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Introduction to Design Thinking

Design thinking is a methodology that involves
understanding user needs and creating
innovative solutions.
It's a process that combines empathy, creativity,
and problem-solving to design products that
resonate with users.
Here are some examples of how design thinking
has been applied in various fields:

Netflix
Netflix’s success among its competitors can be linked to
its effective use of design thinking.

Before Netflix began streaming services, customers had

to visit physical stores for DVD rentals and returns.

Netflix utilized this problem and introduced a convenient

subscription model that delivered DVDs directly to
customers’ homes.

This move revolutionized the movie rental experience

and quickly gained popularity in the public sphere.

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Netflix
Netflix continued to invest in Design Thinking to
update itself with the changing trends.

For example, when DVDs became less popular, the

company quickly launched an on-demand
streaming service, eliminating the wait for physical
discs.

Its commitment to understanding customer desires

has been a key factor in its success.

Netflix
In 2011, Netflix took one step further when it
started to produce original and compelling content
that was not available on traditional networks.

It established itself as a pioneer in the industry by

this smart move.

To improve user experience, Netflix integrated short

trailers into its interface in 2016, based on customer
feedback.

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Apple
Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design
has been a perfect example of unique Design Thinking.

While the company is famous for its iconic physical

products, such as the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, it was
its iOS platform strategy that marked its journey as an
industry innovator.

Under Steve Jobs' leadership, Apple embraced Design

Thinking principles by prioritizing real user needs and
desires over business-centric goals.

They fostered empathy to make people fall in love with

their products.

Apple
The company's success lies in creating simple, user-
friendly products that relate to customers, which sets
Apple apart from its competitors.

This design-centric approach revolutionized the tech

industry and solidified Apple's position as a leader in
innovation and user-centred design.

Apple's success in the market can be linked to its focus on

integrating customer experience into product design.

Imparting these strategies can help your own design

thinking strategy succeed and lead in a competitive
market.
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GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare serves as a prime example of how focusing
on user-centricity can lead to notable improvements in a
product, even if it appears to have no issues.

While diagnostic imaging had already taken the health

industry by storm, GE Healthcare identified a problem in
how pediatric patients reacted to procedures.

They observed children in different environments and

interviewed hospital staff to gain more insights into
young pediatric patients’ experiences.

GE Healthcare’s “Adventure Series” redesigned MRI

machines into child-friendly themes.
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GE Healthcare
It increased patient satisfaction significantly
while also saving time and resources.

The classic idea of “Empathetic Design”

imparted by them has yielded them the desired
success.
Their success story undermines the importance
of understanding and addressing user needs
even in seemingly problem-free products.

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Bank of America
• Bank of America's classic Design Thinking
Example revolves around its partnership with
design consultancy IDEO in 2004.
• The bank sought IDEO's expertise to find ways to
increase the number of people opening bank
accounts.
• Through extensive Design Thinking research,
IDEO identified a fascinating insight - many savers
were deliberately rounding up their check
amounts when writing them.
• Taking this valuable finding into account, IDEO
and Bank of America developed the highly
successful “Keep the Change” program.
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Bank of America
• Under this initiative, when customers made purchases
using their Bank of America debit cards, the transaction
amount was rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the
difference was automatically transferred to their
savings account.
• The success of this program highlights the power
of Design Thinking in analysing customer behaviours
and developing solutions that go with users on a deep
level.
• The Design Thinking approach they have imparted here
covered the way for a greater number of new bank
account openings.

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Nike
Nike, a pioneer in merging sports and design,
confronted the challenge of staying relevant despite
having a dedicated customer base.

To address this, Nike sought partnerships to gain

insights from customers, inspiring their designers to
create innovative solutions.

The result was a prime example of the Design

Thinking process. Nike's designers revamped their
sneakers, adding transparent panels that
showcased the wearer's choice of socks.
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Nike
Nike also introduced pressurised air technology
to enhance athletes' performance. This not only
improved functionality but also turned their
products into fashion statements, proving Nike's
commitment to meeting customer needs and
preferences.

Dr C.P.LOHITH, Course
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Coordinator,Innovation & Design Thinking

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Meaning of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is not just the property of designers

— all the great inventors of engineering, science,
literature, art, music, and business have used it.

Design thinking supports in developing, teaching,

learning, and applying strategies to solve
complications in a creative manner in the projects
and processes of the business.

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Definition of Design Thinking

Design thinking is a term used to denote a set of strategic,
conceptual, and practical processes in which design concepts are
developed (product proposals, structures, equipment,
communications, etc.).

