Design Thinking ConceptsCindy Royal, Ph.D

Associate Professor

Texas State University

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

croyal@txstate.edu

cindyroyal.com

@cindyroyal

slideshare.net/cindyroyal

What is Design Thinking?

• Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.

• Converts need into demand

• Developed by IDEO, taught at the Stanford d.school

Empathize

• Have an understanding of the people for whom you are designing, their problems, who they are and what is important to them.

• Observation

• Engage directly

• Uncover needs

• Identify right users

• Discover emotions that guide behaviors

Define

• Synthesize results of empathy phase into needs and insights, and scope a specific, meaningful challenge

• Develop an actionable problem statement, a point of view

• Use “How Might We…?” statements

• Frames the problem

• Inspires the team

• Reference for evaluating ideas

• Fuels brainstorming

• Revisit and reformulate as you go

• Guides innovation process

Ideate

• Generate radical alternatives – both a large quantity of ideas and a diversity of ideas

• Transition from identifying problems to creating solutions

• Step beyond the obvious

• Harness collective perspectives

• Separation of generating ideas and evaluating ideas

• Brainstorming without judgement

Prototype

• Getting ideas into the physical world

• Can be anything:

• Wall of post-its

• Role playing

• Object

• Interface

• Storyboard

• Allow people to interact, learn from those interactions

• Evaluate multiple options

• Fail quickly and cheaply

Test

• Gain feedback on solutions• Refine solution• Learn more about users• Refine your PoV

Rules of Design Thinking

• No judgment.• Question everything.• Be curious.• Find patterns.• Listen. Really listen.

More at: http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/METHODCARDS-v3-slim.pdf

Brainstorming Exercise

How Might We…

…reach college students with social media to educate them about the risks of hooking up while impaired?1.Work in groups of 4 or 5.

2.Brainstorm individually for 10 minutes. Write down as many ideas as you can.

3.Go around the group, put post-its on wall. Say your idea, until all ideas are posted. 15 minutes

4.Each person vote for three best ideas. 5 minutes

5.Calculate top ideas. During lunch, discuss potential ways to execute these ideas.

6.Have a note taker. We’ll discuss in strategy presentations.