Blog 3
The book I’ve chosen is Change by Design by Tim Brown. The book offers profound insights into the principles and practices of design thinking, a methodology that has revolutionized how organizations approach problem-solving and innovation.
I chose this book because the author is the CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO. I heard of IDEO a long time ago, so I want to learn more about the processes and practices of design thinking. Brown introduces design thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation, focusing on empathy, collaboration, and experimentation. He proposes that the traditional problem-solving method focuses more on analytical thinking rather than creative thinking, but design thinking should be prioritized.
What interested me the most is the book outlines a framework comprising three key stages: inspiration, imagination, and implementation. The inspiration stage is the foundation of coming up with innovative and creative ideas. Designers need to gain a comprehensive understanding of users’ behaviors, needs, and goals to conduct studies. In the implementation phase, ideas are fine-tuned, prototyped, and tested in real-world settings where users can provide feedback for further improvements.
One real-life example discussed in the book highlights the redesign of the patient experience at Kaiser Permanente, one of the well-recognized healthcare organizations in the United States. IDEO leveraged its partnership with Kaiser Permanente to invent a new patient experience, from general scheduling to care provision. IDEO and Kaiser Permanente accomplished this by engaging in an ongoing observation, compassion-building, and prototyping process. They point out pain points and bring new solutions that significantly improve patient treatment. Moreover, IDEO looked at how they can improve digital tools to use patient features for appointment scheduling, redesigning waiting areas to increase comfort, and introducing new communication channels to keep patients informed during their healthcare journey.
Another case discussed in the book is the transformation of Bank of America’s banking experience. Bank of America recognizes the need to stand out in the competitive banking industry by providing excellent customer experiences. To achieve this goal, the bank will shift its focus from traditional banking products to a deeper understanding of customer needs and behaviors. IDEO collaborated with Bank of America on this initiative to improve the banking experience and discovered new ways to meet customer requirements using design thinking. This new approach enabled the bank to offer modern banking services based on interactive kiosks, flexible service areas, and individual financial advice by involving frontline employees and clients in the design process.
These real-life illustrations show how design thinking can drive innovation and create positive change. Organizations accepting human-based design, empathy, and experimentation can discover new ways of problem-solving.
The concept in the book can be connected with the design synthesis that we learned in class. Design synthesis starts with understanding the people who use the services or those involved in them at the deep level. Time Brown highlights the need to know about people’s motivation, interests, and behaviors as a stepping stone to generate ideas that solve problems in people’s lives. Through empathizing with users, designers can synthesize various ideas to narrow gaps and identify opportunities for innovation.
