Design Thinking
Human Centered Design
Design Thinking, also known as Human Centered Design, is a collection of tools and techniques that use the power of a team of individuals to solve complex problems. Wow, while that is technically true, as I write it out I’m overwhelmed by how much that definition doesn’t say. Being “Human Centered” in design thinking feels like it should be more important than just 2 words. As technologists it’s easy for us to get caught up in the latest feature or newest tool set and forget that humans are why we do what we do. Applying an engineers discipline to design problems feels natural, and the Design Thinking process starts with the people. It serves as a constant reminder to design thinkers that the people are what matters most.
The IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework identifies the Principles that guide our work, the Loop that drives us forward, and a set of Keys to keep everyone aligned. For now, I want to discuss the Design Thinking Workshop experience and discuss a few insights about the more subtle aspects of the approach. If your interested in learning more about IBM Enterprise Design Thinking there is a free 2-hr practitioners course that covers all the basics and introduces you to the tools in the tool chest.
Design Thinking Workshop 101 - Design thinking workshops are frequently done in a conference room setting, where individuals use sharpies to write down observations on sticky notes and then put them on the wall. Once all of the observations are on the wall the group reflects on them together to find patterns or value. Then the group will typically make something - a prototype, or a decision about what’s next, based on that value found in reflection. This is one example of the design thinking Loop (Observe/Reflect/Make), and it is repeated over multiple exercises during a workshop.
Some of the most fascinating features of Design Thinking are the almost invisible benefits designed into the process. Some things that may seem trivial or obvious at first glance will expose subtle values as you use them. For example, the use of sharpies and sticky notes forces participants to be concise. It’s hard to write a novel, on a sticky, with a shaprie. The fact that people are all writing ideas down as individuals and posting them together helps to give everyone an equal voice in the discussion. This helps to mitigate the fact that the ideas coming from a loud voice often get the most attention even when they are not the best idea in the room. Once we have all the ideas out in the open, design thinking reflection activities quickly become “yes and…” exercises where people add their ideas together, and the result can be truly innovative, syngernistic even.
The language that I use is based on the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework, which was itself derived from IDEO, which was a natural extension of applying an engineering disipline to design being practiced at MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford. I use the IBM vocabulary because I find it to be common, usable, shareable language. There are several different vocabularies that describe the design thinking approach, but the method is still intuitively Design Thinking. For example, the workshop loop of Observe/Reflect/Make is sometimes referred to as “Storming and Norming” for new ideas. Everyone brainstorms ideas onto the wall, then we bring the ideas together and normalize them into a cohesive plan, this is a way to describe the loop as it exists in a workshop.
If we zoom out just a little there is another pattern worth knowing about… It is a way to think about how individual exercises are connected, called the Double Diamond technique. The basic idea is that you repeatedly expand and contract focus. You start with a focus on a single point, expand to consider options within that scope before narrowing your focus to a single option to proceed on. Repeat this expand/contract process twice and you have completed a “Double Diamond”. In another example of subtle impacts, going through the cycle at least twice appears to significantly improve the chances of finding positive outcomes. Anytime your team comes to a conclusion, I would advise you to pause and ask yourselves if another diamond would help to clarify next steps.
I would be remiss if I did not mention The Innovators Compass. I will go into other design thinking tools and exercises in future posts but I wanted to mention this one as being somewhat special. This tool is an amazing one because unlike most of the tools in the design thinking toolkit this one doesn’t require a team - and I personally find it very useful for getting un-stuck.