What IsDesignThinking?

What shouldwe do next?It’s the question every company is asking. Digital is disrupting competitive landscapes. Business models are rapidly evolving. Industry boundaries are blurring. And the pace of change just continues to accelerate. So, what’s your next move? Now, companies are turning to design thinking to help them innovate. And, while there’s an intense interest in design methodologies, there’s also confusion about how to use them.

Why? Because there’s a difference between figuring out how to do something. How do we design our product or service? And figuring out what you should do. What’s the future of our business? At Altitude, we believe design thinking helps companies answer both. Innovation means different things for businesses, and consumers. But at its heart, the key is achieving a balance between what’s meaningful for people, and what’s profitable for companies.

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The long-awaited introduction of autonomous vehicles has been a much discussed and a highly anticipated innovation. But less predictable was the seismic disruption Uber ignited in pioneering the sharing economy. Not that long ago, if you needed a ride you bought a car, rented one or simply hailed a cab. But 8 years ago, Uber changed all of that. They turned a surplus of drivers and parked vehicles into something extraordinary. Not only has it decimated the cab industry, but it’s put a sizable dent in automobile sales as well. That’s innovation. And it’s also a great example of the power of design thinking (also known as human-centered design).

Innovation has the power to reinvigorate businesses, even entire industries. But while companies look to design thinking for fresh and innovative ideas, it’s not a “one and done” post-it note event. With design thinking, we start by understanding our consumers – the people we hope to serve. By identifying insights and subsequent opportunities, we can define the ideal consumer experience.

Design thinking is a human-centered, problem-solving discipline. To get breakthrough ideas means focusing on the right problem. So, a key aspect of design thinking is asking the right question; and it’s often less intuitive than it sounds.

Fundamentally, design thinking steps back and looks at the world through fresh eyes. It’s a deliberate process of gaining insight into people’s behaviors, needs and values to uncover entirely new opportunities. These ideas aren’t just incremental changes to the status quo, but they provide an ability to imagine something entirely new.

At Altitude, we’ve seen how design thinking can help discover something that you can’t even imagine today, but tomorrow will seem completely obvious.

What isdesign thinking?

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Design thinking is grounded in four key principles. The first two gain insight and reframe the way you think about your opportunity. The second two put those insights into action through iterative cycles of build, test and learn.

Howdoes it happen?

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Design thinking starts by developing deep empathy for the people you’re trying to serve. It requires getting into people’s minds and considering things from their point of view. How will my solution fit into their daily lives? It’s a process of letting go and putting the consumer in control.

Put the Consumer in Control

To be clear, the point isn’t to be their servant, and do just what they ask for. Instead, you’re there to serve their real needs. But people can’t necessarily articulate those needs. Why? They don’t know what’s possible; they only know what they have. As Henry Ford once said,if he’d asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse.

Serve Their Needs

Start by understanding people’s behaviors, needs and values. Talk to them where they’re most comfortable, be it homes, garages, daycares, or shopping malls. Revealing new insights brings shape to entirely new opportunities. And don’t spend a lot of time in focus groups. They’re great at evaluating the known, whereas design thinking is about discovering the unknown. It’s been said, to understand how a lion hunts, don’t go to the zoo, go to the jungle. Get in context.

Develop Empathy

01 Empathize

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Design thinking requires developing deep empathy for the people we’re trying to serve. You need to get into people’s minds and consider things from their point of view.

Design thinking creates something new; it’s transformative in nature. Reframing is one of the most important principles for generating new ideas. Every project starts with a question—one that needs to be answered. But first, acknowledge that you don’t yet know the answer and may not even be asking the right question.

Question the Question

The future isn’t necessarily an extrapolation of the past. Be open to completely new perspectives, ones that aren’t even in the framework of your current thinking. The essence of design thinking is that you don’t know in advance what’s going to emerge. So, you have to be alert and nimble to exploit new opportunities when they arise.

Seek New Perspectives

02 Reframe

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"In order to see something new, you have to not see something else."

Let’s look at an example of reframing—or broadening the context. In the mid 90’s, Pampers wanted to regain their leadership position in the market. It was a market that P&G created and were losing to Huggies. My team was posed the question, “How do we make a better diaper?”

That question got us to look at a number of functional elements that affect the diaper. We looked at how the diaper aligns, how it fastens and how it fits. We also looked at waste management. After all, this is a portable waste management system, right? These were the obvious starting points, but not enough for a real breakthrough. Our focus was too narrow.

To get to the real opportunity, we spent more time with moms and their babies. We broadened the context by looking at parenting and baby development. We also assessed the needs and values of the mom. We heard a lot about key moments: the first time the baby rolled over, crawled or walked. We realized that moms were trying to, well, be “good moms”. This was the insight. It sounds completely obvious, but it’s actually quite profound, especially if you decide to do something with it.

