1. Introduction to the Design Process | Theory

Summary

This video script delves into the design thinking process, emphasizing its non-linear and flexible nature for tackling problems creatively. It outlines six key steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, produce, and launch. The process encourages a beginner's mindset, open to ideas and collaboration. It also touches on alternative methodologies like the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process and IBM's unique approach, highlighting the importance of a structured yet adaptable design process for achieving better outcomes.

Takeaways

• 🛠️ Design thinking is a process, not magic, that can be applied to solve any problem.
• 👀 At the heart of design thinking is observation, understanding the culture and people around a problem.
• 🌟 Tim Brown defines design thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation, integrating people's needs, technological possibilities, and business requirements.
• 🤔 The design thinking process involves six steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, produce, and launch.
• 🔄 Flexibility is a key strength of design thinking; you can return to previous steps if needed.
• 🤝 It encourages a beginner's mindset, openness to new ideas, and collaboration.
• 🧠 The Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process is an alternative that also involves reframing problems and brainstorming solutions.
• 🏢 IBM has a unique methodology with stages like Culture, Discover, Envision, Develop, Reason, Operate, and Learn.
• 📈 Even within the same company, like Canva, different teams may follow slightly different processes tailored to their specific goals.
• 🔧 A design process helps you think creatively and provides a pathway to deliver results, which can be adapted to any problem, not just design-related ones.

Q & A

What is the core of design thinking?

The core of design thinking is observation, which involves taking a step back from the problem and looking at the culture and people surrounding it.

How does Tim Brown define design thinking?

Tim Brown defines design thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation that integrates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

What are the six steps in a typical design thinking process?

The six steps in a typical design thinking process are: empathize, define the challenge, ideate, prototype, produce, and launch.

What does the empathize step involve in the design thinking process?

The empathize step involves understanding the needs and values of the intended audience.

What is the purpose of the ideation stage in design thinking?

The purpose of the ideation stage is to brainstorm possible solutions and ideas to address the defined problem.

How does prototyping fit into the design thinking process?

Prototyping in design thinking involves building and testing solutions to validate the ideas generated during the ideation stage.

What is the strength of design thinking mentioned in the script?

One of the strengths of design thinking is its flexibility, allowing for returning to a previous step in the cycle if the process isn't turning out as imagined.

How does design thinking encourage a beginner's mindset?

Design thinking encourages a beginner's mindset by promoting openness to new ideas and collaboration, rather than assuming all answers are already known.

What is the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process?

The Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process encourages identifying the problem, reframing it as a question, brainstorming answers, and developing a solution from there.

What is the unique methodology that IBM follows?

IBM follows a methodology that includes steps such as Culture, Discover, Envision, Develop, Reason, Operate, and Learn.

How does the design process help in solving problems?

The design process helps in solving problems by providing a proven pathway to think more creatively, deliver results, and adapt the process to fit the specific problem at hand.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Introduction to Design Thinking

This paragraph introduces the design thinking process as a non-magical, structured approach to problem-solving in design. It emphasizes the importance of observation and understanding the culture and people involved. Tim Brown's definition of design thinking is highlighted, which frames it as a human-centered approach to innovation, integrating people's needs, technological possibilities, and business requirements. The paragraph outlines the six typical steps of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, produce, and launch. It also mentions the flexibility of the process, allowing for revisiting previous steps, and suggests design thinking as a beginner's mindset that encourages openness to new ideas and collaboration.

05:04

🚀 Applying Design Thinking Beyond Design

The second paragraph discusses the broad applicability of the design process beyond just design problems. It suggests that the process can be used to tackle any task, from simple everyday activities like making a sandwich to complex issues involving multiple variables. The paragraph encourages practice and experimentation with the design process, promising that it will provide a structured pathway towards finding solutions, even if they may not always be perfect. It ends with an invitation to try the design thinking process as a tool for creative problem-solving.

Keywords

💡Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a problem-solving approach that focuses on understanding and meeting human needs through creative solutions. It is central to the video's theme as it is the main process discussed for tackling design problems. The video mentions that design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation, integrating people's needs, technological possibilities, and business requirements, as defined by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO.

💡Observation

Observation is the act of carefully watching and understanding the context and details of a situation or problem. In the video, observation is highlighted as a core aspect of design thinking, where one takes a step back to analyze the culture and people surrounding a problem, which aids in discovering solutions.

💡Empathy

Empathy in the context of design thinking refers to the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, particularly the intended audience. The video emphasizes the first step in the design thinking process as empathizing, which is about comprehending the needs and values of the audience to guide the design process.

💡Define

To define, in the script, means to clearly identify and articulate the problem that needs to be solved. It comes after empathizing with the audience and is crucial for narrowing down the focus of the design process to find a solution.

💡Ideate

Ideation is the process of generating ideas, often through brainstorming sessions. The video describes it as a stage in the design thinking process where possible solutions and ideas are brainstormed to address the defined problem.

💡Prototype

A prototype is an early model or sample of a design used to test and refine concepts before finalizing the product. The video mentions the prototyping stage as a part of design thinking where solutions are built and tested to evaluate their effectiveness.

💡Production

Production refers to the process of creating the final version of a design after the prototype has been tested and approved. The video includes production as the stage where the design is built, indicating the transition from concept to finished product.

💡Launch

Launch in the video signifies the act of introducing the final product or design to the market or the intended audience. It is the final stage of the design thinking process, where the product is released after passing through all previous stages.

