Welcome

Designer*

Getting Started With Cisco Design Thinking

A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems — Together

Designed and printed by Cisco in San Francisco, California

*Yes, this means you.

To learn more about Cisco Design Thinking, or to reserve time in the
Cisco Design Thinking Lab, please visit http://design.cisco.com

3 4
What is
this book?
Think of this book as your inside guide to How should you use it?
Cisco’s Design Thinking framework. You’ll get Read the first half of the book to familiarize
a good sense of Design Thinking as a theory. yourself with the fundamentals of Cisco
You’ll get a bunch of practical tools to help Design Thinking. The second half covers a
bring Design Thinking to life. And, by the end, variety of proven exercises intended to help
you should feel more confident that you and you and your team apply our framework to
your team can creatively solve problems for everyday problems. The tools are divided by
your users. Smarter. Better. Faster. Together. the Cisco Design Thinking phase where they
are most typically used. But feel free to mix
Who is it for? them up as you see fit.
It’s for you and anyone in the Cisco
ecosystem who is interested in learning more How long does it take to read?
about Design Thinking — and how to apply it to You can read this book cover to cover
everyday business problems. If you’re already in under an hour, though skimming and
well on your way in your Design Thinking snacking are highly encouraged. Once you’re
journey, please pass this book along to any familiar with the basic structure and flow
peers or team members who you think should of the framework, this book can become a
begin theirs. quick reference guide to help you and your
team solve problems for end users.

5 6
Table of Contents
Introduction to Design 11
& Design Thinking

The Cisco Design 17

Thinking Framework

Discover 25

Define 45

Explore 65

Practicing the Framework 87

Discover Tools 97

Define Tools 121

Explore Tools 139

Index 167

8
Design is not
just what it
looks like and
feels like.

Design is
how it works.
Steve Jobs, 2003

10
INTRODUCTION

Let’s talk
about design

At its core,
Take a look around you. Check out the style of
those lights. The shape of that table. The function
of your laptop. The cover of this book. Cisco’s logo.

Everything you’re looking at, dressed in, sitting on,

or sipping from has been designed.
design is
The word “design” can refer to how something
looks — like a concert poster or the shoes on
about solving
your feet. Design can also describe the way you
interact with things — how you drive a car or use the
smartphone in your pocket.
problems.
We don’t always notice when design is done well. Efficiently.
Effectively.
Because when form meets function, we often
simply go about our day. We do notice when
something is designed poorly, however. Because it

And elegantly.
confuses us, frustrates us, gets in our way, or slows
us down.

Design is discovering real human needs, and

creating solutions that address those needs,
while delighting users.

11 12
INTRODUCTION

What is
Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation.

First taught by Stanford University in the early 1980s as “a

method of creative action,” and later adapted for business
purposes at the design consultancy IDEO, Design Thinking Design
provides a framework to help teams build products that solve Thinking
Human
real problems for regular people.

Solutions and data tend to change over time. Intrinsic human

needs do not. People, therefore, are the most constant
variables in the design equation. By empathizing with your
users and understanding what they need upfront, you can
build products they’ll love to use — because your products Technology Business
will be both useful and usable.

This philosophy has historically been the domain of

designers. But Design Thinking is a universal framework that
helps everyone across the Cisco organization understand
users, empathize with their needs, and collaborate to solve
complex problems with confidence.

This practical guide offers a clear framework for you, your

team, and your stakeholders to solve complex connectivity
design problems — together.

13 14
Billions of Whether you’re a Cisco designer, developer,
product manager, marketer, salesperson,
or in HR, Cisco Design Thinking is a shared

people framework that you and your teams can employ

to creatively solve problems for your users.

use Cisco As you go through the following pages, keep

in mind that end users are often different

products.
than customers. Users use Cisco products;
customers purchase them. While customers
like CIOs are extremely valuable, Cisco Design
Thinking prioritizes solving problems for end
users to ensure their experience is the best —
and most delightful — it can possibly be.

Let’s make Using this book, you’ll learn proven techniques

for approaching user challenges with empathy.

products
You’ll learn how to identify and explore novel
solutions. You’ll learn how to use a variety of
tools to get to your best ideas faster. And, along

they’ll love. the way, you’ll learn to innovate more effectively

than ever before.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Execute
Here’s how
it works

High Fidelity
Investment
Decision

Concept
The Cisco Design Thinking framework adapts classic Design

Cisco Design Thinking Framework

Thinking best practices to the unique context of Cisco’s
global workforce, heritage, technology portfolio, management
culture, and our partner and customer relationships. The
result is an original Cisco Design Thinking framework that is

Explore

POSSIBILITIES
CREATIVE
innovative yet familiar, forward-looking yet approachable.

The Core Phases

These three phases are the heart of the Cisco Design

Validate with Users

Thinking framework:

Make Things

THE PROBLEMS
TO BE SOLVED
Define
1. Discover: Strive to deeply understand your users and
what they need, so you and your team can document a
clear Opportunity Statement.

Discover

OPPORTUNITY
2. Define: Identify, document, and prioritize the problems to

THE
be solved based on the opportunity at hand, and fill out a
crisp Problems to Be Solved Statement.

3. Explore: Come up with a variety of potential solutions for

the problems to be solved. Your objective is to identify

“What’s Next”

Raw Ideas
one or more solutions that will delight your target users,
solve their core problems, and claim the opportunity.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Here’s how
it works 2

The Guard Rails The Start and the Finish

The core phases are contained by two guard rails.
These include: • “What’s Next”: Most Design Thinking
adventures begin with a strong idea of “What’s
• Validate with Users: This is a fundamental tenet of Next,” often led by product management.
Design Thinking. You must constantly validate your
ideas and your conclusions with real users. Anything • Investment Decision: Choosing to build
worth acting on — and investing in — is worth gut- something, or move in a specific direction, calls
checking with your target audience. for an investment decision by you, your team,
and your stakeholders.
• Make Things: This is another basic principle of
Design Thinking. It’s not enough to explain your ideas • Execute: Once an investment decision has
to your users. You must make things to illustrate your been made, it’s time to bring your concept to
ideas and give your users something to react to, life based on your team’s preferred execution
validate, or reject. methodologies, which are not covered in the
contents of this book.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Here’s how
it works 3

Bringing It All Together: The Thread As you traverse The Thread, you and your team will
The Thread charts the path you and your team grow more confident that there’s a big opportunity
should take to practice Cisco Design Thinking. in front of you. You’ll deeply understand your users.
You’ll grasp the true problems to be solved. And
Based on “What’s Next,” you’ll start with some Raw Ideas. you’ll generate compelling potential solutions. When
Then you’ll work through each Core Phase by Validating you reach the end of The Thread, you’ll have a High
with Users, Making Things, and re-validating that you’re Fidelity Concept that not only clarifies “What’s Next,”
headed in the right direction. but drives the Investment Decision.

