Think Like Steve
Jobs: How Design Thinking Leads to Creativity
Outstanding companies such
as Apple, Nike and Tesla are all design-driven companies. These companies adopt
design thinking when they are creating new products and solving business
problems. Companies that utilized design thinking experienced a 41% higher
market share, a 46% competitive advantage, and customers who were 50% more
loyal. They outperformed the average American stock market by 219%.
Take Apple as an example, it wasn’t always the mega-success that
it is today. In 1997, Steve Jobs conducted a major company overhaul. He cut
several product lines and pushed the company toward developing a distinctly
Apple experience. To this day, all of the “i” products’ look, feel, and
user-friendliness set Apple apart from its competitors.
Design thinking showed us that Apple was a company with a soul
and vision, and the message continues to resonate with customers. Jobs not only
conveyed to people what he was selling, but he also showed them why they needed
it.
Everything that any profession does—from research and
development, to strategy, to content creation—can be improved through design
thinking.
Design Thinking
Is for Everyone to Solve Problems Creatively
Problem-solving
myopia leads companies through periods of stagnation and frustration. Things
are usually more complicated than they appear on the surface, and focusing
solely on problems robs companies of their abilities to take what is working
and use it in creative ways.
“Design
thinking can be described as 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.” – Tim Brown CEO, IDEO
Design thinking can solve complex problems across systems,
procedures, protocols, and customer experiences. This creative mindset requires
you to focus on solutions instead
of problems. Instead of staying stuck in the problem-rut, design
thinkers always have an eye on the
ideal future.
Problem solving in this manner involves looking at peoples’ needs and
finding creative solutions. Design thinking forces individuals to use every
tool at their disposal, from their intuition and imagination to their innate
sense of logic and reasoning, to unravel complex issues and explore
possibilities.
When a solution is discovered, it is subject to change according
to the needs of the company and its customers. Design thinking, as a rule, is
never stagnant. It is an iterative and reflexive commitment to innovation.
Core Stages of
Design Thinking
Although this
is a vastly creative process, design thinking has several identifiable stages,
including:
1. Empathize
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
5. Test &
Evaluate
We’ll take a closer look at these steps using a case study from
the oral health aisle of Watsons, a pharmacy chain.
1. Empathize
This stage involves by collecting as much information about a
field as possible. You may process raw data, consult with experts, and get as
much background as possible to envision a better future.
By collecting data, Watsons realized that many shoppers visited
the oral hygiene section of their pharmacies, but they often walked away
empty-handed. Watsons developed a collaborative relationship with two other
companies so that they could figure out why people weren’t making purchases.
2. Define
After you have enough background information, define what
customers need. Conducting formal and informal surveys to gather customers’ feedback.
Watch how people interact with the products and listen to how they describe
the products.These observations allow businesses to figure out what
people need and what is holding them back from getting what they want.
The Watsons team interviewed shoppers and listened to anecdotes
about their shopping experiences. Customers gave the company a variety of
reasons why it was difficult to find the oral health products that they wanted.
People said things like, “The shelf looks different every time I shop here,” or
“I can’t find the product I’m looking for.”
3. Ideate
After you understand your customers’ pain points, work to
reconcile the difference between what they expect and what you produce. Look
for patterns from customer feedback and brainstorm solutions based on the
information that you’ve been given. Staying focused on solutions allows people
to come up with alternatives that hadn’t existed before.
The team at the pharmacy reviewed all the data from customers
and determined that most of them were plagued by the same problem. Many people
claimed that they were not able to find the best product to fit their needs. In
response to this, the collaborators decided that they needed to devise a system
to make it easier for people to track down the toothpaste that was best for
them.
4. Prototype
Design thinking requires novel solutions. The ideas may start as
quick drawings or outlines, but they eventually become full-scale models. Along
the way, incorporate feedback to remix and refine the solution until it is the
best that it can be.
To make it easier for customers to find the perfect tube of
toothpaste, Watsons and its collaborators decided that customers needed a
“Quick Finder” system. They started out with rudimentary drawings, and
consulted with customers and workers throughout the design phase. Eventually,
they devised a prototype machine in which customers could input
information about the product that they wanted. Whenever the system narrowed
down the best products, it lit up a box around those products.
5. Evaluate
No solution is complete without testing to make sure that it
effectively addresses the problem. In the evaluation phase, you run tests and
obtain as much feedback as you can get. End-user input continues to be an
important factor in this phase, but look at quantitative data also to ascertain
if the prototype really worked.
To ensure that the prototype for the “Quick Finder” addressed
customer needs, the team consulted with customers and store workers to see what
they had to say about the new tool. They also had to compare oral care sales
before and after the implementation of the new design in order to measure its
impact.
Design Thinking
Isn’t Just for Designers
Anyone who
needs to solve problems could benefit from adopting design thinking. It enables
businesses to solve problems and come up with creative solutions by looking at
issues holistically and addressing the needs of the end user.
When you put design thinking into practice, you have more space
to innovate and you improve your audience’s experience with your company.
Brian Lee
http://www.lifehack.org/623215/how-design-thinking-leads-to-creativity?ref=mail&mtype=newsletter_tier_2&mid=20170811&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&utm_source=newsletter_tier_2&utm_medium=email&action=click
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