Many key concepts and aspects of design thinking have been

identified through studies, across all different design fields,
design concepts and design work in both laboratory and
environmental contexts.

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Origins of Design Thinking

The methods and concepts of design thinking,

although promoted by developing companies and
design consultants, ranging from a wide range of
fields including software development, engineering,
anthropology, psychology, art, and business.

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Origins of Design Thinking

Design ideas as they exist today have evolved collaboratively in

various fields and industries.

Over 50 years, and even more have emerged and merged into the
quasi-Darwin system of natural selection.

These have been integrated, documented, and promoted by leading

design firms (such as IDEO and Frog) and educational institutions
(such as Stanford's d.school, and Rotman School of Management),
and have been increasingly accepted by the industry

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1963: The idea of using Design as a way of solving complex

problems in a simplified manner in sciences originated in the book
‘The science of the Artificial’ authored by Herbert A. Simon

1973: The idea of design was achieved for Design Engineering by

the book ‘experiences in visual thinking’ authored by Robert
McKim

1982: Design methodology is defined by “cross” the study of the

principles, practices and procedures of design are developed and
includes the study of how designers work and think

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1987: Peter Rowes Book Titled “Design thinking” describes

methods and approaches that planners, designers and architects
use

1980s to 1990s: The work of Robert Mckim was consolidated

by Rolf Faste at Stanford university during this period 1991
David M Kelly Founded IDEO and adapt Design thinking to
business interests

2009: The design thinking process itself is human centered,

offering methods for inspiration, ideation and learning to
designers –Brown

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2012: Apply the study of design thinking principles in

engineering.

2015: Verbal protocol analysis, cognitive ethnography, controlled

laboratory experiments, and other formal methods from
cognitive science have been rigorously applied in engineering

2017: Design thinking reflected in many applications like

prototyping, solution-based method is often useful way to
encourage inspiration, ideation and organization learning and
human centered methods

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Design Thinker in the organizations

Any individual who has the following traits can be design thinker in the
organizations, namely

1. Concern for the individuals and who know the working challenges

2. Knowledge of multi -functionality of the organization

3. Vision for developing right process in the organization

4. Capability to understand the problems on the job and ability to work

on the problems related to the jobs of the organization.

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Features of Design Thinking

1. Design thinking understands from the perspective of the

customers and provides solution for improving the product and
service quality in the organization.
2. The role of design thinking is to collect feedback from the
customers and employees by iteration of prototyping
3. Expanding the range of solutions to the problems identified in
the organization and employee better customer and employee
satisfaction
4. Enable the design thinkers to develop new products, features or
services to customer and process satisfaction.
5. Providing and eco-system through the interaction with the
employees, technical capabilities and customers.

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Principles of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is also about thinking, where the concept can be

thought of as an integrated set of beliefs and attitudes.

Human Focused Design Thinking: The process that understands

from the perspective of the human including the employees and
customers
Diversity to work in a team: Design thinking needs to consider
individuals from different background and train to work in a team

Comprehensive: Although details are important, design experts

are also able to identify and consider relationships,
collaborations, and communication between seemingly
different ideas
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Principles of Design Thinking

Flexibility and unconventional comfort: Design thinking is best

suited to deal with problems and opportunities described in an
incomprehensible way, and requires great flexibility in terms of
both content and methodology

Communication Skills: Willingness to communicate and work

in a variety of ways, including speaking, visual, and touch.
Design experts design and build prototypes, without the
perceived lack of skill or competence

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Stages of Design Thinking

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Empathize

In the Empathize stage, designers aim to deeply

understand the users and their needs.
This involves engaging with users through
observation and interviews to gather insights
about their experiences and challenges.
The goal is to set aside biases and develop a
genuine connection with the target audience,
which is essential for identifying the right
problems to solve.

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The “Empathize” stage

Empathy is an ability to sense

other people’s emotions, coupled
with the ability to imagine what
someone else might be thinking or
feeling.

empathy is one of the most

important qualities of the designer,
it allows you to set aside your own
assumptions about the user’s
problem and gain real insight into
users and their needs.

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Example #1
one of the most popular design thinking success story. It belongs to Airbnb
company which was on the verge of bankruptcy at one point. They
examined the behaviour of their ads and it turned out that pictures of the
rooms were not good that’s why people were not booking rooms as they
couldn’t even actually see what they were paying for. Once the problem
was distinguished they decided to provide good quality pictures of
apartments and rooms to their users what moved the company in the right
direction. Then meetings with their customers and using design thinking
process brought other changes to their business strategy and design of the
website what transformed Airbnb from a small startup to a billion-dollar
company.

