Design Thinking Process(Re)define the problem

Design never ends

Needfinding & SynthesisUnderstand the

users & the design

space

Ideate Brainstorm

PrototypeBuild

TestLearn

Design space exploration

Final prototype

Critical function

prototype

Dark horse

prototype

D I V E R G I N G C O N V E R G I N G

Funky prototype Functional

prototypeX-is

finished prototype

Design Thinking Phases

(Re)Define

(Re)defining the problem asks you to simplify the visionary

challenge into a more differentiated problem statement. By (re)

defining the problem statement from the users perspective,

you are able to focus on unanswered and specific areas during

the needfinding phase. Framing what your team seeks to ‘un-

derstand’ enables you to generate interview questions and to

come up with places for observations that seem promising to

understand the problem statement. Through constant and crit-

ical reflection, the problem statement needs to be redefined

as insights that provide new directions.

Design Space Map

» Establish a common understanding of your challenge

» Formulate key questions and discuss important aspects

» Keep modifying and expanding your map throughout your project

» Treat your map as a visual record of how your project evolves

» Revisit this map from time to time, so your team stays aligned

Challenge

(RE)D

EFINE

Stakeholder Map

THINK OFExperts | Skeptics | Fans | Extreme Users | Lead Users | Non-Users |

Mis-Users | Early Adopters | Innovators | Followers | Laggards |

Customers | Partner Organizations | Competitors | Suppliers

Who should we talk to?

Who can we learn from?

Where can we find them?

(RE)D

EFINE/

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Needfinding

Ask, listen, observe and engage! Understanding the people

you are designing for is the foundation of human-centered

innovation. By observing and directly engaging with users, your

team learns about the way people think and the values they

hold. Gaining empathy enables you to discover the emotions

that guide peoples’ behavior and helps to capture physical

manifestations of experiences. This allows to sense intangible

meanings of user experiences and define latent needs. These

insights evoke user-centered inspiration for ideation and

prototyping.

» Do desk research to get a first deep dive into your

challenge (read articles, blogs, forums regarding your

topic and look at your company’s website, …)

» Identify sources of inspiration

» Explore emerging trends and market opportunities

» Constantly share your research with the team (Diigo.com)

» Print out important numbers, quotes, and findings to

share your desk research within the team

» Update your Design Space Map accordingly

How To Become An

Expert Instantly

INSTA

NT

EXPERTISIN

G

How To Interview

Shortly introduce yourself. Tell the interviewee that you are interested in

their experiences regarding your topic.

What do you like about coffee (example topic)?

Have you had coffee today? How was your experience? How did you buy

it? How was the provided service?

Can you describe your most memorable coffee experience? What

happened?

If you would design the ultimate coffee experience, what would that be

like?

INTRO

KICK-OFF BUILD

RAPPORTGRAND TOUR

REFLECTION

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Intro Kick-Off

Build rapport

Grand tour

Explore emotions

Reflections

Wrap up

Choose one who is leading the interview while the other is documenting

Encourage storytelling: use open-ended questions like “Tell me about…”

Always ask why! (“5 Whys”)

Do not skip to a new topic before you’ve exhausted the current one

Capture memorable quotes to illustrate your findings

Look for inconsistencies and non-verbal clues (body-language, tone)

Expand your notes as soon as possible after each interview

Keep in mind: there might be a gap between what people say and what they

do!

1. 2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Interview Tips

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How To Engage

Self Test and Self Documentation » make first-hand experiences and walk in the

shoes of your customers

» engage in things and activities that people

normally do

» do typical activities of your stakeholders

» use empathy tools

Tips Don’t lose the balance between objectivity and subjectivity. You

are still the design team and not the target group

Empathize without judgment!

1.

2.

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What To

Observe I

What do

people do?

What are the

specific activ-

ities they go

through?

Activities Environment Interactions Objects User

What is the

character and

function of the

space?