Raw Ideas High Fidelity

Concept

21 22
Ready
to dive
deeper?

23
Phase 1: Discover
Talk to users to discover your opportunity

25
Great products solve
real problems for Make Things
regular people.

In the first phase of Cisco

Design Thinking, your
priority is getting to know
your users — with empathy.
Discover
“What’s next”
By empathizing with users
and truly understanding THE
their core needs, current OPPORTUNITY
frustrations, and related
pain points, you can
uncover the valuable
opportunities that drive
Raw Ideas
true innovation. Validate with Users
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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Answer these questions

during the Discover phase

Who are your users?

What do they need? What do they value? Write everything
down as you get to know your users, and try to learn
something new about how they see themselves and the
world. Validate your findings with users to ensure that you
captured their needs and values accurately. And thoroughly.

What do your users need to accomplish?

Dig in to understand the motivations behind their behavior.
Why do they choose a particular tool? What does it seem
like they really want to do?
Empathy
What is their experience today?
Observe your users in action. Understand how your users
currently deal with challenges, especially when completing
specific workflows while using specific tools. When and
where exactly do they get frustrated with the current
experience? Why?

How do current solutions fall short?

By recognizing an unmet need or obstacle, you can discover
clear opportunities to make your users’ lives better.

You can find a more complete set of interview questions to

ask users on pages 101 - 103.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Areas to cover in the

Discover phase

The two main activities in this phase are data collection 1. Gather user data
and insights synthesis. • Get out of the office and talk to real users.
Interview (p.101), observe (p.105) them
Try to meet with at least six users to begin to see a clear in context, and take notes about how they
picture of what your user population needs. Once you interact with the products they use.
gather information from these people, you can begin
piecing your observations together in a way that starts to 2. Synthesize insights
explain their behavior. • Put data into a framework such as a journey
map (p.111), or an affinity diagram (p.113).
Through user data, you can develop a clarifying narrative • Identify needs, breakdowns, and any surprising
about your actual users and their everyday challenges. findings.

3. Validate your findings

• Make diagrams from the research insights to
distill compelling stories and opportunities.
• Role play the situation with your team members
(p.115) to make sure you’re on the right track.

4. Make the big opportunity

• Fill out the Opportunity Statement based on
your insights (p.34).
• Validate with stakeholders, experts, and users.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

The outcome: identify

the big opportunity

Fill out the Opportunity Statement with your team.

This exercise focuses your thinking on the big-picture

possibilities, and highlights what you still need to learn.
[A. CORE USER] needs to
It will also ground and guide your decisions throughout the [B. PRIMARY NEED] because
entire Cisco Design Thinking framework, helping you stay
on course from end-to-end. [C. SURPRISING USER-

To complete your Opportunity Statement, simply use the

VALIDATED INSIGHT]
following template and fill in the blanks. Looks easy and
Today,
straightforward, but in many cases it can be surprisingly
challenging to fill out and keep everyone aligned. [D. HOW CURRENT

SOLUTIONS FALL SHORT].

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Examples

Example 1. Hypothetical Meetings Product Example 2. Cisco Design Thinking Lab

Enterprise knowledge workers need Cisco products teams need

to join remote meetings instantly a simple, high velocity method to validate new
product ideas directly with end users and buyers
because the process continues to take too long
and frustrate participants. because knowing exactly what to build is as
important as knowing how to build something well.
Today,
users join meetings hosted on different Today,
conferencing platforms, each of which requires a overstretched Cisco product teams lack immediate
different application to be installed and configured, access to users, which makes seeking input/
different access codes and interaction models, validation on new product concepts an unnecessary
and different default behaviors. Even two meetings luxury rather than a non-negotiable requirement.
hosted by the same vendor and/or on the same
platform can exhibit drastically different behaviors.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Examples 2

Example 3. Next Generation Cloud Security Solution

A network engineer who responds to policy Today, they perform human analysis, deploy
change requests in a complex security changes, and rely on rollback to correct errors and
environment needs to know how a policy change unintended consequences.
will affect and be affected by the the rest of
the security environment before it’s deployed Best case, they proactively test and roll back. Worst
because, even if they can easily write rules to case, they rely on their end users to report errors
capture the business intent, they aren’t confident and negative results. This error-prone process is
the change will have the intended effect due to all expensive, risky, and often results in customer and
the things that make their environment complex, user dissatisfaction.
such as:

• Cruft that’s built over time — they don’t clean

up rules unless someone puts in tickets to
remove them
• Out-of-band interactions with other parts of
the security environment
• The need to keep adding policies because
there are always new threats

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

The most common struggle Discover

in the Discover phase checklist

It’s easy for biases in the Discover phase to alter the trajectory Did we spend quality time with our users?
of the rest of the process. As you go through this phase, ask Have we found patterns in user behavior?
yourself these questions:
Have we identified users’ most critical unmet

Do the users we’re talking to broadly represent our user base? needs, pain points, and workarounds?

Are we getting a cross-section of feedback? Or feedback from Have we validated our insights with our users?
only one segment of our user base? Are we asking open- Are we confident in — and energized by —
ended questions that allow people to describe their immediate
what we found?
needs as well as their latent needs? Are we letting people
speak their minds without directing the conversation towards
certain answers?

Remember, there’s no direct line to insight. As you collect

data, observe users, and document your findings, you can’t
always tell which data point(s) will lead to a great insight, and
you definitely can’t ask for one outright. Instead, focus on user
needs and problems. Invest in empathy rather than ideation,
and to try formulate — and reformulate — needs and problems
from the user’s perspective.

Surprising and meaningful insights will surface through analysis.

Eventually, you’ll discover new, valuable perspectives that help
you identify the big opportunity at hand.

39 40
Phase 2: Define
Define the problems to be
solved for your users

45
 Once you have
Make Things
documented your
opportunity, you and your
team will likely identify
many problems that will
need to be solved. But
which ones matter most
to your users? Discover Define
s next”
Your goal in this phase
THE OPPORTUNITY THE PROBLEMS
is to prioritize three — or TO BE SOLVED
fewer — clearly articulated
problems that your
solution will address on
behalf of your users.
deas Validate with Users
47 48
CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Answer these questions

during the Define phase

What are your users’ biggest challenges?

Document the main frustrations and pain points your users
experienced and expressed in the Discover phase.

What are some less obvious user challenges that can

be inferred?
People can often have a hard time identifying the root
causes of their challenges, because they tend to accept
their current condition as unavoidable. How might you and
your team reframe your approach to identify deeper, more
insightful problems?
Focus
What must our solution absolutely do?
Here you hone in on your solution’s top priority. There
usually is a related secondary problem you need to solve as
well. Is there anything else you should address?

