What is design thinking?
I recently learned that the expression “design thinking” actually comes from IDEO. According to Tim Brown, president and CEO of IDEO, design thinking is a “human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements of business success”.
Some Barriers and Challenges to effective design thinking
- A company’s culture that does not support innovation
- An environment that does not encourage new ideas
- Designers that are emotionally attached to their ideas
- A lack of understanding of customers’ needs
- A Team that has consensus thinking
6 Steps for a successful design thinking & innovation process:
- Empathize: Gather data about your customer.
- Define: Analyze your findings. Identify your client’s needs.
- Ideate: Brainstorm. Encourage ideas. Defer judgments.
- Concept your prototype: Sketch your ideas. Explore potential solutions.
- Test your prototype: Present your prototype to your clients. Get feedback. Refine your idea.
- Learn: Measure success (What worked? What could be improved?)
The graph below summarizes the design thinking process:
In my opinion, the research stage is the most critical stage of the design thinking process. If you fail to gather the right data then your solution will not address your client’s needs. Thus, it’s important to ask a lot of questions in the beginning of the process.
“To gain customer insights, we must understand that we are prisoners of what we know and what we believe”. Mohanbir Sawhney, Professor – Kellogg School of Management
Design Thinking at IDEO
By Armel Bokam
Innovassion 