What is the

nature of inter-

actions be-

tween people,

objects, and

across distanc-

es?

What are the

objects and

devices people

have in their

environments?

Who is there?

What is their

role and

behavior?

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A E I O U

Distinguish interpretation from observation

Don’t let your expectations affect your observations

Look for anything that surprises you, that you may find irrational,

that makes you question your assumptions, that prompts shifts in

(routine) behaviors

Take field notes, photos, videos, audio recordings

Try to picture the scene from different perspectives

Capture everything (notes) you experience, see, hear, feel, and taste

After the observation - print pictures and put quotes on post-its

Share the observations with your team

1. 2.3.

4.5.6.7.8.

Observation Tips

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What To Observe II

CONFUSION. Watch the users’ facial expressions. A confused look

signals an opportunity to make the experience more intuitive.

EXHAUSTION. Notice moments when people must work too hard

(even if they don’t realize it) as they seek to solve their problem.

PAIN POINTS. Look for moments that are actualy unpleasant or

annoying. You will see it in the users’ facial expressions and body

language.

APPROPRIATION + WORKAROUNDS. Pay attention to adaptations

and the use of a product for a new/different purpose.

SKIPPED STEPS. If users skip a step, it might signal that they

don’t need, want, or understand the value of that step.

1.

2.

4.

5.

6.

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What to look for during observations

Synthesize

Synthesis is orientation and is therefore giving direction. After

engaging with users it’s time to transform your data into in-

sights. This is a difficult mental task to work out what connects

to what, which ideas are more outliers on their own, and which

concepts tie to the core of the design challenge. By looking at

your findings, try to link similarities, contradictions, exceptions

or patterns. Common themes provide inspiration for new,

improved prototypes which solve uncovered user needs. The

process of focusing your needfinding and testing data enables

you to create a shared understanding and team knowledge.

Pattern Recognition

Share your findings with your team!

Share them while they are fresh. Which

stories/behaviors are most intruiging?

Listen actively! This helps to identify first

patterns and repeating themes.

Look for patterns, repetitions, exceptions.

Group notes together that form a theme.

Find titles for each cluster and phrase

insights. Insights extrapolate individual

stories into overall “truths”.

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SYNTHESIS

Storytelling

Themes

Generating Insights

interviews,

observations,

articles

life experience,

intuition values,

morals

learning about your

user that you wouldn’t

have assumed before

your observations

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SYNTHESIS

I saw I know Insight+ =

Frameworks

cheap

expensive

organic conventional

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SYNTHESIS

Venn Diagram 2x2 Matrix

Coffee Sugar

Cream Heaven

THINK & FEELWhat really counts, major preoccupations,

worries and aspirations

SAY & DOAttitude in public, appearance, behavior towards others

HEARWhat friends, boss, or

influencers say

SEEEnvironment, friends, what the

market offers

PAINFears, frustrations, obstacles

GAIN Wants/needs, measures of success

Empathy Map Who‘s your user...

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SYNTHESIS

Need Classification

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SYNTHESIS

I need to...

Common needs …feel respected

Context needs …confirm the validity of my work

Activity needs …get feedback at the end of a project

Qualifier needs …talk to my project supervisorHow?

Why?

Persona

demographics like age, education

needs and tasks

goals and aspirations

behavior, bugs and likes

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SYNTHESIS

Name & Picture

typical statements

Generating a

Point of View (POV)

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SYNTHESIS

User + Need + insight = Persona

Problem POV

Ideate

Ideation is the mode of generating a large quantity of diverse

ideas. Mentally, it represents the process of “going wide” which

enables to explore a broad solution space. Brainstorming is a

renowned method to come up with a lot of ideas. It leverages

collective thinking of your team by engaging with each other,

listening, and building on each others ideas. Generating ideas

based on specific user needs and insights provides the fuel

and source material for building rapid prototypes in order to

get relevant innovations into the hands of your users.

