“There is always room in your life for thinking bigger, pushing limits, and imagining the impossible” – Tony Robbins

Design thinking is a creative problem-solving approach that helps you understand the needs of the people you’re creating for.

It’s about embracing simple mindset shifts and tackling problems from a new direction.

 By employing design thinking, we pull together what’s desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable.

Albert Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them’. Design Thinking also pushes you to explore, express, and think beyond your comfort zone.

It allows the use of creative techniques, methods, and mindsets to address a vast range of challenges.

The design thinking process starts with brainstorming, understanding the right problem, defining the problem statement, and then taking action after prototyping and testing the solution.

Design Thinking can be applied to the problems we face in our lives by following some steps:

1.”What is bothering you?”

List down various problems which bother you and then identify one problem among them that is most troublesome for you.

2: “Problem Statement”

So, for example, if you picked Overthinking, as your central problem then try to find the answer to “What you know” i.e the reasons you overthink(Example: Pressure from family and peers) and the direction “Where Overthinking leads you?”

Generally, it leads to taking wrong decisions in life on which you regret and again start Overthinking. This is a vicious cycle that never ends and you keep getting affected by it.

3: “Different ideologies”

So, to resolve it, take opinions from various people of different ages and professions to know how they make decisions and avoid Overthinking. Through this you will get different perceptions and methods through which different people handle different situations.

4: “The Real Problem”

After listening to others, sit, relax and think about the real problem i.e realize why you actually face that problem.

For example, ask yourself that whether you overthink because of pressure from family and peers or you overthink because of the fear of perceptions that they will make about you.

Here you will get the clarity, that problem is not Ovethinking but the fear of perceptions.

After giving a thought to The Real Problem list out the reasons for Why does that problem affects you?

5: “Solution”

Brainstorm and find out the solutions for your problem. Don’t depend on others to find solutions for you rather help yourself, think and note down how you can deal with the problem wisely.

6: “Prototype”

Keeping all the things in mind make a prototype of how your solution will work in reality. Work on it constantly, test it and improve it if needed. Design Thinking can be applied at a larger scale using its 5 steps of i.e. Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test

1: Empathize—Research Your Users’ Needs

Empathy is crucial to a human-centered design process such as design thinking because it allows you to set aside your own assumptions about the world and gain real insight into users and their needs.

So, try to gain an empathetic understanding of the problem you are trying to solve

2: Define—State Your Users’ Needs and Problems

The second stage in the Design Thinking process is dedicated to defining the problem. You should gather all of your findings from the empathise phase and start to make sense of them: What difficulties and barriers are your users coming up against? What patterns do you observe? What is the big user problem that your team needs to solve?

Synthesize all the observations and define the core problem statement- Why does that problem affects you?

3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas

The third phase in the Design Thinking process is where the creativity happens, as now you’re ready to generate ideas. The ideation stage is a judgement-free zone where you can start to “think outside the box”, look for alternative ways to view the problem and identify innovative solutions to the problem statement you’ve created.

4: Prototype—Start to Create Solutions

This is an experimental phase where ideas are turned into tangible products. The aim should be to produce some inexpensive, scaled-down versions of the product to investigate the ideas you’ve generated.

5: Test—Try Your Solutions Out

After prototyping comes user testing, but it’s important to note that this is rarely the end of the Design Thinking process. Teams often use the testing phase results to redefine one or more further problems.

 

Conclusion: Design Thinking can be used by anyone who wants to adopt a new approach to innovation that is effective and more efficient. It can be practised at every level of organisation to realize alternatives for the success of businesses and society.

 

Moreover, User expectations are also rising in an era where technology is evolving. They have access to a lot of information, creating the demand for new experiences. It is quite complex to meet these demands, here design thinking can be a way to help innovators design a product to get success and find breakthroughs in the market.

 

BY: ANUSHKA JAIN

PGDM – JIMS Rohini Sector-5