Design Thinking, Digital Thinking…Same Thing, I’m Thinking!

Unearthing a parallel between design and digital thinking

The real insight that came out of Kyoorius DesignYatra 2013 was, simply, this:

Digital and Design have a common goal —
to solve human problems.

The notion occurred to me sometime on day one, during DigiYatra. It could’ve been sparked by the conversation that I had with a colleague on the flight to Goa. Or by the conference theme itself — Create Change. Or by something one of the speakers on the first day — Sanky, Joao Cardoso Fernandes, Laura Jordan Bambach — said.

You’ll find the proof in any products, digital or design, created by a brand or otherwise. As illustrated briefly below.

Akash: The low-cost tablet designed to transform India through digital penetration.

Nike+ FuelBand: Inspiring the world to stay fit.

Biolite: A fuel-efficient, reduced-emission biomass stove for the poor.

Solar Bottle Bulb: Bringing light to dark places, with a recycled plastic bottle, water and chlorine.

Lifestraw: A drinking filter that kills bacteria as you suck water through it.

Bang With Friends: Helping people find love through Facebook.

SkyRec: Record a program with a tweet.

Fiat EcoDrive: Teaches you how to save fuel and reduce emissions by driving better.

TXTBKS: Turning old SIM cards into textbooks for poor students.

The Swiss Army Knife: You never know which tool you might need.

Google Maps: Never get lost again.

Granted, the scale of the problem may vary wildly, from personal to societal. But the essence is the same.

Identify a problem. Then build something to solve it.

The theme was hammered home on day 3, when Raj Kurup forcefully put a message across.

Everybody is a designer.

It’s true. In our world, you don’t need Photoshop and Illustrator to be called a designer. It’s not about what you do, it’s about the problem you solve.

In fact, tomorrow’s creativity may be all about identifying the crux of the problem, for the solution is often obvious.

The best digital and design agencies do exactly this. Identify a problem, design something to solve it. As do the millions of startups that churn out product after product, hardware and software, to address problems they think are worth the effort.

If those solutions can also solve a brand’s needs, then you have truly great marketing solutions.

It’s all about a human-centric approach rather than a brand-centric one.

Not a bad way to attack your next brief, no?

This post originally appeared on whatisaninsight.com.