5.0 Discussion
Chapter 5 of Remote Design Thinking
The design community disagrees on a common definition for design thinking. Up until now, I have used the terms method, process, and approach when referring to design thinking. However some of the designers I spoke to referred to it as a mindset. Moritz Gekeler — current Design Strategist at SAP and former teacher of design thinking at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam — explained that:
“it’s not a workshop and it’s not a process, but it’s more
this mindset or this culture of working together.”
His view suggests that it is more than a set of steps or techniques but rather a holistic way of approaching complex problems by integrating different skills, tools and methods.
Below, I have illustrated the key features of design thinking based on my findings and interviews:
The ‘fun’ aspect was introduced when Moritz informed me about an internal research project conducted at SAP which discovered that employees who used design thinking were more motivated, inspired, and had more fun than teams that did not use design thinking. Moritz added that design thinking makes people feel more confident about the problems they are solving. Since design thinking is essentially human-centred, I believe this human factor should not be underestimated and is a valuable reason for integrating it as a key aspect.
Literary research also shows that design thinking and remote working already share some common ground:
- both obtain better results when teams are multidisciplinary
- both require visualisation to share collective knowledge
- both can increase team motivation and collaboration
- both are challenging the status quo across different industries
However, due to the virtual nature of remote working, a number of obstacles must be anticipated and overcome.
Analog vs. digital tools
Tan Shu Hiong, a design thinking coach at The Dot Connect, pointed out that one of the most important elements of design thinking is to have everyone in the team stand around a whiteboard and contribute ideas simultaneously. Teams that apply design thinking techniques will also use flip charts and sticky notes to write and sketch on.
In remote teams, visual collaboration only happens on screens. Some teams use screen sharing via videoconference applications or webcams to show how they develop ideas in real time. Others like to express their ideas on paper first and then share it with the team and the client by sending photos and videos. For example, Holly Kennedy and James Turner — founders of the UX design agency Kennedy/Turner — still prefer using physical walls to visualise their work even though they are constantly travelling as they work remotely. Real walls give them a bigger overview of the project than online tools which, in their opinion, use up a lot of internet bandwidth.
Virtual whiteboards, such as MURAL and RealTimeBoard have recently emerged to help distributed teams collaborate online. MURAL, for example, provides zoomable ‘murals’ on which users can use virtual sticky notes or add images, videos, symbols, labels, and text. All of these elements can be dragged, dropped and clustered, just as they would on a real wall. It allows multiple users to collaborate simultaneously and it includes templates for many design thinking exercises. The limiting feature of online walls is that visual thinking is reduced to the size of a computer screen. Hiong believes that the development of bigger touch screens could improve the way remote teams collaborate by allowing them to physically interact with their colleagues as if they were in the same space. Yet until Tele-board or a similar technology is available for everyone, virtual teams will have to use more affordable and convenient tools.
Synchronous vs. asynchronous communication
Teams that work in the same location benefit from instant verbal and visual communication, making it easier and faster for people to give feedback and iterate on ideas. However, when teams work in different time zones, it’s inevitable that parts of the design process will be completed when some people are unavailable, increasing opportunities for misunderstandings.
Emilia Åström is a design thinking facilitator at MURAL who has used design thinking in non-remote and remote teams. She noted that both types of teams feel frustrated and lost during the design process, especially when teams are in the divergent phase “exploring all the possible solutions and different directions.” Her way of coping with this problem is by asking more questions to enable the team to think of more ideas. She believes that prolonged periods of confusion will help teams realise that it was a necessary part of the process to understand the problem from all angles. According to her, the only problem that remote teams face is having a good internet connection and finding a place that has low background noise levels, since both of these can affect online calls. Holly and James also mentioned noise levels as one of the main reasons they avoid working in coworking spaces.
Online tools also remove non-verbal cues that help teams to communicate. Holly explained how the tone of voice can be misinterpreted when communicating by chat or email, making the design dialogue more challenging.
To avoid these problems, it’s important to over-communicate when using videoconference and chat applications to ensure that the team understands the information being shared. Communication problems are also easier to overcome when team members know each other well and are used to working together.
Location-specific vs. location independent user research
One of the main concerns about remote design thinking is how to conduct user research when team members are geographically dispersed. Users are often location-specific to where the client is based, making it complicated for remote teams to carry out ethnographic research. To solve this, Hiong believes there are two alternatives:
- team members can either visit the location to observe and interview users or
- they can train their client to interview users and share their
observations with the team.
However, he argues that the majority of user research could be done independently of location. For example, remote teams can use technology and online surveys to communicate with users or they can simply observe similar users and situations wherever they are based. The second option echoes with Moritz’s idea that design thinking can benefit from having different perspectives from a team that lives in many locations with distinct cultures.
Applying remote design thinking
Having a design thinking mindset while working remotely is complex, yet possible. Many of the challenges can be overcome with online tools that imitate offline teamwork, as long as teams can rely on a stable internet connection. Until technology is improved, remote teams have higher probabilities of succeeding in using design thinking if they can reduce human-related problems by building a strong team culture and creating structures that work efficiently across space and time.
Interviews
Åström E. (2015) Facilitator and Digital Strategist. MURAL. [14 April, 2015]
Gekeler M. (2015) Design Strategist. SAP. Former Project Manager. Hasso Plattner Institute. [April 2015]
Kennedy H., Turner J. (2015) Founder/Interaction Designer, Founder/UX designer. Kennedy/Turner. [25 February, 2015]
Tan S.H. (2015) Design Thinking Coach. The Dot Connect. [11 March, 2015]
