What Can Be The Impact Of Design Thinking On Your Business?
Of the many terminologies that go around in the world of business, some can be more abstract than others. Design thinking is certainly one of them, but in a time of constant innovation and growth, it's definitely worth spending the time to explore it. So, let's start by answering the most important question: what is design thinking? In a nutshell, this term refers to a nonlinear, iterative process mostly used by designers to break down complex problems and come up with innovative and impactful solutions. In this article, we will explore the process of design thinking and 4 reasons you should consider implementing it in your organization.
What Is The Process Of Design Thinking?
There are 5 stages that fully describe design thinking. As this process is nonlinear, these steps should not be viewed as a sequence of actions but rather as overlapping spaces that can be repeated and reordered as needed. Now, let's see what they are.
Empathize
This is a critical step of design thinking, and it's usually the one that kicks off the process. During this stage, designers, leaders, or Instructional Designers work on comprehending the specific needs and preferences of the users. You are advised to set aside your own assumptions during this step and adopt a more empathetic and human-centered approach.
Define
At this stage, you use the information you gathered during the previous stage to make sense of the problem at hand. When you are done examining your data, you will be left with a clearly articulated issue or, in other words, a problem statement. It's often advisable to incorporate personas in your statement to maintain a user-centered design.
Ideate
It's time to start coming up with some creative solutions to your problem(s). It's crucial that you don't limit yourself during this stage. Think outside the box, examine as many angles as you can, challenge assumptions, and, most importantly, hold judgment-free brainstorming sessions.
Prototype
Once you have settled on some ideas from the previous step, it's time to start developing tangible products. This is an experimentation step, so there is no reason to go all out. All you need is low-cost, scaled-down versions of the final product so that you can identify which can best address your problem.
Test
Prototypes must undergo user testing to evaluate their effectiveness. This may be the final step on this list, but it's hardly ever the last step of the design thinking process. Usually, the information gathered from testing is utilized to improve prototypes, better define the problem statement, etc.
4 Reasons Design Thinking Is The Right Choice
Now that we know what design thinking is, it's time to see why you would benefit from implementing it in your organization.
1. Fosters Innovation
The main benefit of design thinking is that it promotes lateral thinking and thus produces creative and innovative solutions. The way it achieves this is by encouraging professionals to think outside the box, challenge what they already know, and exchange ideas and perspectives without limitations. Adopting and fostering such a culture of innovation for your workforce can transform your organization by producing groundbreaking solutions to previously unresolved and even unexplored problems.
2. Cuts Costs And Reduces Risks
Design thinking is an overall safe product development process for your business, as it significantly reduces the odds of a subpar product hitting the market. The way it achieves that is by carefully researching customer needs and repeating user testing until all issues are ironed out. Not to mention that scaled-down prototypes allow you to stay within budget throughout the process. This way, by the time you have completed all the steps of the design thinking process (including any repetitions), you'll be certain that your product is a success.
3. Improves Customer Satisfaction
As one can easily understand, design thinking is an inherently user-centric process that puts customer needs front and center. Through empathy, ideation, and prototype testing, it accomplishes a thorough understanding of the steps your organization needs to take to develop a product that perfectly satisfies their expectations and addresses any challenges they are facing. This boosts customer engagement as well as loyalty, helping you create a steady clientele that trusts your organization.
4. It Is For Everyone
Although design thinking was originally created by and for designers, it has now acquired a use in all departments of an organization. Everyone, from designers and freelancers to leaders, can utilize design thinking to produce better results and achieve innovation. Moreover, design thinking promotes cross-functional collaboration, encouraging professionals from different teams and backgrounds to combine their skills and perspectives. These diverse brainstorming sessions can produce surprising solutions to complex problems.
Conclusion
In a highly competitive business environment, design thinking can allow you to utilize your resources in the best possible way. By keeping an open mind, thinking creatively, and testing every step of the way, this technique helps businesses achieve unprecedented levels of innovation and overcome any issue that comes their way. Make sure to adopt this human-centric approach, and we are certain that you will not only exceed customer expectations but also unlock a new level of employee efficiency.
