Design Thinking A Process To Solve Problems In A Human-Centric Approach.

Design Thinking Introduction

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach with a human-centric nature?that has been around for nearly half a century and continues to be relevant today. It involves a structured process with several stages, including empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing. Various tools and techniques support each step to create effective, innovative solutions tailored to the user's needs.

A conceptual ‘map.’?

The first axis, called Analytic/Synthetic, divides the map into left and right halves based on the process?Fields on the left side of this axis are focused on finding or discovering, while fields on the right side are focused on making and inventing.

The second axis, Symbolic/Real, divides the map into upper and lower halves. Fields in the upper half are concerned with the abstract and symbolic world, including institutions, policies, and language tools used for communication and information manipulation. Fields in the lower half, on the other hand, are concerned with the real world and the practical systems and artifacts necessary for managing the physical environment.

Empathize(observe, engage, watch and listen)

Empathy is the foundation of design thinking. It involves gaining a deep understanding of users' needs, desires, and motivations, and this understanding is the foundation for user-centered design. To empathize, designers need to observe, engage, watch, and listen to users in order to gain insights into their experiences and perspectives.

Approaching problems with empathy enables designers to create solutions that address users' underlying needs rather than just their explicit requirements. This results in more meaningful and practical solutions that have a more significant impact on users' lives. Empathy also helps designers identify critical issues and opportunities, which can inform the development of more innovative and creative solutions.

Visualization involves taking information beyond text and numbers and transforming it into images, maps, and stories. This technique makes ideas look and feel vivid and tangible. At its most basic level, visualization involves creating physical images and pictures, moving away from relying solely on numbers and text. However, on a deeper level, visualization is about mentally conjuring up vivid depictions of ideas, insights, and customer experiences that are human and compelling. Visualization isn't just limited to drawing and photographs; it also involves imagination of the problem.

The famous saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" highlights the power of images to convey complex information effectively and quickly.

Visualization & Problem Reformulation involves using visual aids to help conceptualize problems and solutions. In contrast, problem reformulation entails connecting the problem with the associated environment, which requires situation assessment and elaboration.

Define

Journey mapping(Customer Journey): The primary reason for the failure of new growth ideas is often a misjudgment of what customers truly want. Therefore, developing a deep understanding of customers' needs and desires is essential?to increase the likelihood of success. As one insightful observation goes, "People don't want to buy a car. They want to buy a mode of transportation." This highlights that it's not just about the product being sold but the value it brings to customers' lives. To create value, it's crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of customers' problems and frustrations; These approaches can provide insights into customer's pain points, preferences, and behavior patterns, allowing businesses to design solutions that address specific customer needs.

Tools used:

Empathy Map

An empathy map is a tool to understand a customer or user's needs and experiences. It visually represents what the customer thinks, feels, hears, says, does, and sees. It helps businesses and organizations to understand their customers' needs, behaviors, and motivations.

1. Says: What are the customer's actual words, phrases, and quotes that you have heard or seen?
2. Thinks: What are the customer's thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions about your product or service?
3. Feels: What emotions does the customer experience when using your product or service?
4. Sees: What is the customer's physical environment? What do they see around them when using your product or service?
5. Hears: What does the customer hear when using your product or service? Are there any sounds or noises they associate with your product or service?
6. Does: What actions does the customer take when using your product or service? What are their behaviors and habits?

5W+H questions

1. Who is the user? Refers to the people or stakeholders who will be using the product, service, or solution.?
2. What is the problem? Refers to the specific challenge or issue that needs to be addressed.?
3. When does the problem occur? Refers to the timing or frequency of the problem.?
4. Where does the problem occur? Refers to the location or context of the problem.?
5. Why does the problem occur? Refers to the root cause or underlying issues that are contributing to the problem
6. How does the problem occur??

User personas are fictional representations of the characteristics and behaviors of different types of users. They are created to help designers better understand and empathize with other user groups' needs, goals, and challenges.

Creating user personas involves gathering and analyzing data about potential users, including demographic information, behaviors, motivations, and pain points. This information is then used to create detailed profiles of the user groups, including names, photos, job titles, other personal information, and information about their goals, behaviors, and attitudes.

User Profile:

Value Chain Analysis: Value chain analysis examines how a business works with its partners to produce, market, and distribute its offerings, highlighting pain points and opportunities. It offers insights into partners' capabilities, intentions, and the business's vulnerabilities and opportunities.