Have our users validated these problems?

Review your problem statements with users to ensure you
have captured them as completely as possible. This will
help you and your team get clarity about how users would
interact with your proposals.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Areas to cover in the

Define phase

The main activity in the Define phase is creating a 1. Craft How Might We statements
validated Problems to Be Solved Statement. • Brainstorm How Might We statements (p.125) to kickstart
high-level ideation.
You can make progress on this Problems to Be Solved • Adjust How Might We statements to make sure they are user-
Statement by telling a new story — one where the user’s focused (p.125). Make sure they don’t specify a solution.
life has improved because they have your high-level, • Select the best How Might We statements as they relate to
unspecified solution. solving user problems.

By constructing and telling the user’s before-and-after 2. Ideate and align

story, you’re forced to consider their reaction to the • Come up with a few high-level concepts and Design
new world and whether it matches your intention. Criteria that could help address your users’ problems (p.127).
• Align on the top ideas as a team.
Through the telling and retelling of this story, you’ll
quickly identify any holes or irrelevant details in your 3. Role play and create a storyboard
ideas. This helps determine what’s necessary for your • Imagine the solution exists (p.115).
new concept to be successful. • Create a storyboard that outlines how your user’s life is
improved by using your hypothetical solution (p.129).
Keep in mind that this high-level narrative is just an
iteration meant to uncover which problems to prioritize. 4. Define the problems to be solved
It will almost certainly be transformed in the Explore • Complete the competitive analysis (p.131).
phase — if not completely reinvented. So no need to get • Define your experience principles (p.133).
too attached! • Validate with stakeholders, experts, and users.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

The outcome: prioritized

problems to be solved

Take the Problems to Be Solved Statement and fill it

As a result of this, our
out with your team.
solution absolutely must:
This statement directly relates to the Opportunity [A. PRIMARY PROBLEM
Statement from the Discover phase, helping you
prioritize which key user problems your solution must TO SOLVE],
address. You’ll use this output to guide your creative
ideation in the Explore phase — and as a gut-check while
to make sure your concepts explicitly solve these
[B. SECONDARY PROBLEM
problems.
TO SOLVE],
Sometimes you will only have one or two problems
to solve instead of three. However, attempting to plus if possible,
tackle four or more problems at once is a formula for
frustration — or worse.
[C. TERTIARY PROBLEM

TO SOLVE].

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Examples

Example 1. Hypothetical Meetings Product Example 2. Cisco Design Thinking Lab

As a result of this, our solution absolutely must: As a result of this, our solution absolutely must
successfully join any meeting — hosted by any vendor provide a fully equipped ideation space within the
and conducted in any format — in less than 15 seconds primary location where our selling teams meet with
with a >99.5% success rate, Cisco customers and end users,

while while
providing consistent, intuitive default behaviors for bringing our emerging Cisco Design Thinking
to audio, video, and screen sharing, Framework to life,

plus, if possible, plus, if possible,

include enterprise IT management facilities for connect the dots between Connectivity Design
user administration, regulatory compliance, and and Cisco’s heritage.
meeting recording.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Examples 2 The most common struggle

in the Define phase
Example 3. Next Generation Cloud Security Solution

It’s tempting to try to address each and every pain

point in your Problems to Be Solved Statement.
As a result of this, our solution absolutely must
allow users to see how rules managed by one part of It’s also tempting to be vague and open-ended in
the security environment interact with other parts (such your Problems to Be Solved Statement. Both of these
as firewall policies interacting with Internet policies), temptations result in vague, uninspiring prototypes in
phase 3.
while
enabling them to understand rule behavior before it Limit each solution to solve a handful of direct, focused
is deployed, problems, and you’ll build a direct, focused prototype.
This way, you and your team focus on doing something
plus, if possible, important really well, rather than partially solving a
automatically generate the correct API scripts once the broad range of less critical issues.
rule has been verified and validated so it will be easy to
deploy across the network.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Define
checklist

Did we define the most impactful problems to solve? By now you’ve told your story a number of times,

Did we complete our Problems to Be Solved Statement so your team should feel a growing sense of
confidence you’re on the right track. Ideally you
as it relates to the Opportunity Statement?
were able to tell your story without getting locked
Did our users validate these problems? into a particular solution, because you will tackle
Are we confident in and energized by what we found? creative solutions in the Explore phase of Cisco

Are we itching to start exploring solutions? Design Thinking.

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Phase 3: Explore
Explore creative possibilities
to solve user problems

65
 You have a clear sense
of who you’re building Make Things
for, the opportunity
at hand, and the key
problems to be solved.
Now it’s time for the
team to start identifying
cover Define
creative solutions. Explore
The key to the Explore
ORTUNITY PROBLEM TO CREATIVE
phase is to ensure BEthat
SOLVED POSSIBILITIES
the solutions developed
explicitly solve the
prioritized problems
documented in the
Define phase. Validate with Users
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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Answer these questions

during the Explore phase

How can we creatively solve the problems

we’ve identified?
Time to ideate. Perhaps have individuals come up with their
own ideas first. Then share them with the group. Build upon
each other’s concepts. Then decide which solutions directly
solve the user problems as a team.

What’s the quickest way to test each idea?

After expansive concept generation, create tangible
concepts or prototypes. Put these concepts out into the
environment, measure response, and let the best concepts
win. Aim to set up as many quick experiments as you can to
help shape the end-state solution.

Do we have evidence to support the solution

we choose?
Testing with real users is critical. If you don't validate
prototypes with users, you run the risk of designing beautiful
solutions that lack crucial elements that makes the solution
impractical for real life use. Capture direct user quotes and
interaction details that prove that your product does, in fact,
Ideate
solve their problems and satisfy their needs.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Areas to cover in the

Explore phase

The main activities in the Explore phase involve ideation 3. Create interactive prototypes
around solving your users’ problems, and rapidly building • Create a prototype that shows the key value for
and iterating until you validate the ideal solution. the user in a simple flow (p.151).

1. Brainstorm creative solutions 4. Validate with users

• Brainstorm as many ideas as you can within a • Meet the user one-on-one, ideally face-to-face.
defined period of time (p.143). • Watch the user walk through your
• Share the ideas among the team, and build on these prototype(s) (p.153).
concepts together (p.113). • Validate whether or not the solution works.
• Prioritize the best ideas or features using a 2x2 • Note how to improve the solution in your next
Matrix (p.147). iteration (p.153).

2. Sketch low-fidelity concepts

• Make your ideas tangible with quick sketches
(p.149).
• Use sketches to begin validating ideas with your
users (p.149).
• Pick the most promising idea to develop into a
prototype with Dot Voting (p.107).

