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Design Thinking describes an approach used to solve problems in a creative and user-centric way.
Sometimes, and frustratingly so, the term gets thrown around as a buzzword without an understanding of its true principles.
At its core, the process is straightforward – considering your users, developing and refining ideas, seeking feedback and incorporating it into your product.
In this round of “Ask a Designer,” we asked members of our design team how they navigate through the essential dos and don’ts of design thinking, and how it aids in coming up with creative solutions.
Question 1
How do you describe design thinking to stakeholders?
Name: Viviam Alcalde
Title: Product Designer
Answer:
A way to explain design thinking is through the initial processes of empathizing and defining before the design itself, prototyping, testing and implementation.
We first need to understand the need for a solution through research and/or data, so we can identify the user pain points and then, we can try to solve those through design.
It isn’t just a matter of “design this and that” only considering the initial requirements of a problem, but to understand what the users really need so we can grasp what is generating the problem. The design is just one part of a bigger process that comes after those findings.
Finally, we need to continue researching to verify if the solution addresses the user needs and the problem, so we can improve or change it. If we “just design” without the other parts of the design thinking process, the time and money invested won’t be worth the effort because the problems will continue.
Name: Pranavi LMK
Title: Associate Product Designer
Answer:
To ensure that stakeholders understand what Design thinking is, it is important to explain its value and potential impact on their projects or goals.
Design thinking centers the problem-solving process around the end-user, producing more efficient and intuitive solutions.
First, we need to understand the problem. We must put ourselves in the shoes of the user and empathize with the problem they face. This step is important to understand the user’s needs and perspectives, methods like interviews and surveys are used to gather insights.
Once we understand the problem, we can define the problem statement and start coming up with ideas to solve it.
The next step is to pick out the best ideas from your ideation phase and turn them into representations like wireframes, sketches, prototypes.
Finally, you test your solutions with people who have the problem to see if they help. You listen to their feedback and iterate. Overall, the design thinking process will have better user satisfaction, space to innovate, and less chance to waste time and resources on creating products that do not resonate with user’s needs.
Name: Carlos Salguero
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
Design thinking is a methodology that weaves empathy for the user, creativity in ideation, and rationality in systematizing the user’s needs into a viable business strategy. I describe it to stakeholders as a lens through which we view our product development process, ensuring that every feature, interaction, and design decision is made with the end-user’s experience in mind.
It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about creating solutions that are as functional and user-friendly as they are visually appealing.
Name: Ram Kumarasubramanian
Title: Senior UX Researcher
Answer:
Design thinking is a systematic way of solving problems. We can break down this problem-solving process roughly into two parts:
- Finding out what needs to be solved and for whom, and which are the bigger problems that need attention right away
- Among the different ways in which we could solve these problems, what approach or approaches could we take to solve the problem in a way that is meaningful for the end users and the business
We do the first part by learning more about the problem and the audience through activities such as research, competitor analysis, and coming up with ‘How Might We’ questions that describe the problem in a general way without pointing to a specific solution.
The second part is about brainstorming, ideation, prototyping concepts, and testing to ensure that the problems are solved in the most efficient and elegant way within the scope of the constraints present.
Name: Dana Mitchell
Title: Seniors Product Designer
Answer:
Designs are typically something that evolves and changes over the course of its lifecycle. Design thinking is the iterative problem-solving process that supports that growth.
When I apply design thinking to a problem, my goal is to develop a deep understanding of a problem and to create solutions with that knowledge.
To help facilitate this, there are an endless number of tools and methods available. From interviewing the stakeholders or users to gain a better insight into their goal and pain points, brainstorming in a Figjam session, to mapping flows and analyzing metrics and user feedback. All the tools we use allow us to approach each new problem or project knowing that we will understand the problem and iterate our way to the best solution possible.
I would argue that so long as you are trying to understand your problem so you can create better solutions, you are employing design thinking (and by extension, designing) regardless of the tools you use.
Question 2
What do you appreciate the most within the design process?
