What is Design Thinking?

WHAT DOES DESIGN THINKING MEAN?

Design Thinking is defined as an iterative work approach, which makes it possible to solve human-centered problems.

This approach aims to design innovative solutions (for a product or service), in order to meet customer needs and offer them a better experience.

To benefit from this method, you must respect its main principles and integrate them into your corporate culture.

THE 3 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN THINKING:

1. BE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC:

Be more user centric and less business centric. This means that throughout the design process, customers are involved through different approaches. The efforts invested and the resources put in place make it possible to design usable and accessible solutions. We therefore ensure that the consumer's needs are met, the risk of error is reduced, certain monetary losses are avoided and, of course, sales are increased.

One of the first design steps is empathy. It is imperative to better understand the needs, thoughts, emotions and motivations of consumers.

Start by asking the following questions:

Who are our customers?
How is the current consumer journey taking shape?
How can we improve this journey by providing a better customer experience?

The answer to these questions lies first in the data, market studies and trends to which we have access. Then, it is found through research such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, etc. The results make it possible to identify opportunities and prioritize ideas and future actions (empathy map, current and future scenario, etc.).

Ultimately, you will also have the possibility of developing tools, such as persona sheets and customer journeys, which will make it possible to unify consumer knowledge with each team.

The innovation is not in the design of a website, but in the design of the shopping experience that will take place.

2. ENSURE TEAM ALIGNMENT:

When adopting an approach centered on customer needs, it is important to bring together the actors who will participate, directly or indirectly, in the creation of this new solution.

To carry out Design Thinking projects, it is also necessary to establish a corporate culture where we think like our customers, and where collaboration, creativity and innovation are at the center of everything. Such a process is often long to set up, but will be beneficial from all points of view.

The constitution of the team is an important step in the project. And it must be diversified: engineering, sales, marketing, design, human resources, etc. Thus, each member will offer unique value and various creative ideas. The process therefore becomes richer, more productive and more efficient. The composition of the team can also include resources external to the company. The most important thing is to have all the relevant players, including those who are at each point of contact in the consumer journey.

Once the team is formed, everyone must be aligned on a common problem, while focusing on a single objective: meeting customer needs.

3. STAY IN CONSTANT ITERATION:

“The last best experience that anyone has anywhere, becomes the minimum expectation for the experience they want everywhere ,” said Bridget Van Kralingen, senior vice president at IBM Global Market.

Design Thinking is a work method that promotes iteration. IBM visualizes its way of working with a Loop model that allows it to constantly listen to its client and its environment, and therefore to understand its needs and their evolution.

Each time you observe , you better understand the world around you. Every time you reflect , you better understand your team and your customers. Each time you take action , you better understand the current and potential solutions that will come your way.

“Fail early to succeed faster ,” said Tim Brown (IDEO). Risk taking is important in Design Thinking. So give your team the opportunity to fail. Nobody is supposed to understand the problem at first glance.

This is all the more true today, in this time of a pandemic, where we need to adapt, and quickly.

In summary, here are the benefits of Design Thinking:

A strong corporate culture: a greater sense of belonging thanks to collaboration between teams and the reinforcement of a feeling of security stemming from the possibility of failure.
Greater effectiveness and efficiency: designing better customer experiences (effectiveness) and reducing the risk of errors and monetary losses by always involving the customer and the various teams (efficiency).
Increased profitability: relevant products and services that meet real customer needs = greater profitability for the company.

A certified Adviso team:

In order to be up to date with best practices, all of Adviso's customer experience experts have IBM's Design Thinking certification at the co-creator level.

We support our clients in solving complex and innovative problems by using the co-creation approach and, when the framework lends itself to it, the Design Thinking methodology.

To learn more about Design Thinking and its application, we invite you to participate in two workshops that we will be giving jointly with Les Affaires on September 10 and 17, at the Innovation Management conference and the Customer Experience conference .