Introduction to Design Thinking
Design thinking was developed by Stanford Professor David Kelley who is also the founder of the design agency IDEO. Design Thinking is a human-centric, iterative, solution-based, problem-solving framework. It is a methodology that is ideal for tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown. This is because design thinking helps us define a problem, challenge any assumptions and thus reframe it in a way that will help us come up with solutions that may potentially solve it. In design thinking, we seek to understand the user. This is why the user is considered at each stage of the design thinking process. The design thinking process provides a hands on approach to problem-solving. We will formulate several potential problem-solving approaches, prototype them, and test them in the context of the problem being solved. There are five stages of the design thinking process.
Empathize
The first stage is to gain an empathetic understanding of our users, their needs and what they really care about. To achieve this, we need to put aside any personal assumptions that we might have about our users or the problem we are tackling. We should observe, engage and empathize with people to understand their experiences, what they value and what motivates them. We should get a feel of the environment where the problem lies. These techniques will help us empathize, an essential part of the human-centered approach of design thinking. This stage will give a considerable amount of information, which we will then need to use for the 2nd stage. Our challenge will be to analyze all this information within the context of our design.
Define the Problem
We should analyze, sort out and sequence the information gathered gathered in the first stage so that it helps us define the problem we are tackling. We can analyze user feedback and highlight any key phrases that relate to the problem. This stage brings clarity and focus to our work because we will know what the real problem is. Up till now, we have shaped the definition of the problem only from the users' perspectives and without any constraints of existing solutions.
Brainstorm
After having the problem stated, we can start coming up with several solutions to the problem(s). They should be valid approaches that can potentially solve the problem. The important thing here is to generate several ideas so that there are some options to choose from for prototyping in the next stage. We can sketch these ideas and show them to the users to refine them and at the same time, filter those ideas that are worth investigating further.
Prototype
We need to generate several prototypes to be able to explore the potential solutions. Don't waste too much time thinking about how to prototype or building a prototype, pick up some materials and start. Each solution is prototyped, investigated and accepted, improved, re-examined or rejected. Not spending too much time and not building complex, costly prototypes will make it easier to let go and move to another one. At the end of this stage, we will have a good idea of which solutions are most likely to address the problem and what their constraints are.
Test
The best solutions from the prototyping stage are tested in the context of the real product using designers, evaluators and real users. Testing is carried out to evaluate each prototype. This is an iterative process since the results from these tests can refine the problem, prototypes and the solutions. This leads to further alterations and refinements of the prototypes being tested. Testing also helps us understand and empathize more with the users since we observe and engage them. This is the stage that will help us refine the way we look at the problem and remove any remaining pre-conceptions that we might still have. The result of this stage is a prototype that solves the problem, and hence one that can be used as a model to build the real solution.
Design thinking is a problem-solving framework that for tackling unknown problems. The design thinking process is like a map designers can refer to when we need direction in our creativity. It gives designers free reign to expand on our ideas, to gather information, to validate said ideas and to see it all in action.