UNIT – 2

Design Thinking Process

Design thinking process:-

Meaning of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is not just the property of designers — all the great inventors of
engineering, science, literature, art, music, and business have used it. Design thinking supports
in developing, teaching, learning, and applying strategies to solve complications in a creative
manner in the projects and processes of the business.

Definition of Design Thinking

Design thinking is a term used to denote a set of strategic, conceptual, and practical
processes in which design concepts are developed (product proposals, structures, equipment,
communications, etc.). Many key concepts and aspects of design thinking have been identified
through studies, across all different design fields, design concepts and design work in both
laboratory and environmental contexts.
Design considerations are also linked to the establishment of products and services
within the business and social environment. Some of these guidelines have been criticized for
simplifying the design process and undermining the role of technical knowledge and skills.

Principles of Design Thinking

At this point, it seems to the reader that design thinking is about how to think and act as
it is about process. The process is obviously important, and there are certain, tested tools that
need to be considered within each mode, each with its own set of inputs, outputs, and well-
defined functions. Aside from the process, design thinking is also about thinking, where the
concept can be thought of as an integrated set of beliefs and attitudes.

Human Focused Design Thinking: The process that understands from the perspective of the
human including the employees and customers. While doing so design thinker needs to
consider the individuals, beliefs, values and attitudes.

Diversity to work in a team: Design thinking needs to consider individuals from different
background and train to work in a team. While group membership should be balanced
throughout the project, it may be wise to occasionally include outside-organization participants
— such as clients, suppliers, and other topic professionals — in specific modes or activities.
Comprehensive: Although details are important, design experts are also able to identify and
consider relationships, collaborations, and communication between seemingly different ideas.

Flexibility and unconventional comfort: Design thinking is best suited to deal with problems
and opportunities described in an incomprehensible way, and requires great flexibility in terms
of both content and methodology (e.g., with the required repetition of modes and categories).

Communication Skills: Willingness to communicate and work in a variety of ways, including

speaking, visual, and touch. Design experts design and build prototypes, without the perceived
lack of skill or competence.

Stages of Design Thinking

We will focus on the five-phase Design Thinking model proposed by the Hasso-Plattner
Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school). D.school is a leading university when it comes to
teaching Design Thinking. The five stages of design thinking, according to d.school, are as
follows: Empathy, Explain (problem), Ideate, Prototype, and assessment. Let's take a look at
five different categories of Design Thinking

1. Empathy
The first step in the design process is to gain a critical understanding of the problem you
are trying to solve. This involves consulting with experts to find out more about the area of
concern, to consult and empathize with people to understand their experiences and motives, and
to immerse themselves in a visible environment to gain a deeper personal understanding of the
issues involved. Sensitivity is very important in a person-centered design process like Design
thinking, and sensitivity allows designers to set aside their ideas about the world in order to
gain an understanding of users and their needs. Depending on the time limit, a large amount of
information is collected in this section for use during the next phase and to develop a better
understanding of users, their needs, and the problems that underpin the development of that
particular product.
2. Define
During the Define stage, you combine the information you have created and collected
during the empathy phase. This is where you will analyze what you have seen and put it
together to explain the core values that you and your team have identified so far. You should
want to describe the problem as a problem statement in a person-centered way.
For example, instead of describing a problem as your wish or business need, such as, “We need
to increase our market share of food products among young girls by 5%,” the best way to
describe the problem would be, “Young girls need nutritious food to thrive, be healthy and
grow.”
Define Forum will help designers in your team come up with great ideas for creating
features, functions, or any other features that will allow them to solve problems or, at the very
least, allow users to solve problems themselves with minimal difficulty. In the Definition
section you will begin to move on to the third phase, Ideate, by asking questions that can help
you seek ideas for solutions by asking: "How can we ... a food product or company service?"
3. Ideate
During the third phase of the design thinking process, designers are ready to begin
producing ideas. You have grown to understand your users and their needs in the Sensory
section, and have analyzed and summarized what you saw in the Define section, and ended up
with a problem-focused problem statement. With this solid domain, you and your team
members can start "thinking outside the box" to see new solutions to the problem statement you
created, and you can start looking at other ways to look at the problem. Ideas at the end of the
Ideation section to help you investigate and evaluate your ideas to find the best way to solve a
problem or provide the necessary features to avoid it.
4. Prototype
The team of designers will now produce less expensive, discounted versions of the
product or specific features found within the product, in order to be able to investigate solutions
to problems developed in the previous section. Prototypes may be shared and tested within the
team itself, in other departments, or in a small group of people outside the design team. This is
the testing phase, and the aim is to identify the best solution for each problem identified during
the first three phases. Solutions are applied to prototypes, and, individually, are investigated
and adopted, developed and tested, or rejected on the basis of user knowledge. By the end of
this section, the design team will have a better idea of the existing product problems and
problems, and have a clear idea of how real users will behave, think, and feel about the product
and services.

