8 Minute Design Thinking Abs

The new year is upon us, so now is the time to set resolutions. As a facilitator, I get asked, “what can I do to practice design thinking regularly?” I have always been a fan of small changes to create a lasting effect. So what can we do?

This idea came to me when I attended the most recent Design at Business UnConference in Florida. My team and I thought about what could someone do daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to flex those design thinking muscles?

The list we created includes actionable ideas and curated resources packed up tight in a way that would rival 1990s Infomercial hit.

Daily

Define Questions We Want To Answer

• As design thinkers, we pride ourselves on the ability to problem seek. Daily, there is value in thinking about the questions that you are trying to answer for the projects on your plate. Sounds simple right?

Look At Your Calendar and Ask “Do I need to be there?”

• In facilitation, we teach and train to ask “why?” Modern workplaces love meetings. How can you help you or your team be more effective with the time we set aside to collaborate?

Take Visual Notes

• Embrace creativity daily and draw out ideas. A sketch can be the clarifying difference to someone understanding how you think.

Ask human-centered questions “How does this affect people?”

• A pillar of what design thinking stands on is empathy. Daily, how can you bring in and advocate for your users during the design, development, delivery process?

Weekly

Read 1–2 Articles about Design Thinking

• Design thinking is broad in application. Keeping up with relevant news is a great way to see how people approach the space. A few places we love are Medium , Fast Company , HBR , Educate & Iterate , Invision App

Spend 30 minutes Reflecting on Your Current Work

• It is healthy to spend some time weekly thinking about how things are going. Was there a method you used which helped your team tremendously? Did you make a change that was beneficial? What is causing you stress? Take a moment for yourself and reflect.

Journal your experiences

• The space of design thinking is ever changing. Do not be afraid to jot down ideas, observations, learnings or frustrations. Use post-its, a notebook or explore a digital method like Evernote. Find something that works for you and start writing.

Monthly

Find An Opportunity For Mentorship

• One of the many things I love about the Design Thinking community is the willingness to share. As a practitioner, there is so much value in learning from others. Deepa Iyer of SAP shared how she tries to reach out to a new person either internally or externally to receive mentoring. These conversations are invaluable. Put yourself out there and seek out guidance.

It’s also good to mention that if you are in a position of delivering guidance, vocalize that you are open to having a mentee.

Gain A New External Perspective

• Expanding your viewpoint is hard. Monthly we recommend trying to attend an event like meetup or an e-learning seminar. If life is busy, something quick is to have a conversation with someone who you don’t always see eye-to-eye. Broaden your mind and learn from people with different experiences.

Check In With Previous Teams

• Design thinking as a facilitator often looks like workshops. Monthly it’s a good habit to check in with the teams that you may have supported in the past. What is working for them? What blockers have shown up? This shows the longevity of design thinking outside of the workshop experience. It begins to blend the lines of how we use our practice as a continual strategic initiative.

Share and Celebrate Success, Failure, Results, and Learning

• The design thinking community needs more content. We need to be better about sharing our breath of experiences. Everything from a disastrous workshop to knocking a project out of the park. Take time monthly to create an artifact of your journey and share it far and wide with your peers.

Meet Users and Hear Their Needs

• Hearing from your users is the single most important thing you can do in design thinking. Everything from informal coffees and phone calls to going onsite to see a day in the life. Any time you spend engaging with your users is time well spent.

Rework Your Curriculum

• As facilitators and practitioners, we use different methods to understand the problem space. Monthly I like to rework my activities and make updates to keep my methods fresh.

Yearly

Take Formal Training

• Design thinking changes constantly and continuing education is important. As lifelong learners, programs like Alt MBA, Strategyzer, AIGA Design Ranch, Invision’s Design Better.Co or even a course at your local university is a great way to build community and practice all while staying current.

Appraise and celebrate your year

• You are great. I promise. Take time at least once a year to celebrate your accomplishments. Be proud of the work you have done and continue to do. Innovation is not easy.

Start small. Find little ways to implement in design thinking into your work. Not everything will stick but flexing those muscles for just 8 minutes a day will change your world.

Thanks to Deepa Iyer, Sylvie Charpentier, Brittany Gillman, Hadassah Damien for the collaboration!

Please heart & share this guide and please voice your questions, comments or concerns below!

Naveen Raja is a design thinking & strategy facilitator. His passion for design has allowed him to vision, scope and scale design facilitation programs for companies both large and small. Through helping various teams at Consensys, The World Bank, SAP, IBM, Fidelity Investments, Citibank, Marriott Hotels and more he is perfecting his recipe for how to help people to achieve more by using design. He is passionate about how people, places and cultures intermix and the significance it can play on creating an experience. You can find more at Educate and Iterate, a design thinking resources website.