Design Thinking: Definition, Objectives, Stages & Examples

Design thinking is an effort to solve problems, with solutions based on the real needs of humans. In the business world, you can find some good design thinking examples that are highly needed to gain a deeper understanding of users and design suitable solutions.

By employing this method and prioritizing users as the focus in developing solutions, businesses can create prototypes based on their needs or desires.

Therefore, this method is suitable for enhancing user experience, customer journey, and many other important metrics.

Discover what is design thinking, its objectives, stages, and examples along with its implementation in the review below.

What is Design Thinking?

You have surely encountered products/services that are not very useful since they fail to address customer needs, haven't you? This is one of the reasons why design thinking is necessary.

As a non-linear problem-solving methodology, it is aimed at generating effective solutions while supporting a satisfying user experience.

Why is it called non-linear? This is because the methodology emphasizes that products or services should be specifically designed to meet human needs, and not the other way around.

Through this approach, you must be able to understand users, challenge assumptions, define problems, and create innovative and strategic solutions.

In the business world, this approach has proven successful, particularly in product design activities service development, and business strategy.

With such an approach, you can devise solutions to a problem by adopting a new way of thinking.

Benefits of the Design Thinking Approach

In addition to helping solve problems, this methodology can also help you understand the needs of people involved in a process. Here for more:

• Reducing the risk of products/services being unknown or not selling in the target market.
• Strengthening emotional connections by involving target consumers in the process.
• Suitable for application in all fields. Recently, it has been widely used in the industrial and technology sectors.
• Improving the quality and creativity of ideas to meet the needs of target customers.
• Can maximize profit or business revenue.
• The solutions produced are more relevant and add value.
• Increasing knowledge related to the functional, emotional, and preference needs of target customers.

Design Thinking Elements

To further master what is design thinking, here are the 4 main elements you must know.

1. People-Centered

As emphasized earlier, good design thinking examples need to prioritize a human-centric approach.

This means that the entire process from defining problems to developing solutions must be based on the realities faced by users.

If businesses do not prioritize potential customers or understand what they want, how can the solutions presented be suitable?

Therefore, the application of several design thinking examples generally begins with market research and involves target consumers directly.

2. Hands On

The hands-on element emphasizes direct involvement with the material or concept being explored.

This element includes concrete steps to create solutions that can be seen, touched, and tested, such as providing prototypes, product models, mockups, or rough sketches. 

3. Iterative

Iterative means this method should allow repetition. As it is non-linear, the process can be repeated until the team successfully establishes the best solution to a problem.

Moreover, the entire process can be repeated, even after the prototype has been designed, if there are discrepancies that arise.

4. Creativity

To create truly useful solutions, the entire team involved must have a deep sense of empathy.

This creativity involves the business's ability to understand users more than just from a functional perspective but also understanding their emotions, needs, and challenges.

Businesses are also required to position themselves from the user's perspective so that the solutions produced can be more targeted.

Design Thinking Stages

After learning about the definition, benefits, and elements, let's explore the design thinking stages that need to be carried out. Here they are: 

1. Empathize

In this stage, the design team must deeply understand the user's experiences and needs. They should be able to see things from the user's perspective, identifying challenges not only technically or organizationally but also emotionally.

During the empathize stage, various techniques such as interviews, observations, and creating buyer personas can be used to gather information that helps identify user needs and desires. 

According to the book "The Design Thinking" by Michale Lewrick et al., the empathize stage is generally divided into two core processes:

• Understand: Trying to understand the occurring problems, expected solutions, resource availability, and existing limitations.
• Observe: Conducting in-depth observation involving direct contributions from users, such as suggestions, complaints, and expectations.

2. Define

The next stage is to define. After completing the understanding and observation stages, the next process is to determine the main problem to be solved. 

While not all problems can be solved with this approach, businesses and companies must focus on the interests of their target consumers rather than prioritizing their interests.

3. Ideation

After identifying the main problem, the next stage is ideation or generating innovative ideas and solutions to address the problem. 

The ideation stage can be carried out by holding core meetings with relevant stakeholders. The more people involved, the greater the percentage of unique ideas that emerge.

To conduct the ideation process, you can organize:

• FGD; Focus Group Discussion
• Analysis of 5 whys.
• Mind mapping.

4. Prototype

Ideas and solutions designed earlier are then translated directly into a tangible and testable form (prototype). 

The prototyping process involves creating physical models, mockups, or other visual representations that help the team and stakeholders try the product more concretely. 

Prototypes play a crucial role in communicating ideas more clearly and collecting early feedback from users.

5. Test

After the prototype is created, the next stage is testing. This testing process will be evaluated directly by the target customers to ensure that their needs have been addressed. Some testing metrics include:

• Ease of use.
• Efficiency when using the product/service.
• Overall user satisfaction.
• The number of detected errors.

6. Implement 

If the prototype passes testing, the final stage is implementation. The product/service, designed in such a way, can be released for direct use by users. 

Design Thinking Examples

Several renowned companies have proven that this approach plays a crucial role in business sustainability. 

One of the examples is showcased by Google through the creation of Loon (Google's internet balloons).

As one of the largest search engines in the world, Google consistently applies the elements of this approach, from empathize, define, ideation/brainstorming, prototype, experiment, and implementation.

Here is an example of such methodology carried out for Loon from Google, as reported by the Bulletin of Post and Telecommunication (2017).

Empathize: The initiation of the Loon project was based on the goal of improving internet connectivity in areas with minimal access.

Define: After understanding the challenges of internet connectivity in areas with limited access, the Loon project team from Google clearly defined the problem they wanted to solve. They focused on providing a solution to deliver adequate internet access in remote areas.

Ideation: The Google team then conducted an ideation or brainstorming session to generate creative ideas to address the defined problem. They came up with ideas such as using balloons as a platform to provide internet signals, harnessing solar energy to power the system, and developing automatic control technology to ensure connection consistency.. 

Prototype: Based on the generated ideas, Google created prototypes or initial models of the Loon concept by building several balloons equipped with hardware and software to provide internet services. 

Experiment: The trial launch of Loon in New Zealand involved 30 balloons that could assist 50 residents with a coverage range of 12 miles, providing internet at speeds exceeding 3G using the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency spectrum (2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz) for over three months (Kelion, 2015).

Implementation: The Loon project was officially launched in 2013, marking it as one of the largest instrumental projects due to its ability to present innovative solutions to address global internet connectivity challenges. 

That's an explanation of what is design thinking, its benefits, elements, design thinking stages, and examples of its implementation.

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