Let’s quickly recap what we’ve learned in the 1st part of this two-part series:
What is Design Thinking?
Design Thinking is a solution driven problem-solving approach that tackles big ideas in a manageable way, to help you learn and grow.
Why have we adopted Design Thinking approach? And why you should too!
Design Thinking has transformed our view of the problems and questions we face. It has helped us step outside of the traditional boxes with visual thinking, creativity, and innovation in order to find new solutions to the same old issues. Plus, it can be easily applied to all industries irrespective of their size.
How can it help you grow?
- By bringing the spotlight on the end-user (your clients/customers)
- By harnessing the collective power of your team
- By rebooting your business philosophy
- By solving real business problems
In the 2nd part of the series, you’ll learn how to introduce the principles of Design Thinking to your daily operations, in order to transform your brand.
How can you become a Design Thinker?
The core of this approach is to think differently and to reframe the problems and solutions we assume we have the answer to.
By defining the right problem to solve. You can even try to visually represent the problem or scenario.
Establishing the proper amount of time for truly thinking through the work being done and measuring its merit as a viable solution to solve the challenge at hand.
By combining creative and critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organized, decisions to be made, situations to be improved, and knowledge to be gained.
Gaining different perspectives is obviously important and this is where the cross-functional blending of teams adds real value.
It’s important that many solutions be ideated no matter what the problem at hand is and be careful not to overanalyze each idea.
No Judging and criticising thoughts and ideas should be allowed in a brainstorming meeting. Vocalize this rule from the start with your team. Help people feel comfortable to speak up and say anything.
Encourage the practice of mindful thinking by giving your team enough time to prepare pre-meeting and some time for reflection post-meeting. Did you know that Google formally allows 20% of their employees’ time to think and do their own thing? That says a lot about the value of thinking.
A design-centric culture begins by having a strategic intent and broad commitment from an organization’s senior leadership, including at the executive and board levels.
To make design a driving force within a company, everyone—from executive leadership to engineering, marketing to sales—should receive training and coaching in design thinking, whether it be in-person workshops or online courses.
Pro-tip: How we do it!
We’re traversing from our earlier focus on design thinking to design doing, where we relentlessly focus on the end-to-end customer experience. This means that before anything gets built, the whole team—designers, strategists, SEO specialists, account planners—interacts with your brand and its customers, to ensure that the team understands the problem well, and together, they design the best solution.