Airbnb, Inc., based in San Francisco, California, operates

an online marketplace focused on short-term homestays
and experiences. The company acts as a broker and
charges a commission from each booking. The company
was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan
Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia

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Define

The Define stage focuses on synthesizing the

information gathered during the Empathize
phase.
Designers analyze user data to articulate a clear
problem statement that encapsulates the
challenges faced by users.
This statement guides the subsequent stages by
ensuring that the design process remains
centered around user needs.

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The “Define” stage

This is a stage where you need to

process the data you’ve collected
from users in order to understand the
big picture and to identify patterns.
Unpack the information you have
received and organize it:

1. Put together your observations

2. Make the key phrases and write
them on stickers
3. Visualize the important parts
4. Make connections, patterns,
themes.
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Example #2

There is a lot of examples when educators apply design thinking in

their work in order to solve their problems. One of them, Michael
Schurr, a 2nd grade teacher in New York, once realized that he
had never asked his students if they were comfortable with the
classroom environment. After interviewing his students he found
out the weak areas, and then following the design thinking stages
he analyzed the information he gathered, came up with ideas and
then redesign his classroom based on student feedbacks what
changed their learning experience to more effective one. This
example shows that design thinking it’s not only for the interface
design, also it can be applied at any field.

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Ideate
• During the Ideate stage, teams brainstorm a
wide range of creative solutions without
constraints.
• This phase encourages free thinking and the
generation of numerous ideas, fostering an
environment where unconventional solutions
can emerge.
• The emphasis is on quantity over quality at
this stage, as all ideas are considered potential
pathways to address the defined problem.

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Come up with ideas or “Ideate” stage

John Maynard Keynes, early 20th-century British

economist, said: “The Difficulty Lies Not So Much
In Developing New Ideas As In Escaping From
Old Ones”

In such a fast developing and changing world to

generate idea can be challenging, and yet by
using right techniques it is possible.

Different techniques of generating ideas allows

you:

1. To get away from obvious solutions

2. To use your teamwork and your team
strengths
3. To explore the areas that previously remained
in the shadow
4. To provide flow of satisfying and innovative
solutions 40

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Example #3

Where else design thinking can be applied? Banks…When you

think about banks you don’t connect them with design culture,
however they quickly adapt to changes in the media
consumption habits of their customers. The Barclays bank is
widely recognized as one of the leaders in digital transformation
in retail banking. The bank introduced the position of chief
design specialist and created its own design department,
which should combine business, technology and focus on
customer needs. Design thinking helped them to become
more inventive and more creative in development of their
products and services what established better connection with
their users.
Barclays is a British multinational universal bank,
headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two
divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International
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Prototype
 In the Prototype stage, designers create
tangible representations of their ideas.
 Prototypes can take various forms, from
simple sketches to interactive models.
 The purpose of prototyping is to visualize
solutions and facilitate user testing.
 This iterative process allows teams to explore
how well their ideas function in practice and
identify areas for improvement before
finalizing a product.

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It’s time for “Prototype” stage

Prototype is an early sample, model, or

release of a product built to test a
concept or process. And prototyping in
design thinking is iterative creation of
layouts that helps find the right solution
for the problem and investigate how
users think and feel about a product.
First create a simple layout, see if it
works and how it works, then continue
with creation of more difficult and more
expensive one.

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Prototype are the limited representation of any idea or

design.
These are miniature models which are created in the
prototyping phase of development of any physical product.
The prototyping is an experimental process which caters
some and/or a part of all the requirements of the actual
model, and the goal is to persist a somewhat idea of the
finalized product.
Prototypes are tangible and can range from paper modeling
to creating mockups of application softwares.

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Example #4

There is a good example of using the prototype is at the Aardvark

company. The Aardvark connects people through the Internet who
have questions with experts in the field they need. To create a
network and an algorithm would require a lot of time and effort for
programming, but the company wanted to test its idea before the
end of these works. For verification, the team used a regular
messaging system. The team members themselves redirected
questions and answers to the right people. So they were able to
quickly develop a concept and learn all the details of work without
programming costs. Interesting fact, in 2010 Google acquired
Aardvark for $50 million, and after one year shut it down to put
similar Q&A features into Google+ and had reassigned most of the
Aardvark team to that project.

