Design Thinking adventure – part 1
My journey with DT began not so long ago, but I can already tell about the huge impact
it had on my life, both personal and professional. I hope that through this small entry
I can channel some of my passion to you, the reader.
I’m not nor I don’t feel like an authority or expert in any field of business, which,
I hope will make my texts available and clear for layman and may present
a new interesting perspective for those who are experts.
While still a student I was harassed by the thought and the feeling of lack of tools and methods that would allow to approach business more intuitively. A great deal of revolutionary solutions required a common sense approach and the ability to look at the reality from a little bit different perspective.
Given that the man is a source of inexhaustible needs, people with ability to see things differently will always be needed and desired.
Design thinking is a powerful tool, which enables those who see things otherwise, identify the needs and focus on specific issues, that are important and have a real impact on reality. Design thinking existed in the minds of the people for many years, but only now the steps were taken to define it.
What is Design Thinking for me ?
It is a revolutionary process, creative, fair and very engaging for all those who participate in it,
in a nutshell, it consists of the following steps, the diagram is known to anyone who has heard of DT.
In these words, the magic is hidden.
Through EMPATHIZE
the process of identifying the causes and true needs is facilitated.
We learn how important is this step in the moment in which the customer experiences a true revelation and realizes what is was, what he really wanted. Getting to this point gives me a great satisfaction and certainty that the client will receive what he really wants and needs.
For example, let me bring up a situation:
The customer comes to us with the request to build a bridge. It has provided a significant budget for this investment and wants us to meet a specific deadline
After a short brief we can get the necessary information about the bridge,
which methods and materials should be used in its construction.
We will build the bridge on time , while not exceeding the budged, and it is higly possible that although the overall success the client will be left with premonition that this is not exactly what he wanted.
Design thinking makes us examine closely the need of the customer(receiver). We can find out what are the reasons behind the request for building a bridge, so we may find out that the whole bridge construction was completely unnecessary !
If a customer places an order to build a bridge over the river, and his real need is to give information or transport parcels to the other side you can use completely different solutions than constructing the bridge.
Just like on the image, even if the costumer places a request for a bridge, the ship is really what he needs and that need is hidden.
(Rob Gonsalves – Realism illusions)
By asking “what for ?” questions we can aware the receivers what need they want to fulfill in placed request.
Empathy is the first and, to me, the most important step in design thinking, since it focuses on the customers perspective and not only it involves him into the designing process, but by putting yourself in his position you can predict his requirements about the item.
There are many techniques to identify the real needs of the customer , one of them is the empathy map. It is based on writing out what the receiver says and what he hears what he does and what he thinks, you can extend it by adding pain/gain aspect.
By this I would like to finish my first entry, as it is the first part of my series of entries that I planned,
I would be grateful for any feedback
Best regards
Krzysztof Dziembaj
Hi Krzystof,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Nice to see you blogging 🙂
Beautiful images.
I am not an expert either and I enjoyed to read your perspective.
Best regards,
Raquel
Hey Raquel !
I can see you are a very experienced blogger, any hints for a beginner like me ? 🙂
Great blog, and your bridge/boat example is pretty spot-on!
Too often, we techies tend to think in solutions, rather looking at the problem from every angle first
Thanks you Robin,
I totally agree with your statement, I can now recall myself doing the very same thing many times before.
Now thanks to DT , I've learned to define problems (and solutions) in a new way, the word "learned" is vital here, since still, many people believe that design thinking/innovative thinking is something that you have be be born with, which I totally disagree with.
wonderful blog Krzysztof Dziembaj . Great metaphor.
Customer knows best, though that does not mean we understand it right away and/or the actual ask might be hidden. It's worth investing the time and be brave to ask and observe aka empathize before start building a solution.
The empathy map is a great way to capture.
Looking forward to read and hear more from you 🙂
Thank you very much for your kind words !
I can see a lot of positive feedback , therefore I'm sure I'll continue posting ! 🙂
Hi Krzysztof,
Excellent post.
Waiting for more articles.
Suggest some resources on the topic pls.
Thanks,
Bala.
Hey !
Thanks for the hint !
I will definitely include them on my next post ! 🙂
Regards !
Hi Krzysztof,
Excellent blog! I fully agree with the emphasis on empathy when it comes to identifying the needs of a client. I did not know about the empathy map. When interviewing a client I too am inclined to think in solutions. The empathy map forces you to look at it from a higher level to get to the real issue that the client is facing.
Great stuff! Looking forward to the rest of your blogs!
Cheers, Roel
Hello !
Thank you for your kind words!
Krzysztof, I was glad to read about your first thoughts, but would be nice to see next parts coming as well! 🙂 Best regards i pozdrawiam. -Witalij
Hi Krzysztof,
A thought & a question which everyone has to ask themselves and the customer to give better solutions.
Well written 🙂 ..
Regards,
Ravi
Hi Krzysztof,
Enjoyed reading your blog post. You mentioned this is a first in a series...are you still planning to post more? Please do 🙂