Supplementary Assessment (Design Thinking) – MGMT20140 Design Thinking for Managers
Term 1 2020
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
This assignment will be containing a demonstration of what is design thinking procedure and what is a different kind of tools, I was able to master during my course. The process of design thinking is noticed in all multinational companies where innovation blooms at its core. It widely promotes, out of the box thinking by experts and demands, to redefine problems and widen its scope for solutions. Therefore, the application of its five stages gives us an idea of what a team of professionals goes through to create an extraordinary threat combatting idea. In this assignment, the topic of students procastinate rather than completing their assignment would be discussed with the application of 5 design thinking tools.
Introduction
Design thinking is a process through which relevant audience can understand their user preferences, demands, and needs. This concept was developed to generally solve critical problems, develop innovative solutions, and build prototypes to test and apply it to the situations (Oxman, 2017 p24). It goes through five phases which will be highlighted in the following assignment. In this assignment, I will be demonstrating my understanding of Design thinking procedures and tools that are essential to building the thinking process in managers for a better economy. I would reflect on the academic journey of my term where I gathered information about different kinds of tools used in design thinking.
Main Body
Design thinking is the most common method to develop and act on the ideas of innovators or designers in general. This process is divided into various steps so that proper dissection of information can be carried out. The professionals in this field talk about how they extract, learn, teach, and apply the human-centric methods to answer the problems existing (Liedtka, 2018 p75). The professionals try to incorporate these designs, in their lives, homes, and corporate houses. For example, the brand of Apple is a perfect example, of what design thinking could achieve in the economy. The entire company is based on intelligent technologies, and the software is getting updated as per the requirements of its users. Many universities now offer a structured guideline to assess the method of design thinking.
Design thinking is nothing a complex way to answer solutions or redefine problems. Prototypes are created to apply experiments and evaluate the consequences, which makes the progress a bit ahead in its journey. Design thinking can be done by employees in the field of the area they are deeply passionate about. Therefore, the target user shall be clear in the mind while finding the perfect explanation by relevant professionals. It helps professionals and aspiring students like me to question things constantly. Questioning the problems, or assumptions is necessary to find what accounts behind their existence. Problems that are not clear or supposedly I could is unknown, can be easily tackled if the procedure and principals of design thinking are followed. For example, design thinking for proximities, to enhance mobility, to educate better and creatively, for social innovation, to promote the concept of it at the core, process labs. Airbnb AND solar energy are a few examples of Design thinking that became extremely successful all over the globe.
Business strategists use design thinking the most, as they have to constantly think about solutions and ideas to exhibit good selling process and attract profit to their company’s account. Various elements of design thinking are combined before its application. It demands the individual to think critically and creatively. It is a proven protocol that gives effective results and guides the managers on how to make thorough decisions and how to organize the workplace and arising situations that might not be positive all the time. Design thinking structures the thought process in a way that it solely focuses on finding an explanation for the problems. One of the most common elements of design thinking is just basically thinking (Callahan, 2019 p5).
I, during my unit term, realized that design thinking demanded me to think and research about any topic that I found hard to understand its dynamics. Therefore, with constant research and with group discussions, my concept became clear. Therefore, my basic thinking and initiation of going and interacting about troubles with my classmates helped me immensely. I learned how to just fixate on the solution and realized, if in a real workplace, I have to achieve profit, then I shall focus on consumer needs. Understanding that will provide me with key elements to unlock my way into their pockets and gain profit for the company I would wish to work in. It seems like a little thing, but with this concept, a business can achieve immense popularity, as design thinking leads to innovation. It is stated informal reports the Goggle, allows their employees 20% of their working hours, to just sit and think critically (Forbes.com, 2020). This is because good ideas come from focussed thinking, and Goggle being the largest market leader proofs that fact. Design thinking has to be at the core of any strategy being developed, as these are being developed to inflict positive change on the company’s culture. It is applied to products, methodologies of production and provides services, for further improvisation. Design thinking is spreading in breadth and height continuously in the economy because of its effective results.
In my unit, I learned about five stages of Design thinking that are popularly followed by many businesses in the economy which are as follows.
Figure 1: Design thinking stages
(Source: voltagecontrol.com)
Empathize – The first step of the process is to gain an insight into what the existing problem is and who is most affected by it. The experts in the relevant field try to siege their observations to get detailed result and idea of the concerned area (Elsbach & Stigliani, 2018 p2295)
. The next stage is built upon the data gathered in this stage. The professionals engage with the target market, observe their actions, and plan their product accordingly.
Define – Analysis of observations made in the Empathise stage is done to provide a detailed definition of the identified challenge. Synthesis of information takes place and data is dissected to interpret the rationale behind the root problems. The problem is commonly defined in the human-centric form. For example, when a company realizes that it has to up its profit scale and this can be achieved by an extensive advertisement for people. The design thinking professionals will get a concrete base to construct their great ideas on. (Colombo, Cautela & Rampino, 2017). Features and functions would be established and various elements would be combined that will allow their users to resolve their problems effectively.