Name: Viviam Alcalde
Title: Product Designer
Answer:
I mostly appreciate the challenge of finding a design solution from the findings we have had, because that challenge leads us to great things professionally and personally. The fact that the empathizing and defining phases structure the thinking of the design solution leads us to a different kind of art. In other types of art, we have a blank canvas (or artboard) and struggle to start – but any result could be appreciated in the end.
In Product Design, many times we come up with different solutions for the same problem but not every of them will address the problem properly. The struggle is to get the best one right away, that’s why we need data and testing after we deliver our designs.
Therefore, the challenge is what motivates me to explore more and question myself. It makes me humble but also proud when I can improve user experiences.
Name: Pranavi LMK
Title: Associate Product Designer
Answer:
I really appreciate the process of knowing what we will be designing instead of jumping right into it. With the design process, I have a clear understanding of the user, problem and solution that I want to create.
Personally, I really enjoy the ideate and prototype segment of the design process.
By exploring various ideas, we can uncover unexpected insights and alternate approaches to the solution. It pushes us to think out of the box. Prototyping helps me visualize the solution I had in mind. This helps the stakeholder, client, users understand the solution better. It allows us to iterate and test giving us the best result by the end.
Name: Carlos Salguero
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
What I most appreciate within the design process is the ideation phase. It’s an opportunity to diverge into a realm of creativity, brainstorming a myriad of possibilities without the constraints of feasibility, just yet.
This freedom to explore often leads to innovative solutions that might not have been discovered through a linear approach. It’s a collaborative dance of creativity that, when followed by convergent phases of refinement and testing, leads to impactful designs that resonate with users.
Name: Ram Kumarasubramanian
Title: Senior UX Researcher
Answer:
I appreciate the challenge of fundamentally viewing problems with a beginner’s mindset in the design process – to be able to explore and understand how we could learn and address opportunities with a fresh lens and come up with different solutions depending on the context and the resources available at our disposal.
The design process is, in its essence, iterative, which means there is an opportunity for improvement or change always round the corner.
Name: Dana Mitchell
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
Within the overarching design thinking process, I appreciate how easy communication can be when everyone is on the same page. Creating and sharing project documents and knowledge keep the silo walls down.
There is nothing so relieving as having a tricky flow mapped out during a conversation with stakeholders or developers, ensuring we all have the same understanding of the problem and/or solution.
Question 3
When shouldn’t design thinking be applied to a problem?
Name: Viviam Alcalde
Title: Product Designer
Answer:
When we already had had research and exploration with the same kind of users not long ago, or if something is “common sense” with a solution that is commonly successful.
For example, we don’t need to “reinvent the wheel” and use completely new concepts of buttons or icons to refresh the page, minimize a window, expand a dropdown, among other known actions. The users in these cases are familiarized with certain icons and behaviours. That could also be applied to flows like sending a message or getting notified of a new message. We, the users in general, expect certain things from those types of experiences.
Name: Pranavi LMK
Title: Associate Product Designer
Answer:
Design thinking is a great approach to problem solving, but it might not be necessary in problems that are not very complex. Design thinking requires a good amount of time and resources.
If the problem you are looking to solve is small, need to sort quickly and You already know the answers to your key questions like who, what, why, you do not need to go through the entire process.
Name: Carlos Salguero
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
Design thinking might not be the best approach when the problem at hand is well-defined and calls for a straightforward solution, or when there are time constraints that don’t allow for the iterative, explorative nature of the design thinking process.
It’s also less suitable for situations where legal, regulatory, or safety constraints limit the scope for creativity and user-led design.
Name: Ram Kumarasubramanian
Title: Senior UX Researcher
Answer:
It is helpful to view design thinking through the team’s confidence about a problem and the value a feature or a product or a service might create for the end user and the business.
Design thinking is often helpful in the context of meaty and complex problems, which, when solved, can improve parameters such as user satisfaction, delight and ease while contributing to the business’s bottom line.
A lean research framework called ‘Sprint‘ is more relevant when design thinking needs to be applied to move the effort directionally in a short time, such as a week.
