How design thinking changed my life
From an architecture graduate that ended up building start-ups.
How I was introduced to design thinking
My architecture dreams were fueled by pure enthusiasm. I fell in love with the idea of influencing an individual’s actions and disposition by designing their surroundings. The thought that a designer has this much influence over the lives of strangers intrigued me.
A few years into my architecture studies, I realized how tough it would be to build a career in the field of spatial design. The state of the industry in the Philippines makes it tough to make a living in the early days of your career. I was distraught by the thought of having to give up something I was passionate about, just to pay the bills.
Around the same time, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop in Stanford University’s famous d.School. This workshop was led by Dennis Boyle, a founding member of IDEO. Here, I was introduced to the concept of Design Thinking.
For those that don’t know, IDEO is a global design company that was one of the pioneers of human-centered design. They made waves in the design world with their innovative design approach, and have probably influenced us all, at one point in our lives. Apple’s Steve Jobs asked IDEO to design the very first mouse for his radical new computer, The Lisa.
This design approach changed my life and opened my mind to the endless applications of my design degree. It was only then that I realized the true impact of good design.
So what is design thinking?
Design thinking is a non-linear and iterative process used by designers and problem solvers to empathize with users, redefine a problem, and eventually come up with a radical and innovative solution. This is done by constantly switching between three main phases — inspiration, ideation, and implementation.
The beauty of design thinking is that it allows anyone to dismantle an ill-defined problem by reframing it in human-centric ways. In doing so, we focus on the things that are most important to the users. It allows us to look at things in a new way, and conceptualize solutions born out of this new perspective.
To put it simply, it helps us look at problems in different ways, then come up with unique solutions.
The applications are endless.
IDEO is a prime example of this — initially, they started in the world of product design but have since branched out to different fields using this design thinking approach. They have designed airport security processes, radical new schooling systems, and even brand strategies to help a genetics start-up rethink the way people use their genetic data.
How does it work?
According to Stanford’s d.School, the five stages of design thinking are as follows —empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Let’s break each one down.
Empathize
This stage of the process requires us to place ourselves into the mess. By doing so, we can observe, engage, and understand the problem on a much deeper and personal level. This deconstructs our assumptions and preconceived notions. In this step, we gather as much information as possible. By the end, we’re left with an overwhelming amount of data points, perspectives, and observations.
Recently, I went through this process by spending several nights in the warehouse, observing and attempting to learn the current process.
Define
In this step, we make sense of the overwhelming amount of information gathered. This is done by breaking down complex things into snippets of information (commonly done on Post-It notes) that can be rearranged. By mixing certain snippets, we come up with new insights. This allows us to create problem statements that summarize the core issues to be solved.
Ideate
Fueled by information gathered in every other step, we then unlock our brains, reach into our creativity reserves, and come up with ideas for solutions. A good way to approach this is to come up with as many ideas as possible in the first round. It’s important not to over-analyze these ideas and to just throw them out as they pop into our heads. On subsequent rounds, we then discuss each idea and start filtering for those that actually solve the core problem statements identified in the define step.
Note: In this step, it’s important to create a collaborative atmosphere where people feel like they can share ideas without being criticized.
Prototype
Once we’ve filtered our ideas and have identified those we want to try, we then come up with quick, inexpensive versions of these solutions.
In a recent case, we were designing software for an automated warehouse sortation system. It would use an algorithm to suggest the ideal storage location of an item after scanning the item’s barcode. We started by simulating this experience with pen and paper.
As a third prototype, we came up with a simple workstation set-up with industrial racks, a bunch of plastic crates with labels to simulate storage locations, and dummy items pre-labeled with hand-written notes to simulate the software’s suggested storage location. From there, we had different people experience this workstation, gathered data on productivity, and compared it to the old design.
In this phase, it's important to pass around these prototypes, have different people try them, and collect feedback. From there, it’s a continuous process of creating low-budget prototypes, accepting or rejecting them, and adding or trimming down features.
Test
Lastly, these refined products are rigorously tested for as many use-cases as possible. Once a usable minimum viable product (MVP) is reached, it is then released for general use. This pilot period is used to collect more feedback on data for the next round of improvements to be made. From the feedback gathered, a new set of problem statements can be identified, and the process can be repeated.
Now here’s the best part — don’t do this in order.
My favorite part of design thinking is that it is a non-linear process. While you may follow these in the ‘empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test’ order in your first few attempts, you’ll slowly find yourself putting on different thinking hats and jumping between processes. Once you unlock this flow, the possibilities are endless.
This non-linear, almost erratic process allows our output to follow our thought flow. By doing so, we’re able to take full advantage of our internal creativity reserves. We start to constantly question our assumptions and solutions, while still being rooted in empathy. This may sound complicated at first, but give it a shot and see where it takes you.
Design transcends industries
This solution-building mindset can be applied to anything, literally anything. With this framework, I’ve found myself designing worker incentive schemes, warehouse process flows, algorithms for product recommendations and price setting, and a lot of things I never thought I could comprehend.
“Design work is two kinds of world modeling work:
Modeling the world as it is.
Modeling the world as it could be.”
-Christina Wodtke
Learn this skill, see where it takes you, and you may just create some pretty cool things.
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