So... What is Design Thinking?

Articles and Posts Jan 20, 2020 7 mins 5029 Views 0 Comments 0 Likes

Why Design Thinking? Because it's time we stop assuming what the customer wants, how the user might use your product, or that we know the best way to solve a given problem.

While the concept of design thinking has been around for a while, the advent of the digital revolution requires organizations to rethink how products, software, and services are developed. And... more of them are turning to Design Thinking.

"Coming up with an idea is easy. Coming up with the right one takes work. With design thinking, throwing out what you think you know and starting from scratch opens up all kinds of possibilities."

In this article from the MIT Sloan School of Management, Rebecca Linke along with Steve Eppinger, co-director of MIT's System Design and Management program, explain the what design thinking is all about.

What is Design Thinking?

While there a number of frameworks, the basic process of design thinking involves four fundamental steps or phases:

Understand the problem (from the user's perspective)

Explore many possible solutions

Iterate through prototyping and testing

Implement through customer deployment

If you take only one thing from Design Thinking, it should be the focus on the user. Don't assume you know anything... assume you know nothing. To be an effective designer you have to first empty yourself of all your biases, assumptions, and past experiences. You need to understand and empathize with your user before you use your skills to develop a solution.

Throughout the design process, you need to involve the user... as them for solution ideas, ask them to try the prototype, ask them to criticize for first version.

"Applying design thinking techniques to business problems can help executives across industries rethink their product offerings, grow their markets, offer greater value to customers, or innovate and stay relevant."

Continue reading at MIT Sloan School of Management