Design Thinking Workflow
Human-centered design: IDEO's five-stage process for creative problem solving
The Five Stages of Design Thinking
Stage 1: Empathize
Understand the user. Set aside your assumptions and gain real insight into users and their needs.
Methods & Tools
- • User interviews: One-on-one conversations to understand experiences
- • Shadowing: Observe users in their natural environment
- • Empathy maps: Capture what users say, think, feel, and do
- • Journey mapping: Document the user's process step-by-step
Key question: What are the user's needs, thoughts, emotions, and motivations?
Stage 2: Define
Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve. Synthesize observations into a compelling problem statement.
Activities
- • Analyze and synthesize observations from empathy stage
- • Identify patterns and insights
- • Create personas based on user research
- • Write a clear problem statement (Point of View)
POV template: [User] needs [need] because [insight]
Stage 3: Ideate
Generate a range of creative ideas. Go for quantity over quality - the widest possible range of solutions.
Ideation Techniques
- • Brainstorming: Generate ideas without judgment
- • Mind mapping: Visual exploration of connections
- • SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse
- • "How Might We" questions: Reframe problems as opportunities
- • Worst possible idea: Reverse thinking to spark creativity
Rules: Defer judgment, strive for quantity, build on ideas, stay focused, encourage wild ideas
Stage 4: Prototype
Build to think. Create inexpensive, scaled-down versions of the product to investigate solutions.
Prototyping Methods
- • Paper prototypes: Quick sketches and mockups
- • Digital mockups: Wireframes and clickable prototypes
- • Role playing: Act out the service or experience
- • Physical models: 3D printed or crafted representations
- • Storyboards: Visual narrative of user experience
Purpose: Make ideas tangible, learn by doing, fail quickly and cheaply
Stage 5: Test
Return to your users for feedback. Test prototypes with real users and refine your understanding.
Testing Approaches
- • Let users experience the prototype
- • Observe and take notes - don't explain
- • Ask users to think aloud
- • Ask follow-up questions
- • Test competing solutions side-by-side
Remember: Testing reveals insights that lead back to empathy, definition, or ideation
Important: Design Thinking is Non-Linear
These stages are not always sequential. They should be understood as different modes that contribute to a project, rather than sequential steps. You might return to empathize after testing, or jump to prototyping early to better understand the problem.
Core Mindsets
- •Human-centered: Design with empathy for the people you're designing for
- •Collaborative: Bring together diverse perspectives
- •Optimistic: Believe that we can all create change
- •Experimental: Create new ideas through hands-on activity
- •Bias toward action: Don't just think about it, build it
Want to apply Design Thinking to your startup?
We can help you create human-centered solutions that users love.