3. Ideate

Stanford D. School's observation about ideation emphasizes, “It’s not about coming up with the ‘right’ idea; it’s about generating the broadest range of possibilities.”

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a visual brainstorming technique that can help to organize and synthesize complex information in a structured and accessible way. By mapping out ideas, concepts, and data in a non-linear and creative format, mind mapping can help to identify patterns, connections, and insights that may not be immediately apparent.

it is a collaborative and exploratory approach to problem-solving, which can encourage dialogue and open-mindedness. By focusing on exploring and understanding the current reality through a shared understanding, rather than seeking a single "right" solution, the process of mind mapping can help to reduce biases and increase creativity.

Brainstorming (go wild)

“One of the key principles of brainstorming is to suspend judgment,” a critical principle of brainstorming is to refrain from passing judgment during the ideation phase. The goal is to expand the solution space by generating a multitude of possibilities, even those that seem far-fetched or unconventional(crazy wild ideas), before evaluating them for feasibility and potential effectiveness.

Although ideas should not be judged during the ideation phase, evaluation and selection occur in the down selection phase. In order to have a broad range of options, it's important not to be overly critical during the ideation phase and to generate a large number of ideas for consideration

Rapid Concept Development

The process o Rapid concept development involves three stages.

First Stage Initially, we utilize the design criteria, personas, and pain points, as well as insights gained from researching the value chain, to generate numerous new ideas.

The second stage involves organizing the ideas into a smaller set of intriguing concepts. This is comparable to sorting and arranging Legos to create something impressive.

In the Third stage, we elaborate on the business design, incorporating both customer and value chain journeys, behind the selected concepts. The objective is to generate a high volume of ideas and concepts, which means that some of them may go beyond what is typically considered practical.

Hazard analysis: involves identifying potential risks and determining ways to mitigate or prevent them from occurring. By examining potential hazards and designing preventative measures, organizations can not only reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes but also identify new opportunities for improvement and innovation. Thus, a comprehensive hazard analysis can serve as a catalyst for innovation in addition to promoting safety and risk management.

4.Prototyping

The Prototype mode involves creating iterative artifacts to address questions and move closer to a final solution. Prototypes can take various forms that allow users to interact with them, such as a wall of post-it notes, a gadget, a role-playing exercise, or a storyboard. The preference is for prototypes that provide a user experience.

The essence of prototyping is to reduce the "I" in ROI. By creating a simple 2-D prototype using just a pen and paper, you can minimize costs and conduct more extensive testing of various concept variations. This approach adds more "optionality" to the design process.

Rapid Prototyping: The purpose of Rapid prototyping is not to simply "test" a finalized product, but rather to learn and improve upon it. We strive for a streamlined and efficient process that allows us to quickly identify mistakes and areas in need of improvement, while also recognizing and reinforcing successful aspects. As the saying goes, it's better to identify and address issues sooner rather than later. A focus on prototyping can effectively anticipate and rectify potential problems, resulting in a smoother implementation overall.

Larry Keeley, Doblin based innovation strategist, describes prototyping as “faking a new business fast". Avoid investing excessive time in a single prototype. Release it before becoming overly emotionally attached to it. When building a prototype, prioritize the user's needs and preferences. Consider what aspects you wish to evaluate with user testing and what types of behavior you anticipate. By answering these key questions, you can concentrate your prototyping efforts and obtain valuable feedback during the testing stage.

Customer Co-Creation

Customer co-creation involves partnering with potential customers in the development of new business ideas. Through the utilization of prototypes, customers can actively shape mutually beneficial proposals and explore alternative possibilities. Our objective is to present potential customers with small experiments, gather rapid feedback, and iterate towards an enhanced offering. This collaborative approach referred to as "participatory design," allows designers to comprehend a single customer's requirements in a manner that ultimately results in the creation of an offering that will appeal to a broader audience.

Co-creation is not the same as customization. About incorporating features that customers request, but rather about comprehending their needs in a way that can be translated into an appealing product for many customers

5.TESTING

During the Test phase, you request feedback on the prototypes you have developed from your users, affording you another chance to cultivate empathy for the individuals you are designing for. Testing provides an additional opportunity to gain insight into your users, and avoid limiting your "testing" efforts to determining whether people approve of your solution. Instead, continue to ask "why?" and concentrate on what you can discover about the person, the problem, and potential solutions.

