How do you handle uncertainty in design thinking?

I step into uncertainty. It is listening to the diversity of voices I am designing with that brings clarity. I also experience uncertainty as a way of checking that my biases are not influencing the design process.

This is how I like to roll. Yes, there are ways to mitigate uncertainty, but like change, uncertainty is the reality we swim in as designers, innovators, strategists, and all types of researchers. Our work starts w an hypothesis and the work that follows either creates confidences in that hypothesis or not. How do you create a more valuable hypothesis? By living and working while connected to humans and the data we produce. Don’t limit yourself to just the context you work in but make becoming a student of human-beings: psychology, anthropology, sociology, and economy. Here’s an example. Ya ever go to a McDonald’s (just go for the coffee) and watch people interact with all sides of the counter? Try that! You’ll learn so much.

The value of having a UX specialist is substantial. Our discipline ensures the quality of the end product so as to reduce the invested amount of resources and effort. The tools are of many and vary in functionality. Regardless of their make and features, the methods rely on the studies and documentation with the purpose to communicate and drive the decisions for executive stakeholders. The principal concern, for all projects, is to effectively manage the diplomacy between all major stakeholders to resolve uncertainty amongst all the responsible and accountable team members. One of the least known aspects of the UX discipline are the public speaking and presentation abilities of veterans. So have a Lunch and Learn, if all else fails.

The entire purpose of research is uncertainty reduction. First, recognize that uncertainty isn't one thing. We all design (and live) with hypotheses and incomplete knowledge. What is your uncertainty? How important is it? When do you need less uncertainty? Is your uncertainty impacting your ability to make (design) decisions? Frame your problem clearly and you will likely see research questions emerging. Proceed from there.

Trust the process! Remember, the whole point of design thinking is to approach problems expansively, to encourage creativity and open-ended approaches, not narrowly focused paths and solutions. This means focusing less so on (initial) outcomes, and more so on following the process robustly and seeing what comes out of it.

The best approach to reduce uncertainty is going for a design or prototype that is "good enough" and seeing what happens when you test it. Collaborating with team members that can scrappily put something together so that the entire team learns by trial is a great way to start.

If a test results in further confusion or uncovers more unknowns this is a very positive outcome because oftentimes the unknown unknowns are what can kill innovation projects. The more unknowns you know the more likely you will be able to find systematic ways to understand them better and continue building