Brainstorming Tips

IDEATE

DEFINE GOALS & STATE THE PROBLEM. Start by defining a clear,

concise statement that explains the purpose of the session. Make sure

the problem statement isn’t too specific as this can limit creativity.

IDEATE INDIVIDUALLY. Instead of immediately shouting out ideas in a

group setting, allow to generate ideas individually for a fixed amount of

time. Then come together, share and build on each others ideas.

CATEGORIZE AND SYNTHESIZE. It’s crucial to move forward with the

ideas that you generate. Categorize common themes and decide on

evaluation criteria that allow you to identify the most promising ideas

for prototyping and testing.

Go for quantity

Defer judgement

Encourage wild ideas

Be visual

Build on the ideas of others (Yes, AND...)

Stay focused on topic

1. 2.3.4.5.6.

Brainstorming Rules

IDEATE

Prototype

Build to think! Prototypes are tools to have a conversation

around. Prototyping gets ideas and explorations out of your

head into the physical world. A prototype can be anything that

takes an experienceable form – a role play activity, a paper

wireframe or even a sketch or storyboard. Creating quick,

low-resolution prototypes allows your team to test assump-

tions early and learn without investing a lot of time and money.

Rapid prototypes also enable to refine ideas together with the

user and gain deeper empathy, by allowing people to interact

with a tangible version of your vision.

Prototypes

Prototyping is a tool to deepen your understanding of the design space and your

user, even at a pre-solution phase of your project. Identifying a variable to explore

encourages you to break a large problem down into smaller, testable pieces.

» Paper prototypes

» Customer Journey

» Storyboards

» Graphics and interface mock-ups

» Role Play

» Videos

» And many more

PROTOTYPE

Prototypes

PROTOTYPE

» RIGHT. Think about the goal that is to be

reached with the respective prototype.

Consider which aspect the prototype is

to represent and what is an appropriate

method for creating this prototype.

» RAPID. Turn your ideas quickly into low

cost and effort prototypes.

» ROUGH. Get things built fast and cheap,

a scribble or artefact not looking pretty,

to see what people think by testing your

idea.

Principles Versions

» FORM - “looks like”. This relates to size,

proportions, aesthetics or ergonomics of

a product or service.

» ACTION - “works like”. This relates to the

functionality or interplay of components.

BEHAVIOR - “behaves like”. This

embodies the interactivity with the user.

» CONTEXT - “has a relationship to”. This relates to the situation-dependent

use (action + behavior).

Prototyping Tips

PROTOTYPE

One question, one prototype

Build fast, before overthinking your idea

Stop before it’s perfect

Cannibalize as much ideas as possible

Don’t fall in love with your prototype

Always build and share more than one prototype

Create to provoke and persuade

Break rules, laws and facts

1. 2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Test

Testing is the chance to refine solutions together with the user.

It is another opportunity to gain empathy through observa-

tion and engagement and often yields unexpected insights.

Testing is the mode in which the low-resolution artifacts are

put into practice by placing the prototype in the appropriate

user context. Handing over a prototype into the users’ hands,

observing how they interact with it and listening to what they

say, allows your team to discover new insights and gain deeper

understanding of hidden user needs.

Testing Tips

TEST

SHOW, DON’T TELL. Communicate your vision in an impactful and

meaningful way by creating experiences, using illustrative visuals, and

telling good stories.

COLLABORATE TO INNOVATE. Bring together innovators with various

backgrounds and viewpoints. Enable breakthrough testing insights in

order to allow solutions that emerge from the diversity.

EMBRACE FEEDBACK. Testing is not simply a way to validate your

idea. We test to learn. Not only do we not get the solution right, but we

sometimes also fail to frame the problem correctly. Testing inspires to

reframe and focus your point of view.

Arrange your feedback and draw a mini-synthesis in order to decide what to

take further into your next iteration.

USER WONDERS

USER CRITICIZES

USER IDEATES

Feedback Capture Grid

TEST

USER LIKES