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING CISCO DESIGN THINKING

The outcome: user- The most common struggle

validated solutions in the Explore phase

By the end of the Explore phase, your team will have Many people are afraid of pitching “dumb ideas”
the opportunity to create high fidelity prototypes of the in front of their colleagues. Others lose heart
proposed solution. This can be a wireframe, a clickable when users don’t love their solutions right off
prototype, or a physical mockup. the bat.

Identify precisely where the proposed user experience Just remember, good ideas can come from
solves the problems you defined in phase 2. Use arrows. anywhere. And when you fail fast, you learn
Use speech bubbles. Explicitly illustrate where and how even faster.
your solution solves each problem.
Finding out what works — and what doesn’t work
And if it doesn’t clearly and completely solve the problem — helps inform your decisions. So you can take
for your users — iterate. significant steps toward a winning solution with
more confidence.
Just make sure your new paths are based on user
insight and the problem definition, rather than on raw If you find you’re getting off track, don’t be afraid
assumptions, hearsay, or gut feel. to pause, step back, look at the bigger picture,
and reset.

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CISCO DESIGN THINKING

Explore
checklist

Have we explored creative ideas that address By this point, there should be little guesswork. Your

the problems to be solved? team has come up many ideas, built things you
weren’t sure would work, tried them out with users,
Did the team align to select a few strong
had some failures, and had some triumphs.
solutions to test?

Did we build a prototype and run it by Now you’re ready to propose the final, proven

our users? concept to internal stakeholders because you can

support your decisions with real-world evidence.
Do we have evidence to back up our decision
And hard-earned confidence.
to move forward with a specific solution?

75 76
 After you’ve gotten approval from your
stakeholders, and ensured your new
design is technically feasible, it’s time
to identify the process, people, and
skills you need to develop your user-
validated concept, and bring your new
product to life.

Keep in mind that concept

development is an ongoing, iterative
process. Things can change during the
engineering process — and often do.
Looking ahead: Execute
Congratulations — you’re almost ready to build!
Just be sure that user validation follows
any changes to the original concept.
That way, you can be confident that
your solution still effectively solves your
users’ needs.

What’s the best way to execute on your

solution? That’s beyond the scope of
this book, but your team leads should
have plenty of good ideas.

81 82
 Getting Started

Facilitating Workshops

Cisco Design
Thinking Principles
Practice
Roll up your sleeves and get to it.
Discover Tools

Define Tools

Explore Tools

87 88
PRACTICE

Getting A few words about

started facilitating workshops

Cisco Design Thinking is a structured framework. Hosting a workshop for your team is an exciting,
effective way to start practicing Cisco Design Thinking.
Fun, effective, and team-centered, this step-by-
step method is designed to drive cross-functional Workshops provide a clear structure to help you
collaboration and positive creative outcomes across achieve more in less time. They also help ensure that
the board. everyone has a voice by mixing individual exercises
with small group work.
By following the exercises in the next few pages, your
team can begin to get closer to an idea that will solve Workshops should be planned and structured in
real user problems. Effectively. Efficiently. Perhaps advance by a facilitator, who will be responsible for
even elegantly. leading the activities and moving the agenda along.

Remember that great ideas can come from anywhere. When to host a workshop
And often do. Fresh perspectives bring fresh ideas. A great time for a workshop is at the beginning of a
Positivity fuels creativity. And Cisco Design Thinking can project or early in the Discover phase. If you’re already
help your team explore greater possibilities. in a detailed design phase, opt for user critiques
instead of big team workshops.

89 90
PRACTICE

A few words about facilitating

workshops 2

Where to host What to bring

Find a private space where you and your team feel comfortable Get a large plastic bin and assemble an ‘ideation station’
to express yourselves and share your ideas. Ideally there’s including: scrap paper, sticky notes, sticky dots, Sharpie
enough space for people to roam, and easy access to all four pens, whiteboard markers, painter’s tape, snacks,
walls. Whiteboards are a great place to note your ideas, but and anything that helps capture the team's ideas and
movable foam core boards work too. opinions. Having pre-printed activity worksheets can
be excellent for productivity, but most can quickly be
Who to invite sketched on the wall or paper.
Design Thinking works best with a diverse group of people.
Include at least 5 cross-functional team members with different What to do when people go off-topic
specialties to account for the broadest perspective of the user's Activities should be timeboxed so teams stay focused.
end-to-end experience. You can always invite more people if Don’t be afraid to cut discussions short to stay on track.
necessary, though ideation sessions become more challenging If a conversation starts running too long, or goes off the
to manage — and require multiple facilitators — as the group rails, note the topic in a ‘parking lot’ — a dedicated space
grows over 15 participants. on the wall for topics to revisit later. That way, you avoid
shutting the door on any specific person or dialogue
Make sure everyone in the room understands what is expected while you’re still moving forward according to the goals
of them in each activity. It always helps to show samples of of the workshop. If appropriate, you can return to the
what you’re looking for, and be open to answer any questions parked items at the end.
participants may have.

91 92
 Put the user first
Their experience is your focus. Improving it informs all

Cisco
that you do. To create better solutions, connect with
users as often as you can.

Keep it simple
Strive to produce the most simple and effective product

Design
for your people.

Never stop evolving

Cisco products aim to improve users’ lives. This means

Thinking
they must evolve alongside users’ needs.

Find proactive solutions

Anticipate issues before they arise. Your solutions should
provide just the right amount of attention, so they’re

Principles
never in the way but always around.

Dare to delight
It’s the little details that make the most impactful
designs. Sweat the small stuff so that customers want to
Keep these ideas top of mind come back for more — and tell all their friends too.

for every problem you solve,

Build together
and product you build.
Cisco serves billions of people. To do this effectively, our
teams must regularly come together to create each tool,
platform, and product in alignment.

93 94
 In this section you’ll find a set of proven
Design Thinking tools help you gather and
analyze user data. The exercises will also
help you ideate, prioritize, visualize, and
validate your solutions.

The tools are divided by the Cisco Design

Thinking phase where they are most
typically used. Some general techniques
are also listed. They can be applied in

Tools many contexts to make faster and better

informed decisions.
Practical exercises your team can use.
Please note that this list of tools is not
intended to be comprehensive. They
were specifically chosen as battle-tested
starters that are effective and easy
to learn.

If you’d like to learn more, a simple Web

search will drive to many more Design
Thinking articles, tutorials, and resources.

