GRAND RAPIDS – Information technology consultant Open Systems Technology Tuesday announced it has acquired longtime partner, Visualhero Design. Terms were not announced.
OST said in a press release said that the acquisition extends OST’s capabilities, provides new methods of problem solving and expands its solutions, from research through production.
“The acquisition of Visualhero Design allows us to become more strategic in our capabilities, more capable of speaking to the needs of the technology-enabled business and fully realize the vision of OST: From Design to Data Center that creates amazing value for our clients,” said OST President and CEO Meredith Bronk.
“The technology industry today is undergoing a shift where the business leaders are demanding – and often going around – IT to leverage technology as an external value creator,” Bronk said. “We must help our customers think differently and respond to the needs of Marketing, Product Development, Customer Service and other business segments with agility and creativity. When you get business people talking about the people and not the technology, but lead them to a technology solution that solves the users’ issues, then everyone wins. We believe that this acquisition will allow OST to stay ahead of where the market is heading.”
Established in 2005, Visualhero Design provides design services – from user experience to strategy. The company has done work for Apple, Nest, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other large and small accounts. Visualhero Design employs 12.
“I couldn’t be more confident in our collective ability to do great things for our clients,” said Andy Van Solkema, Visualhero’s founder who will assume the role of Chief Designer at OST.
Human centered design creates technology, product, service and strategy solutions that focus on the needs of users, OST said in a press release. It is a mindset that puts the end-user at the center of the solution with insights gained through observation and immersion.
In IT, human centered design is most commonly connected in two focus areas: strategy and user experience, or UX. Design strategy focuses on insights to ideas and prototyping. From there, it evolves to creating team alignment and telling the story. The UX disciplines generally focus on software development, data analytics and visualization as well as Internet of Things.
For more information, click on www.ostusa.com