5. Test
Designers or testers firmly test the complete product using the best solutions identified
during the simulation phase. This is the final stage of a 5-phase model, but with a recurring
process, the results produced during the testing phase are often used to redefine one or more
problems and inform users' understanding, usage conditions, and how people think. , behave
yourself, and be sensitive, and compassionate. Even in this phase, changes and improvements
are made to solve problems and gain as much insight into the product and its users as possible.
 Benefits of Design Thinking
1. It helps to overcome creative challenges: Design Thought gives you the freedom to look at
problems in many ways. It involves a lot of brains to come up with the best ideas, which helps
to improve students ’knowledge.
2. Helps to meet customer requirements effectively: As we discussed earlier, design thinking
involves developing prototypes when testing and using customer feedback repeatedly to ensure
quality assurance. By following a successful design idea, your product will eventually meet the
needs of customers.
3. It helps to increase your knowledge of Design Thinking: You will do a lot of experiments
in the design thinking process. You will always try to improve your model by using customer
feedback to ensure customer satisfaction.

Implementing the process in driving inventions:-

Implementing a process to drive innovation involves creating a structured framework

that encourages the generation, development, and implementation of creative ideas. Here’s a
step-by-step guide to implementing an innovation process within an organization:

1. Establish a Culture of Innovation:

Foster an environment that values creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking. Encourage open
communication, diverse perspectives, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
2. Define Clear Objectives and Goals:
Determine the specific areas or aspects of the organization where innovation is most needed.
Clearly articulate the goals and outcomes you hope to achieve through the innovation process.
3. Identify Innovation Champions:
Appoint individuals or teams responsible for driving the innovation process. These champions
should be passionate about innovation and have the skills to facilitate creative thinking.
4. Understand Customer Needs and Market Trends:
Conduct market research and engage with customers to understand their pain points,
preferences, and emerging trends. This insight will guide the direction of your innovation
efforts.
5. Idea Generation:
Encourage employees at all levels to contribute ideas. Provide platforms for brainstorming
sessions, idea contests, suggestion boxes, and collaborative workshops. Emphasize diversity of
thought.
6. Idea Evaluation and Prioritization:
Establish criteria for evaluating and prioritizing ideas. Consider factors such as feasibility,
market potential, alignment with organizational goals, and resource requirements.
7. Prototype and Testing:
Develop prototypes or proofs of concept for selected ideas. This allows for practical testing and
refinement before full-scale implementation.
8. Allocate Resources:
Provide the necessary resources, including funding, time, and expertise, to support the
development and implementation of innovative ideas.
9. Create Cross-Functional Teams:
Form multidisciplinary teams that bring together individuals with diverse skills and expertise.
This promotes a holistic approach to problem-solving and innovation.
10. Encourage Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing:
Foster a collaborative work environment where employees freely exchange ideas and insights.
Use platforms like intranets, team meetings, and collaboration tools to facilitate
communication.
11. Pilot Projects:
Test innovations on a small scale before full-scale implementation. This allows for adjustments
based on real-world feedback and minimizes potential risks.
12. Measure and Evaluate Progress:
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the impact of innovations. Monitor
progress towards achieving the defined objectives and make adjustments as needed.
13. Celebrate Success and Learn from Failures:
Recognize and celebrate successful innovations to reinforce a culture of creativity.
Additionally, view failures as learning opportunities and use them to refine future innovation
efforts.
14. Feedback and Iteration:
Solicit feedback from stakeholders, including employees, customers, and partners. Use this
feedback to refine and improve the innovation process for ongoing success.
15. Institutionalize Innovation:
Integrate innovation into the organization’s core values, strategic plans, and day-to-day
operations. Ensure that it becomes a natural part of how the organization operates.
Remember that innovation is an ongoing process that requires commitment,
adaptability, and a willingness to learn from both successes and failures. By implementing a
structured innovation process, organizations can systematically drive creative solutions and
remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment.
Design Thinking In Social Innovations:-
The 21st century problems demand complex and sophisticated solutions. With the
expanding innovation landscape, corporates have already started to adopt design thinking
practices into their businesses in order to innovate, differentiate and sustain their products in the
market. These principles can also be integrated by non-profits to anticipate the consequences of
their interventions. Design thinking has the potential to blur the traditional boundaries between
corporate, government and the non-profit sector.