95 96
Discover Tools

97
TOOLS

Discover

As we mentioned earlier, the outcome of the Discover To figure out [A. Core User] use these exercises:
phase is completing the Opportunity Statement: Interviews (p.101)
Observation (p.105)
[A. CORE USER] needs to
To understand [B. Primary Need] employ:
[B. PRIMARY NEED] because
Empathy Map (p.109)
[C. SURPRISING USER-VALIDATED INSIGHT] Journey Map (p.111)
Today,

[D. HOW CURRENT SOLUTIONS FALL SHORT]. For [C. Surprising User-Validated Insight] try:
Interviews (p.101)
Filling in these blanks with your teams can be more Observation (p.105)
challenging than you might expect. Role Playing (p.115)

In the following pages, you’ll find a list of short exercises To complete [D. How Current Solutions Fall
to help you successfully complete the statement above. Short] either tap into your team’s current market
knowledge, or use:
Interviews (p.101)
Observation (p.105)
Competitive Analysis (p.131)

99 100
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Interview
60 min

Goal 3. Find a list of interview questions on the next page.

Gather data to later analyze and synthesize.
Record stories and quotes to share. 4. Avoid asking directly what people want, and keep
questions open-ended so users can drive the
Concept conversation.
Interviews are a great starting point for new projects.
Use customer and end-user interviews to understand user 5. End with an open invitation to participate in the
needs and context. A customer might be the CIO who process later — and ask for recommendations of
purchased Cisco products, while an end user would be the other users who might also be willing to share their
IT Administrator who interacts with Cisco products on a experiences.
daily basis.

Steps
1. Map out who might know the problem space, and
seek out people that fit into this profile. Usually there
are multiple groups like end users, customers, and
stakeholders. Engage with experts and novices alike.

2. Try to meet people in their own environment. Observe

their body language in addition to what they say.
Ask them to show you how they currently work. If
opportunity allows, ask them to sketch things as
they speak.

101 102
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Interview 2

Wrap-up
Thank &
Here are a list of questions to ask at the start of each

Statements
Question
interview to discover unmet needs, pain points, and
opportunities.

• Tell me about your role and responsibilities.

Emotions
Interview Development

Explore
• How does [product] support your work?
• What other systems do you use that relate to
[product]?
• What are the top 3 tasks you perform using

Stories
[product]?

Evoke
• How do you accomplish [task] with [product]?

Time
• What are the biggest challenges you face using
[product]?

Rapport
Build
• What improvements to the [product] would make
your life easier?

Tip:

Project
Intro
Keep questions neutral and open-ended. This lets
users steer the conversation to areas they care
about. It’s more important to be an active listener
than to follow a script in detail.

Yourself
Intro
103 104
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Observation
60 min

Goal 3. Pay close attention to people’s habits,

Identify pain points. Gather key insights from users by context, and frustration levels to get a deep
observing them “in the wild.” understanding of their needs and pain points.
Note that workarounds can be gold mines for
Concept your team’s improvement opportunities.
Observing users in their own environment gives subtle
cues into their context and needs. Seeing people use your 4. Whenever possible, document the activities
product is often eye-opening — and humbling. with video or photos.

Steps
1. Ask for permission to shadow users as they go about
their daily lives. This can be done as a “fly on the wall”
or combined with an interview (p.101). If your design
challenge is related to conference calls, for example,
What do they say?
spend a day watching how people behave before,
during, and after a conference call. What do they do?
What do they think?
2. Ask users to walk through how they currently get things What do they feel?
done, and to describe their thoughts and feelings as they
go through the process. Don’t just take a user’s input at
face value. Seek a deeper understanding, and don’t be
afraid to challenge the very nature of the problem — it’ll
get you closer to a better solution.

105 106
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Dot Vote
15 min

Goal
Align on ideas quickly.

Concept
Dot voting can help your team resolve big debates in
minutes. This technique helps you avoid rabbit holes and
drives your team toward a decision faster. It also helps
democratize decision-making, as everyone gets to weigh in.

Steps
1. Organize your sticky note ideas on the wall so everyone
can read them.

2. Share five (or less) dot votes with each participant.

3. Everyone gets to vote at the same time by placing their

dots by the ideas they like on the wall.

4. Pick the 3 - 5 ideas with the most votes, and discuss

with participants why they liked them.

5. Take the ‘winning ideas’ and develop them further with

other exercises like storyboarding.

6. Document all ideas.

107
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Empathy Map
30 min

Goal 5. Then fill out what they think during it, and what
Understand user context, and empathize with the user’s needs. they feel (positive and negative). Use real quotes
from users to make it more tangible.
Concept
An empathy map can help your team deduce the most 6. Recap and summarize what you’ve learned.
important pains (frustrations, fears, obstacles) and gains Consider analyzing the data further in a Journey
(delight, utility, goals) that users have. Using an empathy map, Map (p.111).
you’ll gather, structure, and share user data to help your team
understand your user’s current experience, empathize with how
he/she truly feels, and clarify what he/she really needs. Example.

See & Do Think

Steps
1. Gather your team.

2. Define which personas and which contexts you want to

analyze with empathy maps.
Feel
3. Draw the empathy map on a whiteboard, or use a premade
Cisco template. Draw — and label — the user in the center.

Pains Gains
4. Map your user findings into the different areas with sticky
notes. Start with what the user typically says and does in
this context (i.e. what are his or her reactions).

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TOOLS - DISCOVER

Journey Map
60 min

Goal 5. Next, consider what your team has learned from your
Understand the overall user journey, context, and needs. research. What thoughts, feelings, and frustrations does
your user have in each of these phases? Map these on
Concept an emotional scale, so you can easily observe the most
A Journey map helps your team visualize the entire user challenging parts of the journey.
journey from start to finish. It helps everyone understand
the full story of how end users engage with your product 6. Identify opportunities based on your insights.
or service.
Example.

Steps IT Admin installing a new Spark Board

1. Decide which user journey your team will tackle. For
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
example, “An enterprise knowledge worker must join
a remote meeting.” Actions

2. Start by mapping out the different phases of the

journey, such as “Getting ready for the meeting.”
Touchpoints

3. Map the different actions that the user takes in each

phase.
Think
&
4. List the touchpoints with your solution on the Feel
next row. These are tangible elements the user is
interacting with, such as “a calendar invitation email.”
Opportunities

111 112
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Affinity Diagram
30 min

Goal 4. Discuss the most relevant findings for your specific

Identify larger themes in your data. challenge, and which themes to move forward with.
Consider doing a dot vote (p.107) to help your team
Concept determine the most important themes.
Affinity Mapping helps you and your team make sense
out of user insights, feature ideas, and other bits of Example.
content.
Onboarding Usability issues
Steps
1. Determine your topic and have each team member
generate a list of ideas on their sticky notes. For
brainstorming tips, please see page 143.

2. Organize your sticky notes (where you’ve

documented user data or feature ideas) on a
whiteboard with plenty of space to spare. Go through
them so everyone understands what the content is. Features Login
Put identical sticky notes on top of one another.

3. Together with your team, start re-organizing the

sticky notes to groups that share some affinity. Feel
free to talk through what goes where. Themes are
always unique to your data.

