Design thinking is a type of methodology whose objective is to propose a new way of thinking about solutions to a problem. It is related to the way product designers work, but it is applicable to any project, industry or service.
Many believe that this is a relatively new concept. However, by 1959 John Arnold had used it in the engineering field. It began to be theoretically developed at Stanford University in California from the 1970s. And in 1973, Robert McKim used the term in his book Experiences in Visual Thinking.
It was not until 1991 that it began to be applied for profit by the IDEO design consultancy. In fact, this organization (along with its founder, David M. Kelley) continues to be a benchmark in this practice today.
His approach, centered on user empathy and prototyping, serves to inspire entire teams to think “outside the box”. In this article we are going to tell you what it is, how you can implement it and why it can help your company.
What is design thinking?
Design thinking or “design thinking” is a term that is used to encompass all the practices, techniques and strategies used by designers. It is a process closely linked to what is known as creative problem solving.
The purpose of this mindset —way of thinking and seeing the world— is to solve those difficulties related to a daily need. It requires putting aside the technical role and establishing an honest contact that allows us to find areas of opportunity.
Design thinking tries to seek the satisfaction of a customer’s needs through communication and innovation, improving their experience by making them part of the process.
On the other hand, it proposes to avoid the tendency to choose the first option as the definitive solution without first checking it. In other words, it suggests investigating all possible alternatives before making a decision, which also allows new problems and questions to be raised.
The implementation of these techniques results in highly motivated teams. Hence, companies such as Apple, IBM, Airbnb, Google, Bank of America and Nike continue to use it.
What is design thinking for?
The idea of starting with empathy, questioning possibilities and not rushing into solutions is a skill that can be useful in all areas, even outside of business.
best of design thinking is that it is a practice that anyone is capable of developing, regardless of their profession or previous experiences. It is a useful discipline for anyone looking to get a clear frame of mind and begin to think outside the box.
The design thinking usually applied:
- In the improvement of processes and the user experience, since it is based on empathy and constant testing.
- To define business models and in the development of products or services. His techniques are ideal when thinking about and creating companies, startups or ventures.
Why use design thinking in your business?
This methodology is ideal for projects that are just beginning. When creating a new product, it provides the ideal tools to question: is this product or service desirable? Does it respond to a need? Is it feasible? Is it viable as a business?
At present, it is no longer a question of creating new needs in the client but of discovering those that already exist and looking for the most effective solution.
Even recent ones show that equipment using design thinking outperform those that apply other innovation approaches, especially in terms of feasibility and relevance.
This is because the focus behind the design thinking puts the human being at the center of attention. And this trend, also known as human-centered design or customer centric (being even more specific), is essential for a business that is just starting out.
In these cases, the first step will be to involve the target and thus detect the problem of the clients to whom we want to sell the product or service.
The second stage will be to test it, since the market itself is the one that can determine if the idea works and if it really constitutes an improvement.
In what other processes does it help to implement design thinking?
- It allows deepening and improving other stages of the sales strategy. As it trains creativity, it allows generating more relevant value offers for customers.
- The current digital dynamic facilitates feedback and the discovery of insights. Thanks to technological tools, it is possible to talk directly with customers, either through forms, or campaigns.
- Encourage teamwork. Involving people from all roles in creating solutions increases motivation.
- Optimize costs. It allows low-cost implementations before making decisions and making larger investments.
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Features of the design thinking
We have already established that empathy and prototyping are the main characteristics that differentiate the design thinking of any other methodology. However, the idea of the rapid prototype is related to that of the Lean Start Up methodology widely used in technological projects.
Although this other way of working is not user-oriented but product-oriented, the similarity between these methodologies that drive large companies lies in their focus on experimentation. Its central core is its feedback circuit: create-measure-learn.
However, the design thinking It has other peculiarities. On the one hand, its playful nature, with which it is sought that the entire team remains motivated and enjoys the process of finding alternative solutions.
On the other hand, his visual techniques allow connecting both hemispheres, achieving a creative-analytical way of working that generates innovative but, at the same time, feasible solutions.
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How to implement it?
It is important to keep in mind that this is a process that is not linear, but iterative. That is, the phases are repeated without a strict order until the desired result is reached. It seeks to solve complex problems alternating between the different stages according to the need.
Before we start, what do we need?
- A comfortable and preferably large space.
- A diverse work team, with different roles and experiences.
- As it is a very visual methodology, the ideal is to have materials such as markers, sticky notes, markers or colored pencils.
- What is known as “designer attitude”: being optimistic, empathetic, observant and curious.
phases of design thinking
- Empathy phase: this stage aims to fully understand all customers involved in the product or project being developed. The idea is to “get into” his head when it comes to discovering his needs.
It seeks to achieve a real knowledge of what the user feels. For this reason, it goes beyond conducting interviews or forms. It requires a high level of observation and a complete immersion to find a good insight or understanding.
- Definition phase: this is the time to filter all the information collected and keep only what adds value. It is important to concentrate efforts on problems whose solutions are key to obtaining innovative results.
- Ideation phase: it is a phase to let creativity fly and think of all possible options. What is known as expansive thinking or brainstorming is used, where, without value judgments, each problem is evaluated from different angles.
- Prototyping phase: in it, ideas are converted into something physical that can be visualized in reality. Having a quick model allows you to see at an early stage if the solution is feasible and highlights what needs to be improved.
- Testing phase: during this stage the prototypes are tested on the intended users. This allows identifying faults and possible significant improvements. However, it is important to clarify that it is not just about showing the project to the future client.
This validation phase requires empathetic and nonjudgmental listening. Thus the user will feel free to give an honest, essential for strategic decision making.
techniques of design thinking
For each stage of the process there are dozens of techniques and tools that serve to stimulate creativity and the processing of ideas. Each of them can be used in one or more of the phases. Some of the best known:
SCAMPER
This lateral thinking technique is often used in the empathy and ideation phases. Its name is an acronym for the acronym in English for: replace, combine, adapt, modify, put to different uses, eliminate and reduce.
This method is based on the premise that it is possible to generate new ideas by challenging the status quo.
mind map
It is one of the most popular creative tools, even outside the design thinking. It is widely used because it is one of the best ways to visually organize information and establish relationships between different contents.
This is a very valuable technique as it makes connections easier to understand and is often used in almost all phases of design thinking.
mood board
It is a panel of images around an idea or concept. This is a widely used tool in the definition phase and is usually done in conjunction with other techniques such as “saturate and group”.
Its main advantage is that, being very visual, it facilitates the understanding of concepts and speeds up processes. It is also used in the ideation phase as it can be used to gather inspirational ideas.
customer journey
This technique consists of diagnosing the customer experience. It is ideal for thinking of solutions and discovering the conflictive points of an existing process.
A customer journey map is used to define the different activities that a user is going to carry out with a product or service. The purpose of this tool is to determine the degree of customer satisfaction at each of the stages of their journey.
Actor maps
Also known as a stakeholder map, the stakeholder map is a tool used to identify the different interest groups and their influence, as well as to establish their connections.
covert observation
This technique is used to research the target audience during the empathy phase. It consists of studying the behavior of a group of users without them realizing or being aware of it. This allows them to express themselves freely, without fear of value judgments.
Motivation matrix
It consists of elaborating a matrix that helps to study the different variables in the…
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