At Innovate for Africa, we’ve had three weeks of intensive design thinking training (IFA). During this period, I was part of a hackathon team of five energetic individuals who collaborated to produce prototypes that innovated on a topic or improved upon an existing project. As we observed ourselves steadily adopting each step of design thinking into our project, this was arranged to help us comprehend the processes of design thinking.
Design thinking is an iterative process that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. Faced with the challenge of Inadequate bus scheduling to meet the ever-increasing number of commuters and an Inefficient ticket management system. My team and I began a project to find a solution, but what kind of solution? To assist, we used the design thinking process.
Empathize
Human-centred design is built on the foundation of empathy. You must monitor users and their behaviour in the context of their lives, engage them, and immerse oneself in their experiences in order to empathize.
Potential candidates were asked to fill out a Google form indicating their interest and availability. Following that, we began conducting interviews with our potential consumers over the phone and in person, asking the following questions.
Define
The exact demands of the target users are identified at this stage. Based on the information gathered during the empathize stage of the interview, problem reframing must be implemented. Some people expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of buses at various bus terminals, the long lines to purchase tickets, and the slowness of the terminal agents.
To ensure we have a solution tailored to the users’ needs, we analyzed the responses and reframed our problem statement based on the potential users’ insights.
Ideate
Ideas for creating an efficient solution for the users are born here. Design options emerge from a variety of sources and circumstances, from which you might create prototypes to test with consumers.
We studied the numerous solutions for the reframed problem statement after growing to comprehend and assess the users’ wants. My teammates and I came up with a solution towards the conclusion of the day to build an efficient mobile app that lets commuters to check for available buses at any terminal, schedule rides, buy tickets on the go, and manage their BRT cards.
Prototype
Prototyping allows you to get your ideas out of your head and into the real world. It’s also known as the Build-to-Think and Think-to-Build stages. Prototypes are done early to ensure early input, which allows us to build better ideas and come up with efficient solutions. Prototyping isn’t simply for testing functionality; it’s also for acquiring empathy, exploring, testing, and sparking ideas.
We needed to create a prototype for Ticketify at this point. We designed a digital prototype that may be viewed because it was intended to be an online platform.
Test
This stage collects ideas about how to make a better product and makes a place for more product-related queries. We consistently ensured that user input obtained from testing the prototype was taken into account and assessed because it is an iterative process.
PITCH-DAY
Our facilitators, fellows, and a couple of judges all had to hear our ideas and findings. I was a little frightened at first, but I quickly got over it. We discussed the issue and the measures we took to provide an effective solution, as well as our value proposition, market strategy, and business plan. All of these were included in our pitch deck. I was proud of my teammates and myself, as well as the effort we had put in. Despite the hurdles we faced, we were able to overcome them as a team and deliver a great pitch presentation.
