Design Thinking Workshop
Solving business problems using Design Thinking
This workshop aimed at familiarizing the participants with the methodology and tools of Design Thinking. Subsequently, we worked with an industry partner- Koochie Play Systems, Bengaluru, India to solve some of their business problems using a Design Thinking approach.
Duration: 2 days
Background
Koochie Play Systems is a multinational brand with presence in 12 countries. Their products include outdoor playground and outdoor fitness equipment, meeting the highest international safety standards. The products are specifically designed to aid cognitive and motor development alongside addressing the emotional and social aspects of child development.
Problems
The top level management gave us a brief talk about the culture and the products of the company. We were informed about the various design and quality assurance decisions they make, as well as the problems they encountered in their space. We were divided into groups and each group was given two problems the company was facing. The two issues we tried to tackle were:
Team
- Varun Pimple
- Karan Arora
- Sowmiya Balaji
- Swati Agarwal (Mentor)
Role
Worked as a team to refine the problem, ideate, conduct interviews, brainstorm and present solutions to the management.
Research
Interviews
We decided to interview the staff to gain a wider perspective about the working culture of the company. These interviews were kept confidential so that the employees could talk freely. After interviewing 4 employees, we discovered that all of them held an extremely positive view of the company and its management.
“The culture at Koochie is great. I had been out of the professional industry for 8 years before I joined. The senior management has always been very understanding and supportive. “
Despite that, we discovered a possible reason why sales might be unpopular among new hires. A deal usually took about 14–18 months to come through. The sales representative involved in facilitating it earned a percentage commission after the deal is complete. The time delay between getting started with the job and getting a bonus for the work one puts in could be a possible reason why candidates gave up early.
Other forms of contextual inquiry:
- Visited sites where Koochie’s products were in use, such as residential complexes.
- Spoke to candidates who didn’t turn up for job interviews.
Insights gained:
- Branding on products was not very visible.
- Prospective candidates did not understand the significance of the work done at the company.
We used these insights to analyze the root cause of the problems faced by the company. Thereafter, we were able to break down the problem into sub problems that needed to be solved.
Reframed Problem Statements
Brainstorming & Prototyping
We used techniques such as the below decision matrix to sort all the solutions we came up with. They were rated based on feasibility and desirability.
The best solutions were then entered into an Excel sheet and given a weighted score based on multiple criteria such as time, effort, cost, manpower involved in implementing the solutions. This Pugh Chart gave us the most feasible solutions
The five highest scoring solutions were presented to the management using prototypes which helped demonstrate the ideas. These rapid prototypes were made with common supplies such as clay, styrofoam cups, plates, sketch pens and chart papers.
Presentation
Some of the solutions we presented were:
- Prominent branding on products as well as on brochures of complexes using the equipment.
- Increase visibility on social media and the web.
- Conducting talks about the problems Koochie is trying to solve, the importance of good design, etc.
