How Design Thinking can change the way you do business

As described by Lockwood (2016, p.19), Design Thinking is a human-centered approach that encompasses observation, collaboration, learning, visualising ideas, prototyping, and aims to encourage transformation, innovation, and strategy.

Since its inception, Design Thinking has continued to rise in popularity, influencing ways of living, and business operations. The method is frequently used to develop solutions in academic, professional, and personal settings (Tschmimel 2012).

The process behind Design Thinking involves the designer’s ability to consider human needs, new styles of living, resources, materials available, and any challenges or opportunities that may arise when conceptualising a project or business solution (Tschmimel 2012).

This article covers a selection of Design Thinking Models and discusses their function and use:

Design Thinking Models

Zurb Design Thinking Model

Image source: Zurb (2017)

The Zurb model is a five-phase process designed to enhance clarity, creativity, and opportunities. It is designed for team members across different roles to follow and collaborate effectively with others in their organisation (Zurb Word 2017). The Zurb Model stages include:

Define: Define a plan, distinguish goals, and plans to accomplish them. The designer should align themselves with the competition and construct the user’s needs.

Ideate: Create, sketch, draw, and visualise the flow of the product. In the ideate stage, marketing messages and written content should accompany the sketches.

Prototype: Develop front-end prototypes and gain feedback through user testing. During this stage, the aim is to try and test the idea as much as possible to ensure all features will function and work efficiently once built.

Build: Once the feedback, alterations, and information are collected from prototyping, the product is ready to be built. The product should be finalised at this stage, ready for the user.

Analyse: After the product has been finalised and delivered to the masses, the analyse phase can begin. The goal is to obtain insights through research and user feedback, and see how the end-user interacts with the product (Zurb Word 2017).

The Double Diamond Diagram

Image source: Design Council (2015)

The Double Diamond Diagram is a nonlinear model comprised of two diamonds that represent the process of delving into an issue or problem on a wider and deeper scale. The model involves free-flowing divergent thinking, followed by a more focused approach known as convergent thinking (Design Council 2015).

The diamond is segmented into the following steps:

Discover: First diamond: Assists people to understand what the problem is. This involves speaking, collaborating, and spending time with those affected by the issue.

Define: Gather insights from the discovery step to define a challenge in an alternative way.

Develop: Second diamond: Encourages people to provide different answers to a problem or issue. This involves seeking inspiration and collaboration with others.

Deliver: Test outing out a variety of solutions, discarding those that do not work, and refining the existing ones that do (Design Council 2015).

The Loop by IBM

Image source: Nurmoslim (2018)

As described by IBM (2019), the Loop is a continuous cycle of observing, reflecting, and making and aims to keep moving in the face of uncertainty (Nurmoslim 2018). The Loop encourages momentum by circulating a problem and committing to a decision that is deemed the best (IBM 2019). The Loop involves three phases:

Observe: Take note of what others might not see. Immerse in the real world. Discover what is important to the user and how the work shopped ideas will uphold user expectations.

Reflect: Create and develop a plan, share ideas, and point of view with teammates. In this process, thoughts and ideas should be synchronised with others.

Make: Explore and communicate possibilities, develop ideas, and convert intent into a product or concept (Nurmoslim 2018).

The Six Thinking Hats

Image source: Roca (2018)

Developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, the Six Thinking Hats are a systematic and dynamic way of thinking. The model encourages team members to wear a metaphorical ‘hat’ to focus on problems and work through issues more effectively (de Bono Thinking Systems, 2013).

According to the University of South Australia (2019), by ‘wearing’ and ‘switching’ hats, team members are encouraged to consider different opinions, opportunities, and decisions from the various perspectives. Each hat represents six distinct categories:

White hat: The white hat looks at the facts, statistics, information, and gaps in the problem.

Red hat: The red hat covers the feelings and emotions associated with the problem, focusing more on intuition rather than logic.

Yellow hat: Often labelled the opposite of the black hat, the yellow hat exudes the positive aspects of a situation. The yellow hat strives to understand how ideas will work.

Green hat: The green hat represents creativity, different ways of thinking, evocative ideas, and change. The purpose of this hat is to approach the problem with new ideas.

Blue Hat: This hat aims to collate everything that has been learned or presented within a discussion and produce a way forward to develop a solution.

Black Hat: The black hat represents judgement, examination, and caution. This hat should be viewed as a logical rather than cynical way to determine the feasibility of ideas (University of South Australia 2019).

DEEP Design Thinking

Image source: DEEP Design Thinking (2010)

Developed by Mary Cantwell, an empathy engineer, and design thinking integrator, the DEEP Design Thinking Model, is a non-rigid model that is designed to be easy to remember, practice, and apply at any stage (DEEP Design Thinking 2010). The model comprises of three phases. They are:

Discover: This involves figuring out what needs fixing and what content is required to understand and tackle the problem through research and observation.

Empathise: Designers go directly to users to obtain a better understanding of the problem or issue.

Experiment: This phase involves brainstorming and creating the prototype before the final stage.

Produce: This phase enables designers to gauge the effectiveness of their empathy and communication and measure how and if they have provided a solution for the user (DEEP Design Thinking 2010).

Companies that use Design Thinking

Google: Google prides itself on innovation and Design Thinking. They use a linear process for brainstorming and transforming ideas into products. This process involves getting to know the user, thinking times ten, and prototyping. Google also has a space known as Google Garage where employees can experiment, test, and craft prototypes (Lafargue 2016).

Procter & Gamble: Seeking to re-brand skincare brand ‘Oil of Olay,’ Procter & Gamble (P&G), adopted Design Thinking to learn the mind of a user and understand their behaviours, attitudes, and thought processes. P&G decided to look at their non-customers rather than existing and developed products that catered to different demographics.

The result of Design Thinking lead P&G to launch ‘Olay Total Effects,’ a product marketed towards younger women. This new product amassed double-digital sales growth and established a strong and growing customer base (Shah 2017).

Airbnb: Airbnb asked their designers to research the function of the star rating given to listed dwellings. The design team implemented an empathetic approach to the situation and came up with the idea to replace the star with a heart. The team found that the stars appeared cold and uninviting, while the hearts came across warm and friendly. This idea worked, and the business grew by more than thirty per cent over the financial year (BBVA 2019).

To conclude, Design Thinking is a different way of exploring issues and developing solutions using a human-centred approach. By undertaking an empathetic approach, the various Design Thinking models offer alternative ways to solve wicked social problems keeping the user in mind. Its use in business settings has revolutionised the way designers collaborate and execute ideas, which has led to new ways of thinking, sparked creativity, and even generated profit. Design Thinking is changing the traditional face of problem-solving for the better.

References

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