Design Thinking 101 - A Quick Explanation to Ease Your Confusion!
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Design thinking is an approach to problem-solving for complex issues where traditional solutions may not apply, focusing on understanding unmet needs through observation and iteration. It involves four basic actions: learning, defining, brainstorming, and prototyping to find and solve problems. The document illustrates design thinking through a case study where developers address emotional barriers for empty nesters looking to downsize, resulting in innovative solutions that increased sales and customer satisfaction.
Design Thinking 101 - A Quick Explanation to Ease Your Confusion!
- 1. www.alexdenniston.com Design Thinking 101 What is it? Where can it be used? What does it look like?
- 2. www.alexdenniston.com I’M ALEX DENNISTON I’ve practiced and taught Design Thinking for over a decade. It can be a confusing concept, but you probably understand it more than you think you do! Hello! 2
- 3. www.alexdenniston.com A Basic Definition: Design Thinking: An approach to solving challenging problems that are too unique or too complex to use existing solutions. 3 www.alexdenniston.com
- 4. www.alexdenniston.com Design Thinking isn’t for everything. Different types of problems benefit from different approaches. Problems can be Simple, Complicated, or Complex 4
- 5. www.alexdenniston.com Design Thinking is best suited for problems we don’t fully understand “Simple” Problems “Complicated” Problems “Complex” Problems 5 ? ! ? ! … … … COMPLEXITY
- 6. www.alexdenniston.com “Simple” “Complex”“Complicated”? ! ? ! … … … e.g. Baking a cake e.g. Rebuilding an engine e.g. Increasing bike commuting WELL UNDERSTOOD,The problem is LOW.The skills needed are KNOWWe how to solve it, WELL UNDERSTOOD,The problem is HIGH.The skills needed are KNOWWe how to solve it, NOT UNDERSTOOD,The problem is UNKNOWN.The skills needed are DON’T KNOWWe how to solve it, Traditional Problem Solving Methods Design Thinking
- 7. www.alexdenniston.com Design Thinking isn’t just for making products... 7 PERSONAL CHALLENGES COMMUNITY CHALLENGES BUSINESS CHALLENGES How can I get my kids to eat healthier? What should our next family vacation be? What career path should I pursue? How can I make my employees happier? How do we scale with the resources we have? How can we increase our reputation for quality? How can we improve parking in my city? Why aren’t more people recycling? How could we increase local voter turnout?
- 8. www.alexdenniston.com “Design Thinking” is used to refer to both a: 8 PHILOSOPHY PROCESS+ The belief that meaningful solutions are ones that address currently unmet needs. Those needs are found by deeply understanding those affected by our solutions. We must constantly create, build, try, fail, iterate in order to truly understand what works and what matters. A flexible selection of actions designed to find, frame, and solve problems: LEARN from others DEFINE what matters BRAINSTORM new ideas PROTOTYPE to learn TEST to improve
- 9. www.alexdenniston.com In order to understand and solve complex problems, sometimes we have to: 9 To observe what’s happening… To think of new ideas… To try lots of experiments… To determine what’s most important… To decide where to focus… To find out what’s working best… or
- 10. www.alexdenniston.com Cycling between GOING BROAD and NARROWING DOWN, Design Thinking helps us: 10 FIND THE PROBLEM FIND THE SOLUTION &
- 11. www.alexdenniston.com There are 4 BASIC ACTIONS in the Design Thinking Process 11 LEARN DEFINE BRAINSTORM PROTOTYPE & TEST FIND THE PROBLEM FIND THE SOLUTION Get out of our own heads. Talk, listen, and learn from all the people who play a role in our problem. Define what it’s all about. What matters most, what’s the biggest challenge? Consider the problem from all angles. Come up with a bunch of different ideas that might help. Actually make something and get it in front of people. Learn what’s working and how it could be improved.
- 12. www.alexdenniston.com The process can be done… 12 IN A QUICK SPRINT... FOR MULTIPLE CYCLES... OR OVER A LONG TIME.
- 13. www.alexdenniston.com Let’s see it in action! Case Study: How Design Thinking helped empty nesters leave their own nests. 13 Note: This project was done by Bob Moesta To see more, check out https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done
- 14. www.alexdenniston.com Condos for Empty Nesters Developers were designing luxury condos for couples looking to downsize from large homes after their kids had moved out. Despite lots of initial interest and excitement, no one was actually buying units. 14 www.alexdenniston.com
- 15. www.alexdenniston.com All the typical solutions didn’t seem to be working 15 Despite aggressive pricing… Ample marketing… And even adding bay windows following feedback from focus groups… People were not only not buying, they weren’t moving out of their old houses in general. +
- 16. www.alexdenniston.com Enter: Design Thinking. What’s the actual PROBLEM here? 16 LEARN DEFINE FIND THE PROBLEM The developers on the project sat down one-on-one with potential buyers to understand what they were thinking and feeling during the entire buying process. From shopping around for options, to selling old furniture that wouldn’t fit… After a number of conversations, it turned out it wasn’t the new home that was causing them issues… It was letting go of their old homes. Even more specifically: the dining table.
- 17. www.alexdenniston.com The Dining Table Problem From holiday meals and big family moments, to homework sessions and craft time, the dining table was a monument to what family life used to look like. The idea of losing the dining table proved to be an emotional stumbling block many couldn’t get over. 17 www.alexdenniston.com
- 18. www.alexdenniston.com “ 18 Bob Moesta ““I went in thinking we were in the business of new-home construction, But I realized we were in the business of moving lives.” www.alexdenniston.com
- 19. www.alexdenniston.com Having found the problem, developers gave potential buyers what they NEEDED: 19 Shifted square footage from second bedroom to dining room to enable bigger gatherings SPACE HELP TIME Free moving services to help alleviate the anxiety of The Move Two years of free storage to give them time to find a new home for their cherished furniture
- 20. www.alexdenniston.com These small changes unlocked the key to helping people make the move! 20 $3500 25% Developers were able to increase prices enough to cover the costs of free moving and storage—plus profit In 2007 when the industry sales were off 49%, they actually grew business by 25%
- 21. www.alexdenniston.com What’s Next? Let’s see what Design Thinking can do for you! 21
- 22. www.alexdenniston.com I’d love to work with you! I generally partner with organizations in two ways: 22 I specialize in the first portion of Design Thinking: Finding the right problem to solve. I plan, structure, and run research projects for clients to help them uncover their customers unmet needs and driving motivations I help plan and run custom workshops for organizations to help their team learn and practice Design Thinking skills. From 2-hour intro sessions to multi-day deep dives focusing on actual organizational challenges, I help groups build their skills. RESEARCH WORKSHOPS / TRAINING FIND THE PROBLEM FIND THE SOLUTION
- 23. www.alexdenniston.com Feel free to reach out to learn more about how I work, or how Design Thinking might help you or your organization! alexdenniston@gmail.com www.alexdenniston.com Let’s chat about what you’re working on! 23