113 114
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Role Playing
60 min

Goal 5. Role Playing is also a helpful exercise during the

Test and validate your ideas. Define and Explore phases, as you begin to get a
sense of potential solutions and how users might
Concept experience them.
Role playing can be used for understanding interactions.

Example.
Steps
1. Create a rough script for the desired interaction
(such as a customer service call, service-to-server Role Play Scenario
"Cranky Customer"
connections, or teleconferencing). Don’t worry about
details; improvisation is helpful. 1. Physical Setting 2. Situation

2. Act out the scenario with team members playing

different roles (e.g. customer, installation technician,
and so on). Consider using simple props to enhance 3. Characters 4. Action of Scene
the experience.

3. After Role Playing, discuss how different aspects

of the experience felt for each participant, and how 5. Materials 6. Discussion

those could be improved.

4. Create a list of improvements. If needed, host a

second round of role playing with the improvements.

115 116
TOOLS - DISCOVER

Advanced Tools

When you’re comfortable with the basics, your team might Landscape Map
want to experiment with more advanced tools. Each of Understand how changes in the user's environment or
the following are commonly used, so you can find more context might affect the solution. Identify trends under
information and directions by searching online. different categories like technology, demographics,
environment, regulation, uncertainty, customer needs,
Behavioral Metrics and competition.
Behavioral data can help you understand what people are
struggling with, but not necessarily why they’re struggling. Stakeholder Map
Your team can get to the why by observing (p.105) or Map various institutions, partners, customers, and
interviewing (p.101) users in real life. products that relate to your product or service to
understand the entire ecosystem. Use this as a tool to
Diary Studies analyze how your team should interact with different
Engage users over the course of a few weeks and ask entities, and to uncover potential opportunities and risks.
them to record key interactions with the solution or the
relevant context. Prompt remote users to record specific
things through a photo journal, which can be sent via Cisco
Spark or email. After analyzing the diaries, follow up with
interviews.

Surveys
Surveying your existing users on a regular cadence is a
good practice and can reveal shortcomings, gaps, and
misunderstandings. Surveys can also reveal where progress
is being made and where the product is already successful.

117 118
Define Tools

121
TOOLS

Define

The outcome of the Define phase is to prioritize which The exercises in the following pages will help you
problems to solve by completing the Problems to Be uncover and crisply articulate user problems, and then
Solved Statement below, as it relates to the Opportunity prioritize which 1 - 3 problems your solution
Statement you completed in the Discover phase: must address.

As a result of this, our solution absolutely must: To uncover root problems, use:
How Might We (p.125)
[A. PRIMARY PROBLEM TO SOLVE],

while To see how other companies are solving similar

[B. SECONDARY PROBLEM TO SOLVE], problems — and how your solution can differentiate

plus if possible, itself — use:

Competitive Analysis (p.131)
[C. TERTIARY PROBLEM TO SOLVE].

To begin defining what your solution must do, use:

Design Criteria (p.127)
Storyboard (p.129)
Role Playing (p.115)

To align on what your team must deliver, outline:

Experience Principles (p.133)

After going through these exercises, your team will

know which problems are most important to solve
for your users, and can prioritize them as such in the
Problems to Be Solved Statement.

123 124
TOOLS - DEFINE

How Might We
30 min

Goal 6. Test your HMWs in a quick ideation exercise to

Kick start high-level ideation. see whether they inspire your team enough to
create a real solution.
Concept
Turn insights into questions that inspire creative action Example.
using the “How Might We” (HMW) format. Good HMW
questions are broad enough to give space for ideation,
but narrow enough to provide focus. Good How Might We Questions

Steps • HMW enable network

1. Recap the identified opportunities from your engineers to better understand
Discover phase. how policy changes affect the
system before deployment?
2. Turn the most relevant opportunities into “How
Might We” questions. • HMW enrich remote interaction
for students during classes
3. Individually, write down five key HMW questions on and lectures?
sticky notes.

4. Share the questions with your team and cluster

similar questions.

5. Agree on the most relevant HMW questions. Use

Dot Voting (p.107) to reach consensus.

125 126
TOOLS - DEFINE

Design Criteria Example.

60 min
Must
Goal
Outline the design parameters for your team.

Concept
Define the solution’s must-haves, should-haves, could-
Should
haves, and will-not-haves.

Steps
1. Gather a group of stakeholders relevant to your project.

2. Individually write down at least three criteria for the Could

solution for each of the categories — Must, Should,
Could, Will Not — on sticky notes.

3. Share your thoughts with the group and discuss any

differences. Use Affinity Diagram (p.113) to move
faster.
Will Not
4. Prioritize the top 3 criteria for each category. This
creates team alignment on the direction of the project
and helps to define its scope. Use Dot Voting (p.107) in
situations where you’re not aligned.

127 128
TOOLS - DEFINE

Storyboard
30 - 90 min

Goal 6. Don’t focus on drawing perfectly — rough stick

Align on how the proposed solution fixes the problem. figures and simple thought bubbles are fine.

Concept 7. The key is to express the ideas of the solution.

Sketch a story where the user’s problem is solved in a few Further details and polish can be added later.
‘comic book style’ frames. This will help your team visualize
Example.
how the solution fits into the user’s life — and how it will
make it better.

Steps
1. Individually, or in a group, start with at least three blank
boxes as a canvas.

2. The first frame should show the problem.

3. The second frame should show the solution.

4. The third frame should show the outcome of the solution.

5. Draw and narrate the entire story of how the user

incorporates your proposed solution into their life. Focus
on how the solution helps them overcome their primary,
secondary, and tertiary problems.

129 130
TOOLS - DEFINE

Competitive Analysis
120 min

Goal 3. Document and post these flows, and add

Understand the product and problem landscape. relevant observations with sticky notes.
Come up new ideas for your own solution.
4. Pick the top 3 ideas/features to consider in your
Concept solution, and make note of 3 things to avoid.
It’s often not enough to just understand the problem.
You also have to look at other available solutions in 5. Talk to users about the competing offerings.
your problem space. This helps your team understand Have them walk your team through the product
what expectations users already have, how you can and share what frustrates and delights them.
differentiate your product, and how you can deliver a
better experience. Example.

Strengths Weaknesses
Steps
1. Ask each of your team members to pick two or
three competing products, perform a brief SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
analysis, and then discuss your findings as a team.

2. Analyze the most relevant competitors in a

structured user flow. For Example: onboarding,
key tasks, account management, etc.
Opportunities Threats

131 132
TOOLS - DEFINE

Experience Principles
120 min

Goal 3. Write 3 - 7 statements that reflect your

Create a list of 3 - 7 principles to guide your user’s ideal user experience.
product experience.
4. Create posters of your principles and pin
Concept them on the wall of your office.
Experience Principles help us align on what really matters in
a solution. Once decided, principles guide how we view our 5. Ensure that any product-specific principles
products, how we judge their effectiveness, and paired with complement and extend our existing Cisco
customer research, how we make product decisions. They Design Principles (p.93).
are practical and should be applied throughout the problem-
solving process. If the experience principle is “Remove 6. Refer to your principles when making hard
complexity to reduce user mental load,” for example, you decisions in the Explore phase.
should ask, “Where have we removed complexity to reduce
user mental load?” in your design review. Example.

