, more curated, and more confidence-building environments. Rather than simply driving impulse purchases, future retail spaces may need to help customers verify claims, compare options, and make slower, more intentional decisions. Together, these ideas point to a future in which design value is defined not only by what a space can prove or how it helps people feel, but by how well it supports judgment, repair, trust, and durability over time.

What can the world’s largest design fair tell us about where interior design is headed? In this ICYMI episode of the I Hear Design podcast, we revisit the trends and innovations that stood out at Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026 based on an article published by interiors+sources. The show reflected an industry increasingly focused on longevity, material integrity, sustainability, and technology that works quietly in the background rather than demanding attention. We also explore the rise of computational craft, where digital fabrication and emerging technologies are being paired with traditional making, as well as the growing influence of international markets on materials, products, and design thinking. Listen in for a closer look at what Salone 2026 suggests about the evolving priorities shaping commercial interiors—and what designers should be watching next.

In Part 2 of the Future Ready by Design series, host Robert Nieminen continues his conversation with Mark Bryan, chief research and strategy officer at IIDA, about the ideas emerging from IIDA’s Certified Design Futurist program and Futures Readiness Index. Following Part 1’s discussion of proof, accountability, and outcomes-based design, this episode shifts into the theme Feel It: how the built environment supports the way people feel. Bryan discusses loneliness as a spatial issue and explains why simply adding lounges, shared tables, or collision zones is not enough to create meaningful connection. He also explores the need to design for purpose, programming, identity, and choice so people can show up more fully without feeling exposed or pressured. The conversation then turns to catharsis and emotional release, asking whether future workplaces, homes, hospitality environments, and amenity spaces may need to move beyond quiet rooms and wellness spaces to support safe ways of expelling stress. Bryan also discusses sound as an active design medium, sleep as an emerging amenity, and the opportunity for designers, manufacturers, and owners to define which emotional outcomes they want their spaces and products to support. Together, these ideas point to a future in which design value is measured not only by what a space looks like or proves, but by how well it helps people regulate, recover, connect, and feel.

Lighting can do more than illuminate a space—it can influence how people see, feel, focus, interact, and respond to the passage of time. In this episode of Product Talk, Lauren Brant talks with Robert Soler, founder and chief scientist of BIOS Lighting, about what wellness-focused lighting actually means and what designers should consider when specifying it. They discuss circadian lighting, daylight integration, individual differences in energy rhythms, glare and visual comfort, controls, sustainability, and how lighting needs vary across workplaces, healthcare, hospitality, and education. Soler also shares what designers should ask manufacturers about wellness claims, spectrum, application, and performance—and why the future of lighting may require moving beyond the quiet ceiling toward lighting that more intentionally supports the people in a space.