Design Thinking Recap

DESIGN THINKING.

BY RAMIER VILLARAMA

ABOUT. Think of design thinking like a superhero cape for problem-solving.

Imagine you're on a quest to create something awesome, but you're not sure where to start. Design thinking swoops in with its superpowers, guiding you through a creative adventure. It's all about understanding people's needs, dreaming up wild ideas, and building prototypes to save the day with innovative solutions. So, grab your imagination and get ready to unleash your inner superhero by exploring this case of design thinking done in an Innovation Through Design Thinking course where students dive into real-world challenges using design thinking as their trusty sidekick.

ILLUSTRATOR’S NOTE. As I reflect on this transformative course, I want to first extend a heartfelt thank you to my incredible teammates of Team 5 for their unwavering dedication and support throughout our practice project journey. I’d like to also thank Professor Mikael for his guidance through the intricacies of design thinking and nurturing our innovative spirits, and for providing us with Tim Brown’s “Change by Design” which served as a beacon of inspiration. As an aspiring Product Designer, all I have learned is so invaluable and I’m excited for what’s next. Looking back, it's truly been a journey of growth and I'm so grateful.

HOW MIGHT WE REDUCE COSTS ON NIGHTS OUT WHILE HAVING FUN AND STAYING SAFE?

USER PROFILE.

Starting with bouncing ideas off each other, we were able to pick a path we wanted to dive into, which was nightlife. With this, we formulated our initial "how might we" question. A challenge was not thinking about what the final product could look like rather than concentrating on picking and elaborating the problem.

With our problem, we needed our user categories, where we knew it would be DIS students and Danish students, specifically those who like to go out. We created a persona, Avery Smith, who is a student studying abroad in Copenhagen who is on a budget and is concerned about her safety at all times, but loves to have fun at night. Creating Avery gave us a focus and a tangible representation of our target demographic..

During the Empathize phase, our team embarked on understanding our users' needs by first sending out surveys, creating an interview guide, and simply observing. Personally, delving into the nightlife scene was a bit challenging for me, as I don’t really like going out compared to my fellow teammates. However, as we began the process, I found it intriguing to explore everyone's insights, realizing the diverse perspectives within our user base. For example, 83.3% of people consider cost before a night out, with other annoyances being weather, travel, wait times, etc. Despite the early reservations, navigating through the challenges of gathering user data proved to be a rewarding experience for our team. This phase is in my opinion the most important out of all.

EMPATHIZE. UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS, DESIRES, AND CHALLENGES OF THE PEOPLE YOU’RE DESIGNING FOR LAYS THE GROUNDWORK FOR MEANINGFUL SOLUTIONS. IT INVOLVES IMMERSING YOURSELF IN THE USER'S WORLD TO GAIN INSIGHTS AND EMPATHY.

“I OFTEN THINK ABOUT THE AMBIENCE OF THE BAR, WHO I AM WITH, THE WEATHER, WHAT TO WEAR, AND COSTS. I WISH THAT INFORMATION WAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE.”

“I’M ALWAYS OPEN TO TRYING SOMETHING NEW, SUCH AS AN APP!”

CULTURAL PROBES USE THIS EFFECTIVE TOOL, SUCH AS VISUAL STIMULI, DURING EMPATHY PHASE TO TO GATHER DEEP INSIGHTS INTO PEOPLE'S LIVES, BEHAVIORS, AND PERSPECTIVES BY LOOKING BEYOND THE RELATIVELY WELL UNDERSTOOD NEEDS.

One engaging method I want to highlight is cultural probes. Ours involved asking users to reveal what they bring during nights out, which shows us their priorities during a night out and how they plan for it.

Additionally, we sparked insightful conversations by presenting users with two images depicting negative scenarios that could occur during nights out, gauging their emotional responses and concerns. We found that people do care about their safety and personal belongings and don’t ever want to end up in negative scenarios. These lively activities at the beginning of our interviews allowed our users to feel more relaxed, but also allowed us to deepen our understanding of our users' needs and desires within the nightlife landscape.

During the Define phase, our team synthesized the plethora of useful information we gathered, leading in the creation of an empathy map that offered concise and profound insights into our users' needs. This process was incredibly helpful as it provided a holistic view of our users' personal experiences, guiding our design decisions effectively moving forward.

