Design Thinking – Strategy for Innovation and Creativity

Design thinking is an iterative methodology that allows us to advance along unknown paths through quick and agile trial and error. This methodology resides in the ability to obtain new insights, needs from the consumer side for creating solutions.

The image above illustrates a process of creating a solution. When we use Design Thinking, when we start the project, we have a series of assumptions, these assumptions are validated and with these results the solution is created, this is why it is known as an iterative methodology. This also allows us to go back and rethink the approach or solution at any time.

Design thinking is a methodology with a user-centered approach, which means that we are going to focus the process on the needs of users. So, listening and understanding them is going to be one of the important pillars when creating the solution.

The Design thinking methodology is divided into 5 stages, but as an iterative process, Insights will be discovered throughout the process, so it will be necessary to return to the process and adjust the product so that the end result is optimal for the user. These stages are:

Empathize

At this stage we seek to understand our user, for this, a series of studies will be carried out, both qualitative and quantitative, that allow us to understand the user and the context. Among the main exercises to be performed at this stage are:

• Observation diaries, in this exercise we observe the user in the context in which they are going to use the product, in order to understand how to interact, the problems they face and identify possible needs that the product can solve.
• 1: 1 Interviews -- These are semi-structured interviews in which we seek to know the user, their experiences, identify problems or difficulties they face when performing the task we seek to understand. In these interviews, we also seek to discover the preferences of the users, the technologies they are familiar with. In addition to the emotions that surround the experience we are studying.
• Creation of empathy maps and consumer map.
• Creation of the user archetype, this tool allows us to create a hypothetical user that meets the characteristics discovered with the previous exercises and is the one to whom we are going to direct the product.

Define

In this stage, the information collected in the previous stage is synthesized and allows us to define the problem. This is a key stage for the process since it will give us the direction in which we are going to focus the product, although throughout the process it is possible and recommended to return and restructure the problem, if new information is discovered that changes the direction of project.

Ideate

This is the stage in which we are going to get a little creative, since we started exploring ideas that allow us to solve the problem posed in the previous stage. For this stage we can use different tools such as:

• Scamper
• Brainstorming
• Brainwriting
• Among many other tools that allow us to think disruptively

Prototype

The time has come to build, at this stage we are going to generate a prototype, that is, a model that allows us to easily and quickly show the product, its functions and characteristics. As an iterative process, it is common to start with a simple prototype, even on paper, and with the shape we advance in the process, debugging and improving its quality until obtaining a finished product and with a design focused on the user's needs.

Test

As a user-centered methodology, validating is vital. In this stage we are going to take the prototype to our users to validate with them if the course and the solution we are creating is the correct one or if it is necessary to make changes or pivot the course of the solution. It is recommended to use a small group, it is recommended that this group be 5 people, since it has been discovered that testing the product with 5 people allows us to discover 80% of the problems that the product has. Some recommendations for this process to be effective are the following:

• Participants must be possible users.
• The prototype is presented, but the user does not receive an explanation on how to use it.
• It is important to inform the user that the solution is being tested, and not the user.
• Motivate the user to comment out loud what they think while using the solution.