Design Thinking

Creating innovative ideas & solutions
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Design Thinking

Today I would like to introduce you to the exciting concept of design thinking and explain how it-economics can support you with the help of design thinking. Design Thinking is an innovative approach that makes it possible to approach problems creatively, develop new solutions and strengthen customer orientation. It is also used very successfully in product development.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a people-focused method that aims to look at problems from the user's perspective. It is a collaborative process that combines creative thinking, empathy and experimentation. Instead of concentrating on predefined solutions, design thinking focuses on understanding user needs and expectations. Design thinking creates a certain empathy for the user and their needs, even if they themselves may not be able to name them.

How can design thinking help to make companies more agile?

At it-economics, our goal is to help companies become more agile in order to be able to face and assert themselves in the challenges of a constantly changing digital world. Design thinking can play a crucial role in this by helping you to develop innovative products, services and solutions and to react more quickly to market changes.

Here are some ways in which Design Thinking can help:

  1. Perhaps you initially associate agility with “scrum” and not with design thinking?
    Both are agile methods, but they have different focuses and are used in different phases of the product development process: Design thinking is typical in an agile context at the beginning of the process used to pinpoint the problem, identify real user needs, generate innovative ideas and to create prototypes. In addition, the user is used to test whether an idea is viable. So while Design Thinking focuses on creative brainstorming and understanding the user, Scrum focuses on agile project organization and the efficient implementation of tasks, such as creative ones ideas.
    Both methods complement each other well, since Design Thinking creates the basis for the development of innovative products, while Scrum provides the framework for quick and efficient implementation.
  2. understand customer needs

    Design Thinking enables companies to better understand their customers by allowing your project team to get to know the customer very well and build empathy with them. Through intensive research, interviews and observations Customer issues and challenges identified. The coach from it-economics supports you in placing these findings at the center of the decision-making process and in developing customer-centric solutions.

  3. Encourage creative thinking

    You can't force creativity, but you can encourage it systematically. Design Thinking encourages companies to to break through conventional thought patterns and gain new perspectives. Through the use of techniques such as brainstorming, customer journeys and much more, you will be supported in generating innovative ideas. We encourage our clients to take risks and explore unconventional approaches to find innovative solutions.

  4. Develop rapid prototypes

    A central part of the design thinking approach is rapid prototyping. By creating simple, tangible prototypes, ideas can be tested quickly and feedback can be obtained. This enables you to find out at an early stage whether the proposed solution will be accepted by the user. The solution can then be improved in iterations - or it is discarded early and there are no additional costs for backing the wrong horse. We support you in using efficient prototyping methods and evaluating the tests in order to quickly achieve viable results.

  5. Promote agile ways of working

    Design thinking and agility go hand in hand. The iterative nature of the design thinking process fits perfectly with agile ways of working. Establish agile principles and methods to improve the flexibility and adaptability of your organizations. By using agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban, companies can effectively control their projects and react quickly to changes.

  6. Strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation

    Design Thinking strengthens collaboration between different disciplines and competencies combining their diverse knowledge and experiences. Through the use of design thinking, a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing is created, which in turn encourages creativity and innovation.

Design thinking is more than just a process - it's a mindset that enables companies to face the future with confidence. It supports you in developing an agile corporate culture that focuses on continuous innovation and customer-centric solutions.

Design thinking is a powerful tool to help companies successfully master digital change and assert themselves in an increasingly agile world.

With our interactive workshops you will get to know the framework and the associated principles, methods and tools. Our teams will also be happy to support you with the introduction of design thinking in your company.

 

Please contact me by email for further information: [email protected].

Andrew Binzinger

Author

Andrew Binzinger
Agile Coach & Managing Consultant