💡Flexibility

Flexibility in the context of the video refers to the adaptability of the design thinking process. It allows for returning to previous steps if the current approach is not yielding the desired results, emphasizing that problem-solving is not always linear.

💡Beginner's Mindset

A beginner's mindset is an attitude of openness, curiosity, and willingness to learn. The video suggests adopting this mindset in design thinking to be open to new ideas and solutions, rather than assuming one has all the answers.

💡Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process

The Osborne-Parnes process is an alternative creative problem-solving method mentioned in the video. It involves identifying a problem, reframing it as a question, brainstorming answers, and developing a solution, which is similar to the design thinking process but with a focus on creativity and questioning.

Highlights

Design thinking is not magic but a process that can be integrated into design practice to solve problems.

Observation is central to design thinking, involving stepping back to understand the culture and people around a problem.

Tim Brown defines design thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation, integrating people's needs, technological possibilities, and business requirements.

Design thinking encourages creative thinking to meet the needs of others.

The design thinking process typically involves six steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, produce, and launch.

Empathy in design thinking is about understanding the needs and values of the intended audience.

Defining the challenge and discovering the problem to be solved is a crucial step in the design thinking process.

Ideation involves brainstorming possible solutions and ideas.

Prototyping is about building and testing solutions in the design thinking process.

The production stage is where ideas are built and prepared for launch.

Design thinking is flexible, allowing for returning to previous steps if the process doesn't unfold as planned.

Problem-solving is not always linear and requires conversation, trial and error, and inspiration.

Design thinking is a strategy for breaking down design problems and finding solutions.

It promotes a beginner's mindset, being open to new ideas and collaborating with others.

The Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process is an alternative to design thinking, focusing on reframing problems and brainstorming answers.

IBM has a unique methodology with steps like Culture, Discover, Envision, Develop, Reason, Operate, and Learn.

Canva's template design team follows a process of research, setup, production, polish, and closing the loop.

Canva's product team uses a simpler process of envisioning, building, testing, growing, and improving.

A design process helps think creatively and provides a proven pathway to deliver results.

The design thinking process can be adapted and applied to any problem, not just design-related ones.

Starting with the typical design thinking process and adapting it with experience is suggested.

The design process can be applied to any task, from making a sandwich to solving complex problems.

The design process provides a pathway towards a solution, even if it doesn't always give the desired answer.

Transcripts

Design isn't magic. The  secret is to follow a process.

In this lesson, we'll look at  the design thinking process

and how to work it into your design  practice so you can tackle any problem.

Because once we discover the problem,

it's easier to discover the solution.

At the core of design thinking is observation.

It's about taking a step back from the problem and  looking at the culture and people surrounding it.

Tim Brown, the CEO of design firm, IDEO,  gives a useful definition of design thinking.

He says, "Design thinking is a  human-centered approach to innovation  

that draws from the designer's toolkit  to integrate the needs of people,  

the possibilities of technology and  the requirements for business success."

In other words, when we use this process,  

we're thinking creatively about how our  design might meet other people's needs.

There are 6 steps in a typical  design thinking process.

The first is to empathize  which is about understanding  

the needs and values of our intended audience.

Then, we define our challenge and  discover the problem to be solved.

Next, we ideate brainstorm possible  solutions and ideas to get there.

While the prototyping stage sees us  building and testing our solutions.

When we are happy with our idea,  we enter the production stage,

and get it built before finally  sending it all to launch.

One of the strengths of design  thinking is its flexibility.

At any time, if it's not  turning out the way we imagined,  

we can return to a previous step in the cycle.

This is because problem solving isn't  always linear. It requires conversation  

trial and error and plenty of inspiration.

Design thinking is an incredibly useful strategy  

to break down our design problems  and find the right solution.

It forces us to take a beginner's mindset  

being open to new ideas rather than  thinking we have all the answers.

It's about accepting the problem, casting aside  self-doubt so we can collaborate with others,  

and truly listening to rather  than judging potential solutions.

Another alternative to design thinking is the  Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process.

On a basic level, this encourages us to  identify our problem, reframe it as a question,  

brainstorm answers, and  develop a solution from there.

See how similar this is to  the design thinking process?

IBM has its own unique  methodology that looks like this.

Culture, Discover, Envision,  Develop, Reason, Operate, and Learn.

Again, it's a similar process  to the design thinking process.

There's clear overlap in the way the  processors help us solve problems.

Even within Canva, we have different processes  fit for the outcome we are trying to create.

Our template design team  follows something like this.

Research and understand, set up and gather,  production, polish and finalize, close the loop.

While our product team has a much  simpler, to the point process.

Envision and iterate, build  and test, grow and improve.

No matter how you choose to solve your problems,  

a design process will help  you think more creatively.

It provides a proven pathway to follow,  

to deliver results, and yes, your pathway  might look a bit different to others,  

but it's having a pathway that gives you  confidence to push ideas to better outcomes.

We suggest starting with the  typical design thinking process  

and adapting with experience.  Discover what works for you.

Begin with empathizing and  learn the needs of the audience,  

then define and discover the  problem that needs solving.

Next, ideate on possible solutions before  starting the prototyping stage to test the ideas.

Finally, enter the production  stage. Get things built.

And then launch it to the world.

Easy, right?

Practice makes perfect. And the best  thing about the design process is you  

can practice it on any problem you come  up against, not just design problems.

Think through the process next  time you approach a task. Any task.

It can be applied to anything from  

making a sandwich to solving big, complex  problems that involve many variables and issues.

We're not saying it will always  give you the answer you want,  

but it will, at least, give you  a pathway towards a solution.

Why not give it a try?