As we stressed in our first module, one of the biggest contributions of design
thinking is to hold us in the problem space long enough to develop the kind
of deeper insights into the problem that foster more creative ideas later on.
As you think about entering the what is stage.
It's important you have identified the right kind of problem for
design thinking to solve.
A scope that will give you an actionable result.
A clear shared sense of who should be involved.
And finally a research plan to get you there.
First, it's important to recognize that not all problems lend themselves to
design thinking.
If you're sure that you understand the problem and
have good data to solve it with, then use it.
Save design thinking for the messier problems.
Those where you don't have good data,
where you worry that you may not even be solving the right problem.
Or where multiple stakeholders can agree even
on what the problem actually is much less on how to solve it.
Save design thinking for areas of high uncertainty.
Areas where real human beings aren't making the choices we'd like them to make.
And where existing approaches and solutions just aren't working.
Remember, design thinking is not a one-size fits all solution.
It's best for certain types of problems.
When you find yourself questioning your own definition of the issue,
chances are you're looking at a good choice for a design thinking approach.
The challenge you'll face is how to frame the specific opportunity you
want to pursue.
Look for something that seems actionable and that should generate interest
among the stakeholders that you're going to need to engage to tackle it.
You want to create a design brief, a short write up that clarifies
the projects intent underlines the questions you want to explore and
the stakeholders you want to explore them with.
It should also give some thought to what success ought to look like,
even though we have no idea how to get there yet.
Like virtually everything else in design thinking,
the design brief is a work in progress.
And it can and probably will change as you work through the creative process,
and your understanding of the issue involved.
Right up front especially when you're tackling messy issues in the social
sectors that tend to have lots of stakeholders with diverse
views on the subject.
You may want to consider creating a stakeholder map to lay out all of
the players involved.
Especially those whose cooperation you really need in some form.
Whether those are users, colleagues, partners,
front line workers, administrators, anyone whose input might
lead you to discover new insights around your area of opportunity.
Now when you've done all that,
you're ready to move into action and explore What Is.
In the What Is stage,
we explore a challenge in depth without trying to generate solutions.
Innovative solutions come from deep insights into the lives of
the stakeholders you want to serve.
So we're not yet looking for answers,
we're looking for insights into stakeholders' current reality.
Human-centered design is built on a foundation of empathy.
Our goal is to develop a deep understanding of our stakeholders and
their lives, to see and feel with them as real human beings.
Without deep insights about their current reality, our imagination will starve.
Now, when you finish gathering the ethnographic data that your research
plan specifies,
using probably some of the tools we'll talk about later in this module.
You will reach what we consider to be probably one of the most important
steps in the entire methodology, identifying insights.
This is probably the single most challenging aspect of the design
thinking process.
Now superficial insights lead to obvious ideas.
And without the discovery of new and deep insights,
the remaining design thinking steps are unlikely to produce intriguing results.