"A New Approach to Design Thinking" - Doug Powell

Summary

In 2016, IBM launched its user-centered design program, emphasizing empathy, collaboration, prototyping, and iteration at scale. The company's approach, grounded in restless reinvention, leverages a global workforce to innovate continuously. IBM Design Thinking focuses on user needs, inclusive teams, and constant iteration, symbolized by the infinite loop of observe, reflect, and make. Key practices include Hills for framing problems, Playbacks for feedback, and Sponsor Users for real-world insights, aiming to deliver human-centered outcomes rapidly and effectively.

Takeaways

• 🕰️ Design Thinking has been around for over a generation and is established as a method for building products, services, and experiences with a focus on the users.
• 🌏 IBM is launching its user-centered design program, emphasizing the challenges of scaling design thinking to a global workforce with complex business and technical requirements.
• 💡 IBM's approach to design thinking is rooted in empathy, collaboration, prototyping, and iteration, aiming to deliver human-centered outcomes at speed and scale.
• 🔄 The central concept of IBM's design thinking is constant movement, with the belief that stagnation is the enemy of great outcomes.
• ♾️ The 'infinite loop' metaphor is used to represent the continuous process of observing, reflecting, and making within IBM's design thinking framework.
• 👥 IBM emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary teams and inclusive team building to integrate various perspectives and disciplines.
• 🗣️ 'Hills', 'playbacks', and 'sponsor users' are key management practices within IBM's design thinking, designed to align teams and keep them on track.
• 📝 A 'Hill' is a statement of intent that frames a problem in terms of the intended outcomes for the user, aligning teams around a clear goal.
• 🎥 'Playbacks' are sessions where IBM's teams showcase their work to stakeholders, emphasizing the importance of showing rather than telling.
• 👤 'Sponsor users' are real people who use or might use IBM's products, actively participating alongside teams to ensure meaningful outcomes.
• 🎨 IBM's design thinking approach still incorporates traditional design thinking artifacts like empathy maps, storyboards, and paper prototypes, which are essential to their process.

Q & A

What is Design Thinking and how long has it been around?

Design Thinking is a methodology for building products, services, and experiences with a focus on the people who will use them. It has been around for more than a generation and is rooted in empathy, collaboration, prototyping, and iteration.

What challenges does Design Thinking face when applied to large, global teams?

Design Thinking faces challenges when applied to large, global teams due to the need for collaboration across multiple countries, continents, and time zones, as well as the complexities of working on legacy products with deep business and technical requirements in a continuous delivery environment.

How does IBM approach Design Thinking differently in a large, established company?

IBM approaches Design Thinking by focusing on user-centered design, integrating multidisciplinary teams, and emphasizing constant iteration and movement to avoid stagnation. They have launched IBM Design Thinking to understand user needs, form intent, and deliver outcomes at speed and scale.

What is the significance of the public launch of IBM Design Thinking?

The public launch of IBM Design Thinking signifies IBM's commitment to a user-centered design approach that is scalable and adaptable to large, complex teams and projects. It represents a milestone in IBM's ongoing tradition of reinvention and innovation.

What are the core principles of IBM's Design Thinking approach?

The core principles of IBM's Design Thinking approach are putting the needs of users first, building inclusive multidisciplinary teams, and practicing constant iteration to drive outcomes.

What is the 'infinite loop' and how does it relate to IBM's Design Thinking?

The 'infinite loop' is a metaphor used by IBM to express the concept of constant movement in the Design Thinking process. It consists of three simple prompts: observe, reflect, and make. This loop is scalable and adaptable, allowing teams to fluidly adapt and apply the model regardless of project complexity.

What are the tactical keys to IBM Design Thinking and how do they support the process?

The tactical keys to IBM Design Thinking are Hills, Playbacks, and Sponsor Users. Hills are statements of intent that frame problems in terms of intended outcomes for the user. Playbacks are essential for aligning globally dispersed teams and getting feedback in a safe and inclusive space. Sponsor Users are real people who use or might use IBM's products, actively participating alongside teams to deliver meaningful outcomes.

How do Sponsor Users contribute to IBM's Design Thinking?

Sponsor Users are real people who use or might someday use IBM's products. They work alongside design teams to provide real human experiences and insights, helping to close the gap between assumptions and reality, and ensuring that the design outcomes are truly meaningful and user-centered.

What are some examples of IBM products that have been influenced by Design Thinking?

Examples of IBM products influenced by Design Thinking include Bluemix, an enterprise app development offering, and IBM Verse, a workplace email and collaboration platform. The cybersecurity design team is also highlighted for creating thoughtful and elegant user interactions and animations in a technical domain.

How does IBM ensure that Design Thinking remains relevant in a modern continuous delivery world?

IBM ensures that Design Thinking remains relevant by rearticulating it for a modern continuous delivery world where speed and scale are essential. They focus on a mental model of constant movement through the loop of observe, reflect, and make, and use management practices that allow for scaling to more complex teams and projects.

What is the role of empathy maps, storyboards, and paper prototypes in IBM's Design Thinking?

Empathy maps, storyboards, and paper prototypes are activities and artifacts associated with Design Thinking that are still essential for IBM. They are used in their studios to help teams understand user needs and experiences, and to create and refine product concepts.