What is DESIGN THINKING?

A non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users,

challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative
solutions to prototype and test.

The world has become increasingly interconnected

and complex since cognitive scientist and Nobel
Prize laureate Herbert A. Simon first mentioned
design thinking in his 1969 book, The Sciences of the
Artificial, and then contributed many ideas to its
principles.
Extremely helpful in solving
problems that are ill defined or
unknown
Design teams use design thinking to
tackle ill-defined/unknown problems
(aka wicked problems) because they
can reframe these in human-
centric ways and focus on what’s most
important for users.
 FIVE PHASES:
These stages are not always sequential, and teams
often run them in parallel, out of order and repeat
them in an iterative fashion.

Source: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation

STAGE 1: EMPATHIZE - Research Your Users' Needs

• Gain an empathetic understanding of the problem you’re trying to

solve, typically through user research.
• Allows you to set aside your own assumptions about the world and
gain real insight into users and their needs.
Human Centered Design
• There are many different human-centered design methods that have
their own applications with specific contexts.

• What they have in common though, is that they all look at the
interaction between people and the products.
How to Develop an Empathic Approach in Design Thinking?
Why and How to Use It?

What did the users SAY? What did the user DO?
Write down
Describe which actions
significant
and behaviours you
quotes and key
noticed or insert
words that the
pictures or drawing.
user said.

What did the user THINK? How did the user FEEL?

Dig deeper. What do you think that What emotions might your user be
your user might be thinking? What are feeling? Take subtle cues like body
their motivations, their goals, their language and their choice of words
needs, their desires? What does this and tone of voice into account.
tell you about his or her beliefs?
Stage 2: Define—State Your Users' Needs and Problems
Stage 3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and
Create Ideas
Exhibit 1 The four questions

? What is? What if? What wows? What works? $

Source: From Solving Problems with Design Thinking © 2013 Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew
King and Kevin Bennett. By permission of Columbia University Press
 used the
learning from
that first stage
to envision
multiple
Exhibit 1 The four questionsoptions for
creating a new
future.
helped managers took them into
make some choices the real world to
about where to interact with
examined current reality focus first actual users
through small
experiments.

? What is? What if? What wows? What works? $

Source: From Solving Problems with Design Thinking © 2013 Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew
King and Kevin Bennett. By permission of Columbia University Press
What is? What if? What wows? What works? – explored a different
stage of the design thinking process.

Ø‘‘What is?’’ examined current reality.

Ø‘‘What if?’’ used the learning from that first stage to envision multiple
options for creating a new future.

Ø‘‘What wows?’’ helped managers make some choices about where to

focus first, and

Ø‘‘What works?’’ took them into the real world to interact with actual
users through small experiments.
1 Visualization
using imagery to envision
6 Concept Development
assembling innovative elements
possibilities and bring them into a coherent alternative solution
to life that can be explored and evaluated

2 Journey Mapping
assessing the existing
7 Assumption Testing
isolating and testing the key
experience through the assumptions that will drive the
customer’s eyes success or failure of a concept

3 Value Chain Analysis

assessing the current value
8 Rapid Prototyping
expressing a new concept in a
chain that supports the tangible form for exploration,
customer’s journey testing, and refinement

4 Mind Mapping
generating insights from
9 Customer Co-Creation
enrolling customers to participate
exploration activities and using in creating the solution that best
those to create design criteria meets their needs

5 Brainstorming
generating new possibilities
10 Learning Launch
creating an affordable experiment
and new alternative business that lets customers experience the
models new solution over an extended
period of time, to test key
assumptions with market data

Source: From Solving Problems with Design Thinking © 2013 Jeanne

Liedtka, Andrew King and Kevin Bennett. By permission of Columbia
University Press
Exhibit 3 Design tools

What is? What if? What wows? What works?

Source: From Solving Problems with Design Thinking © 2013 Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew King
and Kevin Bennett. By permission of Columbia University Press
Hunt For Next Big Market Opportunity
Initial Ideas – Worked Out in a Brainstorming
Session
• Frequently the levels of knowledge
of the individual team members in
terms of the problem statement and
a possible solution spectrum are
quite different

• Helps in approaching the task and

learning how the others in the group
think
20 minutes for a
brainstorming session: Every
idea is written on a Post-it
When writing or sketching on
the Post-it, the idea is
expressed aloud and the note
is stuck to a pin board
Ask the group to answer the following Key Qs
• Which ideas come to mind
spontaneously?
• Which solution approaches are pursued
by the others?
• What can we do differently?
• Do we all have the same understanding
of the problem statement?
DEVELOP CRITICAL FUNCTIONALITIES THAT
ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE USER
Identify and rank in the context of a critical user

Answer the key questions

• Which functionalities are mandatory?
• What experience is absolutely necessary for the user?
• What is the relationship between the function and the experience?
FIND BENCHMARKS FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES AND EXPERIENCES
ASK
• Which successful concepts and experiences can be applied to the
problem?
• Which experiences can illuminate the problem from another
perspective?
• What is the relationship between the problem and other experience?
HIGHTEN CREATIVITY AND FIND THE DARK HORSE AMONG THE IDEAS
Borders are Lifted for Dark Horse
Time for teams to heighten creativity and accept the maximum risk.
STRIVE FOR MAXIMUM SUCCESS AND ACCEPT THE MAXIMUM RISK

One possibility for creation of a dark horse is to omit essential elements

of a given situation
“How would you design an IT service desk without IT problems?”
“What does a windshield wiper look like without a windshield?”
“What would a cemetery look like if no one died?”
IDEA IS TO LEAVE THE COMFORT ZONE and “do it in any case”,
no matter what will occur
ASK
• Which radical possibilities have not been considered thus far?
• Which experiences lie outside anything imaginable?
• Are there products and services that would expand value creation?
IMPLEMENTATION OF A FUNKY PROTOTYPE TO GIVE FREE REIN TO
CREATIVITY
The building of a funky prototype cranks up creativity one more notch.
It encourages the teams to maximize the learning success and at the
same time minimize the costs in terms of time and attention.

