Design is a fundamental part of your implementation, usability should be central to the application you are creating. Design Thinking is a great technique to innovatively create solutions that will be loved by your end users.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to identify and creatively solve problems. It incorporates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the viability to achieve an outcome. 

The following diagram shows the relationship between People (Desirability), the Business (viability) and Technology (feasibility) and the design thinking steps of Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test and Build.

Design Thinking follows five basic steps,

• Empathize: Research to gain a deep understanding of the end user needs and friction points.
• Define: Find links or patterns within those insights to create a meaningful and feasible problem statement or point of view.
• Ideate: Apply structured methods to collaborate, encourage unconstrained thinking, and focus on the strongest ideas.
• Prototype: Validate concept through rapid-prototype, designing a realistic representation with which users can interact.
• Test: Watch users work with the prototype, observing their behavior and gathering tangible, actionable insights as they respond.

What is the value of Design Thinking?

Using Design Thinking, you can analyze user perspective to creatively solve problems. We use these techniques because they identify the simplest and best solution (microjourneys) to achieve your business outcomes. Through techniques, such as a design sprint, you can prototype a solution and prove through user testing that you have found the right solution for your business needs, well before you invest in building it.  Design thinking adds value in the following ways:

• Understand the people for whom we create solutions 
• Create a shared understanding of the goals and desired outcomes 
• Design better solutions that benefit from a wide range of expertise 
• Reduce risk by testing which solution is best for the user and the organization.
• Build local expertise using a cross-functional group of stakeholders who keep working this way.

When does Design Thinking take place?

Design Thinking is optimal to solve problems that are new, poorly-defined, or complex. Design Thinking is most effective when you use it early in the engagement. However, you can use it in various forms throughout an implementation. It can help you with everything from identifying the right Microjourneys® through a design sprint to honing the solution during the remainder of the project through Ideation sessions.