whats design thinking really like

8/13/2019 Whats Design Thinking Really Like

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ExperiencePoint Fall Issue 2011

take two to three years. And culturechange usually takes 3 5 years to takehold in an organization.

EP: And how is that time split among theInspire, Ideate, and Implement phasesintroduced in Design Thinker?

W e sat down with Peter Coughlan,a senior partner at IDEO and aprincipal contributor to the DesignTinker game experience, and asked

or his thoughts on the differencesbetween the simulation and real worlddesign thinking.

ExperiencePoint (EP): So let's startbroadly how is Design Thinker differentfrom the real world of design projects?

We dont complete projects in ourhours! And o course there are a ewother things one relates to representing'design thinking' as a process. Although

or the purposes o learning anddiscussion, its use ul to tackle DesignTinker in a series o sequential steps,in practice its rarely so orderly. Tespecic activities in a project are drivenmore by principles than by rote steps.Principles include things like maintaina mindset o optimism and possibility,think creatively, build to think,empathize with users, and embraceconstraints. Te challenge or novicesis that those ideas are quite abstract andonly achieve meaning afer multipleprojects and cycles.

EP: So how long would a project like LosVerdes normally take?

Te best answer is that depends. Aproject o this size might be about16 weeks up through the launch oinitial experiments then monthsto evolve and grow the experiments.Some projects are nished in less time,whereas signicantly complex ones can

A rough rule o thumb is the 2:1:3ratio. Imagine a six month projectthe rst two months would be spentseeking inspiration understandingthe true client need and conductingdeep research. Te next month wouldinvolve ideation synthesizing researchndings, raming opportunities, and

Whats design thinkingreally like?A seasoned design consultant helps us seebeyond the Design Thinker game experience.

Key differences betweenDesign Thinker and design thinking

Design Thinker(The Game)

Design Projects(The Real World)

Length of Project 4 hours 16 weeks on average, butcan be multiple years

Representation ofdesign thinking A step-by-step process

A discipline with keyprinciples and practices

Ratio of time spent in eachphase - Inspire: Ideate:

Implement2:1:1 2:1:3

Research methods Photo journals See Methods Cards formultiple examples

Number of extremeuser subjects 2 10 to 20

Synthesis: Insights andOpportunities Treated as discrete steps

Organic and emergentduring the research process

Number of ideas carriedforward after a brainstorm 1 3 to 5

Number of experimentsfor each idea 1

As many as needed in thetime available


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brainstorming an initial set o solutions.Te nal three months o the projectwould be spent in implementationrening ideas through experimentationto evolve and nally validate solutions.

EP: Design Thinker participants oftenask us for more details about UserObservations. Are there other methodsbesides photo journals? How manyresearch subjects are required? To whatextent can you interact with the subjectswithout contaminating their behavior?

We have a set o tested techniques orgaining inspiration and buildingempathy and yet we continue to explorenew methods. Weve actually published atool called the IDEO Methods Cardswhich introduces 51 different ways oputting users at the center o your work.Tese cards arent intended to prescribean approach, rather they should inspirethe development o methods tailored tothe nature o a project. For example, theLos Verdes photo journals actuallycombine three methods ound in themethods deck Extreme Users, a Day inthe Li e and Photo Essaying. Regardingthe number o research subjects, we areseeking inspiration, not validation, so wend that with just 10 to 20 subjects, wecan get more than enough interestinguser insights to generate lots o newideas. And we usually do interact withthese olks asking them clari yingquestions to better understand themotivation behind certain statementsand behavior. We do this in the eld withthe user. Although we usually approachan interview or observation with somequestions, we let the encounterdynamically un old going where thereis something interesting to be learned. It

is an art or sure building rapport andtrust with your subjects by really listeningto what they have to say provides aspringboard to interesting insights.

EP: You mentioned that Extreme Usersare one of the most popular methodsused in your work? Are there others?

Another popular method or seekinginspiration is the use o analogs. We

will look at a user scenario and identi ythe salient characteristics. We thenlook or similar characteristics in otherindustries. For example, a hospitalEmergency ward might seek inspiration

rom a NASCAR pit crew, where

precision, speed, and highly coordinatedteamwork are o the essence.

EP: When do you engage in synthesis?What does that look like?

