Back to: User Interface (UI) Design Course
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and experimentation. It involves understanding the needs and perspectives of the end-users, defining the problem, ideating potential solutions, prototyping and testing those solutions, and iterating based on feedback.
1. Design thinking is for you
“Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” – Herbert Simon
Design thinking is the mindset that aims to improve the situation of people through the experiences they have. If you’re interested in solving problems for people, then you can practice design thinking.
Herbert Simon (1916 — 2001)
An American economist and political scientist whose primary interest was decision-making within organizations. He received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1978 and the Turing Award in 1975. His research was noted for its interdisciplinary nature and spanned the fields of cognitive science, computer science, public administration, management, and political science.
2. So, what is an experience?
Is it a coffee maker? Or is it a person enjoying a cup of coffee?
3. It’s more than any product or service
Think of the last time you had tea, coffee, or hot cocoa. Maybe it was this morning. How did it make you feel? Why did you drink it? What else were you doing at the time?
Chances are your answers to those questions are different than anyone else who drank a hot beverage recently. Those answers represent your experience.
Design thinking requires you to consider a person’s experience in order to focus on their human needs. Your customers don’t inherently care about the inner workings of a coffee maker: they seek a quick pick-me-up, a comforting chat, or something warm on a cold day.
Key Components of Design Thinking
Empathy is a key principle of design thinking that involves understanding the needs, motivations, and behaviors of the people who will use the solution. This understanding is gained through research methods such as user interviews, observations, and surveys.
Ideation is the process of generating a large number of potential solutions to the problem. This can be done through brainstorming sessions, sketching, and other creative exercises.
Prototyping is the process of creating a low-fidelity representation of the solution to test and gather feedback. This can be done through paper prototypes, digital prototypes, or physical models.
Testing is the process of gathering feedback from end-users on the prototype and using that feedback to refine and iterate the solution. This process helps to ensure that the final solution meets the needs of the end-users.
Design thinking can be applied to a wide range of problems, from creating new products and services to improving existing processes and systems. It is an iterative and flexible process that encourages experimentation and learning from failures.
Overall, design thinking is a powerful approach to problem-solving that can help organizations create innovative solutions that meet the needs of their end-users. By emphasizing empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing, design thinking can help teams develop solutions that are both effective and user-friendly.
Discovery
Discovery is a critical part of the design thinking process. This phase involves conducting research and gathering insights to gain a deep understanding of the problem space, the users, and the context. By doing so, designers can gain empathy with the users and discover the underlying needs, motivations, and pain points.
User interviews are a common research method used in the discovery phase, where designers ask open-ended questions to gain insights into users’ experiences, behaviors, and preferences. Observation is also used to observe users in their natural environment and understand their behavior and interactions with products or services. Additionally, secondary research is conducted to gain insights into industry trends, competitor analysis, and other relevant information.
By gathering insights through research, designers can identify patterns and opportunities for innovation and ideation. These insights are then used to inform the next phase of the design thinking process, ideation. Without proper research, ideation can be less effective, as designers may not have a deep understanding of the problem space and user needs. Therefore, the discovery phase is crucial to ensuring that the design solutions are effective and meet the needs of the users and the business.
Ideation Phase
During the ideation phase, participants will use various techniques to generate and develop ideas. These techniques include brainstorming, mind mapping, and sketching.
Brainstorming is a technique used to generate a large number of ideas quickly. Participants are encouraged to suggest as many ideas as possible, without judging or evaluating them. This approach helps to create a free-flowing environment that fosters creativity and encourages participants to think outside the box.
Mind mapping is another useful technique for generating and organizing ideas. It involves creating a visual diagram that shows the relationships between different ideas and concepts. Participants start with a central idea and then branch out, creating subtopics and related ideas. This technique is useful for exploring complex problems and breaking them down into manageable parts.
Sketching is an important tool for ideation in design thinking. It allows participants to quickly visualize and communicate their ideas. Sketching can be used to create rough drafts, storyboards, or user flows. This technique is useful for exploring different design solutions and communicating ideas to others.
During the ideation phase, it is important to remember that no idea is too small or too big. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible, without judgment or evaluation. Once a large number of ideas have been generated, participants can then begin to evaluate and refine them in the next phase of the design thinking process.
Experimentation
Experimentation is the final step of the design thinking process, where the ideas and concepts generated during the ideation phase are turned into prototypes and tested with real users. In this module, participants will learn how to build prototypes and test their ideas with users.
One of the key techniques covered in this module is rapid prototyping. Participants will learn how to quickly build and test prototypes using low-fidelity materials such as paper, cardboard, and foam. This allows them to iterate and refine their designs quickly and efficiently.
User testing is also a crucial part of the experimentation phase. Participants will learn how to plan and conduct user tests, how to gather feedback, and how to use that feedback to improve their designs. This includes techniques such as A/B testing, usability testing, and surveys.
Throughout the experimentation phase, participants will be encouraged to remain open-minded and to embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and iterate. By testing their ideas with real users, they can gather valuable feedback and insights that can inform the design process and help them create more effective solutions.
Overall, the experimentation phase is a critical part of the design thinking process, as it allows participants to validate their ideas and ensure that they are creating solutions that meet the needs of real users. By the end of this module, participants will have a solid understanding of how to build prototypes, test their ideas with users, and use feedback to refine their designs.