Creating a social impact is at the core of design thinking. Many social entrepreneurs
already use some principles of design thinking, but are yet to embrace the approach as a way to
move beyond conventional problem solving methods.

Design thinking, a particularly valuable tool for social entrepreneurs, is not a novel
theory to India. In fact, according to Adobe’s 2016 Creative Pulse Survey, 98% of Indian
creative professionals believe that creativity and design thinking are more important to
innovation and 61% feel motivated to finding design-led solutions to challenges.

A frequently quoted example of design thinking for social innovation in India is

Aravind Eye Care System. The Founder, Dr. Venkatswamy simply started with a question,
“Why can’t the principles of McDonald’s be applied to eye care?”

The question led him to create a hypothesis – a hospital providing high-quality

ophthalmological care to low income population which would go on to have significant impact
on the lives of millions of underprivileged people in India.

Dr. Venkatswamy considered process models like McDonald’s, which had successfully
adopted the modern day assembly lines. Mapping the patient journey from time of admission to
discharge, Dr. Venkatswamy developed a standardised and streamlined system that aims to
improve the utilisation of services and resources (doctors, nurses etc) and bring down costs
without compromising on the safety of the patients. A surgeon at Aravind Eye Care System
typically performs 150 cataract surgeries every week; six times the number common among
Western specialists. A critical part of this business model is cross-financing: fees from paying
patients is directed towards those who cannot afford to pay.

Another successful example of social innovation is Embrace, a social enterprise that

aims to help vulnerable infants through an affordable baby-warmer, designed for a resource
constrained area with limited or no electricity.
 The prototype was designed by the students of Stanford University after a trip to Nepal
to meet families and doctors in order to understand the problem of high infant mortality. After
being exposed to the harsh surroundings of Nepal, the students were able to empathise with the
plight of the parents. They realised that simply designing low cost incubators would not solve
the problem since most premature babies were born in areas far away from the hospitals and
had no access to incubators. This led to a perception change and the students developed an
infant warmer prototype that could be heated in a pot of boiling water and would retain the heat
for a couple of hours, acting as an effective incubator. This also provided parents with the time
to reach the nearest hospital.

The students formed a company called Embrace and started manufacturing the product,
and started selling it for just $25. Currently, Embrace runs programs in 11 countries and has
saved over 50,000 premature and low birth weight infants and it all started with a design
thinking process.

The Indian government has also shifted its focus on resurgence of design, innovation
and creativity-led entrepreneurship (D.I.C.E), resulting in an increased emphasis on integrating
design in tackling complex challenges.