Name: Dana Mitchell
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
I’ve literally used a design thinking mindset when I’m trying to make dinner. Have I made this dish in the past, if so, was it successful? How will I change the recipe this time? What do I want my dinner to taste like? Sure, it may only take me 5 minutes to solve the “problem”, but I’m still leveraging the iterative nature of design thinking.
Question 4
What is one of the biggest mistakes being made within the design thinking process?
Name: Viviam Alcalde
Title: Product Designer
Answer:
Thinking that when the design is delivered the work is done and the problem is solved.
The feedback, data, and use of the solution will say if the work is done or not, and when it needs to change. Those are part of the design thinking process and when we forget about them, we aren’t doing proper design thinking.
Sooner or later, we will need to change the solution because things always change requirements, problems, types of users or audiences, or even design trends.
Name: Pranavi LMK
Title: Associate Product Designer
Answer:
One of the biggest mistakes that is made during the design thinking process is assuming you know the user and their needs well and jumping to the prototype/solution phase. Understanding the user and empathizing with them will help you stay relevant to the problem.
Sometimes design thinking can be a long process with repetitive iterations and going around the circle over and over. You should plan out time and resources well to manage that. Empathize and define phases help you set up that plan, because you can identify the solution and can estimate the time needed to ideate, prototype and test.
Name: Carlos Salguero
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
One of the biggest mistakes in the design thinking process is skipping the empathy stage and jumping straight to ideation and prototyping. Without a deep understanding of the user’s needs, pain points, and contexts, the solutions we create may be innovative but not necessarily effective or needed. It’s like trying to write a novel without knowing the main character – it results in a narrative that lacks depth and resonance.
Name: Ram Kumarasubramanian
Title: Senior UX Researcher
Answer:
Not involving the designers and researchers early in the process and including them only to test concepts or build designs based on ideas already set in stone. By failing to include those who might help develop a more comprehensive view of the problems that need to be solved early enough, organizations risk building things that need to be reworked.
Name: Dana Mitchell
Title: Senior Product Designer
Answer:
Honestly, thinking that design thinking is something that is only part of the “designer’s toolkit”. You can apply the mindset that design thinking fosters to so many different scenarios, both personally and professionally.
From my work as a mentor, I would say that the biggest mistake I’ve seen is using design thinking as a specific process.
It’s important to consider the why behind the tools and methods that we use, or we risk creating work that doesn’t actually help solve the problem. Not every project will need the same activities or workshops.
I would argue that one of the marks of “senior-ship” in designers is being able to identify a problem and use the most appropriate tool for the job, while being able to explain why.
Takeaway
The insights shared by our design team members highlight the nuanced and holistic approach of design thinking.
It’s evident that effective design thinking goes beyond mere aesthetics; it’s about deeply understanding user needs, empathizing with their experiences, and iterating solutions based on feedback and data. Stakeholders must grasp the value of this approach, recognizing its potential to yield efficient, user-centric solutions that resonate with end-users while aligning with business objectives.
The dos and don’ts outlined underscore the importance of each phase in the design thinking process, from empathizing and defining the problem to ideating, prototyping, testing, and iterating. Skipping or rushing through any stage risks compromising the effectiveness of the solution.
Moreover, design thinking shouldn’t be confined solely to designers; its principles can be applied across various domains, fostering innovation and problem-solving in diverse contexts.
The discussions herein emphasize the iterative nature of design thinking and the necessity of continual refinement based on user feedback and evolving requirements. Overlooking this iterative aspect or treating design thinking as a rigid process can lead to missed opportunities and ineffective solutions.
Ultimately, embracing a comprehensive understanding of design thinking as a collaborative, user-centered, and iterative approach is essential for addressing complex problems, fostering innovation, and delivering impactful solutions that meet both user needs and business objectives.
Liked the insights shared in this article?
Catch our previous Ask A Designer articles here:
Ask A Designer: An Open Conversation with Product & UX Designers
Ask A Designer Round 2: Questions For Designers, From Developers
Ask A Designer Round 3: Staying Curious
Ask A Designer Round 4: Considering Accessibility and Designing Inclusively
