You're tackling a complex problem with design thinking. How do you ensure diverse perspectives are included?

A design thinking consultant must help their client build a diverse project team for innovation or problem-solving challenges. You must break down silos between functions. If its a product-related issue, yes, you need people who develop or sell the product. You also may need people from accounting, HR, marketing, etc. People in other functions can offer insights about the internal issues that contribute to the problem. And, you absolutely should include customers and not just for interviews. Invite them in to help the client understand the customer POV and offer ideas for improvements. An inclusive, co-creative process allows clients to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and enriches the ideation and prototyping phases.

-Build a team that reflects the diversity of your end-users, including people with different backgrounds, abilities, and life experiences -Create a safe space for open dialogue, encouraging team members to share personal stories and insights -Engage with communities directly affected by the problem, listening to their experiences and involving them in the solution process -Use inclusive language and accessible tools to ensure everyone can participate fully in the design process -Practice cultural humility, acknowledging your own biases and being open to learning from others' perspectives These points emphasize empathy, inclusivity, and genuine human connection in the design thinking process.

You ask the quiet members of the team to be in charge and solicit the feedback from others and you encourage input from every single member via the method their prefer; voice memo, written, drawing, live, etc. Then you see if there are any duplicates or themes that emerge in the answers and put people into groups to flush out their ideas and then you again - ask the members who usually get overlooked to report on their findings/ideas. If you let the people who always speak up dominate, they will. You have to "force the hand" of the 'quieter members' to hear new voices and get new input and fresh perspectives.

Five years of video editing has taught me that creativity thrives in chaos. Like a director orchestrating a perfect explosion, I bring together a motley crew for brainstorming sessions. From the director to the coffee-fetching intern, every mind is a goldmine. Understanding the audience is key. I dive deep into their desires, from adrenaline rushes to tear-jerking moments. Feedback is my secret weapon. I soak up suggestions, from the seasoned pro to the newbie. Stepping into the audience's shoes helps me see the world through their eyes. And finally, I embrace criticism as a tool for growth. By blending these elements, I create videos that are as satisfying as a perfectly popped kernel.

Quanto mais diversificada a equipe melhor, com foco em especialistas na área. Convide n?o especialistas para as reuni?es iniciais, is insights podem surpreender. A diversidade pode estar em transversalidade de habilidades e dependendo do objeto a ser criado, inclua diversidade cultural, racial e classes sociais

In building a creative team, diversity and ideation have positive correlation - considering each member's background adds to the buffet of insights and creativity.

Masterminds it’s important to consider all viewpoints as well and work together as a team. Meet and meet again to discuss any additional ideas that come to mind after the initial conversation.

A study published by Harvard Business Review found that diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions. I consistently assemble teams with members from various backgrounds, work styles, and cultural perspectives. By backgrounds, I refer to different skills and abilities; for work styles, I focus on how individuals perceive and react to change; and culturally, I ensure that team members contribute insights on how the end product may be perceived and adopted across different cultural contexts.

The design thinking team should comprise of individuals with wide variety of perspectives, experiences, cultural exposure, values, domain and tech expertise with an eye towards having a good representation of end users for whom the product is being designed for. When you focus your team and your work around your users and their needs, you are able to more easily decide what is important. This makes your offerings more essential to the people who use them.

To include different points of view when solving a complicated problem with design thinking, focus on team collaboration. It’s like bringing together different voices to create one beautiful song. Each voice is unique, and when respected and valued, they all come together in harmony. This ensures that everyone’s ideas are heard and blended into a creative and well-rounded solution.

En mi opinión una de las mejores ventajas de trabajar en equipo es que puedes encontrar soluciones creativas y más eficientes, si involucras a todas las personas. En mi experiencia el aporte único que cada persona puede dar desde su perspectiva marca una ruta hacia soluciones efectivas. Para lograrlo en mi caso organizo reuniones en donde se expone la situación y cada persona del equipo es libre de aportar sus opiniones y propuestas. Al final, entre todos se selecciona la hoja de ruta más viable, con esto además de encontrar soluciones también ganas el compromiso del equipo. ????

