5 Steps of Design Thinking Process

Last Updated on May 21, 2021 by DesignerPeople

When we hear about design thinking, the majority of people assume concept being associating with Designers and Yes even name suggest the same but not in reality. Design thinking is not at all an exclusive property of designers; it associates with all people who are innovators. They can be into science, art, business, music, or engineering.

So then why the term is called Design Thinking? That’s because it is a work process which can help one to systematically extract, teach, learn and apply human-centered techniques to resolve problems innovatively and creatively. While it can be from business, designs to countries and day to day lives.

Market leaders such as Apple, Google, GE and Samsung have rapidly adopted the approach of Design Thinking. Even leading universities such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford are considering this concept in their teaching syllabus.

Let us understand what Design Thinking definition is and its different phases.

Design thinking is a non-linear process, which seeks to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. Agile and design thinking are same as both can adapt to changing conditions and as per requirements.

Design Thinking revolves around an in-depth interest in developing an understanding of the people for whom we are designing the services or products.

In recent times, it has become a very crucial task to generate and refine skills which allow us to understand and act on the continuously changing environment and customer behaviour. The world has become interconnected and complex; hence, this approach offers a means to struggle with all changes in a more human-centric process.

source: www.eventshigh.com/detail/bangalore/3cbbca6353accddb3d347374732f3624-insight-into-design-thinking-process

The five stages of Design Thinking:

1. Empathize – Understand and research the user needs

2. Define – Identify and state pain points of users

3. Ideate – Challenge assumptions and create ideas

4. Prototype – Generate solutions

5. Test – Execute and try out solutions

Also Read: How to Attract Customers by Your Product Packaging Design?

It is not necessary that above all steps should be sequential. They do not need to follow a specific order and can occur in a parallel and repetitive manner. All levels are seen in a holistic way that contributes to a completely innovative process and not as individual steps.

1. Empathize- Understand and research the user needs

source: theconfidencepost.com/2014/05/06/stop-listen-and-empathize/

Design thinking process allows you to an empathetic understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve, typically through user research.

Here the focus is involved in gaining an empathic understanding of the pain points and actual problem, which is to be solved. Empathy is very critically attached to the human-centered design process. Allows design thinkers to set aside their assumptions about the world to gain prospects knowledge and their needs.

Here it also involves consulting experts and professionals to identify the area of concerns through observing, engaging and empathizing with people. Their experiences and motivations are analyzed to gain a more in-depth understanding of the issues involved.

2. Define-Identify and state pain points of users

source:

Where in the first stage accumulation of information is gathered and stored now you start analyzing the observations and define the core problems. Make sure here problems statement identifies with the human-centric approach.

Here learners witness the emphasis on getting to be mindful of people groups need and creating bits of knowledge. Define stage will help designers in team to gather creative ideas to establish features, functions and any other factors which allows them to solve the problem effectively.

3. Ideate- Challenge assumptions and create ideas

source: www.energyinnovation.net.au/event/ideation-brainstorming-how-to-develop-business-ideas-and-solutions

Ideating is a significant part of design thinking, and here designers are ready to generate ideas as they reach the third stage. With rich background now team has to plan and make ideas which are “out of the box” to identify new practical solutions to the problem statement. Here designers go through brainstorming, brainwriting, worst possible approach to scamper this will generate a free flow of thinking. It is mandated to gain maximum problem solutions at the initial stage of ideation phase so that at earliest ideas can be tested and be ready for execution.

4. Prototype-Start to create solution 

source: www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process

Designers test the complete product using the best solutions and techniques for each problem identified in the above stages of the design thinking process. The team here produces inexpensive and scaled-down versions of the product to investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous step. Prototypes may be shared and tested within a team, other department or within the small pilot group who are outside the designing team.

This phase is experimental, and here the aim is to identify the best possible solution for each problem which is identified. The answers are implemented within the prototypes and hence are either accepted or reworked. By the end of this step, the design team will have a better idea of constraints and problems.

5. Test-Try out solutions

source: www.robotlab.com/blog/design-thinking-5-stage-process

The final stage, where results are generated during the testing phase, is often used to redefine one or more issues. How prospects think, feel, behave and empathize is understood in this stage. Even during this phase, a lot of alterations and refinements are made so that the optimum result is gain. Designers can also choose to return to previous stages if required in the process to ensure further, alterations and refinements to rule out alternative solutions.

BENEFITS OF HAVING A DESIGN THINKING APPROACH

1. Helps in tracking creative challenges, design thinking allows you to take a look at the problem from a completely different perspective.
2. Assists in effectively meeting client requirements as design thinking involves prototyping all the various products at the MVP stage go through multiple rounds of testing and customer feedback for assured quality.
3. The design process goes through various evaluations and corrections. The process doesn’t stop even after the deliverable is complete.

Companies continue to measure the results based on the feedback received and ensure that the customer has the best experience using the product.

4. Design thinking helps businesses better identity, understanding of concern problems. It values solutions over processes and creativity and innovations over traditions.
5. Gives opportunity for multiple perspectives ensures that the outcome meets the objectives and client requirements.

source: www.spring2innovation.com/2019/04/design-thinking-vs-user-centred-design/

source: ideatehighacademy.com/design-thinking/

Conclusion:

The biggest asset of design thinking is its human-centric feelings and playful thinking. The courage to try something new and creative, the curiosity for other people’s lives, the cooperation with others is all that it takes to understand. Design thinking is all about product development and can bring various benefits it is not just a trend that will fade away in a month. It is gaining some serious traction, not only in product companies but also in other fields such as education and science.  DesignerPeople understands the value of design thinking and consider it as competitive advantage which renders productive and creative results.

Author: Priyanka Thakkar

Passionate, adventurous and my never-ending learning approach lead me towards the world of content writing after working years in core marketing profile. My experience of working in world-famous MNC motivated me to understand the niche requirement of strategic words to communicate correctly about brand message towards people. My zeal in an informal way of writing articles allows anyone to enrich their knowledge in the world of branding, packaging and digital marketing. Being an MBA in Marketing and HR, my excellence lies in framing marketing strategies as well as relationship building. Do connect me personally my LinkedIn & I love to share my expertise with you.