Design Thinking is an innovative and creative business methodology. It builds on the skills of a design professional, adapting them for the corporate sphere.
This approach has been used in the corporate world for over 11 years, but as not everyone knows this method of working, today we will point out the main information on “Design Thinking”.
What exactly is Design Thinking?
In free translation, Design Thinking means “design thinking”, but for the methodology, we interpret the term in English as“think like design”, since the know-how of this professional is the essence of this method.
Design Thinking is a methodology that can be applied to business at different levels within a company, whether in the creation of new products, in the provision of services, in the execution of processes, or even in the solution of problems.
This methodology is completely focused on people, on the user/client. Its purpose is to solve problems through a creative and innovative approach, taking into account the empathy of consumers, as well as that of the employees themselves.
Regarding employees, it is worth noting that this is a multidisciplinary methodology, which brings together professionals from different sectors and with different skills, with the aim of integrating, so that it is possible to optimize and enhance results.
Design Thinking Regarding employees, it is worth noting that this is a multidisciplinary methodology, which brings together professionals from different sectors and with different skills, with the aim of integrating, so that it is possible to optimize and enhance results.
The Basics of Design Thinking
The multidisciplinary methodology of Design Thinking is based on three main pillars, which are:
- Empathy: it's when we put ourselves in someone else's shoes, and thus understand the ideas, difficulties, feelings, and other experiences of the other, through a different perspective.
Empathy is fundamental in Design Thinking, because by having another look at a problem, it is easier to reach the ideal solution for it, and to transform these experiences into insights to develop a product and or service, which will in fact bring value to the user/customer.
- Collaboration: as Design Thinking is a multidisciplinary methodology, it is essential that there is collaboration between all those involved, as different perspectives on the same point contribute to the improvement of the project, as well as help to improve the results.
- Experimentation: this pillar suggests that those involved in the project experiment before actually delivering the product.
This way, it is possible to verify the presence of possible flaws, or even include something that was missing and further improve the final product. For this reason, experimentation is a fundamental pillar of Design Thinking.
Phases of Design Thinking
Each project has its particularities and challenges, and Design Thinking would be no different. However, it is possible to list some phases/steps to be followed to facilitate the development of a product or service through the Design Thinking methodology.
Some of these phases/stages are described as:
- Immersion: this is the discovery stage, understanding the problem that the team is willing to solve.
In this phase, exploratory and reference research should be carried out, a SWOT analysis, a verification of the current economic and political scenario, analysis of the target audience, and so on, until it is possible to identify the problem in depth.
- Ideation: here the team should look for solutions to the problem found earlier.
Collaborators must participate in brainstorming, where the central objective is to obtain numerous different ideas to reach the resolution.
That is, it is time to focus creativity, bring ideas and information without distinction to the team.
- Prototyping: in this step, the idea is to make a selection of the ideas and insights listed above, choosing the best alternatives to achieve the main objective.
After selecting the ideas, it is time to produce a minimum viable product (MVP), a simpler model of the product/service, which has a reduced cost and short production time.
- Testing: this is the phase in which the MVP, the prototype developed in the previous stage, is actually tested, where employees, or even users, will be able to use the product and provide feedback on it.
This phase is fundamental for the product/service to have maximum effectiveness at the end, as it will be possible to identify errors or improvements to be made, before the official market launch.
It is worth mentioning that, to put these steps into practice, they do not necessarily need to be in that order. They can be developed in parallel, or in different order, according to the need.
Key Design Thinking tools
There are different tools that can be used when the Design Thinking approach is chosen, some of them are directly related to the design process itself.
Among the main tools used in this methodology we can mention the following:
- Desk Research: also known as secondary research, Desk Research is the search for information from secondary data, that is, from pre-existing documents, which present data from a research that has already been carried out by others, such as newspapers , magazines, other completed projects, and so on.
- Empathy Map this tool consists of creating a table where six questions regarding the user/customer must be answered, with the aim of getting to know your customer better.
The questions are: what do you think and feel? What you see? What do you say and do? What do you hear? What are the pains? What are the needs?
- Brainstorming: also known as brainstorming, this tool is a practice developed within the team, where professionals present varied and undistinguished ideas for the project.
- this is a participatory dynamic, where tables are arranged as in a restaurant or cafe, and each table has a theme, a problem to be solved. this is a participatory dynamic, where tables are arranged as in a restaurant or cafe, and each table has a theme, a problem to be solved.
In them sit professionals from different areas of knowledge and sectors, which will discuss the themes proposed there, but from time to time, professionals change tables to discuss another subject. This means that there are different perspectives on the same problem.
- Gamification: this tool consists of bringing more playful dynamics, based on games, in different phases of the project.
- Co-creation with the client: here the idea is to bring the client together with the creation team, so that he can explain his doubts and desires, facilitating the understanding of the concept of the final product that he wants to receive.
Advantages of the Design Thinking methodology
Design Thinking brings numerous benefits to those who adopt this methodology, such as:
- Low implementation cost with high return potential;
- Communicative and empathetic organizational environment;
- More creative team;
- It strengthens in mistakes, because it uses them as feedback;
- Engagement of the company's professionals, as they have more freedom when exposing their ideas;
- Improved productivity as a result of employee motivation.
And you, did you know the Design Thinking methodology? When used in a project, this approach causes a significant improvement in the product, guaranteeing user/customer satisfaction. Invest yourself in this method of work too!
References:
https://escoladesignthinking.echos.cc/blog/2019/09/guia-design-thinking/
https://www.napratica.org.br/design-thinking-o-que-como-funciona/
https://www.fazeducacao.com.br/post/etapas-que-compoem-a-metodologia-de-design-thinking
https://fia.com.br/blog/design-thinking/
https://resultadosdigitais.com.br/blog/mapa-da-empatia/
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