The ‘Make in India’ campaign launched in 2015, aims to overcome the manufacturing
deficit in India. However, if design thinking is made an integral part of Make in India, it is
possible to nurture a culture of innovation. It is important to encourage the creation of a robust
ecosystem which facilitates design thinking based knowledge-sharing among upcoming
entrepreneurs. Development of services conceptualised and manufactured by social innovators
in India must involve multi-stakeholder perception and a strong iteration mechanism at the
product envisioning stage. This will result in creation of social entrepreneurs with scalable and
sustainable solutions to social issues which are truly Made in India.

As design thinking achieves more acceptance, capable of tackling unpredictable and

complex problems, its integration into business and social organisations at a functional level is
inevitable.

Tools of design thinking:-

Design thinking tools and approaches are frameworks and processes that help solve
complicated problems, promote creativity, and speed up the design process. These resources aid
designers in developing user empathy, defining issues, coming up with solutions, creating
prototypes, and iteratively testing ideas.
1. Empathy Maps
Empathy maps facilitate the understanding of users' requirements, desires, and
motivations by designers. What users say, think, do, and feel are the four quadrants into which
they are usually classified. During the empathise phase of the design process, empathy maps
are used by designers to learn more about their users.
 Usage: Empathy maps can be used to better comprehend the viewpoints, actions, and

problems of users.
 When to use: When performing user research or user interviews, employ empathy maps

early in the design process.

 How to Use It: Assemble a diverse team and complete the empathy map using data from

user research, interviews, or observations. To find trends and design opportunities, debate
and evaluate the findings.
 Example: Empathy maps, for instance, can help a design team developing a new mobile

banking app comprehend the demands and difficulties of various user segments, such as
tech-savvy millennials or older customers who are not accustomed to using digital
interfaces.
2. Persona Creation
Personas are made-up characters that are designed to represent various user groups. They
are based on research data. They assist designers in understanding and creating for their target
audience by taking on the objectives, actions, and traits of actual users.
 Usage: Personas give design decisions a human-centered perspective and guarantee that

design solutions satisfy the needs of users.

 When to Use It: After gathering information about user demographics, behaviours, and

preferences through user research, create personas.

 How to Apply: Make thorough personas that include names, images, demographics,

objectives, annoyances, and behaviours. To guarantee that your design is in line with user
needs, utilise these personas as a point of reference throughout the process.
 Example: For instance, personas for a healthcare app might be "Elderly Eddie," who

needs larger font and simpler interfaces, or "Busy Parent Pam," who wants quick access
to medical information for her kids.
3. Storyboarding
Storyboarding is putting together a series of drawings or pictures to show how a user
might engage with a service or product. It assists designers in recognising chances for
improvement and pain areas by assisting them in understanding the environment in which
people engage with their designs.
  Use: Storyboarding is a helpful tool for visualising design concepts and outlining user

experiences.
 When to Use It: Storyboarding is a useful tool for exploring various user scenarios and

validating design concepts during the ideation and prototyping stages of the design
process.
 How to Apply: Draw a sequence of scenarios or frames that represent the user's feelings,

ideas, and behaviors when interacting with the good or service. Iterate the storyboard in
response to user or stakeholder input and insights.
 Example: As an illustration, a design team working on a new e-commerce platform

would storyboard the process a customer goes through to find and buy a product,
emphasising problems like difficult checkout procedures or ambiguous product
descriptions.
4. Mind Mapping
A visual tool called mind mapping is used to arrange facts, ideas, and thoughts around a
main topic or theme. It promotes ideation, relationship-building, and the development of
original solutions.
 Use: Mind mapping promotes lateral thinking, assists in organising and prioritising ideas,

and shows connections between concepts.

 When to Apply It: Use mind mapping to generate and explore a variety of ideas during

the design process' ideation phase.

 How to Apply: Start with a main idea or problem statement, then expand on it with

ideas, concepts, and solutions that are connected. Promote unrestricted creativity and
linkages between various components.
 Example: To better understand many facets of the user experience, like ticketing systems

and accessibility, a design team tasked with enhancing public transit may employ mind
mapping.
5. Prototyping
Prototyping is the process of generating low-fidelity or high-fidelity models of a design
concept in order to get input, verify hypotheses, and improve final designs. Prototypes might be
anything from interactive digital mockups to pencil drawings.
 Use: Using prototypes enables designers to test concepts fast, find usability problems

early in the process, and iterate on ideas.