Four Core Concepts of testing

1. Doability - Can the concept be executed with the available resources and expertise?
2. Value - Will the concept provide sufficient value to customers to justify their investment?
3. Scalability - Is the concept scalable, i.e., can it be successfully expanded to reach a broader audience?
4. Defensibility - Will the concept be difficult for competitors to replicate, providing a competitive advantage?

Four Key Tests inline with the core concept of testing

1. The value test: Customers must be willing to purchase the product at a price that makes sense for both them and the company.
2. The execution test: The company must be able to manufacture and distribute the product at a cost that allows for a reasonable profit margin.
3. The scale test: Assuming the product passes both the value and execution tests, the company must be able to achieve a sufficiently high sales volume to justify the effort and expense involved.
4. The defensibility test: the product must be difficult for competitors to replicate, even after the company has invested significant time and resources in passing the first three tests.

The design thinking process is a non-linear approach, and we must continue the iterative process until we arrive at a cost-effective, human-centric solution. At any stage of the process, if we encounter a potential issue, we must revisit the relevant stage to resolve it before moving forward. This cyclical approach ensures that we consistently refine and improve the solution until it aligns with our goals and satisfies the needs of the end users.

Characteristics of Design Thinkers

Creativity is of significant importance to design thinking, characteristics other than creativity which is important for the design thinkers.

Conditioned inventiveness: Designers are often more focused on the "what" questions than the "why's." However, designers must operate within the framework of human-centered and environment-centered measures that govern their efforts.

Human-centered focus: Design is directed by the client's needs. Therefore, design thinking must consistently consider how the solution being developed will meet the client's requirements.

Environment-centered concern: solution developed is not only beneficial to the end-users but also promotes sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, ultimate value of human- and environment-centeredness is a guarantee that the best interests of humankind and the environment

Ability to visualize: Designers have the ability to visualize ideas across various mediums, providing a shared understanding of concepts that might be imagined differently by individuals in a discussion. This enables designers to present a complete picture of the problem, which might only be partially and imperfectly understood by others involved in the discussion.

Tempered optimism: Designers identify pessimistic and critical moods and develop optimistic and proactive approaches to their work. Although mood swings are common among creative individuals, designers learn to manage them to maintain a professional demeanor and balance their emotional highs and lows. Designers are expected to exhibit enthusiasm when necessary, regardless of their current mood.

Bias for adaptivity: Adaptive products are designed to fit the unique needs of their users. Design thinking recognizes the importance of adaptability in the production and use of products, as user needs may evolve over time. Therefore, designers aim to create products that can adapt to changing user needs throughout their lifespan.

Predisposition toward multifunctionality: Designers often seek to create solutions to problems that provide multiple benefits, rather than only serving as monofunctional. This approach is considered an obvious way to proceed.

Systemic Vision: Design thinking takes a holistic approach. Over the last four decades, designers have expanded their problem-solving approach to consider a wider range of factors, particularly since the advent of computers. Today's design thinking treats problems as system-wide issues, presenting opportunities for systemic solutions that may involve a combination of hardware, software, procedures, policies, organizational concepts, and other necessary elements to create a comprehensive solution.

View of the Generalist: A designer specializes in the process of design, but also needs to have a wide range of general knowledge in various fields of content. designers are uniquely equipped to bridge gaps between fields and bring together diverse experts for collaborative problem-solving.

Ability to use language as a tool: Designers frequently work closely with professionals in multi-disciplinary teams, where their unique abilities to communicate across disciplines, generalize, work systematically with qualitative information, and visualize concepts are highly valued

Facility for avoiding the necessity of choice: making a choice should be a last resort for the designer. Instead, the designer explores alternative options and looks for ways to reformulate them in a new configuration. The optimistic and adaptive designer searches for the essential characteristics of competing alternatives and seeks to create a solution that incorporates the best elements of each.

Self-governing practicality: Design thinkers recognize this and develop the ability to balance flights of imagination with a practical sense.

Ability to work systematically with qualitative information: Design research has advanced and evolved, leading to the development and refinement of design processes with various methods and tools. One such process, Structured Planning, offers a comprehensive set of methods for planning tasks that involve finding, organizing, and evaluating information to generate insights and communicate plans to the public and development teams. These qualitative information-handling techniques are suitable for solving complex problems that require system solutions.