Additionally, we realized the importance of refining our problem statement, leading us to alter our "how might we" question to articulate a clearer focus. Despite the challenge of finding the perfect wording, our trust in each other's thoughts and judgment ultimately led us to a problem statement that universally resonated, setting a strong foundation for the rest of our practice project.

DEFINE. DEFINING A CLEAR PROBLEM STATEMENT ENSURES FOCUS , GUIDING THE DESIGN PROCESS TOWARDS ADDRESSING THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUES.

HOW MIGHT WE ALLEVIATE SAFETY AND COST CONCERNS ON NIGHTS OUT WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE FUN?

IDEATE. GENERATING A MULTITUDE OF DIVERSE IDEAS, BOTH FROM TEAM MEMBERS AND COLLABORATING GUESTS, ENCOURAGES CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION, INJECTING FRESH PERSPECTIVES AND DIVERSE INSIGHTS INTO THE BRAINSTORMING PROCESS WHILE FOSTERING THE DISCOVERY OF NOVEL SOLUTIONS.

Our journey through ideation was a whirlwind of creativity, starting with ambitious plans for an actual physical product before deciding and honing in on the concept of a mobile app.

We started off with sticky notes on a white board to ideating with guests which injected excitement and fresh perspectives into our brainstorming sessions. Their input was valuable as it enriched our understanding of user preferences and needs. Ultimately, we settled on the idea of an app focused on all things night life, a decision that emerged from our synthesis of ideas and feasibility considerations. It was an exhilarating experience navigating the sea of possibilities, refining our vision with each exchange of ideas, and arriving at a solution that resonated with both our team and our potential users..

Creating the prototype was an illuminating process, starting with sketching out the initial app layout to visualize our ideas. We then revisited what our users had expressed (such as "I don’t know where to go," "How much will everything cost?" and "How many people are there?") to confirm the features we need on the design of the app.

Utilizing Figma for a low-fidelity prototype allowed us to translate our ideas into a tangible, interactive format for testing and iteration. I personally don’t have experience in Figma, but a fellow teammate with expertise, shared their skills, empowering the rest of us to contribute effectively to the prototyping phase. It was amazing to see our ideas come to life!

PROTOTYPE. PROTOTYPING ALLOWS FOR QUICK AND INEXPENSIVE EXPLORATION OF IDEAS, FACILITATING FEEDBACK AND ITERATION TO REFINE CONCEPTS BEFORE INVESTING SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES. IT CAN COST NOTHING, BUT IS WORTH MORE THAN ANYTHING.

STORYBOARDING USE THIS POWERFUL TOOL DURING THE PROTOTYPE PHASE, AS IT VISUALLY NARRATES THE USER JOURNEY THROUGH A SERIES OF FRAMES, PROVIDING CLARITY ON INTERACTIONS AND FUNCTIONALITIES OF THE PROPOSED SOLUTION.

Initially, the prospect of prototyping felt quite daunting; there was a sense of pride in presenting our ideas, and the fear of them not living up to my own expectations lingered. However, as we delved into this process and learned about storyboarding and customer journey mapping, a shift occurred. These useful tools provided clarity, offering a structured approach to visualize the user experience and iterate on our concepts effectively.

Understanding the importance of storytelling in conveying the user's journey made the process much more engaging and meaningful. Creating a digital storyboard through Storyboard That became such a fun task for me, as it allowed us to weave our ideas and ingredients into a cohesive narrative, bringing our daring concept to life in a compelling way.

In the test phase, we focused on presenting our project and testing our videos, culminating in a full-circle moment as we shared our complete design thinking process with the entire class. Our video was different as we used existing graphics instead of filming live scenes.

Moving forward, testing the app with real users in real-life scenarios will provide invaluable feedback for further refinement and enhancement.

This phase not only concluded our class journey but also marked the beginning of the app's possible realworld testing phase and my journey as a design thinker. Design thinking isn't just a process, it's a mindset, so I’m ready to put my creative cape on and continue saving the day, one innovative idea at a time!

TEST. TESTING PROTOTYPES WITH USERS VALIDATES ASSUMPTIONS, UNCOVERS USABILITY ISSUES, AND ENSURES THAT THE FINAL SOLUTION EFFECTIVELY MEETS USER NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS. GO TEST OUR APP!

“DESIGN CAN HELP TO IMPROVE OUR LIVES IN THE PRESENT. DESIGN THINKING CAN HELP US CHART A PATH INTO THE FUTURE.” - TIM BROWN