 When to Use It: Prototyping should begin once you have a firm grasp on the

requirements for both design and user experience, usually following the ideation stage.
  How to Apply: Determine the right level of fidelity for your prototype by considering the

design process stage and the feedback you hope to obtain. Users can test the prototype to
provide feedback and iteratively improve the design.
 Example: A design team developing a new mobile app for restaurant reservations might

create paper prototypes to test different user flows and interface layouts before investing
time and resources in digital prototypes.
6. Journey Mapping
Journey mapping visually depicts a user's experience with a product or service over time,
highlighting touchpoints, emotions, and pain points to identify areas for improvement and
optimization. It helps designers understand the user's perspective and align design decisions
with user needs.
 Usage: By charting users' interactions with a product or service across time, journey

maps visualise the end-to-end user experience. They aid in locating problems and areas
that could use improvement.
 When to Apply It: Utilise journey mapping to comprehend user interactions and pain

points during the define and empathise phases of the design process.
 How to Apply: Make a chronology of all of the user interactions, noting the emotions,

pain points, and touchpoints. Note significant happy or frustrating situations.

 Example: a design team revamping a shopping website may make a journey map to

show consumers how to go from perusing things to making a buy, emphasising places
that could want improvement, like the checkout procedure or product search capabilities.
7. User testing
To make sure the finished product satisfies user needs and expectations, user testing is
watching users interact with a product or prototype to find usability flaws, get feedback, and
validate design choices. It offers insightful information that can be used to improve the design
iteratively.
 Usage: To find usability problems, get input, and confirm design choices, user testing

entails watching users interact with a product or prototype.

 When to Apply It: To make sure the product satisfies user needs and expectations, do

user testing at different stages of the design process, from early prototypes to final
designs.
 How to Apply: Establish unambiguous testing goals, select representative users, and

watch how they engage with the product while urging them to think aloud. Analyze the
results and iterate on the design based on user feedback.
  Example: To find usability problems and potential areas for improvement, a design team

creating a new mobile app for food delivery may put the app through user testing to see
how consumers interact with it, place orders, and follow deliveries.
8. Brainstorming
Through free-flowing group discussions and idea production, brainstorming is a
collaborative process used to swiftly produce a varied variety of ideas. It fosters creativity and
discovery of novel solutions to design difficulties.
 Use: Using a group creative approach called brainstorming, you can come up with a lot of

ideas quickly. It promotes cooperation, a diversity of viewpoints, and the investigation of

novel solutions.
 When to Use Them: Brainstorming sessions are a great way to develop ideas and

investigate potential solutions for design problems during the ideation stage.
 How to Use: Clearly define your goals, lay out ground rules (such as accepting criticism

and emphasising quantity over quality), and invite everyone to participate at will.
 Example: A design team looking to increase productivity at work can organise a

brainstorming session to come up with concepts for creative office designs, useful
communication tools, or effective time management techniques.
9. Six Thinking Hats
The Six Thinking Hats technique invites participants to approach problem-solving from
six metaphorical perspectives, which are represented by the following hats: white for facts, red
for emotions, black for caution, yellow for optimism, green for creativity, and blue for meta-
thinking.
 Use: Six Thinking Hats offers an organised framework for problem-solving or decision-

making by taking into account various viewpoints. It promotes comprehensive thinking

and aids in preventing tunnel vision and narrow-mindedness in teams.
 When to Use It: When a variety of viewpoints is advantageous, such as in brainstorming

sessions or decision-making meetings, Six Thinking Hats is very helpful. It can be used
in many different contexts, such as strategic planning and product creation.
 How to Use: Each colour of hat given to a participant in a Six Thinking Hats session

