Problem Finding & Problem Solving through Agile and Design thinking
Agile and Design thinking methodologies, both have similar philosophies: they rely on continuous customer feedback and take an iterative approach to inspire ideas, minimize mistakes, and ultimately lead to efficient and faster products.
The choice of development methodology for IT projects has probably become the most critical decision IT leaders need to make nowadays to make strong and use-centric products.
Agile methodology
Agile is a project management method with a speedy, iterative approach to product development that enables organizations stay responsive to change. Stratups, Fortune 500 companies, and even big government organizations follow the Agile methodology.
Gartner defines Agile as a “development approach that delivers software in increments by following the principles of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.”
Throughout Agile product management, the idea is to build and deliver a product based on continuous user feedback, rather than trying to deliver the whole solution all at once. Users should be able to submit issues, feedback, and ideas through embedded feedback mechanisms within the software, both during development and in production.
Like Agile, Design thinking is a methodology built around users, allowing their feedback to drive the next iteration of a product, but there is a fundamental difference between the two methodologies:
Design thinking is a way to define the problem. It’s how you explore ideas and test your beliefs to ultimately find the best possible solution.
Agile helps solve the problem in the most efficient way possible. It's the framework you use to adapt to changing user needs.
There are various Agile frameworks - Scrum, Crystal, Dynamic Systems Development Method, and Feature-Driven Development (FDD). Each approach follows the main principles of Agile, including a focus on the people doing the work and collaboration between business and IT.
With Agile, visual platforms create a common language for developers and users to discuss functionality and validate assumptions. This happens while changes can be made and previewed right there on the spot.
Low-code development platforms are particularly helpful here. With regular interaction points , developers can continually collect new insights to better align the software with both user and business milestones.
Where does Lean fit in with Agile and Design thinking?
Lean is a production methodology that started in the manufacturing industry as a way to help companies reduce waste (anything that doesn’t bring value to the user), increase innovation, and optimize processes. The history of Lean dates back to the 1450s in Venice, but Henry Ford was the first to truly integrate it into a production process in 1913.
When it comes to software development, Agile follows many of the same principles as the Lean methodology, including fast and frequent iterative development, quick feedback loops, or “sprints” in Agile terminology, and disciplined processes.
Design thinking versus Agile
While Agile is an approach to problem solving, design thinking is an approach to problem finding
The objective of design thinking is to identify alternative solutions that might not necessarily be apparent. There are five stages of design thinking -
1. Empathize
Understand people, their behaviors, and their motivations. People often don’t know or can’t articulate these things explicitly. Understanding emerges through observing users and their behaviors in context to identify patterns, ask questions, and challenge assumptions.
2. Define
Create an actionable problem statement to define the right set of challengea to address and the set of needs that are important to fulfill based on the organization, its milestones, and the perspective of end users.
3. Ideate
Leverage techniques such as brainstorming, discussions, mind mapping, sketching, or paper prototypes to step back, go wide, and create innovative solutions that weren’t originally envisioned.
4. Prototype
Bring ideas to life by showing instead of telling. Quickly create working prototypes to get something into users’ hands and begin to collect real-world feedback.
5. Evaluate
Learn from users’ experiences, iterate, and repeat the process as needed until reaching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Better together: Agile and Design thinking
Together, Design thinking and Agile create a user-centric environment driven by rapid, frequent iterations as a means of reaching optimal outcomes. Leverage Design thinking to identify the right problems , and then use Agile to build solutions iteratively to solve those problems.
Design thinking ensures a strong user focus, while Agile is an effective way to incrementally deliver quality solutions. User needs are kept at the center of the entire design and development process.
Three are some useful recommendations which we should consider while leveraging Agile and Design thinking :
Start small: Work on high-value, low-risk opportunities to gather experiences and learnings using Design thinking and Agile together. Then, move on to more challenging initiatives as your capabilities mature.
Cross-functional teams: Cross-functional teams that work together to design and develop solutions create the conducive environment for the required creativity and quality. The team should be physically collocated with end users to facilitate continuous, regular collaboration.
Right balance of design and development: Agile teams are often inclined to “start developing," so mixing the two methodologies for the first time may create confusion or conflict around how much time to spend on Design thinking before beginning development. The team must be educated on the value of the empathy, definition, and ideation phases, and how design thinking is leveraged throughout the process. The teams should have the mindset to uncover new user insights, reframe the problem, and then continue development with the new understandings and details.