design-thinking

“Design Thinking” propels innovation, it is about bringing novelty to seduce consumers and reinforce the experiential dimension.

In general, marketing traditionally considers design as an asset to enhance products or services. He uses it as a tool for seduction and added value for consumers. Yet the main role of the designer is to create a solution that meets the needs of the clients both functionally and aesthetically.

Design Thinking ultimately corresponds to the return of the original notions of design in commercial engineering. It is focused on people and on the experience that the services or products will bring them. It is a philosophy that is reflected in the design stages with needs analysis and experimentation for continual improvement.

In other words, it is the application of the philosophy and methodology of the universe of designers to outside domains. It implies not to consider design as a secondary aspect but rather as a strategic aspect of the company. It is introduced at all levels of the structure and influences every decision, every process.

Design Thinking is a structured method. Depending on the interpretations, there are 4, 5 or 7 stages that build the design philosophy.

However, we find 3 essential phases constituting the core of the technique which are:

• Identification of the problem in correlation with the needs of end users. It includes a period of observation and analysis in order to fully understand the environment.

• Collective reflection on the concept, which will allow the problem to be resolved. Often organized “in a funnel”, we start with a brainstorming and then we filter the less good ideas to leave only the best.

• The implementation of the “beta”: we experiment with prototypes to enter into a dynamic of improvement before reaching the final solution.

Establishing Design Thinking within your company, through its human dimension, however requires certain qualities and prerequisites such as:

Empathy: to understand what consumers need, you have to be able to crawl into their heads and use their dissatisfaction to develop a real user experience.

The ability to synthesize: a service or a product that is too difficult to use is never in favor of the user experience. You have to know how to reject ideas that are too complex to focus on the concise.

The elimination of design stereotypes: design is not a purely material notion. The digital world has also assimilated this concept, large web companies today use Design Thinking to create user-friendly platforms.

Being ready to invest.

Design Thinking could be akin to R&D. It requires a long phase of analysis to develop a suitable product. Research is expensive and requires a certain financial and human investment.

Well used, it can become a formidable weapon that will make it stand out from the competition, or even outshine it. The novelty is today crucial in an objective of commercial conquest. Design Thinking makes it possible to achieve a considerable capacity for innovation.