Steps Good Samples

1. Gather your team and ideate principles based on
1. Enable effortless information
user needs. sharing

2. Discuss the characteristics you want for your product, 2. Always allow access to settings
in context
and discuss as a team.

3. Make it easy to undo, allow user to

rollback changes in the system

133 134
TOOLS - DEFINE

Advanced Tools

As your team becomes comfortable with the basics, Mock Ads

consider giving some of these advanced tools a try. Create display ads to get a sense of how your team
You can find more details online. could market your solution to buyers and end users
alike. You can even test the desirability of your
Participatory Design Sessions solution by actually creating an online ad and tracking
Involving users, customers, or stakeholders isn’t user response.
restricted to interviews and observation. You can also
invite these groups to work with you in a participatory Press Release
design session. Participatory design sessions allow you Write the post-release press release prior to
to do quick iterations on ideas, and instantly validate with designing or building the product. This helps you
the group you’ve invited. think about how your product solves a real problem
in a new way, and why it will be newsworthy to media
Cover Story outlets once it’s released.
Envision the effect your service might have on the world
by sketching a magazine cover 5 - 10 years in the future.

Packaging Design
Sketch the box in which your product would be sold —
even if it’s a cloud service. This helps you focus on the
essentials of your solution and highlights the key value
proposition in human language. Sketch on a real box to
make your package tangible.

135 136
Explore Tools

139
TOOLS

Explore

The outcome of the Explore phase is a visual The following exercises will help you explore
representation of your solution that users can validate. creative ideas, align on the best solutions with your
team, create a representation of your solutions, and
This can be a wireframe or a prototype. Either way, your validate with users.
visual must explicitly call out when, where, and how
you solve your user’s most pressing problems that you To explore creative possibilities, use:
identified in the Define phase. Time-bound Brainstorming (p.143)
Crazy 8's (p.145)
Dot Voting (p.107)

To create a prototype, try:

Low Fidelity Concept Sketching (p.149)
Interactive Prototypes (p.151)

For user validation, use:

Concept Testing (p.153)
Validating Interview (p.101)

141 142
TOOLS - EXPLORE

Brainstorming
60 - 90 min

Goal 4. Do 2 - 4 rounds of ideation, sharing in between

Brainstorm more effectively with creative constraints. so people inspire one another. Ideas always
beget more ideas.
Concept
Brainstorming can feel aimless and frustrating. Make your 5. Map your ideas on a wall, refine using 2x2 Matrix
sessions more productive using specific questions, time- (p.147), and use Dot Voting (p.107) to identify the
bound ideation sessions, and new sharing techniques. best ones.

Steps Example.
1. Prime and focus the group with a How Might We
question (p.125) from the Define phase to start
How Might We Questions
the ideation. Make sure the group understands
the background and the insight to that question.
It’s always best to summarize key research before
you start. Round #1 Analogue

2. Give participants different prompts or artificial

boundaries to unleash creativity. For example: “Your Round #2 Digital
solution must use voice,” or “Your solution is for a
user with disabilities.”

3. Timebox the ideation. Use 3 - 5 minutes per prompt Round #3 Voice Only
or How Might We question. Have people brainstorm
individually first on sticky notes.

143 144
TOOLS - EXPLORE

Crazy 8’s
30 min

Goal A Fun Variation: “The Bad Idea Competition”

Generate a number of high-level visual ideas for a solution. 5. Prompt the users to come up with the eight
worst-possible ways to solve the problem.
Concept Then ask them to reverse the ideas into
Create several visual ideas quickly with this fast-paced something good.
drawing exercise. This is a good way to start ideation after
your team has agreed upon the problems to be solved. Example.

Steps
1. All participants take a blank piece paper and fold it
three times to form eight boxes.

2. For eight minutes, everyone sketches eight quick ideas

in the boxes. Keep time and tell people to switch every
minute. Don’t get too fancy with the drawings. Focus
on quantity over quality.

3. For the next six minutes, people can pick three of their
favorite ideas, and expand on them on a separate
sheet of paper.

4. Everyone shares their favorite ideas with the team. Use

Dot Voting (p.107) to choose the best ones.

145 146
TOOLS - EXPLORE

2x2 Matrix
20 min

Goal 5. Take the most meaningful ideas to the

Prioritize the best ideas or features. next stage.

Concept Tip
Map your ideas using a 2x2 matrix. This tool divides You can define the position in the matrix by doing
ideas/user needs/features along two axes. a dot voting exercise (p.107)

Example.
For example: high/low-impact and easy/difficult to
implement, or unique/typical, or frequent/infrequent
activity.

Hard to implement
Steps
1. Run a brainstorming activity (p.143) with your team.

2. Draw and label both an X and Y axis on the wall.

Make sure everyone understands what each line
stands for.

Easy to implement

3. Allow each participant to map their own sticky notes
on the axes.

4. Focus on the most meaningful quadrants (ex. easy to

do and impactful). Discuss the ideas there, and make
Low impact High impact
sure your team members agree on their positions.

147 148
TOOLS - EXPLORE

Low Fidelity Sketching

1-2 days

Goal 5. Pick the most promising ideas to develop further

Develop a few rough concepts of how the into prototypes.
solution works.
6. Use your sketches to begin validating ideas with
Concept your core users.
Create sketches of your solution to see how ideas
translate into reality. Keep initial explorations at a low Example.
fidelity, so team members don’t get too attached to
any of them. The point here is to play with different
ideas and make them tangible.

Steps
1. Take a piece of paper and sketch out a solution for
a particular flow or feature.

2. Put that idea aside, and start with a new piece

of paper. Force yourself to create something
completely different (a list, an infographic, a
drawing, a song lyric, anything).

3. Keep going until you’ve run out of creative steam,

but try and produce at least 2 - 4 ideas.

4. Pin everything on the wall and then weigh the pros

and cons of different approaches.

149 150
TOOLS - EXPLORE

Interactive Prototypes
1-2 days

Goal 4. Always test your prototypes with peers,

Create prototype that shows the key value for the user in a stakeholders, and users.
simple flow, which can then be validated by end users.
5. Remember that prototyping is a tool, not an
Concept end-goal.
When you’re designing for an interactive medium, static
images are often not enough. Get into the habit of making Example.
everything clickable and interactive early on. Scrappy and
fast beats slow and refined. Many types of tools available
allow you to create simple, clickable prototypes in just a
few hours.