We dont view synthesis as a discrete

step. Usually, it takes place as weconduct our research. Project teamsimmerse themselves in dedicatedspaces that are lled with arti acts

rom their research. Patterns start toemerge. A deep understanding o usersin context provides the inspiration ornew solutions. Tere is never a singlecorrect insight, rather multiple ones areofen revealed in the research process.Although its great to have multipleinsights during the course o research,projects have been known to move

orward based on a single great insight.

EP: Although it was identied as part ofthe design thinking process, FramingOpportunities was not explored indepth in Design Thinker. Can you tell usa bit more about that step?

Tis goes hand-in-hand with synthesis.In our projects, we typically spend asmuch time synthesizing and raming

opportunities as we do conductingactual observations. Opportunitiesare the ip side o insights and usuallymultiple insights are combined tohelp us determine true opportunities

or innovation. We may identi y two

or three opportunities worthy oexploration. It is exhilaratingly difficultwork and tends to live in the back-and-

orth conversations o the project teams.For example, the How might we...statement rom Design Tinker evolvedincrementally over a couple o weeks aswe digested the Los Verdes research.

EP: After you brainstorm, how manyideas do you typically put forward todevelop further?

It depends on the projects expectedoutcome and the time available orexperimentation. Some projects requirethat we make many (dozens tohundreds) low-resolution prototypes totest out, while other projects have ewerquestions to answer and there orerequire ewer prototypes. As a rule othumb, though, we rarely start with justone idea because prototypes are quickand cheap at this stage in the process, itsthe best time to pursue multiple ideas.

EP: And so how many experiments wouldyou run on each of these ideas?

Rather than setting a goal or the numbero experiments, its important to dedicatesufficient time or experimentationand then conduct however manyexperiments are warranted. On ourprojects, we typically spend as muchproject time on the Implement stage aswe do on the Inspire and Ideate stages

combined! Tis is especially true i thegoal o our experiments is to changebehavior within an organization youwant people to have lots o time to tryon a new behavior in a low risk, loweffort way so they can gradually warmup to the new behavior.

EP: OK, but how do you know how manyexperiments are warranted? When is thatwork complete?

Peter Coughlan


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Troughout the process, knowing whenits time to move on is critical to success.And truth ully, project schedules playa signicant role in ocusing attentionand moving things orward. Tere areindicators however that can provide the

condence that youre ready to move on.During research, its when you eel likeyoure seeing and hearing redundantin ormation. During brainstorming,it's when the team eels it no longerhas other ideas to contribute (plus anadditional ew minutes, since manygreat ideas ofen come out at the veryend o a brainstorming session). Duringexperimentation, its when you reachthat point where the effort to urtherimprove your idea is not worth themarginal benet. And note that rarely

is a product or service truly nishedwhen it enters the marketplace moreincremental changes can ollow in new versions or extensions. An extremeexample o this which is rapidlyshifing the way designers are thinking

is the always in beta philosophy

o many sofware companies. Googleand other sofware companies practicethe Agile method o putting semi-complete products out into the worldand rapidly adding signicant upgradesand changes based on the immediate

eedback received rom users. Googlesphilosophy is launch and iterate.

EP: Still on the topic of experiments inDesign Thinker, participants get a chance todesign an experiment. In your experience,what are the best experiments?

An experiment is a small invitation tochange behavior. It should be rough enoughthat others are encouraged to contribute

eedback. It should be temporary enoughthat i things go wrong, you can revert backto the original idea. And nally, it shouldbe cheap enough that no one is sayingthis is a waste o company resources! So,the best experiments are those that eelscrappy not quite enough resources

or people to all in love with a particulardirection or the wrong reasons.

EP: Few organizations are like IDEO. Alot of your behavior is really outsideof our typical way of doing things.Many participants ask us, how can ourorganization become more like IDEO?

Te reality is, your organization wontbe like IDEO, and IDEO wont be likeyour organization. Every company hasa unique culture and trying to replicateanother companys culture inside yourown is probably not that use ul. Tatsaid, as with all things design thinking,i you see something that serves as aninspiration or a new way o working, Iwould encourage you to just try it out, seewhat happens, and be prepared to adaptand evolve the practice based on howpeople in your organization respond toit. Learn rom the experience whatworked, and what didnt?

EP: Many thanks Peter. We appreciateyour time!

whats design thinking really like

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