You see, babies don’t come with instruction manuals. So, moms are trying to show themselves, and those around them that their baby is developing normally. This was a complete reframing of what “a better diaper” means. This led us to the Pampers Baby Stages of Development diapers— Swaddlers, Crawlers and Cruisers, a different diaper for each early milestone of growth. It was a huge success, and it allowed Pampers to regain their market leadership.

Now that we’ve identified the opportunity, the next two steps of Design Thinking will take those insights and put them into action.

Broaden the Context

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02 Reframe

Swaddlers Cruisers Easy Ups Feel & Learn

Innovation isn’t created by a “lone genius.” It takes a team of colleagues with different backgrounds, who bring different perspectives. Each of us see the problem and the potential solutions differently. It’s by coalescing these diverse perspectives that you get to the real opportunity.

Explore Diverse Perspectives

Departmental silos bring structure to a business and make it run. But if you’re in a silo and looking to innovate, get out and reach across the aisle to help open your mind. Design thinking is only effective when we work across these silos.

Open Your Mind

Ideation is a process of intense collaboration. It’s contemplated by many, challenged by teammates, and validated by people. It’s brought to life by thoughtful, non-judgmental sharing of ideas and concerns, and transformative moments of Eureka.

Be Collaborative

In addition to diverse teams, you also need a space for innovation because collaboration and ideation doesn’t happen in cubicles or cube farms. It’s fostered by dedicated team spaces, where consumer profiles and insights are pinned up that help to inspire new ideas. These are the requirements to get to breakthrough innovation.

Get a Room

03 Ideate

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“Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change.”

— Barbara Januszkiewicz

Design thinking is about learning in real time. Prototyping is a means to speed up the learning process by failing early and fast. But you have to see failure as a benefit—and not a negative.

Fail Early and Fast

A prototype is anything that is built or simulated for the purposes of explaining or learning about the product or experience you’re trying to create. When experimenting early you want to start with low fidelity models—not high fidelity. Why? It lowers the cost and risk. It allows for failure and iteration and that helps inform the process. Finally, it allows you to experience it in real time and build consensus with others.

Experiment Early

There are lots of ways to prototype beyond just physical models. Storyboards, videos and role playing are all good forms of prototyping. Role play as your competitor, or better yet a start-up that’s going to disrupt your industry. What would happen if they came in and took over? How can you use that perspective to your advantage?

And finally, be bold and think big. For Holiday Inn Express, we mocked-up a 10,000 sq. ft. hotel lobby inside a warehouse. Everything was built from foam core, a lightweight and easily cut board. So, if something needed to be moved, we just picked it up and moved it. It allowed real learning in full-scale and helped expedite the learning process over options like traditional construction.

Role Play

Think Big

04 Prototype

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Thomas Edison said when iterating to invent the lightbulb: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Your competitive landscape is changing. So, again, what’s your next move? Design thinking provides a fresh perspective to see the world through fresh eyes. Start by defining your real purpose. Step back. Look around. Tackle the strategic question. What business are you really in?

Leading companies don’t define themselves by what they make, but by what they do for people. So, get a better understanding of people. A collection of simple truths. Clear enough to change your business. Powerful enough to disrupt markets. And meaningful enough to capture hearts and minds. With a focus on people, you’ll imagine new futures that you can own and create—and that your consumers will love.

What’syournextmove?

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Tom Burchard is the VP of Experience Design at Altitude, Accenture’s Product and Experience Innovation studio. Tom leads Altitude in the use of design methodologies to establish platforms for growth, helping companies to envision new opportunities and drive business innovation. This human- centered methodology has led to an understanding and belief that all stakeholders seek experiences, and that a holistic view of their needs and desires lead to a more innovative, defensible, and profitable solution.

At Altitude, Tom is intensely focused on understanding and designing the complex encounters that constitute the relationships between people and brands. Tom believes that by revealing people’s total needs, we can create opportunities to influence purchase decisions, drive engagement and engendera sense of loyalty.

An interdisciplinary designer, Tom studied architecture at the University of Minnesota and received a B.S. in Industrial Design from the University of Arts in Philadelphia. He is a member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). Tom holds over 25 patents.

www.altitudeinc.com

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Altitude, an award-winning design and innovation consultancy acquired

by Accenture, creates breakthrough products and experiences

that deeply resonate with users and build lasting business success

for clients. We believe that true innovation arises when talent and

spirited intellectual engagement meet business acumen and a deep

understanding of consumer needs and desires. With expertise

in strategy, design, and technology, Altitude uncovers powerful

opportunities and transforms them into solutions in the market that

move business forward. Since 1992, Altitude has worked with companies

worldwide, including Bose, Black & Decker , Briggs & Stratton , Colgate ,

DeWalt , Margaritaville , Nike, Thermo, Scientific , and Under Armour .

About Altitude

altitudeinc.com617.623.7600

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