Operational Governance Knowledge Flashcards No. 08/19
Design Thinking
From the Operational Governance flashcard deck; today this discipline goes by BizOps. The original card is republished here as a field note.
01 What is it
Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative (repetition of a process) process which seeks to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test.
Interaction Design Foundation
A human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.
IDEO
02 When is it useful
When addressing dynamic, multifaceted, and inherently human problems. It has become crucial to develop and refine skills which allow us to understand and act on rapid changes in our environment and behavior.
Design thinking addresses the fact that people need their interactions with technologies and other complex systems to be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable. It focuses on users’ experiences — especially the emotional ones.
03 How to use it
These stages are not always sequential: designers often run them in parallel, out of order, and repeat them iteratively.
- 1Empathize
- 2Define
- 3Ideate
- 4Prototype
- 5Test
Empathize
The best solutions come from the best insights into human behavior. Use those insights to design innovative solutions.
Define
More than simply defining the problem: your Point of View is a unique design vision, framed by your specific users.
Ideate
Generate the widest possible range of ideas against your Point of View, before judging any of them.
Prototype
In early stages, keep prototypes inexpensive and low resolution, to learn quickly and explore possibilities.
Test
An iterative mode in which you place low-resolution prototypes in the context of your users.
04 Common pitfalls
Not to be confused with brainstorming: by bringing together the right people, creating the right environment, and using the right tools, you can drastically improve the outcomes of such initiatives.
05 References and resources
- Stanford’s d.school Design Thinking Bootleg — a 90-page beginner’s guide: “In your hands you hold a Design Thinking Bootleg, a set of tools and methods that we keep in our back pockets, and now you can do the same”
- “The Difference Between Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile” — Steve Glaveski, Medium
- IDEO’s definition and insights on design thinking
- Indra Nooyi, Harvard Business Review, on design thinking
- HBR — “Design thinking comes of age”
- Google re:work — the design thinking guide