Source: Stevens, 2023

Empathize

Design thinking, as defined by Tim Brown, is a human-centered approach to innovation, taking into account people’s needs and desires. The first step of the process, to empathize, specifically highlights the human focus of the approach. I would like to point out, however, that despite the importance of having a human-centered approach, defining design thinking this way is limiting. In the first step of the process, instead of solely empathizing with people, it is also about discovering problems.

Nevertheless, with this in mind, the first step of the process relates to discovering and understanding the problem you are faced with. In doing so, one must disregard all previous assumptions relating to the problem at hand to gain an accurate and scientific understanding of the issue and people’s needs. In the sense of empathizing, design thinking focuses on uncovering the needs and problems of people through tight-knit communication with the relevant consumers and communities. One would want to understand the problem from the perspective of the consumers, not just from the point of view of the company.

Define

From the information gathered and the uncovered underlying problems, we must piece together the different aspects to be able to clearly understand the problems at hand. In order to accomplish this, it is vital to analyze the data and the observations made, and proceed to define the core problems at hand.

Having clearly defined problems is crucial for the proceeding steps, as it enables each team member to distinctly understand the problems.

As a matter of fact, these two first steps of discovering and understanding the problem are arguably the most important steps of the process. For one to be able to create fitting solutions, one must fully understand the problems that he or she is being faced with and the driving forces of these problems. This involves asking questions such as “what caused this problem in the first place?”, “Is this just one problem, or several interconnected issues?”, “What are all the different factors playing a role here?”, and, importantly, “Have I missed anything?”. If one does not fully or correctly understand the situation, one can not expect to be able to create an optimal or even adequate solution.

“If I had spent an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions” – Albert Einstein

Ideate

Once you have listened to Einstein’s advice and spent 91.67% ((100/60)*55), or roughly 90%, of your time on the problem, we can move on to the solution phase of the design thinking process. The first shape of any solution is the idea, which is what is to be generated in this step. There is almost never just one solution to a problem. Therefore, during the creation of an idea, we do not want to generate one idea, but many. Due to the vast amount of information gathered and analyzed in the previous steps, in regard to the problem, we are equipped with a knowledge base that enables us to view the problem from different angles than those commonly assumed and viewed by the majority. This allows us to experiment and be innovative, which manifests exactly why we listened to Einstein in the first place.

From the several ideas you and your team have generated, it is time to find the optimal idea for the problem which you are trying to solve. Doing this, however, is not a black-and-white choice, but is difficult and can be costly in both time and money. One simple, yet effective method, proven by the many businesses applying it, is the method of trial-and-error, which brings us to the last two steps.

Prototype

In this step, the object is to transform the idea into the first look, or prototype, of the solution. Based on the last step, this requires us to decide on one idea which seems¨ to be the optimal one. As this is an experimental phase, transforming this idea into a prototype should mean it can be done efficiently and cost-effectively. Although it differs from product to product and between services, in order to make it cost-effective, the prototype could be a scaled-down version of the actual product, a specific function of the product, or even a visual prototype, either digitally or on paper.

In essence, this step makes it possible to test a “lesser” version of the product, or parts of it, out, which makes it possible to evaluate early in the process whether the solution does work as planned, or if there are any aspects that were false or could be improved.

Test

If the prototype proved promising, the next step in the process is testing. This could be the testing of the prototype developed, but it could also mean the first creation of the actual product if the prototype is not adequate for use. Testing the solution requires exposing it to the environment to which the product is due. If this is a consumer product, a testing group, a small group of consumers representing the target audience, is often relevant. If the solution is industry related, it might require a different environment, such as testing the aerodynamics of jets in a wind tunnel.

As mentioned above, this process is nonlinear; errors might come to light, for example, during testing, which would mean the team would move back to the process of ideation or prototyping, but now with new information available. Especially in the latter phases, new information and considerations will often present themselves, which provides the opportunity to take some steps back in order to improve the solution taking into account the knowledge gained.

Design thinking is more than just a model

It is important to note that, although this model is a great guide for understanding and executing design thinking, design thinking is not limited to this model. Even after a product hits the market, it might have to be improved or altered at a later stage, and design thinking, therefore, does not have to be limited to testing. We may take the example of a technology company delivering devices such as smartphones to consumers. The company had managed to successfully launch a new model of its smartphones. After having gathered further market data for a couple of years, the company gained knowledge that certain changes could be made to the software to enhance user experience. The company went back to the drawing board and established a new software that included these changes. In essence, the point to be made is that, even though the company had already launched the product some years back, they still used the principles of design thinking to further evaluate and improve their solution.

Another important aspect of design thinking is that it alters the way we make choices. In most instances, decision-making is driven by a convergent way of thinking; making the optimal decision out of what we already know. The issue with this is that such thinking does not spark innovation and creative thinking. On the other hand, we have a divergent approach to decision-making; exploring new ideas and solutions. Such thinking, which is sparked during the process of design thinking, challenges the status quo and takes on a mindset of growth, creativity, and curiosity. Design thinking employs this in the sense that it encourages you to dig into the problem you are faced with, in order to alter the perspective of things and establish innovative solutions (IDEO, n.d).

In a rapidly changing world, design thinking and divergent decision-making become even more important. Changes to the environment occur on a daily basis, whether it is technological, political, societal, or natural changes, and keeping up with everything is simply impossible. We must, therefore, assume that we know nothing, rather than everything, so that when we are faced with a problem, we put time and effort into understanding it, rather than proceed to make decisions and solutions based on previous assumptions.

Conclusion

Design thinking is commonly known by its 5-phase model. This model functions as a great tool and roadmap to innovation and problem-solving. That being said, design thinking is much grander than being just a model, as it provides solution- and innovation-oriented principles in general. Apart from the 5-phase design thinking process, the concept provides core considerations for innovation. It considers people’s needs, economic viability, and technological feasibility. Additionally, design thinking allows for a mindset consisting of growth, creativity, and curiosity, factors generally considered determinants for innovation.

Considering these aspects, we may conclude that design thinking is a way of thinking that centers on innovation. This is evident in both the principles brought from the approach, as well as the design thinking model itself.