KEY IDEA

From Suresh Jayakar’s project/idea he brought fruit and vegetables closer to the man
using lorries and to solve real problems in their community in Southern Los Angeles
California as it has one of the highest rates of diet related health issues, and that is a
problem his team wanted to solve. Developing new ways of thinking in order to design
better solutions, services and experiences solve current problems. Design thinking
does, is encourage people to think divergently, to think outside the box, and to come up
with creative ways that might not even exist and to look problems through a telescope,
to look at the big picture, to see how things work from a holistic perspective. By talking
to users, by empathizing with them, understanding problems, and defining those
problems, and then creating solutions that can be then test and validate.

FACTS
There are a lot of different definitions about design thinking, but the simplest way to say
it is that it’s a solutions-based approach to problem-solving. Design thinking asks people
to set aside their assumptions and brainstorm lots of different ways to approach and
solve a problem. 
There are five stages of design thinking: 

1. Empathize–instead of thinking about what you would want in a certain situation,

ask what needs other people might have. Engage and empathize with people. 
2. Define–define the problem so that you understand what you’re trying to solve.
3. Ideate–generate lots of different ideas and potential solutions. There are no bad
ideas! 
4. Prototype–create a basic version of some of your best ideas and test them out.
Do they work? How do people respond to them? 
5. Test–once you’ve identified your best prototype, create the finished product and
test it out. 

Design thinking impacts the bottom line. It transforms the approach to business and
product or service development from one of calculating numbers to a human-centered
approach. It involves putting yourself in the shoes of the user, whether it is a customer
or a learner. It means seeing the world through their eyes. Effective designs shift the
thinking from technology or objects to people. It’s based on what humans need to
improve their situation— to make things better and easier.
IMPORTANCE
Solving real-life problems like design thinking is extremely useful in tackling problems
that are ill-defined or unknown, by reframing the problem in human centric ways,
creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and adopting a hands-on approach in
prototyping and testing. It is important both for individual and organizations because it
enables people to exert control over environment. Also, it gives people a mechanism for
identifying things and figuring out why they are broken and determining a course of
action to fix them. In adopting a design thinking approach the ff. are notable benefits
that people can expect to receive:
 Gives opportunity to view a problem from different perspective. Or provides
flexibility to change paths.
 Encourages innovative thinking and creative problem-solving.
 Discovers unarticulated user need.
 Reduced Risk of Launching New Ideas.
 Put understanding context and continuous engagement with people at the heart
of the practice for determining what problem to solve, what metrics drive
success, and what business will emerge from solving the problem.

WHAT CONFUSES ME?

What are some work situations in which design thinking is appropriate tools to use?
How is design thinking similar to other strategies? How does curiosity fit into creative
applications of design thinking?