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Stages of Design Thinking

11 Apr 2022
- admin
- Innovation & Design Thinking
#DesignThinkingShowcase

Design thinking – l’outil extraordinaire – an extraordinary tool. Some even go so far as to call it a way of life that facilitates businesses, develops the mind and makes innovative thinkers.

Design Thinking has five conceptual stages – Empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test. This simplistic algorithm has spawned countless innovations that fit inconspicuously into lives for the better.

I recently got the opportunity to attend SOIL’s flagship design fest Aakaar – Manesar Design Festival, where eminent practitioners of Design Thinking taught us Design Thinking in action, in corporations and in social enterprises. Those practitioners have successfully redesigned and applied the algorithm in so many different ways that it begs the question of what might the underlying principles be.

The principle of skilful questioning comes to mind first. The root of a problem lies within a thicket of unchallenged assumptions. No person can ever truly escape its burden unless they dare to question what’s in front of them. After all, the first stage of design thinking is to empathise. Empathy demands that you draw out and fully understand the perspective of whomever you are designing for by asking the right questions.

Moreover, the invisible problem in any design thinking project is named such, not because it isn’t real but because one doesn’t see it yet. Questioning and reframing your understanding of what’s in front of you chops away any dense confusion. Through skilful questioning, one discerns the correct context of a situation.

The second principle is discipline. Humans fear uncertainty because it implies discomfort. In this regard, all successful practitioners share a palpable fixedness of mind. These practitioners can endure the pressure of exploring the unknown when defining and ideating. A grave error budding design thinkers make is to jump into finding solutions prematurely. The siren of solution seduces the brave ideator with a false promise of safety. The immediate solution always feels close. Like a child grabbing a delicious treat, brave ideators arrive at false solutions.

The third principle is careful patience and repetition. Do you have the courage to endure failure? Are you willing to return to the drawing board if your prototype fails? Will you redefine your problem when your solution solves nothing? Does conflict with your team and stakeholders scare you? Finding the right design is a bit like unscrewing a nail. With the right effort, the screw has to come out even if it takes a thousand turns of the wrench. If instead, you lose your composure with every turn, you’ll snap the nail in half and render the problem unsolvable.

Design thinking requires going against the grain and out of one’s comfort zone, and in that context, it is fitting to call it a way of life.

Varun
PGDM, Class of 2023