Aardvark was a social search service that

connected users live with friends or friends-
of-friends who were able to answer their
questions, also known as a knowledge
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Test
• The final stage, Test, involves gathering real
user feedback on the prototypes developed in
the previous phase.
• Users interact with the prototypes, providing
insights into what works well and what
doesn't.
• This feedback is crucial for refining solutions
and may lead teams back to earlier stages for
further exploration or iteration based on new
insights gained during testing.
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What is the “Testing” stage?

The testing is a great chance to
improve the solution to a problem
you are facing. Testing of prototypes
is usually carried out repeatedly and
in real conditions. You have to set a
normal environment in which your
users would use the product or
service

Testing reveals if you has missed

something in all previous stages of
design thinking process. And you
might need to go back to generation
of your idea or to defining the
problem. Dr C.P.LOHITH, Course Coordinator,Innovation & Design Thinking 48

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There is a few ways how you can conduct the testing:

1. Observe — give the prototype to the user and let him to

explore it and you observe the user without interrupting
and telling how he suppose to use it;
2. Provide alternatives — provide few different prototypes to
the user and let him to compare them and you can get
feedback of what they like and don’t like about each;
3. Questioning — ask open questions like “Why are you
doing this?”, “What do you feel about it” while the user is
exploring your prototype;
4. Assign a task — give the prototype to the user and ask him
to do some particular action or perform a task, for
example, if it’s an e-commerce application ask the user to
buy an item, and observe which difficulties he is facing if
any.

Dr C.P.LOHITH, Course Coordinator,Innovation & Design Thinking 49

Example #5

Telstra is Australia’s leading telecommunications services provider. Like all

similar companies, Telstra employs thousands of employees every year. At
the same time, the company has a huge turnover, two-thirds of employees
quit during the first three months of work, that’s because new employees must
study a huge number of systems, products and tariff plans. They solve this
strategic task by using design thinking, they have developed a new 90-day
adaptation program for all employees.

Instead of trying to fill the educational program with all the necessary
information, the company created an application that looks more like a game
than a training system. It is implemented in such a way as to give people the
necessary basics even before they come to work, and then they add social
connections, coaching sessions and videos that help in the work.

As result, productivity of the company has grown, employees have become

more loyal and involved, and newcomers integrate more quickly into the
organization. Telstra became huge fan of design thinking, so they used this
process to improve leadership, HR experience, change management
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programs and to create 22 other employee development programs.

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Dr C.P.LOHITH, Course Coordinator,Innovation & Design Thinking 51

Iterative Nature
• It's important to note that Design Thinking is
not a strictly linear process; it is highly
iterative.
• Insights gained from any stage can prompt
revisiting previous stages to refine
understanding or solutions further.
• This flexibility allows teams to adapt their
approach based on user feedback and
changing circumstances, ensuring that the
final product effectively meets user needs.
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Benefits of Design Thinking

1. It helps to overcome creative challenges: Design Thought gives
you the freedom to look at problems in many ways. It involves a
lot of brains to come up with the best ideas, which helps to
improve students ’knowledge.

2. Helps to meet customer requirements effectively: As we

discussed earlier, design thinking involves developing
prototypes when testing and using customer feedback
repeatedly to ensure quality assurance. By following a
successful design idea, your product will eventually meet the
needs of customers.
3. It helps to increase your knowledge of Design Thinking: You will
do a lot of experiments in the design thinking process. You will
always try to improve your model by using customer feedback
to ensure customer satisfaction.
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Theories and Practices of Design Thinking

Design scholars continue to discuss theoretical developments

in the design thinking Different theoretical perspectives have
been used in research into design thinking: one stream of
research through protocol analysis to catch the ways
designers are making sense of their own working processes
another examines methods for teaching design thinking to
design students through establishing decision-based
protocol.

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Theories and Practices of Design Thinking

When design management started as an academic area

in the 1970s, it was taught by designers aiming to
help management scholars and practitioners
understand what design is and why it is relevant to
the organizations.

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Theory of Thinking Modes

Building on the Guilford’s studies there are three basic
modes of thinking: Analytical, Judicial, and Synthetic.

1. Analytical thinking is the process for separation of

things from the visible relationships in the process and
production in the organization.
2. Judicial thinking is comparing and making judgments
based on in-depth analysis in the thinking.
3. Synthetic thinking is the process to combine two
things and ideas with the intention of making new
process and combination.

