Everybody’s doing it.
It may seem like a fad or a cute buzzword, but Design Thinking has become an integral part of the creative process; critical to the strategies of brands like Pepsi, Uber, and Google. Research from Adobe shows that a Design Thinking culture leads to increased revenue, market share, and improved working culture. Even better, incorporating Design Thinking into their strategy has allowed companies to develop their products faster and at lower costs.
But what exactly is Design Thinking? We sat down with one of our associates, Design Thinking expert, User Experience Researcher, and Designer Jodi Taylor. Jodi is the founder of Pivot Design and Innovation, a firm focused on solutions in Design Strategy and UX Research.
MSM: Tell me Jodi, how would you explain Design Thinking in a simple way?
Jodi Taylor: Design thinking allows us to solve complex problems through the lens of design. It has a human-centered core and as a result, encourages organizations to focus on the people they're creating for, which leads to better products, services, systems, and internal processes. It’s an iterative approach that allows us to challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and uncover new strategies and solutions to problems. At its core is a problem-solving approach using design methodologies.
MSM: Two things stick out for me: the human-centered core and the focus on the people you’re creating for. As a Marketing Strategist, that deeply resonates with me. Tell me, how does design thinking amplify the strategic approach.
Jodi Taylor: To put it simply, Design Thinking neutralizes the concept of overthinking (basic strategy) and enforces the concept of thinking by doing. With its bias towards making, iterating, and real-world learning, it often succeeds in unlocking innovation. The payoff of this approach lies in the excitement of doing things we haven’t tried before.
MSM: Do you think that using a design thinking approach also helps with strategy because of common critical thinking biases like Confirmation bias? We are likely to favour ideas that support our existing beliefs. Which means that we are likely to find sources that support what we believe to be the reason for a problem, instead of openly approaching new and unfamiliar ideas?
Jodi Taylor: Design thinking forces us to remove bias. This is why there is a particular way we frame questions so as to receive as many responses as often as possible- to challenge our bias and thus find the best solutions possible. The minute we use bias to find a strategy there is a high chance it can fail. The common critical thread I would say is the fact that we use “analytics” (qualitative and quantitative).
MSM: I think Design Thinking is starting to become a buzzword in the Marketing and Creative industries. Let’s talk about what Design Thinking is not.
Jodi Taylor: It is indeed slowly becoming that! Design thinking is not a process, it’s a mindset. A mindset that focuses on the challenges around us. It is not a shortcut to innovation. It takes time and understanding and empathy. It’s not a brainstorming session - it’s many brainstorming sessions, perspectives, testing, and reiterations.
MSM: What are some of the best examples you can give me of how Design thinking has been used in different industries?
Jodi Taylor: Industries such as Education, Hospitality, Finance, Banking, and Insurance are some of the industries that have used design thinking. It is said to be the pillar principle of most successful businesses around the world. Businesses such as Bank of America, Tesla, Airbnb, and so many others use this to revolutionize the way we interact with their brands.
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Here are some of our favourite Design Thinking Case Studies:
Air BnB: A Design Thinking Success Story
The Problem: AirBnB realized that the early lack of success with their bookings was due to the low quality of pictures of the rental properties. People couldn’t see what they were paying for.
The Solution: The AirBnb team, camera in tow, visited the locations to take better photos. This idea came from intuition rather than research. From this creative solution to a problem, the idea of “Design Thinking” was born. In spite of the solution not being scalable it resulted in quick success.
Takeaway: By following the rules of Design Thinking, empathize, define, design, prototype, and test, they were able to put themselves in their customers’ shoes and solved their problems with creative solutions.
Feeling in Control: Bank of America helps Customers to “Keep the Change.”
The Problem: Bank of America wanted to boost their enrollment numbers among middle-aged women with children. They were in an industry already known for not being human-centered.
The Solution: They observed these women and recorded their spending and saving habits. They came across an interesting habit- these women rounded up their expenses to make personal accounting easier. What resulted was spare change when the actual charges were drawn; an impromptu method of saving. Armed with this insight, Bank of America started the “Keep the Change” program. The program made it easier for women to save, by putting the spare change into a savings account.
Takeaway; By closely observing human behavior, they were able to develop a successful and sustainable outcome.
PepsiCo: Using Design to drive Innovation
The Problem:
When Indra Nooyi became CEO of PepsiCo its major brands were losing market share. PepsiCo products were failing to connect with target consumers, and shelves were cluttered with products that failed to stand out.
The Solution:
Nooyi and designer Mauro Porcini realigned PepsiCo’s innovative efforts to follow the process of test, prove, and launch. They now observe what their consumers consider positive about a product, or what they don’t like, and alter the product offering accordingly. For instance, a focus group for SunChips revealed that the size of the chip was a purchasing deterrent, and so it was altered to be bite-sized. This is only one example of how PepsiCo now rethinks, retools, or entirely designs products based on what they learn from observing consumers and customer response.
The Takeaway:
By closely monitoring consumer response and remaining flexible PepsiCo has seen steady revenue growth for Nooyi’s nine years of leadership.
References: This is Design Thinking, BBVA, Harvard Business Review
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