Design thinking is a problem solving process. Please don’t confuse it with picking color palettes or making logos.
Think of it as a way to tackle challenges by blending creativity with logic, so you can design solutions that actually work for people.
Design thinking is a set of tools that enables solving a particular problem using analytics and creativity. Solving the problem is at core of design thinking.
The endpoint of the process is to make things easier and better for the people who use them.
In fact, it’s what design thinking is all about: finding fresh, creative solutions to problems, but in a way that puts people and their needs first.
Design thinking approach involves looking at already existing product and analyzing the ways to make it better and more user-friendly. It’s about generating a plenty of new ideas, while placing the needs of customers above all. This is why Gurzu has been using this approach since long way.
Also read about our steps in product design here.
Design Thinking consists of five principles:
Fig: Process for Design Thinking
Namely,
- Empathy
- Define
- Ideate
- Prototype
- Test
- Some versions also add a sixth step: Implement, which is about putting tested ideas into the real world.
Here’s an explanation for all of these steps:
Empathy: Design Thinking Step 1
Empathy is an initial step of the entire design thinking process. Empathizing with the customers enables understanding their needs and finding out what they really want, looking at the products and services from users’ perspective. It is all about observation, understanding and interacting with customers or users.
Example: Interviewing college students to learn why they struggle to manage their monthly budget.
Define: Design Thinking Step 2
After empathizing with the customers, there comes the phase of identification of the problem i.e Define that we need to solve. On this stage we have to define a point of view, consisting users, their needs, and insights. We have to establish deep understanding of our character – the user. Outline a set of needs our user has and provide the insights, based on our research and discoveries.
Example: Students need a simple way to track daily expenses so they can stay within budget.
Ideas: Design Thinking Step 3
Now, we need ideas. After identifying problems, we need to find way to generate solutions. For this, What we need is a plenty of creative solutions and ideas, multiple perspectives, and different viewpoints. It is an exploration phase, where all the ideas must be encouraged even if they seem to be not relevant enough.
Example: Coming up with ideas like a budgeting mobile app, a gamified expense tracker, or a shared Google Sheet with alerts.
Draft: Design Thinking Step 4
Then it’s time to make a draft. we have to represent our idea in a clear and tangible form so that others could understand. It can be in a form of product, model or a sketch, but the primary aim of building a prototype is to pass our idea to the others and figure out how our product may feel and look.
Example: Creating a clickable mockup of the mobile app in Figma.
Test: Design Thinking Step 5
On the next stage i.e Test of the design thinking process, prototype is put into action and tested by people. We give it to users, see how they interact with it, how they implement it, and get us feedback. This phase allows us to understand what is right and what is wrong, and refine our ideas.
Example: Letting a group of students use the mockup for a week and collecting their input.
Implement: Design Thinking Step 6
This step is about bringing your tested solution into the real world. After refining through prototypes and feedback, it’s time to roll out the solution so it can create actual impact. Implementation doesn’t always mean a full-scale launch right away. It could start with a pilot program, a limited release, or gradual integration, depending on the context.
Example: After testing a budgeting app prototype with a group of college students, the team develops a full version and launches it on the app store for a wider audience. They continue monitoring usage and feedback to keep improving the product.
Design Thinking At Gurzu
At Gurzu, we have been implementing design thinking approach for the development of product and services by putting customers’ needs at the heart of the development strategy, and using creative and innovative techniques. Design Sprint is one of the different ways.
Design Thinking and Design Sprint are interrelated with each other. Design Thinking is a foundation, a philosophy, a toolkit for innovation. And the Design Sprint is one great way of systematically executing all of it.
We at Gurzu, have been using design sprint across different projects. One of our first was with Designerex.
This is what our client of Designerex has to say about us:
“Gurzu and the team have been excellent in developing the designerex™ platform. This project involved building a world-first technology platform and Gurzu were outstanding in delivering a very successful result. The whole team is very reliable and exceptionally talented, I highly recommend Gurzu.”
Interested to read our other article from our experienced designers? Explore our blog here
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