represents a distinct way of thinking:- White Hat (Facts), Red Hat (Emotions), Black
Hat (Warning), Yellow Hat (Optimism), Green Hat (Creativity), Blue Hat (Meta-
Thinking)
 Example: When assessing design concepts, a design team may use the green hat to

generate original solutions and the black hat to spot any hazards.
10. Co-Creation Workshops
By bringing together a variety of stakeholders to work together on ideation and co-
designing solutions, Co-Creation Workshops promote innovation by pooling knowledge and
creativity.
 Use: To work together on ideation and co-designing solutions, co-creation workshops

bring together a variety of stakeholders, such as designers, users, and subject matter
experts.
 When to Use It: To promote cooperation and guarantee that different viewpoints are

taken into account, use co-creation workshops during the define and ideate phases of the
design process.
 How to Use: Arrange interactive exercises and activities that promote workshop

participants' active engagement and idea development.

 Example: In order to gather feedback and co-create features that satisfy the demands of

all stakeholders, a design team working on a new educational app would organise a co-
creation workshop with educators, students, and educational psychologists.
11. Rapid Prototyping (Bonus)

Quickly building and evaluating prototypes in order to get input and refine design
solutions is known as fast prototyping. This process allows for quick iterations and shortens
time to market. It's a quick and iterative process for confirming concepts and improving designs
in response to user input.
 Use: In order to obtain input and iterate on design solutions, rapid prototyping entails fast

building and testing prototypes. It shortens time to market and aids in the early detection
of usability problems.
 When to Use It: Throughout the design process, use fast prototyping to test hypotheses,

validate concepts, and quickly iterate on design solutions.

 How to Use: Concentrate on developing prototypes that are simple to make and quick to

adjust in response to input. Make use of prototyping methods and instruments that enable
quick iterations.
 Example: Before completing the design, a design team working on a new website might

utilise prototyping tools to make clickable prototypes and solicit input from stakeholders
and users.
 Product development:-

Product development typically refers to all stages involved in bringing a product from
concept or idea through market release and beyond. In other words, product development
incorporates a product’s entire journey.
Standard Stages of Progress in Product Development
There are many steps to this process, and it’s not the same path for every organization, but
these are the most common stages through which products typically progress:
 Identifying a market need.
Products solve problems. So identifying a problem that needs solving (or a better way of being
solved) is where this journey should begin. Conversations with potential customers, surveys,
and other user research activities can inform this step.
 Quantifying the opportunity.
Not every problem is problematic enough to warrant a product-based solution. However, the
pain it causes and the number of people or organizations it impacts can determine whether it’s a
worthy problem to solve and if people are willing to pay for a solution (be it with money or
their data).
 Conceptualizing the product.
Some solutions may be obvious, while others may be less intuitive. Here’s where the team puts
in the effort and applies their creativity to devising how a product might serve its needs.
 Validating the solution.
Before too much time is spent prototyping and design, whether the proposed solution is viable
should be tested. Of course, this can still happen at the conceptual level. Still, it is an early test
to see whether the particular product idea is worth pursuing further or if it will be rejected or
only lightly adopted by the target user.
 Building the product roadmap.
With a legitimate product concept in hand, product management can build out the product
roadmap, identifying which themes and goals are central to develop first to solve the most
significant pain points and spark adoption.
 Developing a minimum viable product (MVP).
This initial version of the product needs just enough functionality to be used by customers.
 Releasing the MVP to users.
Experiments can gauge interest, prioritize marketing channels and messages, and begin testing
the waters around price sensitivity and packaging. It also kicks off the feedback loop to bring
ideas, complaints, and suggestions into the prioritization process and populate the product
backlog.
 Ongoing iteration based on user feedback and strategic goals.
With a product in the market, enhancements, expansions, and changes will be driven by user
feedback via various channels. Over time the product roadmap will evolve based on this
learning and the objectives the company sets for this product. This work never ends until it’s
finally time to sunset a product at the end of its lifecycle.

Activity:
Every student presents their idea in three minutes,
Every student can present design process in the form of
flow diagram or flow chart etc. Every student should
explain about product development.