Design Thinkingor Design Thinking, is a methodology for generating innovative ideas that focuses its effectiveness on understand and provide solutions to the real needs of users. In the 1970s, Stanford University in California (USA) began to develop it theoretically, with the IDEO design consultancy being the first to apply it for profit as design thinking.
This method is developed following a process based mainly on five distinguishing features:
- The empathy building. Satisfying people is key to a successful outcome. For this you have to observe and understand the problemsneeds and desires of the users involved in the solution we are looking for.
- The teamworksince it values the ability of individuals to contribute uniqueness.
- The prototyping, since it defends that every idea must be validated before being accepted as correct. The Design Thinking facilitates the identification of faultsso that when the desired solution is found, these have already been solved.
- Promotion of the playful. Is about enjoy during the process, and thanks to this, reach a mental state in which the full potential of the person is unleashed. It is important to generate as many ideas as possible.
- Use of techniques with visual and plastic content. During the process, techniques with a great visual and plastic content are developed -an image is worth a thousand words-. This puts both the creative and analytical minds to work, resulting in innovative and at the same time feasible solutions.
How to prepare a Design Thinking session
To start a session of Design Thinking necessary form a multidisciplinary team -the more variety of culture, age, worker profiles…, the better-. It is recommended that the workplace be a spacious, bright place, with a large table where all the participants can sit and with free walls to hang all the ideas.
Above the work table must be available abundant material with which to carry out the session (papers, markers, glue, photo cameras…). Surely, some of the techniques will also be developed in other spaces, and many may be outdoors.
An essential aspect to carry out the sessions of Design Thinking it is the attitude of the people who are part of them. Consists in be curious, and observant. Transcendent information can be found in any detail. You have to be empathicboth with people and with their circumstances. Being able to put yourself in the other’s shoes. Question the status quo, and not carry prejudices. Be optimistic and positive. Lose the fear of making mistakes, and see mistakes as opportunities.
The Design Thinking Process
The process of Design Thinking consists of five phases. It begins with the phase of empathizing, but, it is not linear, since you can go backwards or forwards, jumping to non-consecutive stages. It begins by collecting a lot of information, generating a large amount of content, which will grow or decrease depending on the phase in which we find ourselves.
1. Empathize
The process of Design Thinking start with an important understanding of user needs involved in the solution that is being sought, and also of their environment. You have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of these people to be able to generate solutions consistent with their realities.
2. Define
In this phase collected information is screened during the empathy phase and you have to stay with what really adds value and leads to the achievement of new interesting perspectives.
3. Ideate
The Ideation Stage aims to generate endless options. To create an expansive and value-free thought, you have to favor the environment. Many times, the most outlandish ideas are the ones that generate visionary solutions.
4. Prototype
In this phase, ideas become reality. Building prototypes makes ideas palpable and it helps to visualize the possible solutions, highlighting elements that we must improve or refine before reaching the final result.
5. Test
During this phase is when the prototypes are tested with the users involved in the solution that we are developing. This phase is crucial, and helps to identify significant improvements, bugs to be solved, possible deficiencies. It is in this phase when the idea evolves until it becomes the solution that was being sought.
How to brainstorm: the basis of ideation
In this post we are going to focus a little more on the third phase, in the ideation phase.
The brainstorming or brainstorm it is a group technique used to generate original ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. It is a meeting that uses a moderator and a procedure to favor the generation of ideas – always thinking that the production of ideas in a group can be more effective than individually. Initially no idea should be rejected, all are validbut do all group dynamics have to give good results?
Experts recommend that A team of brainstorming is formed between 10 and 18 peoplesince if the participants are few, it will not be possible to generate enough ideas, but if they are excessive, the reason why the session is being held can be lost.
To make a session of brainstorming productive Some guidelines must be followed:
- Sign in with a detailed statement of the need or identified problem to be solved.
- Clarify the rules that will govern the session, such as that there is only one conversation at a time or that the criticism of the ideas will be made when the session ends and not during it, that the number of ideas that each one contributes does not matter, even if they seem crazy, that respect for ideas is fundamental, etc.
- A technique for writing down ideas can be the post it. That is, write them down in a few words and put them in a place where everyone can see them, like on a blackboard.
- If the session is held to solve a problem, it should be prepared with an immersion exercise that is related to the problem to be solved. For example, with a debate with clients, with an outing, etc.
The criteria for the selection of ideas that have arisen in the session are:
- Choose among those with the greatest probability of success.
- the ones that can produce greater satisfaction for the customer.
- The most innovative.
There are versions of brainstorming
- brain writingin which ideas are put in writing, “idea writing”,
- Drawstormingwhere brainstorming is done through drawings,
Being a great generator of innovation, Design Thinking can be applied to any field. From the development of products or services to the improvement of processes or the definition of business models. Companies like Apple, Google or Zara use this methodology… and the results are not bad at all 😉
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