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 give 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 designer universe to outside realms. It means not seeing design as a secondary aspect but rather as a strategic aspect of the business. 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:
- Identifying the issue 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 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 in order to concentrate on the concise ones.
Removing stereotypes from design: design is not just a material notion. The digital world has assimilated this concept, large web companies now use Design Thinking to create user-friendly platforms.
Being ready to invest.
Design Thinking could be like R&D. It takes a long phase of analysis to develop a suitable product. Research is expensive and requires a certain financial and human investment.
Used well, it can become a formidable weapon that will set it apart from the competition, if not eclipse it. Novelty is crucial today in the objective of commercial conquest. Design Thinking makes it possible to achieve a considerable capacity for innovation.