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By fancycrave1 via pixabay
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Design thinking has become an important contributor to sustainable growth of business, social project and education. This is evident in its focus on empathy and experimentation to design innovative and user-centered solutions.
Designers have traditionally paid attention to enhancing the look and functionality of products. Recently, they have begun using effective design techniques to solve complex problems creatively and meaningfully. This approach is called design thinking.
As a strategy for innovation, it involves learning from people (Empathizing), finding patterns (Defining), designing principles (Ideating), making tangible (Prototyping) and iterating relentlessly (Testing). Design thinking has made products more desirable and services more attractive to customers.
As a strategy for innovation, it involves learning from people (Empathizing), finding patterns (Defining), designing principles (Ideating), making tangible (Prototyping) and iterating relentlessly (Testing). Design thinking has made products more desirable and services more attractive to customers.
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| Design thinking requires teamwork effort and user focus. Image credit: Original author |
But what, exactly, are its benefits? Below, we specified four points that will help understand the importance of good design for businesses and organizations around the world.
Good design ensures product desirability, feasibility and viability
Statistically, design-led firms continuously put the customer first, with 46% of design leaders cite an emotional bond with customers as a decisive characteristic of practices in advance design. Design thinking diminishes the uncertainty and risk of innovation by gaining customer insights through real-world experiments and leveraging the possibilities of technology to reframe problem areas into opportunities.
A good example of user-centered design is the Sternins’ work. Jerry Sternin, founder of the Positive Deviance Initiative and a former associate professor at Tufts University, was expert in defining meaningful and people-focused solutions to local problems.
In 1990, Sternin and his wife were invited by the Government of Vietnam to develop a model that would sustainably decrease high levels of malnutrition among children in 10,000 villages. While government and UN agencies donations of nutritional supplements – the outsider solution – didn’t deliver the results as expected, the Sternins used the positive deviance approach.
They surveyed four local Quang Xuong communities in Thanh Hoa province and observed the food preparation, cooking and serving behaviors of six poor families whose children were very healthy (called ‘positive deviants’). They found out how these parents nourished their children well by utilizing familiar ingredients like tiny shrimps, crabs and snails, and by feeding them with smaller meals.
Cooking classes were then offered to the families of children suffering from malnutrition by the team and the positive deviants. The program’s first year successfully ended with 80 percent of the 1,000 children enrolled in the program getting adequate nutrition.
According to Monique Sternin, director of the Positive Deviance Initiative, “Both positive deviance and design thinking are human-centered approaches. Their solutions are relevant to a unique cultural context and will not necessarily work outside that specific situation.”
A good example of user-centered design is the Sternins’ work. Jerry Sternin, founder of the Positive Deviance Initiative and a former associate professor at Tufts University, was expert in defining meaningful and people-focused solutions to local problems.
In 1990, Sternin and his wife were invited by the Government of Vietnam to develop a model that would sustainably decrease high levels of malnutrition among children in 10,000 villages. While government and UN agencies donations of nutritional supplements – the outsider solution – didn’t deliver the results as expected, the Sternins used the positive deviance approach.
They surveyed four local Quang Xuong communities in Thanh Hoa province and observed the food preparation, cooking and serving behaviors of six poor families whose children were very healthy (called ‘positive deviants’). They found out how these parents nourished their children well by utilizing familiar ingredients like tiny shrimps, crabs and snails, and by feeding them with smaller meals.
Cooking classes were then offered to the families of children suffering from malnutrition by the team and the positive deviants. The program’s first year successfully ended with 80 percent of the 1,000 children enrolled in the program getting adequate nutrition.
According to Monique Sternin, director of the Positive Deviance Initiative, “Both positive deviance and design thinking are human-centered approaches. Their solutions are relevant to a unique cultural context and will not necessarily work outside that specific situation.”
To design means to innovate daily, iterate relentlessly
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The Design Thinking flow is integrated with the DMAIC
approach for continuous improvement. Image credit: Original author
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Design thinking involves testing ideas and continuously gathering feedback from customers for further improvement of the product or service. In today’s competitive environment, continuous improvement is pivotal to the business success, and design thinking with human-focused approach is considered an opportunity to such relentless innovation.
Design thinking is a key to cultivating organizational culture
High PDI tends to hinder effective communication in the workplace. As design thinking requires exploration and experimentation, this method encourages an open-minded culture where employees are more creative, collaborative and engaged.
Design thinking produces well-being and sustainable growth
Evidently, design-led companies have outperformed the S&P Index by 219% over 10 years, according to a 2014 assessment by the Design Management Institute. Adobe noted that enterprises that cultivate creativity enjoy 1.5 times greater market share, and 46% of firms that don’t embed design in digital CX strategy report that their digital CX is the same or weaker than their competitors.
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