Beaconhouse & Innovators Gragre Incubation Program 2021–22

Design Thinking

The old saying “where there is a will there is a way” holds true till the present day. In times of crisis, humanity has found solutions that have impacted the course of our history. As COVID-19 shook the entire world, changing not only our perception towards life and death but also impacting the way we communicate. Since mother nature grounded us, we utilized modern technology to communicate and find solutions.

Design Thinking (DT) is based on a simple formula.

Design Thinking =Empathy + Prototyping + Strategy.

These three components give us a holistic view of DT;

design thinking is an iterative non-linear cycle that involves developing a deep understanding of customers’ or users’ unmet needs, within the context of a particular situation. The context is defined in three areas; problem, solution, and growth. This session covered the first part of the framework “Problem within a context”. Making sense of data and discovering insights, questioning assumptions, exploring different perspectives, reframing problems into opportunities helps us define the problem within its context. This first part of Design thinking is a skill in line with the following Stanford’s Design thinking model.

Identifying Problem-Solution Fit

1. Empathy is to develop a deep understanding of users’ needs and context. This process may require consulting with experts, concerned personnel, taking an observation, interviewing, and engaging with the end-user to realize their motivations and experiences, as well as being a part of the physical environment (experiential learning) to gain a deeper knowledge of potential client's issues and situation.
2. The define: stage is all about gathering ideas to build functions, features, and any other element that may serve as a solution to users’ problems or needs. Defining segments and customer personas are defined to add value.
3. Ideate allows to “think outside the box” to identify new solutions to the problem statement and alternative ways of viewing the problem. There are hundreds of ideation techniques such as brainstorming, brainwriting, and the worst possible idea. Developing a business model canvas (BMC), mockups, and BMC Validation.
4. The prototype is an inexpensive, scaled-down version of the product or specific features found within the product. The process helps to investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage. Prototypes may be shared and tested within the team itself, in other departments, or on a small group of people outside the design team. Such as through digital marketing, branding, and positioning to reach out to potential buyers. This is an experimental phase.
5. Test the complete product using the best solutions identified during the prototyping phase. This is the final stage of the 5 stage-model, but in an iterative process, the results generated during the testing phase are often used to redefine one or more problems and inform the understanding of the users, the conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathize.

The session on ‘Design Thinking’ was followed by Business Model Canvas (BMC).

1. BMC is a model designed to map out the entire business model in one image. It works great for entrepreneurs. The canvas contains 9 essential building blocks that would make up any business model. Putting the 9 blocks together a business could answer the fundamental questions any business model must solve. These blocks are:

1. Customer Segment: To build an effective business model, a company must identify which customers it tries to serve. Various sets of customers can be segmented based on the different needs and attribute to ensure appropriate implementation of corporate strategy meets the characteristics of a selected group of clients.
2. Value Propositions: The products and services that create value for the customer.
3. Channels: A company can deliver its value proposition to its targeted customers through different channels. Effective channels will distribute a company’s value proposition in ways that are fast, efficient, and cost-effective. An organization can reach its clients either through its own channels (storefront), partner channels (major distributors), or a combination of both.
4. Customer Relations: Outlines the types of relationships the company seeks to establish with its customers.
5. Revenue Streams: The way a company makes income from each customer segment.
6. Key Activities: The most important activities in executing a company’s value proposition.
7. Key Resources: The resources that are necessary to create value for the customer.
8. Key Partners: In order to optimize operations and reduce the risks of a business model, organizations usually cultivate buyer-supplier relationships so they can focus on their core activities.
9. Cost Structure: This describes the most important monetary consequences while operating under different business models.

1. Inspiration: “Inspiration provides the means to get started and decide which tools to use in order to discover new opportunities. The objective is to create a “SMART Project Plan”. For this process information gathering could be done by conducting interviews. While the organization is carrying out the interviews, it is important to know the resource flow of the audience; where the information is coming from? The process will help organizations define an audience and build user personas.

2. Ideation: In this phase, we put our research to work. A few techniques through brainstorming, rapid prototyping, and storyboard creating a framework through journey map or relational maps, matrixes, developing the prototype and getting feedback.

3. Implementation: Helps to convert ideas and concepts into reality. An implementation may involve thinking strategically through the plans and being flexible. Iterating the business model through live prototyping, funding strategy, road mapping, monitoring, and evaluating are all part of this phase. One could always go back and adjust according to any external or internal factors.

Focused iterative and designed thinking produces better results. These models are easy to understand and apply for anyone to find effective solutions through a well-developed and documented process.

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