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Theory of Problem Solving

Theory of Creative Blocks

According to this theory there are barriers to the
creativity of the individual and the individual
expresses inability to access creativity and hence
there is a block created in the creativity process of
the individual.

Theory of Creative Process

A creative process is the choice between the inner
and outer, conscious and unconscious mind of the
individual through the process of reflection and
active collaboration of the individual.
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Theory of Problem Solving

Theory of Creative thinking education and Meta

Cognitive Control

According to this theory creative thinking is increased

through creative education and supports in creating
higher creative achievement among the individuals.

This process also increased the individual creative

potential and supports in developing right mindset for
creativity of the individual.

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Team based Design Thinking

Team size has a direct impact on design thinking process of the
organization; following aspects are to be taken care in the design
thinking for an organization.

1. Building the right type of team:

Team members from diverse background and specialization
support in providing solution to the challenges faced by the
design team
2. Right Team Culture:
Involvement of the team members is an important component
for developing right culture; hence, rules, regulations and
process of the team have an impact on developing right culture
in the team.
Therefore, design thinking team needs to have the right culture
for developing right directions in the team process of the
design team. 59

Team based Design Thinking

3. Development of higher inclusions, cohesion,

interaction and confidence support in developing
effective team for design thinking.

4. Effective communication among the members supports

in sharing the ideas and solutions for the design teams in
design thinking.

5. The role of leadership is an important aspect in design

thinking, team leader support and encouragement
support the design thinking team in the organization.

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CASE STUDY: Embrace Care warmer

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CASE STUDY: Embrace Care warmer

• The Embrace Infant Warmer is a fascinating case study that
showcases how design thinking and innovation can address critical
healthcare challenges in developing countries.
Background:
• In 2007, a team of students at Stanford University's design school
took on the challenge of designing an affordable infant incubator
for developing countries.
• Traditional incubators were too expensive and required a stable
electricity supply, which was often unavailable in remote areas
The Solution
• The team developed the Embrace Infant Warmer, a portable, low-
cost incubator that costs less than 1% of a traditional incubator.
• It uses a phase-change material (PCM) that can be heated in a
microwave or boiling water and then placed in a pouch to keep a
baby warm for up to four hours.

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CASE STUDY: Embrace Care warmer

Impact
• By 2018, Embrace had saved 250,000 babies across 20
countries. The warmer is designed to be user-friendly and can
be used in both hospital settings and at home, making it
accessible to more families.
Challenges
• Despite its success, Embrace faced challenges such as
developing an effective distribution model to reach remote
areas, creating awareness about the product, and scaling up
its business.
Lessons Learned
• The case study highlights the importance of empathy in
design, understanding the end user's needs, and leveraging
innovation to create sustainable impact.
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Mahindra & Mahindra

• Mahindra utilized design thinking to develop

the XUV500, a popular SUV. By employing
metaphors during the design process, they
were able to understand customer emotions
and preferences better, leading to a vehicle
that resonated well with consumers. This
approach allowed them to challenge
conventional automotive design logic and
create a product that stood out in the
competitive market
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IndiGo

• IndiGo Airlines adopted design thinking to

enhance customer experience while
maintaining operational efficiency. The airline
focused on understanding customer pain
points and streamlined its services
accordingly, resulting in a unique low-cost
model that has successfully differentiated it
from competitors. This case highlights how
design thinking can drive innovation even
within stringent cost constraints
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Wipro

Wipro embraced design thinking through its

"Partner Sprint Innovation Workshop," which
involved collaboration with vendor partners to
foster co-innovation. This initiative encouraged
teams to brainstorm and prototype solutions
collaboratively, enhancing Wipro's service
offerings and operational processes

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Paytm

Paytm applied design thinking principles to

refine its user experience by focusing on both
customers and sellers. The company emphasized
simplification and experimentation, which led to
significant improvements in usability and
customer satisfaction. This case illustrates the
importance of user-centric design in digital
platforms

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Infosys
• Infosys has embedded design thinking into its
corporate culture, promoting a design-driven
problem-solving approach across various
projects. The initiatives taken during the
leadership of Vishal Sikka and Salil Parekh
have fostered a culture of innovation that
emphasizes empathy and user feedback in
developing solutions

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Royal Enfield

Royal Enfield implemented design thinking

workshops to innovate their product lines and
enhance customer experience. These sessions
encouraged cross-functional teams to explore
new ideas and solutions, reinforcing the brand's
commitment to understanding rider needs
deeply

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