Introduction

Our world is full of problems - complex, dynamic, perplexing problems. And, these complex problems demand creative solutions. In recent years, one such method of generating creative solutions has made its way to the forefront of innovation. This method is called design thinking. 

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that utilizes the designer’s resources to accommodate societal needs, entertain technological possibilities, and achieve business success. Ideologically rooted in open-mindedness, collaborative thinking, optimism, empathy, and iteration, design thinking enables societal organizations to approach mutable and multifarious problems with a fresh perspective. It embraces the concept of creative confidence, believing that each individual’s point of view can provide valuable insights that help teams of innovators better understand the world and its problems. Aimed at synthesizing solutions, products, services, and ideas that are at the nexus of economic viability, technological feasibility, and human desirability, the process of design thinking can be broken down into six major steps.  These steps are: Frame a Question, Gather Inspiration, Generate Ideas, Make Ideas Tangible, Test to Learn, and Share the Story.

To enhance our audience’s understanding of the design thinking process, we have included a description and application of each step below. More specifically, we have applied the design thinking approach to the question: how can design thinking be used to generate innovative solutions? So, without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into design thinking!

Frame a Question

Framing a question is the first step in the design process. It’s important to acknowledge the nature of a customers; needs and theorize how those needs can be met. You would then ask, “Why is this a problem?” and “Why is it perceived as a problem in this way?”.  In our case, asking these questions led us to the following inquiry: how can design thinking be used to generate innovative solutions?

Gather Inspiration

Next, it is vital that you gather inspiration on how to solve your posed problem. This step is commonly overlooked as people’s instinctive response is to jump right into generating ideas. Consulting topical experts and interacting with individuals your ideas are intended to serve can provide key insights on how one should approach generating solutions for their particular problem. To gather inspiration for our aforementioned question, our class consulted the expertise of Idaho State alumni and business owner Dr. Kory Brown. One of our biggest takeaways from Dr. Brown’s presentation was that when utilizing the design thinking approach, “until you can find value for both the inventor and the user, you don’t have anything.” In addition to our discussion with Dr. Brown, our class sought inspiration from Nightline’s coverage of the IDEO Shopping Cart Design Challenge. Within this webcast, Project Director Peter Skillman emphasized “enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of lone genius.” These critical insights gained from consultation of design thinking users subsequently informed our application of design thinking to creative problem solving.

Generate Ideas

Generating ideas is probably the most fun part of the design thinking process. You’re able to come up with wild options, and there are no limits to ideas. No idea is a bad idea; the wacky ideas serve as stepping off points for more feasible options. Some ways that we practiced generating ideas was through the Sketch Storm Ideation tool and the “Yes, And” feedback method. For the Sketch Storm Ideation tool, we were given a prompt and had a few minutes to sketch out some possible solutions - no words, just quick images. Then we got feedback from our classmates on our ideas. As we explained our ideas, they would say “Yes, and” and then add on to our ideas. 

Make Ideas Tangible

Making ideas tangible is an important part of the process. It means that the ideas have to be achievable with the constraints that you have. During our time with Dr. Kory Brown, we participated in an exercise where we constructed paper airplanes that met a particular adjective-focused goal (i.e., being a “distance-focused” or “different” paper airplane). We were only given sheets of blank paper and a couple of minutes to achieve a part. We did not have tape, glue, or copious amounts of time to complete the airplane. The ideas that would have required adhesive or other materials were not tangible to us. 

Test to Learn

After we decided what we could make, we had to test our designs. This led to us throwing the airplanes to see which of them would fly the farthest. This stage is called testing to learn. Following our test flights, Dr. Brown asked us why we made the planes the way we did and what our goals were when making them. During the questioning phase, we bounced our answers off each other, which helped us define our goals and devise a plan for our following plane design. This was followed by creation of a second prototype, which we then tested and compared to the merits of our first prototype. This prototyping of ideas enabled us to select what features of  the plane were most successful and should be incorporated in the final product. 

Share the Story

The final step of the process is to share your story with others. You tell them about your experience, paying special attention to your creative goals and takeaways from the design thinking process. Part of sharing our story is this post we are writing for you. We will also later apply the skills we have learned to the Pitch-Off Competition where we will be using design thinking principles to create a project that helps others.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of the College of Business Blog! Next time you are faced with a complex problem, we challenge you to employ design thinking to generate creative solutions. After all, design thinking is where innovation takes flight!