I have found the Belbin model and 6 Thinking Hats De Bono methodology very useful for analyzing projects, developing ideas and group ideation.

It's crucial to approach ideation without bias toward others' ideas, as this openness is key to fostering innovation. In particular, building on someone else's ideas forces us to think outside the box. Through the iterative nature of Design Thinking & the practice of adopting / evolving others' ideas, I've personally experienced how this leads to new & valuable solutions. This collaborative mindset doesn't just broaden perspectives - it often uncovers unexpected & impactful approaches that might have been overlooked otherwise.

Listening is part of this process. Each participant must be willing and open to listen and absorb the ideas being shared from the group. Don’t talk too much or too loud - stop and listen as well.

Parallel Prototyping for Diverse Perspectives: Instead of refining one prototype, develop multiple prototypes simultaneously, each tailored to different user groups (e.g., novice users vs. power users). This approach encourages the exploration of diverse design possibilities and prevents early fixation on a single idea, fostering innovation across varied user needs. Extreme User Testing: Focus on prototyping for "extreme users" — those who are either the most advanced or the most novice, the most frequent users, or those with the most unique needs. Designing for these edge cases often leads to solutions that are robust and versatile enough to cater to the broader user base.

Prototypes are forms that are given to the ideas that are gathered during the ideate step. It could be a simple sketch or something that is more functional and interactive. The prototype(s) thus created avoid misrepresentation of suggestions taken during interviews from the users. These prototypes more than likely provoke emotions from the users that could not be captured earlier. They also aid in confirming critical functions that the product is intended to perform. All users should be given an opportunity to interact with all variants of the prototypes to rule out any ambiguity.

Ao testar amplamente, procure encontrar as zonas de conflitos, divergências e contradi??o dos protótipos. Esperar que os protótipos estejam de acordo ou aceitáveis logo nos primeiros teste pode ser uma armadilha. Teste com pessoas com pouco letramento na sua área, os ajustes, aperfei?oamentos e inova??es nascem da explora??o de elementos dde contradi??o

Scenario-Based Testing: Develop multiple scenarios reflecting diverse contexts and environments to test how the design holds up under different conditions. For example: a public transportation app. By testing the app under different user contexts, such as an urban commuter, tourist, elderly person, and low-income user, the design team can identify and address gaps that may not be evident in a one-size-fits-all testing approach. The result is an app that is more versatile, accessible, and user-friendly across a broad spectrum of users and contexts.

Either you are trying to create a solution or create a new product, it is usually very helpful to test widely, if it is a 'me -too' product then you can test alongside a market benchmark. If it is innovative product then you can test 2 or more prototypes to assist in choosing the best option. This will give first hand information of the market acceptance and rating of the product or solution.

When addressing complex problems, don't settle for a single solution. Always pilot multiple prototypes or strategies across varied user groups. That's how you validate your solutions & also enhance their adaptability and effectiveness.

Structured usability testing can be used to understand whether the prototype meets all the requirements that were envisioned by the users. One of the methods is hallway usability testing where 5 to 10 random people voice their opinions on what they see, understand and want to do next. They are to be observed silently and their thoughts are to be recorded. Comparative methods such as A/B testing tend to generate more suggestions when users are asked to compare two variants. Feedback sheet under the heads, 'I like', 'I wish', 'I wonder' and 'what if' can be used to gather feedbacks. Other methods for testing include session recording, eye tracking, heat maps, etc.

When we iterate openly, we are able to get more constructive feedbacks/ remarks per time which we can use at once to fine-tune our designed product/solution saving enormous time that may be wasted with several back and forth iterations and corrections which can be frustrating, not efficient and time wasting.

Yo agregaría un punto más, el punto 7. Medición del impacto para que no suceda como en Oslo. Cambiaron todos los ómnibus a eléctricos y un mediodía colapsó el sistema de transporte urbano porque se dieron cuenta que con bajísimas temperaturas los buses eléctricos no funcionan. Los da?os socio-económicos fuer multimillonarios y tuvieron que traer los buses no eléctricos para activar el transporte urbano a bajísimas temperaturas.