proc·ess
a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. Involving five phases—Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test—it is most useful to tackle problems that are ill-defined or unknown.
Design thinking is a powerful process of problem solving that begins with understanding unmet customer needs. From that insight emerges a process for innovation that encompasses concept development, applied creativity, prototyping, and experimentation. When design thinking approaches are applied the success rate for innovation improves substantially.
Critical Thinking.
Employing critical thinking skills to improve an existing or develop a new design we identify customer needs and draft customer needs statements. We then translate user needs into product specifications quantitatively, and use established product metrics to help define those specifications. Next we apply creativity, brainstorming, and concept generation process in designing needs solutions. Using prototyping methods, strategies, and real-life examples where these have been applied to create a design that represents customer needs and product specifications and then identify the potential for innovations within them, and apply product development frameworks to the context.
Principles of Architecture: Point, line, plane & volume
As in anything in the world, there are parts that comprise a whole, and individual elements that need to be understood to grasp a concept in entirety. The concept of form starts with four primary elements that stem from each other – a point can grow to become a line, a line to a plane, and a plane to a volume (or three dimensional form). While these elements don’t exist in a physical state, it is important to recognise their meaning and presence in the built environment
Process:
Empathize.
The initial phase of the design process is to empathize, a stage where understanding the needs, motivations, and behaviors of those you are designing for is paramount. This involves engaging with the end-users, observing their interactions within their environments, and gathering insights through their experiences. Empathy ensures that the solutions proposed are grounded in real-world user needs and not just the designer’s assumptions.
Define.
Following empathy, the define phase sharpens the focus. Here, designers consolidate the information gathered during the empathy stage to articulate the core problems they aim to solve. This phase is crucial for setting a clear, actionable problem statement that guides the design process. It serves as a reference point that ensures the design team’s efforts align with the identified user needs.
Ideate.
With a well-defined problem statement, the ideate phase encourages designers to explore a wide array of solutions. This stage is all about creativity and innovation, allowing designers to think outside the box and generate a diverse range of ideas. Techniques such as brainstorming, sketching, and mind mapping are commonly employed to push the boundaries of conventional solutions and foster a culture of innovation.
Prototype.
Prototyping translates ideas into tangible forms. From rough models to highly interactive simulations, prototypes are created to explore the feasibility of solutions and iterate quickly based on feedback. This phase is experimental by nature, aiming to identify the best possible solution for each problem identified during the define phase. Prototyping is a critical step in materializing concepts and bringing them closer to reality.
Test.
The final phase of the design process is testing, where prototypes are subjected to real-world conditions and user feedback is meticulously collected. This stage is iterative, with the goal of refining and improving the solution. Testing uncovers insights into user behavior and preferences, revealing areas for improvement that may not have been previously considered. This phase ensures that the final product is not only functional but also user-centered and effective in solving the intended problems.