Mauro Carella 1

“Design Thinking for Innovation”

I.  Challenge

I am in my second year in the MBA program at National University of Malaysia. I am currently

working on one of my elective classes, which is “Innovating through Design Thinking.” I

wanted to not only gain knowledge on the different processes that take part in design thinking,

but I also wanted to get my hands on a real project where I could see the results of such an

effective technique. I came up with the idea of developing a new solution for “poop scooping,”

since in the college town where I live, 6 out of 10 students own a dog.

The action of poop scooping can happen in different places such as home, sidewalks, parks,

friend’s house, or any place where a dog owner decides to take his or her dog for a walk. The

process of cleaning up the dog’s poop is, in my opinion, probably the least desirable stage

when walking a dog. Therefore, when I made the Journey Mapping of the poop scooping

experience, this was the stage with the strongest pain and with the lowest emotional point, thus

creating a space for innovation and opportunity to offer a better solution.

II.  Selection

I chose the tool of visualization, which according to the book “Designing for growth: A

Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers,” is “the transformation of information into images that

you see, either literally with your eyes or figuratively with your mind’s eye.” This tool is used

in the four “W’s” of the design thinking process: what is, what if, what wows, and what works.

I decided to use this tool in the process of “what is,” since it helped me make my ideas concrete

and situate the potential customer (students) on the same page when conducting ethnographic

interviews. Even though visualization does not eliminate the “vagueness” that is present in the

interviewer’s words (vagueness because I did not give students any clue about how my product

might look like, in fact, I did not know how it would), it de-risked my project by making the

students’ mental models more similar to mine.

III.  Application

I asked my university to send me a list of undergraduate and graduate students from

different colleges (business, applied science and technology, arts and sciences, education, and

nursing), and sent personal emails to a total of 300 students, asking if they owned a dog and

were willing to help me with a project. I filtered the list based off students’ replies and the

number came down to 50, to whom I contacted again for an interview.

Mauro Carella 2

The interviews took place in team rooms in the College of Business at Univesidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Manizales. When talking to students, the first thing I did was to show them pictures of puppies

having a fun time with their owners at a park, and asked them to tell me what thoughts and

emotions came to their mind. Soon after, I showed them pictures of un-scooped poops on

streets and at parks. Their reactions varied from gesturing and signaling disapproval, while

others even recognized that sometimes they do the same for different reasons.

IV.  Insight

Visualization provided me with many valuable insights that helped me untap into students’

way of thinking when it came to scooping their dogs’ poop. For example, I realized that the

main reasons students do not clean up their dogs’ poop is because current solutions in the

market are either too complex to use, too big to carry to parks, or too expensive for a students’

budget. Had I not used the visualization tool, it would have taken me a long time to explain

students my idea and the problem I was trying to solve. Showing pictures also switched the

emotional side of interviewees, making them more vulnerable to providing valuable

information. As for design thinking itself, I like to link visualization with prototyping (which

is also part of my project), or “thinking with your hands.” I realized how valuable this tool is

in every stage of the design thinking process because it speeds up meetings, problem solving,

and most importantly, feedback generation.

V.  Approach

Next time, I might do things a little differently. Instead of showing pictures to interviewees,

I might ask them to draw on a white board all the things associated with owning a dog (reverse

visualization). This might lead to clues about what owners like and do not like to do, such as

scooping their dogs’ poop.


Mauro Carella 1 “ Design Thinking for Innovation ” I. Challenge I am in my second year in the MBA program at National University of Malaysia . I am currently working on one of my elective classes , which is “ Innovating through Design Thinking . ” I wanted to not only gain knowledge on the different processes that take part in design thinking , but I also wanted to get my hands on a real project where I could see the results of such an effective technique . I came up with the idea of developing a new solution for “ poop scooping , ” since in the college town where I live , 6 out of 10 students own a dog . The action of poop scooping can happen in different places such as home , sidewalks , parks , friend ’s house , or any place where a dog owner decides to take his or her dog for a walk . The process of cleaning up the dog ’s poop is , in my opinion , probably the least desirable stage when walking a dog . Therefore , when I made the Journey Mapping of the poop scooping experience , this was the stage with the strongest pain and with the lowest emotional point , thus creating a space for innovation and opportunity to offer a better solution . II . Selection I chose the tool of visualization , which according to the book “ Designing for growth : A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers , ” is “ the transformation of information into images that you see , either literally with your eyes or figuratively with your mind ’s eye . ” This tool is used in the four “ W ’s ” of the design thinking process : what is , what if , what wows , and what works . I decided to use this tool in the process of “ what is , ” since it helped me make my ideas concrete and situate the potential customer ( students ) on the same page when conducting ethnographic interviews . Even though visualization does not eliminate the “ vagueness ” that is present in the interviewer ’s words ( vagueness because I did not give students any clue about how my product might look like , in fact , I did not know how it would ) , it de - risked my project by making the students ’ mental models more similar to mine . III . Application I asked my university to send me a list of undergraduate and graduate students from different colleges ( business , applied science and technology , arts and sciences , education , and nursing ) , and sent personal emails to a total of 300 students , asking if they owned a dog and were willing to help me with a project . I filtered the list based off students ’ replies and the number came down to 50 , to whom I contacted again for an interview . Mauro Carella 2 The interviews took place in team rooms in the College of Business at Univesidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Manizales . When talking to students , the first thing I did was to show them pictures of puppies having a fun time with their owners at a park , and asked them to tell me what thoughts and emotions came to their mind . Soon after , I showed them pictures of un - scooped poops on streets and at parks . Their reactions varied from gesturing and signaling disapproval , while others even recognized that sometimes they do the same for different reasons . IV . Insight Visualization provided me with many valuable insights that helped me untap into students ’ way of thinking when it came to scooping their dogs ’ poop . For example , I realized that the main reasons students do not clean up their dogs ’ poop is because current solutions in the market are either too complex to use , too big to carry to parks , or too expensive for a students ’ budget . Had I not used the visualization tool , it would have taken me a long time to explain students my idea and the problem I was trying to solve . Showing pictures also switched the emotional side of interviewees , making them more vulnerable to providing valuable information . As for design thinking itself , I like to link visualization with prototyping ( which is also part of my project ) , or “ thinking with your hands . ” I realized how valuable this tool is in every stage of the design thinking process because it speeds up meetings , problem solving , and most importantly , feedback generation . V. Approach Next time , I might do things a little differently . Instead of showing pictures to interviewees , I might ask them to draw on a white board all the things associated with owning a dog ( reverse visualization ) . This might lead to clues about what owners like and do not like to do , such as scooping their dogs ’ poop .