Framework

Design Thinking

What is the Design Thinking Framework?

Also known as Human Centered Design, Design Thinking has been the leading methodology driving ideas for businesses over the last 20 years.

What makes Design Thinking unique is it helps you to dream up scores of ideas about new products and services from the user’s point of view. Creating innovative new solutions rooted in people’s actual needs.

Why Should Your Company Embrace Design Thinking?

Put simply, it works!

The 17 Design Thinking firms of the S&P 500 outperformed the rest of the S&P 500 by 211% over a 10-year study!

There are several things that design thinking firms do differently than others.  Those activities (checklist) must be met to be considered a design thinking company.  Those S&P firms that met those requirements were shown to significantly do better than the rest of their competitors.  

The reason is simple: You are putting the customers needs first and ensuring that what you build meets their needs.  

Design Thinking

How Does it Work?

The 3 Lenses of Design Thinking

We view products and services from the three lenses of design thinking.  This helps the team, or designer, view the solution from the customer perspective, the company’s capability perspective, and the finance perspective.  If any one of these three things does not work, you will most likely fail.

  1. Desirability – Does anyone want it?
  2. Feasibility – Can we build it?
  3. Viability – Can we make a profit?

The 3 Phases of Design Thinking:

  1. Understand (Walk in the customers’ shoes”)
  2. Explore (Ideate solutions)
  3. Materialize (Test ideas)

How Does This Work With Innovation Tools?

The leading innovation frameworks integrate design thinking concepts into their tools and processes.  Design thinking is more of a mindset and hi-level concepts, rather than a specific tool that must be used.  

Thought leaders such as Strategyzer, LeanStack and Blue Ocean Institute use these principles within their frameworks.  Many companies around the world use design thinking methods, so it is often an easy transition to use the leading innovation tools since the mindset is similar.

Brian Gladden

Brian has been trained by IDEO in the foundations of design thinking.