The Design Thinking Mindset

'Design Thinking' is a mindset. It is an attitude towards design and the process of thinking about it. As per wikipedia, "Design Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields. As a style of thinking, it is generally considered the ability to combine empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality to analyze and fit solutions to the context."

To me, the key words for design thinking are empathy, creativity and rationality. It is the balance of these three aspects that helps solve design problems. 

The design thinking process is based on a deep understanding of the audience needs and current challenges (empathy), ideation, thinking out-of-the-box and collaboration (creativity) and finally, experimentation & analytical thinking (rationality). 

Design Thinking is different from other approaches of thinking because it focuses on the process instead of the product. Put another way, it focuses on solving problems but doesn't start with any particular solution in mind. It is also a balancing act between the logical and the creative aspects of solving a problem. While a logical thinking process works well when we have existing knowledge to build on, a creative thinking process is required to create new knowledge and to construct problems differently than we have done before. Design thinking helps us walk that tightrope and in the process enables us to balance logical and creative thinking. Tim Brown of IDEO has written that design thinking is “a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”

The design thinking process has some suggested steps or phases. From Wikipedia: Herbert Simon, in the "Sciences of the Artificial" (MIT Press, 1969) has defined "design" as the "transformation of existing conditions into preferred ones" (p. 55). Design thinking is, then, always linked to an improved future. Unlike critical thinking, which is a process of analysis and is associated with the 'breaking down' of ideas, design thinking is a creative process based around the 'building up' of ideas. There are no judgments in design thinking. This eliminates the fear of failure and encourages maximum input and participation. Wild ideas are welcome, since these often lead to the most creative solutions. Everyone is a designer, and design thinking is a way to apply design methodologies to any of life's situations. Simon goes on to describe a seven step process: Define, Research, Ideate, Prototype, Choose, Implement, Learn.

Whether the process has five, seven or eleven steps - the design thinking process can be discomforting especially if the individuals/teams are more comfortable with unambiguous and structured approaches. Creativity, imagination and ideation are the underlying themes and nothing is wrong until proven so by means of experimentation and validation. Experiencing the process is the best way to learn more about it. 

The concept of design thinking is not limited to the learning design/training community. More and more businesses and institutions have adopted this mindset with a hope to solve business challenges and be more competitive. 

To learn more about the process of design thinking, here are my top recommendations:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking - The process of problem-solving using design thinking

• http://www.unusualleading.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/HBR-on-Design-Thinking.pdf - Design Thinking by Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO - An excellent article published in HBR on how thinking like a designer can transform the way you develop products, services, processes—and even strategy.

• http://designthinkingforeducators.com/ - The Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators - This contains the process and methods of design, adapted specifically for the context of education. 

• http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-11-03/how-business-is-adopting-design-thinkingbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice - Some fantastic stories about how companies are implementing the design thinking approach to become more successful

The 5 W's of Project Planning

I recently attended a 2-day workshop in the context of planning for a big project. It was a good refresher class on the basics of project planning. Here's a summary of what I learned and relearned, different words and some different techniques - but the classic theme - the 5Ws of Project Planning:

1) The WHAT - what are we doing? Other questions to ask are what will be the desired outcome of this project? what are the key deliverables of the project?- It did take the facilitator to ask us this question atleast five times before we were able to articulate 'what we were doing in the project'. The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems especially when there are multiple people working on a project and even more stakeholders that matter. Everyone has to be aligned to the answer of this question. 

2) The WHY  - why are we doing this? why am I personally involved in this project? why am I driven to do this? - I really liked this question. It forced me to think about my personal reason to be involved in the project and how my work was going to make a difference. I think it is a very inspiring and motivating question to ask of everyone on the project team. It is also a question that can help get others onboarded to the project. The answer to this question is what will help you continue your good work on the project!

3) The WHO - who are concerned about this project? who are the key stakeholders who can impact?  - These are some of the usual questions about the stakeholders of a project. But a good way to deal with the 'many' is to prioritize and focus on the top 5. Identify the stakeholders whose opinions really matter and who can critically impact the project positively or negatively. Bottom-line,  you cannot make everyone happy all of the time. Identify the ones that you really want to make happy at the end of the project.

4) The WHICH - which risks will need to be considered? - the big question - risks. The first thing to remember is that we can't deal with all the risks and there are plenty in a project. If probability (x-axis) and impact (y-axis) are plotted from low to high in a 3X3 matrix, you certainly cannot focus on all the 9 quadrants. Pick 4-5 quadrants that truly matter. Focus on risks that have medium to high probability and medium to high impact. The thing about risks again is that you can't control everything in a project. But it is important to identify and discuss the risks that can be mitigated.

5) The WHEN - when do the activities need to happen? what comes first, what comes last? what are the control gates? when will the project be over? - The interesting bit about this question was that we started to think about the answer starting from the end. The facilitator encouraged us to envision and imagine that day when the project will be over and we will be congratulating each other for the success. We were to articulate that day and identify who was the key person congratulation everyone on the team success. Again, a powerful question. It helped us identify the most critical stakeholder (the driver) of the project and also align everyone to the 'final deliverable' - the end point. 

Top Tips to Deal with the Devil in the Details

It is not uncommon to hear about big problems that have been caused by the lack of attention to details (ATD). An important document incorrectly sent to an unauthorized recipient because of a typo in the email address, a kitchen floor plan design not considering the size of the equipment that needs to eventually fit in the kitchen, a small distraction while driving leading to a fatal accident and loss of lives - these are some of the many examples around us.

I believe that the grandest of tasks depend upon the success of the smallest elements. If small things do matter, what is the best way to pay attention to details?

Here are my top 10 tips to improve attention to details:

1. Organize yourself and plan for everything including the small details. 

2. Write down important things; don’t always rely on your memory.

3. Create checklists of items you need to look for in the final output.

4. Take help from a colleague or friend for a review/double-check.

5. Don’t expect machines to be perfect; machines make mistakes all the time.

6. Don’t attempt to multi-task when doing critical jobs. Concentration is the key to  details.

7. Observe and learn from others on how they focus on smaller things. Ask questions to learn how they do it.

8. Listen carefully and read slowly to absorb and digest everything.

9. Exercise your brain by indulging in brain teasers and games that focus on developing your ATD skills.

10.Paying attention to details doesn't come naturally; train yourself and others you work with.

Remember that every detail matters. As Sanford I. Weill said, “Details create the big picture.”