Bill drove a series of filmed interviews about the internet in the early 90’s with IDEO employees. I showed up with all kinds of notes about what I should say and sat in the chair in front of the camera and completely froze in a nervous brain lock.

He walked up to me and grabbed all the notes in my hand and smiled saying, “You don’t need any notes. Just tell me.” I think Bill taught me how to think and he drove everyone to be entirely authentic.

I visited him and Karin this last Christmas in NY with my kids and Laurel… He so engaged my kids in Carnegie stories and gave a wonderful tour of the mansion and museum space under construction. He will forever remain one of my greatest heroes.

My contacts with Bill go back to London and ID-2 and later as head of design at Royal Philips Electronics I invited Bill to participated in a series of Design Workshops where he exhibited his unique capabilities as a design thinker and leader. When I was retiring and seeking a replacement i approached Bill and he gave it serious consideration. Bill decided to stay with the foundation of IDEO, a very wise decision! We continued our dialogues and I invited him to make a presentation to group of corporate leaders at a convocation at my retirement where we introduced my replacement Dr. Stefano Marzano. As President of my design management consultancy I involved Bill in several major projects with my clients and he always made major contributions in the process. As a Board member of the Institute of Design I listened to Bill’s presentations at our Strategy Conferences and was as always a great supporter of Bill and his approach to design issues. His selection as the Director of the Cooper-Hewitt was a brilliant decision and he has given a great promise of leadership to the institution.

I am among many who respected an now mourn Bill for his significant contributions to design thinking and society. Bill we will miss you.

I first met Bill in South Africa at the Design Indaba conference. He saw us talk about the Stitches – small knitted creatures that we were encouraging people to “adopt” and was keen to join in the game. He adopted Griffin and spent the whole conference with Griffin in his top pocket, making sure he could see the action.

I was on the judging panel for the Prince Philip Designers prize that Bill in fact won. What set his nomination papers apart from all the others was that he credited all the people who had helped him achieve what he had along the way.

I recall the first time I met and experienced Bill. It was at a design conference, and his entry marked the moment I branded him as “the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the design world.” There was a grace and purpose to his presence that I’ve never experienced in anyone else. Many years later I was fortunate enough to become an IDEO employee, and saw the same energy and spirit remained in Bill. He will be missed so greatly, but his legacy of work and passion will survive always in our hearts and minds.

Two small stories.

I worked with Bill at IDEO from the mid-90’s for around 5 years. He and I shared a love of Japan and like others I visited with him several times.

On one such trip we went for dinner with one of IDEO’s rather formal clients. My partner Nicole was with us and we were delayed arriving at the restaurant. After sitting, and being rather flustered due to the heat, we were given hot towels in plastic bags to clean our hands and after several attempts to open the bag Nicole catapulted her hot towel across the table and into Bill’s lap. Silence from the client, horror and a moral dilemma for Nicole “should I grab a wet towel from Bill’s crotch before the Kanpai or during the Miso soup?” A large damp patch on cream chinos was followed by a big smile and howls of laughter from Bill….

Years after I left IDEO I met Bill in Tokyo. We had dinner and he told me that he admired my commitment to working with Japanese companies and to learning Japanese etc. I was touched and spurred by the sentiment, and by the thought that a man who had achieved so much still had the desire to do more and to recognise the achievements of others.

Its was, I found, a characteristic of Bill to put everyone at ease, to listen and find interest in people and their viewpoints, regardless of age and experience etc. There are few if any other Design Icons (as he is for many) who we could say this about.

Thanks Bill.

I shared the podium with Bill for PRINT magazine’s Color Conference on October 5/6, 2011 at the Art Director’s Club in Manhattan. We clicked and enjoyed conversations. Jude Stewart, the writer, presented a color parade the event. Here is a little video that I sent to Bill as a memento.

From this one encounter I experienced the man as deeply thoughtful with a pixie-like sense of humor, and looked forward to future encounters.

Never wait.

It was 1998, and after 8 years at IDEO and a long time hobby of graphic design with a love of fonts and such, I felt it was important to let Bill know that I was disappointed with the redesign of the original Paul Rand IDEO logo. I wrote Bill an honest email (aka flame from an IDEO Boston engineer) suggesting that it was too bad we spent all that time and money to simply get a slightly resized, odd mix of serif and san-serif letters in our otherwise unchanged logo. A few days later he sent me a very thoughful, gentle reply to let me know he understood my concern but that the re-design was made with utmost care (and respect for the original) and that it was now better balanced and better suited to our needs (on-line, etc) and that in time, he was confident that I would come to appreciate it. Over time, I did, and ever since then, I’ve appreciated Bill’s way – always gentle, always positive, always forward, always optimistic. Always.

I am an entrepreneur in Austin — in this time of rapid change, Bill’s story, his legacy, his humor, and his insight inspire me. I am sure without knowing it, that Bill’s work has already shaped my life. His examples, and his legacy now become a part of my soul as it seems he has become a part of the mind, the genius, the humor and the future that we journey towards.

Bill brought the approaches of design to our digital world, giving people products and systems that do not just solve a problem but also bring them satisfaction and joy.

When I was developing Computer Related Design at the RCA, it was Bill who persuaded the College to support what we were doing, and became our first external examiner—making exams a pleasure as well as a test. It was Bill who put me in touch with Franco Debenedetti when he was setting up Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, and who, as a member of its steering committee, was a steadfast friend to the Institute and its students.

Interaction design teaching at the RCA, Ivrea, CIID and Iuav University of Venice was inspired by Bill’s imagination and generosity. How lucky we were!

PS: It was announced today (20 September) that Interaction Design has entered the new ACM Computing Classification System: at the second level under Human-Centered Computing. This is a great achievement for the discipline. Bill would have been pleased.