The Design Thinking Approach
Design interweaves with every aspect of the production process of any kind of technological product. Ultimately, it should be usable for the person it is intended for, and that requires making the product ground-up with the user in mind.
Technology has taken various forms through the years; be it smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, tablets or countless others. We are quickly moved from the era of one man-one machine, to one man-many machines.
Daily, new product design plans are being drawn up with the intention of delivering more services to the end-user. However, a few basic questions need to be asked before going forward to the developmental process.
This has led to a concept called “ Design Thinking”, which keeps the user are the heart of every decision.
When you have an idea, it is important to understand whether anybody even needs it. The process involves:
1. Speaking to the user regarding the pain point you are trying to address. Taking surveys, observing their usage of currently available products and then drawing out relevant conclusions.
2. Figuring out the opportunity where you can make a difference.
3. Thinking about how you will differentiate yourself and what will wow your customer enough that they begin to use your product.
4. Estimating and realising what is possible in the current situation and how you will go about executing the idea.
5. Observing usage of your product, and iterating to minimize any pain points.
To illustrate this, let us take a simple non-technical example. Suppose you want to set up a lemonade stand in a crowded part of your neighborhood. What do you consider?
- Need: Is it a warm time of the year? Will people need a drink? Do you see people sweating everyday while they pass through this area?
- Location: Do many people walk through this area in the sun? Is there anybody else addressing this problem?
- Recipe: Do you have an interesting, delicious thirst quenching recipe that you think others will like?
- Quantity: Can you make enough amount of it everyday to satisfy all customers?
- Price: Are you charging too much per glass? Will you increase your customer base and still make profits if you reduce the price a bit?
Over time, the questions and answers get more and more specific and final product or business evolves into a mature one. Such an approach is particularly useful while introducing a new gadget into the market to address some need that consumers themselves are not aware of. Rather than having to make major changes later on, it helps to have clarity about your user and your goals upfront.
Design Thinking can be applied to other fields and has proved its effectiveness by helping stakeholders make more-informed decisions.
Hope it helps you too!
