Design Thinking --
Design thinking is a human-centered and collaborative approach to problem-solving that is creative,
iterative, and practical. In this guide, we’ll give you a detailed definition
of Design Thinking, illustrate exactly what the process involves, and underline
why it matters: What is the value of Design Thinking, and in what contexts are
it particularly useful.
What is Design
Thinking?
Design Thinking is an approach
used for practical and creative problem-solving. It is based heavily on the
methods and processes that designers use (hence the name), but it has actually
evolved from a range of different fields — including architecture, engineering, and business. Design Thinking can also be applied to any field; it doesn’t
necessarily have to be design-specific.
What is Design Thinking
process?
The Design Thinking process is
progressive and highly user-centric. Before looking at the process in more
detail, let’s consider the four principles of
Design Thinking as laid out by Christoph Meinel and Harry Leifer of the
Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford University, California.
The Four Principles of
Design Thinking
The human rule:
No matter what the context, all design activity is social in nature, and any
social innovation will bring us back to the “human-centric point of view”.
The ambiguity rule:
Ambiguity is inevitable, and it cannot be removed or oversimplified.
Experimenting at the limits of your knowledge and ability is crucial in being
able to see things differently.
The redesign rule:
All design is redesign. While technology and social circumstances may change
and evolve, basic human needs remain unchanged. We essentially only redesign
the means of fulfilling these needs or reaching desired outcomes.
The tangibility rule:
Making ideas tangible in the form of prototypes enables designers to
communicate them more effectively.
Based on these four principles,
the Design Thinking process can be broken down into five steps or phases, as
per the aforementioned Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford (otherwise
known as d.school): Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.
Let’s explore each of these in
more detail.
Empathize -
Empathy provides the critical
starting point for Design Thinking. The first stage of the process is spent
getting to know the user and understanding their wants, needs, and objectives.
In this stage, you
should identify:
Customers’ Insights: The deep motivations that make them to
behave or act as they do.
Customers’ Needs: What could be really useful for them?
Define -
The second stage in the Design Thinking process is dedicated to defining the problem. You’ll gather all of your
findings from empathize phase and start to make sense of them.
In this stage you
should identify:
List all
the conclusions reached in the previous stage.
Start defining potential
solutions for them.
Ideate -
With a solid understanding of
your users and a clear problem statement in mind, it’s time to start working on
potential solutions. The third phase in the Design Thinking process is where creativity happens, and it’s crucial to point out that the ideation stage
is a judgment-free zone! Designers will hold ideation sessions in order to
come up with as many new angles and ideas as possible. There are many different types of ideation
techniques like brainstorming and mind mapping.
In this stage you should:
Start figuring out
different approaches that could fulfill your customers’ requirements.
You should also ensure:
Being optimistic
but realistic.
Don’t lose the focus on the
customer.
Prototype -
The fourth step in the Design Thinking process is all about experimentation and turning ideas into tangible
products. A prototype is basically a scaled-down version of the product which
incorporates the potential solutions identified in the previous stages.
In this stage you should:
Build feasible final
products for your customers.
You also must ensure:
Fulfill the customers’
requirements.
Guarantee
a solid working final prototype.
Test -
After prototyping comes user
testing, but it’s important to note that this is rarely the end of the Design
Thinking process. In reality, the results of the testing phase will often lead
you back to a previous step, providing the insights you need to redefine the
original problem statement or to come up with new ideas you hadn’t thought of
before.
In this stage you should:
Distribute your final prototype
among potential customers and receive feedback.
Go back to a certain stage (if
required by the customers) in order to improve the final product.
Purpose of Design Thinking -
Now we know more about how Design
Thinking works, let’s consider why it matters. There are many benefits of using
a Design Thinking approach — be it in a business, educational, personal or
social context. First and foremost, Design Thinking fosters creativity and
innovation. As human beings, we rely on the knowledge and experiences we have
accumulated to inform our actions. We form patterns and habits that, while
useful in certain situations, can limit our view of things when it comes to
problem-solving. Rather than repeating the same tried-and-tested methods,
Design Thinking encourages us to remove our blinkers and consider alternative
solutions. The entire process lends itself to challenging assumptions and exploring
new pathways and ideas. Another great benefit of Design Thinking is that it
puts humans first. By focusing so heavily on empathy, it encourages businesses and
organizations to consider the real people who use their products and services —
meaning they are much more likely to hit the mark when it comes to creating
meaningful user experiences. For the user, this means better, more useful
products that actually improve our lives. For businesses, this means happy customers
and a healthier bottom line.
“Wicked problem” in Design Thinking -
Design Thinking is especially
useful when it comes to solving “wicked problems”. The term “wicked problem”
was coined by design theorist Horst
Rittel in the 1970s to describe particularly tricky problems that are highly
ambiguous in nature. With wicked problems, there are many unknown factors;
unlike “tame” problems, there is no definitive solution. In fact, solving one
aspect of a wicked problem is likely to reveal or give rise to further
challenges. Another key characteristic of wicked problems is that they have no
stopping point; as the nature of the problem changes over time, so must the
solution. Solving wicked problems is, therefore, an ongoing process that requires
Design Thinking! Some examples of wicked problems in our society today include
things like poverty, hunger and climate change.
Benefits of Design Thinking at work -
Integrating Design Thinking into
your process can add huge business value, ultimately ensuring that the products
Your design is not only desirable for customers but also viable in terms of
company budget and resources.
Significantly reduces time-to-market: With its emphasis on
problem-solving and finding viable solutions, Design Thinking can significantly
reduce the amount of time spent on design and development.
Improves customer retention and loyalty: Design Thinking ensures a
user-centric approach, which ultimately boosts user engagement and customer
retention in the long term.
Fosters innovation: Design Thinking is all about challenging
assumptions and established beliefs, encouraging all stakeholders to think
outside the box. This fosters a culture of innovation that extends well beyond
the design team.
Design thinking methodology in action: Case study –
Problem Statement - Executives
at the Eye Hospital wanted to transform the patient experience from the
typically grim, anxiety-riddled affair into something much more pleasant and
personal. To do this, they incorporated Design Thinking and design principles
into their planning process. Here’s how they did it:
Empathize –
First,
they set out to understand their target user — patients entering the hospital
for treatment. The hospital CEO, managers, staff, and doctors established that
most patients came into the hospital with the fear of going blind.
Define
Based on their findings from the empathize
stage, they determined that fear reduction needed to be a priority. Their
problem statement may have looked something like the following: “Patients
coming into our hospital need to feel comfortable and at ease.”
Ideate –
Armed with a deep understanding of their
patients and a clear mission statement, they started to brainstorm potential
solutions. As any good design thinker would, they sought inspiration from a
range of both likely and unlikely sources.
Prototype –
In the prototyping stage, the team presented
the most promising ideas they had come up with so far to those in charge of
caregiving at the hospital. These teams of caregivers then used these insights
to design informal, small-scale experiments that could test a potential
solution and see if it was worthy of wide-scale adoption.
Test –
The testing phase consisted of running the
aforementioned experiments and seeing if they took off.
The Outcome –
By adopting a Design Thinking approach, the Eye The hospital was able to get to the heart of their users’ needs and find effective
solutions to fulfill them.
