From Insight to Innovation: Mastering the Double Diamond in Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a human-centred approach with the goal to solve problems on the one hand and to foster creativity and innovation on the other. Design Thinking can be applied across various fields, from product design to business strategy, making  it a versatile tool for innovation. The advantage of using Design Thinking is to encourage creativity by challenging assumptions and exploring multiple solutions. It is an iterative process for continuous improvement and refinement of ideas.

 

The core Design Thinking process can be illustrated as a “double diamond”. It represents the focus on thoroughly exploring the problem space and understanding the problem before creating solutions. Each diamond focuses on divergent thinking (understanding and exploring options and possibilities) followed by convergent thinking (evaluating options, making choices and narrowing down to the best solutions).

This article points out the process steps of the double-diamond approach of Design Thinking and provides helpful methods/approaches designers can use.

 

1. Discover

This phase involves understanding the problem space. It includes research, gathering insights and exploring the context to identify the real issues. It’s about developing a deep understanding of the customer and their unique perspective to identify and solve the problem at hand.

Helpful methods/technics:

Market Research: Use quantitative and/or qualitative market research to gather, analyse and interpret information about the customers and their needs.

Gemba walks: Gemba walks help to observe the actual environment where users interact with products or services. This firsthand observation provides deep insights into user behaviours, pain points and needs.

 

2. Define

The insights from the Discover phase are analyzed and synthesized to clearly define the problem. The ideal problem statement should be captured from the perspective of human-centred needs rather than focused on business goals. The Define stage will help the design team collect great ideas to establish features, functions and other elements to solve the problem.

Helpful methods/technics:

Personas: Personas are fictional characters created based on user research to represent different user types who might use a product, service or brand in a similar way. They help designers understand users‘ needs, experiences, behaviours and goals.

Empathy maps: Empathy maps are visual tools used in the Design Thinking process to help teams understand and empathize with their users. They capture and represent what users say, think, do and feel. Empathy maps provide a holistic view of their experiences and needs.

Reframe Game: The Reframe Game is a technique used to help teams look at problems from different perspectives. The idea is to challenge existing assumptions and explore new ways of thinking about a problem.

 

3. Develop

The development phase is where creativity really comes into play. It is about brainstorming, ideation and exploring a multitude of potential solutions. Designers collect as many ideas as possible at the start, so that the team can investigate and test them by the end.

Helpful methods/technics:

Prototyping: Prototyping simulates an experience​ with the intent to answer a specific question so that the creator can learn the way forward, iterate, and improve the experience. In the context of Design Thinking it is important to be able to experience abstract ideas, have the same understanding within the team and test the idea with potential users to gather feedback. As soon as the ideas start to solidify, create low-fidelity prototypes and test them. These can be sketches, story and journey mapping, even Lego® bricks or anything that helps visualize and communicate the idea. The goal is to bring ideas to life in a tangible way. Test the prototypes with end users, stakeholders or anyone who can provide valuable feedback. Prototyping is about learning how well your ideas work, where they fall short and how they might be improved. The key to success is to fail fast and iterate, so that you’re able to learn and adapt quickly. Based on the feedback refine your ideas and prototypes. At the end of this phase designers should have a clear idea which solutions they want to carry forward into the Deliver phase.

 

4. Deliver

The delivery phase is where your ideas become reality. It’s time to refine those solutions, test them more rigorously and prepare them for implementation. This includes testing, feedback and final adjustments before delivering the final product or solution. At this stage, designers should have a handful of potential solutions from the development phase. Now it’s time to finalize these by creating high-fidelity prototypes or even an MVP (minimum viable product). Once testing and iterations are completed, designers are ready to prepare for launch and to put solutions into action.

Balance between innovation and practicality

By using the Double Diamond model, designers can systematically explore and refine ideas. It is also important to balance the factors of desirability, viability, feasibility, and sustainability to create innovative and impactful solutions.

 

1. Desirable: Normally integrated throughout the Discover and Define phases, ensuring that the solution addresses real user needs and provides a meaningful experience.

2. Viable: Considered during the Define and Develop phases, ensuring that the solution can be implemented within the constraints of the business model and is economically sustainable.

3. Feasible: Evaluated during the Develop and Deliver phases, ensuring that the solution can be technically developed and implemented with the available resources.

4. Sustainable: Embedded throughout the entire process, from understanding user needs to developing and testing solutions, ensuring that the final product or service is environmentally and socially responsible.

 

The Design Thinking process flow is not at the end once all steps have been completed. Successful designing requires ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and iteration. Keep learning, keep improving and keep striving for greatness to solve customer problems.

 

Author: Markus Kittenberger

Sources:

https://scaledagileframework.com/design-thinking/

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process?srsltid=AfmBOopDhKn7Orz7v8avd0-uxY8eXht_Dr2Epr97bSwczWUD3OYn1DTN

https://www.bitesizelearning.co.uk/resources/double-diamond-design-process-explained

https://blog.hubspot.de/service/double-diamond

 

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