Design Thinking: Finding a way in the madness

Michelangelo(1475-1564), an Italian sculptor, was once asked how does he make such wonderful sculptures which are full of life, to that Michelangelo replied,"?????? ?????????????????? ???? ?????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????? ?? ?????????? ???? ????????. ?? ???????? ???????? ???? ???????????? ???????? ?????? ?????????????????????? ????????????????".?Even after 458 years of his death, these words still hold relevance.?

We are living in 2022, in a ??????????-??????????????, ???????????? ?????????????? and ???????????????????? ?????????? that is full of problems and chaos. There are issues of ??????????????????????, ???????????? & ????????????????????(??????) not just in one part of the world but across continents, issues not just faced by governments but by the industries and common people too.

Be it the issue of ???????????? ??????????????, ?????????????? ????????????, ??????????????, ???????????? faced by global bodies(UN, IPCC, IUCN, etc.) and the governments of the world or the issues of ????????????????????????, ??????????????, ???????????????????????? faced by industries, the world at times seems to be in the state of madness. A madness that seems to have no solution, but that is where the words of Michelangelo can change the picture.

It's true that long-lasting unresolved problems do exist, but it’s also true(by a default assumption) that their ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ??????????. The only need is that we have to carve out those customized solutions. If ideally, there should exist something between a problem and a solution, then it should be the approach or method/methodology to solve that problem. One such methodology that does have the potential to solve most of the problems in today’s modern world is ???????????? ????????????????.

Design Thinking is a ????????????????????, ??????????-??????????????, ?????????????????????????????????? ??????????????-?????????????? ?????????????? ???????? ???????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????????????? ????????????????, ????????????????????, ?????? ???????????????????? ????????????????. When we start any new complex project/task, we are in a state of entangled madness, not having a clue how to proceed and solve the problem.?

All the prior knowledge, skill & ideas seem to be deeply entangled in the web of complexity. But Design Thinking has the potential to solve this complexity by the approach it follows.

?????? ???????????? ???????????????? ?????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? -

1. ??????????????????- At the first stage, an ???????????????? ?????????????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????????? is attained. This involves consulting experts and finding the bottlenecks, interacting with stakeholders to understand their experience as well as gathering substantial information about the issue or problem being dealt with.
2. ???????????? – It involves analyzing the information collected during the empathize stage and synthesizing it in order to define the core problem being addressed. This stage is the beginning where great ideas to ?????????????????????? ????????????????, ??????????????????, and any other elements to solve the problem starts coming up. This stage ends with framing a human-centered problem statement.
3. ???????????? – This stage involves ‘?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????????????????' to come up with ideas & solutions for the 'problem statement' created at the Define stage. This 'out of box thinking' is carried out by using various Ideation techniques like ??????????????????????????, ????????????????????????, ?????????? ???????????????? ???????? etc. As many 'ideas' or 'problem solutions' as possible are generated in this stage with the help of free-thinking.
4. ??????????????????- It is an experimental phase and aims to identify the best potential solution for the problems identified at previous stages. At this stage, only the best ideas from amongst all the ideas ideated at the previous stage after a thorough scrutinization start getting concretized. A rough prototype of the product or solution is also formed.
5. ????????- The product or solution built in the prototype stage is put to repeated testing to check its authenticity

Though the five stages seem to be linear, but the catch is, Design thinking approach is ???????????? ???????????????? ?????? ??????????????????. There is ???????????????????? ???????????????? being given to previous stages, and the outcomes generated during the testing phase can be used to redefine and refine the problem and, eventually, the potential solutions.

Lastly, one of the best parts about design thinking is that it can be ?????????????? ???? ???????????????? ????????????????????, ???????????????? ?????? ??????????????????. Design Thinking can be used to ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????, ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????, ???????????? ????????????????????, ???????????? ??????????????????, ??????????, ???????????????????????? and much more.

Design thinking is commonly known as 'Out of box thinking' because designers are attempting to develop new ways of thinking that do not abide by the dominant or more common problem-solving methods. It is an approach that ???????????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????????, ?????????????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????????????? and ???????? ?????????????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????????????????????. It emphasizes on putting ideas to work and following a ‘??????????-???? ????????????????’ ???????? ?? ???????????????? ???????????????? ?????????????? ???????????? ?????? ????????????????????.

So Design Thinking is an approach that can chisel out the superfluous material/chaos and let the sculpture (solution to problems) come to life. Hence in order to come up with quality, innovative solutions that involve the aspect of ??????????????????, ?????????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ????????????????????, Design Thinking can lead to wonderful results for anyone, including individuals, governments, industries, and the corporates.?