Design Thinking
Ambassador Spotlight
Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that is used to solve complex problems and to create solutions that last long-term. There are five stages to the design thinking process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
The first phase of the design thinking process is called the empathy phase. During the empathy phase, the primary objective is to understand what the problem actually is and to separate it from the symptoms of the problem. There are several methods to understand the root cause of a problem. Surveying, interviewing, benchmarking, observing, and researching are all ways to learn more about a problem. Depending on the problem in question, certain methods work better than others but ultimately the best results use a combination of methods and gather information from a large number of people.
Once the information has been collected through the empathy phase, it is important to create a ‘How might we..’ (HMW) statement, which is a tool that encompasses the most important insights into a single problem definition statement. The process of formulating this HMW statement is known as the “define” phase of the design thinking process. Once you have a strong HMW statement, it is time to move on to the ideate phase.
The ideation phase is the phase where potential solutions are explored. There are several keys to a successful ideation phase and almost all of them apply to the brainstorm session. It is important to generate as many ideas as possible during the brainstorm. Do not eliminate any ideas until you have finished coming up with them regardless of how ridiculous they are. After ideas are generated, you can gradually eliminate them by referring back to the HMW statement, asking if this idea would really solve the problem, and checking the feasibility. Once the strongest idea is selected, you can generated more ideas to strengthen it or continue on to the prototyping phase.
It is extremely important to develop a prototype in order to convey your idea to primary stakeholders and receive feedback. This happens during the prototyping phase. There are a number of options for prototypes including functional prototypes, aesthetic prototypes, and even video prototypes. The entire reason for making a prototype is to create a low cost way to explain your idea. Do not lose sight of the simplicity of prototyping in an effort to make a near perfect prototype. Once your prototype has been created, move on to the testing phase. Test your idea with the end users and recorded their feedback. Do they like it or hate it? What can be improved? Take all of their feedback and then return to the ideation face to iterate through process again. Each time your solution will be that much better and closer to solving the problem.
Because the five steps of design thinking can be repeated until a problem is solved, it is a highly effective problem solving methodology. Design thinking can be applied to almost any problem in any field to create a long lasting solution. Different types of problems require different tools within each of the five stages of design thinking. The best way to improved design thinking skills is to apply the methodology to different types of problems and to repeat the process multiple times.
Jay Cavenaugh
Student Ambassador