Ideate – Now that the designers have a sild ground to base their ideas on, the process of generating it is a crucial one. The design thinking professionals are critically aware of their target market and are ready with all relevant data (Kumar, Zindani & Davim, 2020 p40). Here the team members are required to think extraordinarily to provide suitable and sustainable solutions to the identified human-centered, problem statement. Brainstorming is one of the most commonly used methods, to generate ideas. It stimulates the professionals to think freely, and expand the scope of the problem area. It is extremely important to get all kinds of possible ideas, to siege them later, and mold them into a larger vision.
Prototype – In this stage, the product is designed, the prototype or a sustained structure of it is designed by professionals. This is done to apply the ideas and evaluate their success, which can later we altered by experts for better results. A prototype is built by a team and is tested on different focus groups outside (Miller, 2017). This is done to see the reactions and understand if their users are satisfied or not. Various altars are made in the structure of the prototype itself since developments are done as required. The end of this stage will leave an understanding of appropriate considerations and constraints of building the product.
Test – Rigorous testing of the product is done after the best prototype is established. The prototype is put in front of people to receive feedback. This is important because this feedbacks will make the product better. The data will be forwarded to the professionals for alterations.
In the given assignment, the problem of students procastinating instead of completing their work on time is given which shall be overcome by the usage of design thinking tools. This problem occurs because students lack in motivation to initiate its process even. Therefore, during my course, I have used the five design thinking tools mentioned below to overcome procastination. I learned the understanding of applying them to practice the habit of thinking critically which also helped me to finish my assignment on the given time.
Brainstorming – It is used to generate ideas where different people throw in various ideas and see the core issues of the identified problem. A vast array of ideas are generated during its sessions. I chose this tool because it has been effective to generate spontaneous ideas or build upon ideas from different people in a group.
Concept development – The learning objective of the identified area is to generalize the concept of the identified problem and extract a concrete definition from it. In this method, a concrete foundation is built that the rest of the project revolves around. I chose this tool, to develop a habit of shaping a concept to showcase effective thinking in the real-time workplace in my future.
Video Editing – After developing my idea, I combined, images, and videos with various visual effects through the video editing software (Treyz & Treyz, 2017). The process of video editing allowed me to represent my thoughts in a way that communicates its true intent.
Reflection – Reflection is a great design thinking tool, because, it allows design thinking professionals, to judge their actions in the past and draw a lesson for themselves to perform better in the future.
Story Boarding – I can dissect my idea, into various pieces to understand its detail and find solutions to the root cause of obstacles. It is a representation of sequence that breaks down the scene of action, often depicted in graphs, drawings, sketches, and camera directions (Schewe & Thalheim, 2019 p80).
Therefore, the process of design thinking is required dedicated focus, so that work professionals can create solutions faster with innovation at its core.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the process of Design thinking requires critical and creative thinking. Therefore, all aspiring students like me need to get familiar with all kinds of popular design thinking tools. I am persistent with tools, like brainstorming, Concept development, writing a reflective journal, storyboarding, and video editing. I have assessed an understanding of why Design thinking procedure is effective to create a profitable economy across the globe.
Reference List
Callahan, K. C. (2019). Design Thinking in Curricula. The International Encyclopedia of Art and Design Education, 1-6.
Colombo, S., Cautela, C., & Rampino, L. (2017). New Design Thinking Tools for the Next Generation of Designer-Entrepreneurs. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S566-S580
Elsbach, K. D., & Stigliani, I. (2018). Design thinking and organizational culture: A review and framework for future research. Journal of Management, 44(6), 2274-2306.
Forbes.com (2020). Why Design Thinking Should Be At The Core Of Your Business Strategy Development. Retrieved 23 July 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lawtonursrey/2014/06/04/14-design-thinking-esque-tips-some-approaches-to-problem-solving-work-better-than-others/#25ba33ec1627
Kumar, K., Zindani, D., & Davim, J. P. (2020). Methods and Tools of Design Thinking. In Design Thinking to Digital Thinking (pp. 39-47). Springer, Cham.
Liedtka, J. (2018). Why design thinking works. Harvard Business Review, 96(5), 72-79.
Miller, B. H. (2017). What is Design Thinking? (And What Are The 5 Stages Associated With it?).
Oxman, R. (2017). Thinking difference: Theories and models of parametric design thinking. Design studies, 52, 4-39.
Schewe, K. D., & Thalheim, B. (2019). Storyboarding. In Design and Development of Web Information Systems (pp. 61-109). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Treyz, G. V., & Treyz, S. M. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,672,547. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
voltagecontrol.com (2019) 5 Steps of the Design Thinking Process: A Step-by-Step Guide + Blog + Voltage Control. Retrieved 23 July 2020, from https://voltagecontrol.com/blog/5-steps-of-the-design-thinking-process-a-step-by-step-guide/
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