As you are undoubtedly picking yourself up from the floor from laughing so hard at the thought that Microsoft would get any kind of award for design excellence, let me fill you in with the details of this momentous occasion.

The annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) are handed out each year around this time by The Industrial Designers Society of America.  Past winners of their awards include such luminaries as Apple, IDEO, Herman Miller, and Frog Design. In terms of design, the IDEA program is considered by those in the industry to be their version of the “Oscars”, and winners are judged by their peers.

So what products did Microsoft win awards for?

• Windows Phone 7 – Gold Award for Interactive Experiences
• Windows Phone 7 – Silver in the Research Category
• Windows Phone 7 – Bronze in the Design Strategy category
• Arc Touch Mouse – Gold in the Computer Equipment category
• KIN One – recognized in the Communication category
• Technology Heirlooms Project – Silver in the Research category
• Note-Taker – Silver in the Student category

Nice going, Microsoft.

[Cross-posted at Winextra]