Steps
1. Choose the scope of your prototype. Typically the
prototype should be at least one complete flow from
end-to-end.

2. Don’t waste time prototyping existing patterns in detail.

Try to explore new interactions with prototypes.

3. Iterate on the design based on your own experiments.

Prototyping will reveal details you might have forgotten.
Do quick tests with your peers and team members to
see if they spot any holes.

151 152
TOOLS - EXPLORE

Concept Testing
1-3 days

Goal 4. Catalog the paths the participant took to

Validate the solution's viability and how it accomplish the task.
can be improved.
5. Measure how long the participant took to
Concept accomplish the task.
As soon as you have your prototype built, it’s time to
share it with users. The testing sessions can either be 6. Once the task walk-through has been completed,
highly structured and task-based, or loose and informal. gather the user's thoughts about the concepts
Your call. presented.

Steps 7. You can also get the user's reactions to rough
1. Define the goals and the target audience for your sketches. Again, have him/her think out loud as
test session. Enlist users from these groups. he/she reviews without explaining the concept.

Example.
2. Meet the user one-on-one, preferably face-to-face.
Remote is also fine, as long as the user can share
his/her screen via Webex, Telepresence, or Cisco
Spark. Record the session.

3. Ask the user to think out loud as he or she goes

through the prototype. Have him/her explain any
actions before they are taken and describe the
thought process involved.

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TOOLS - EXPLORE

Advanced Tools

Day in the Life Pilot Testing

Tell the story of how the solution improves the user’s life. When the product starts to be functional, your team can
Use photos, visuals of your solution, or even video. run limited pilot tests with trusted customers via Cisco
This allows your team to communicate their vision in a programs like Early Field Trials (EFT). Gather the pilot
memorable and impactful way. group a few times to capture feedback in person.

Wizard of Oz Unmoderated Testing

In Wizard of Oz prototypes, a human administrator acts If your team is tight on time, you can set up remote
behind the scenes as the “machine.” This method works user testing through services like usertesting.com,
especially well for conversational interfaces — both text where the tests run themselves. These unmoderated
and voice-based. tests generally are not as reliable as in-person
validation, but are often better than no testing at all.
A/B Testing
This type of testing is typically used to measure the Business Model Canvas
existing solution (A) against a new design (B). Use it This tool analyzes the different elements of a business
when the differences between A and B are small (button model. It can be used to explore, validate, and compare
position, copy, calls-to-action). Big or multiple variations different ways of delivering the value proposition.
make it harder to pinpoint the cause of change.

155 156
How to use a Cisco Design Thinking Labs are designed and equipped
to help bring Cisco Design Thinking to life.

Cisco Design Each wall in a Lab corresponds to a specific phase in

the framework, so your team has a dedicated space for
your Discover work, Define work, and Explore work. This

Thinking Lab* configuration helps you focus on the phase at hand —

while seeing the bigger picture — and ensures that each
of your outcomes connects clearly and consistently from
end-to-end.

‘Official’ Cisco Design Thinking Labs feature magnetic/

whiteboard walls, large format labeling, movable
furniture, ideation stations, integrated remote
collaboration capabilities, and artwork to inspire creative
thinking. The first of these Labs is now operational
inside of our global Customer Experience Center (CXC)
in San Jose, CA. If you have access to this Lab, reach
out to designthinking@cisco.com to book it.

If you don’t have access, don’t worry. You can transform

virtually any conference room into a pop-up Cisco
Design Thinking Lab. Dedicate each wall to a different
phase in the framework. Gather Sharpie pens, sticky
notes, and a few teammates — and you have everything
you need to turn Cisco Design Thinking into Cisco
Design Action.
*Reserve one or build your own

159 160
Thanks
for taking
the time to
familiarize
yourself with
Cisco Design We hope you find these tools valuable as
you set out to discover new opportunities,
define the problems to be solved, explore

Thinking. creative possibilities, and execute optimal

solutions that our users will love.

163 164
Acknowledgements

Project Lead: Matt Cutler Additional Contributors

Writer: Riley Rant Amit Barave, Andy Payne, Anthony Nguyen,
Designer: Luis Munguia Boon Lai, Courtney Collins, Dale Henninger,
Core Contributors: Jason Cyr, David Sward, Dennis Lim, Edwin Zhang,
Francesca Barrientos, Vanessa Fenn Espen Loberg, Hallgrim Sagen, Ingrid Kvaal,
Project Managers: Sarah Marshall, Skye MacLeod Ishan Korde, Jodi Bradley, Joel Obstfeld,
Joshua Weinberg, Kate O’Keeffe,
Origin: Cisco Founders Forum Kristen Wright, Lisa Fedele, Maria Shkolnikov,
Executive Sponsor: Hilton Romanski Matt Pointon, Melanie Dazzo, Michael Kopcsak,
Made Possible By: Brian Maddox, David Lim, Mike Walker, Morgan Teachworth, Otto Williams,
Karen Ashley, Luis Visoso, Matt Portoni. Paul Dickens, Pierre Henri Clouin, Pooja Arora,
Prakaash Selvaraj, Rakesh Sharma,
Ravi Rajagopal, Ruben Rohde,
Sampo Jalasto, Scott Habetz, Torkel Mellingen,
Rubina Ramchandani, Val Agostino, Youna Choi,
and others.

165 166
Index

2x2 Matrix, 147 Discover, 25 Mock Ads, 136

A/B Testing, 155 Basics, 27 Opportunity Statement, 34

Acknowledgements, 165 Process & Tools, 97 Observation, 105

Affinity Diagram, 113 Output, 33 Packaging Design, 135

Behavioral Metrics, 117 Dot Vote, 107 Participatory Design Sessions, 135

Brainstorming, 143 Empathy Map, 109 Pilot Testing, 156

Business Model Canvas, 156 Experience Principles, 133 Problems to Be Solved Statement, 54

Cisco Design Thinking, 17 Explore, 65 Role Playing, 115

Principles, 93 Basics, 67 Stakeholder Map, 118

Cisco Design Thinking Lab, 159 Process & Tools, 139 Storyboard, 129

Competitive Analysis, 131 Output, 73 Surveys, 117

Concept Testing, 153 Facilitating Workshops, 90 Tools, 95

Cover Story, 135 Framework, 18 Unmoderated Testing, 156

Crazy 8's, 145 Getting Started, 89 Wizard of Oz, 155

Day in the Life, 155 How Might We, 125

Define, 45 Interactive Prototypes, 151

Basics, 47 Interviews, 101

Process & Tools, 121 Introduction to Design, 11

Output, 53 Journey Map, 111

Design Criteria, 127 Landscape Map, 118

Diary Studies, 117 Low Fidelity Sketching, 149

167 168