4 Ways to Get Started with Design Thinking

1. Gather Insights by Practicing Empathy, Observation, and Interviewing

Getting to know your customers is the first step toward creating products and services they want and

need. Don’t assume you know what someone thinks or feels. Gathering information about your target

consumer is a critical piece of the design thinking approach. Build your interview skills with these tips.

2. Build Prototypes to Learn About Unmet Needs

You don’t need lots of time or resources to prototype. Begin with pen and paper or other accessible

resources, like a slide deck, to mock up ideas and get feedback that will help you better understand

the needs of your customers before investing in production.

3. Turn Problems into Questions

When presented with a problem, resist the urge to find a solution right away. Shift your mindset to

instead ask a question that might get you closer to the root of the challenge or support an incremental

improvement.

4. Use Research to Understand the Past, Present, and Future

Generally, the type of research you can do falls into three buckets, generative research, evaluative

research, and validating research. Generative research helps identify new opportunities and explores

needs. Evaluative research gathers feedback on experiments and helps you iterate forward. These

two types of research are focused on the future and new ideas, while traditional market research,

known as validating research is intended to understand what is currently happening. Balance your

research approach to focus on what’s happening now and what could be in the future.


4 Ways to Get Started with Design Thinking 1 . Gather Insights by Practicing Empathy , Observation , and Interviewing Getting to know your customers is the first step toward creating products and services they want and need . Do n’t assume you know what someone thinks or feels . Gathering information about your target consumer is a critical piece of the design thinking approach . Build your interview skills with these tips . 2 . Build Prototypes to Learn About Unmet Needs You do n’t need lots of time or resources to prototype . Begin with pen and paper or other accessible resources , like a slide deck , to mock up ideas and get feedback that will help you better understand the needs of your customers before investing in production . 3 . Turn Problems into Questions When presented with a problem , resist the urge to find a solution right away . Shift your mindset to instead ask a question that might get you closer to the root of the challenge or support an incremental improvement . 4 . Use Research to Understand the Past , Present , and Future Generally , the type of research you can do falls into three buckets , generative research , evaluative research , and validating research . Generative research helps identify new opportunities and explores needs . Evaluative research gathers feedback on experiments and helps you iterate forward . These two types of research are focused on the future and new ideas , while traditional market research , known as validating research is intended to understand what is currently happening . Balance your research approach to focus on what ’s happening now and what could be in the future .