The goal is to develop solutions that mainly focus on the benefit.

Potential costs and any budget restrictions are completely removed.
ASK
• What crazy ideas are super cool?
• For which idea would you have to ask forgiveness in the end?
• What does an idea look like that is realized ad hoc and has not been
planned?
DETERMINE THE VISION OF THE IDEA WITH THE VISION PROTOTYPE
In the Vision Prototype, we make initial
combination of:
• Prior knowledge (caution is advisable here)
• Best initial ideas
• Most important critical functionalities
• New ideas of other industries and experiences
• Initial user experience
• Intriguing insights (e.g. from the dark horse)
• The simplest possible solution
Vision Prototype
• Test with at least three potential users
• Feedback captured in detail
• In the best-case-scenario, these users are then involved in the
subsequent concretization of the design thinking project.
How to Get a Good Problem Statement?
• The Design Thinking Team must have understood the problem.
• The design challenge must be defined to allow for the development
of useful solutions.
• The potential solution must fit the defined design space and design
scope.
Breaking down the problems
• SIMPLE (well defined)
Clear problem > different paths > one solution

• POORLY DEFINED (ill-defined)

Unclear problem > different paths > different solutions

• COMPLEX (wicked)
Unknown problem > different paths> a partial solution that helps
make the problem definition clearer
Repeatedly asking “Why?” expands the creative framework;
Asking “How?” scales it down

Expanding the
problem statement:
WHY?

Narrowing down
solution variants:
HOW?
WICKED PROBLEMS
HOW MIGHT WE?
FINDING THE DESIGN CHALLENGE
HOW MIGHT WE improve the customer-experience chain of places and
things that are visited or used daily?

Examples:
HOW MIGHT WE improve the online shopping experience of a shoe
retailer?
HOW MIGHT WE improve the customer satisfaction for the restaurant
in our chain of restaurants?
HOW MIGHT WE improve customer satisfaction with the ticket
app/booking for public transport/train/air in India?
…or change perspective
• What if….?
• What might be possible?
• What would change behavior?
• What would be an offer if business ecosystems connected with each
other?
• What is the impact of a promotion?
• What will happen afterwards?
• Are there any opportunities where other people only see problems?
…or take a closer look at the existing product or service (e.g.
customer experience chain when buying a music subscription
like Wynk/Amazon)

• What does the music behavior of a user look like?

• How does the customer get information on new music offerings?
• How and where will the customer install the product or service?
• How does the customer use the product?
• How does the customer act when the product does not work as
expected?
• How satisfied is the customer with the entire customer experience
chain?
HOW MIGHT WE….
Free ourselves of assumptions in needfinding?
DESIGN THINKING PROCESS
The 9 Building Blocks

Key Resources
Customer Relationships
Key resources are the assets
CustomerSegments Customer relationships are
established and maintained required to offer and deliver the
An organization serves one or
several CustomerSegments. with eachCustomer Segment. previouslydescribed elements…

Value Propositions Channels

It seeks to solve Value propositions are RevenueStreams Key Activities
customerproblems delivered to customers Revenue streams result …by performing a
and satisfy customer through communication,
from value propositions numberof Key
distribution, and sales
needs with value successfully offered to Activities.
Channels.
propositions. customers.
Key Cost Structure
Partnerships
Some activities are The business model
outsourced and elements result in
some resources are the cost structure.
acquired outside
the enterprise.
 Key Customer
Activities relationships

Key Customer
Partners segments

Value
Proposition
Key
Resources

Channels

Cost Revenue
Structure Stream
EMOTIONAL EMPATHY: feeling the feeling of others

In what situation do you find yourself now, where your customers, employees, yourself, or community are
emotionally distressed?

Are you causing this distress? How might you redesign what you do, to alleviate it?

Will it require a focused change to your product or service or a system-wide change involving others?

If you’re not the key player causing the distress, how might you catalyze and take part in the change?
Active Empathy – compassion – stepping to help another

Write down your thoughts on the following, whether you’ll ultimately take action or not.

Whom did you help yesterday? Who helped you?

Could that help become a product, service, or system for many? What could it become? How?

Have you solved a problem of your own and wished you didn’t have to? Who else might be in that situation? How might
you help them?

Whom have you seen that you didn’t help? Are there others like them? What could you do?

If you did reach out, could it become a product, service, or system for many? Draw/design/describe
OBSERVING
Storytelling: Every great design begins with an even better story

What do I want to tell? (Content.)

Whom do I want to tell? (Target)
Why do I want to tell? (Goal)
How do I want to tell? (Platform)

Ask yourself…

Is it simple to understand? (No jargon, no buzzwords please!)

Is it fun to engage? (Try humor!)
Does it create a desire to share further? (Interesting, informative, and inspiring)

Give it a try
Just begin
Revise
Revise again
Repeat
Nobody gets it perfect on the first try
Find a partner.

First the two of you work solo. Each one of you will tell a business story.

You may choose any aspect of an existing or imaginary business. You may write, draw, or video – or do all!!

Exchange your story with your partner.

You will retell your partner’s story your way.