WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING?

Design thinking is a mindset and approach to problem-solving and innovation anchored around human-centered
design. While it can be traced back centuries—and perhaps even longer—it gained traction in the modern business
world after Tim Brown, CEO and president of design company IDEO
Design thinking is different from other innovation and ideation processes in that it’s solution-based and user-centric
rather than problem-based. This means it focuses on the solution to a problem instead of the problem itself.
For example, if a team is struggling with transitioning to remote work, the design thinking methodology encourages
them to consider how to increase employee engagement rather than focus on the problem (decreasing productivity).
The essence of design thinking is human-centric and user-specific. It’s about the person behind the problem and
solution, and requires asking questions such as “Who will be using this product?” and “How will this solution impact
the user?”
The first, and arguably most important, step of design thinking is building empathy with users. By understanding the
person affected by a problem, you can find a more impactful solution. On top of empathy, design thinking is centered
on observing product interaction, drawing conclusions based on research, and ensuring the user remains the focus of
the final implementation.
FOUR PHASES OF INNOVATION
1) Clarify-The first phase is about narrowing down the focus of the design thinking process. It involves
identifying the problem statement to come up with the best outcome. Various tools and frameworks are
available—and often needed—to make concrete observations about users and facts gathered through
research.Once findings from your observations are collected, the next step is to shape insights by framing
those observations. This is where you can venture into the abstract by reframing the problem in the form of a
statement or question.
2) Ideate- We can use a tool such as systematic inventive thinking (SIT) in this stage, which is useful for
creating an innovative process that can be replicated in the future.The goal is to ultimately overcome cognitive
fixedness and devise new and innovative ideas that solve the problems you identified.
3) Develop- The third phase involves developing concepts by critiquing a range of possible solutions. This
includes multiple rounds of prototyping, testing, and experimenting to answer critical questions about a
concept’s viability. Tis is the step where experimenting with different ideas and seeing which parts work and
which don’t.
4) Implement- The fourth and final phase, implementation, is when the entire process comes together. As an
extension of the develop phase, implementation starts with testing, reflecting on results, reiterating, and
testing again. This may require going back to a prior phase to iterate and refine until you find a successful
solution.In this phase, we share results with stakeholders and reflect on the innovation management strategies
implemented during the design thinking process. Learning from experience is an innovation process and
design thinking project all its own.

Why Design Thinking?

The main value of design thinking is that it offers a defined process for innovation. Design thinking is an extension of
innovation that allows you to design solutions for end users with a single problem statement in mind. It not only
imparts valuable skills but can help advance your career.
It’s also a collaborative endeavor that can only be mastered through practice with peers. As Datar says in the
introduction to Design Thinking and Innovation: “Just as with learning how to swim, the best way to practice is to
jump in and try.”
If you want to learn design thinking, take an active role in your education. Start polls, problem-solving exercises, and
debates with peers to get a taste of the process. It’s also important to seek out diverse viewpoints to prepare yourself
for the business world.
it can transform how your organisation develops products, services, processes, and strategies. It brings together the
desirability from the customer’s perspective with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also
provides various opportunities for people who aren’t trained as designers to utilise creative tools so that they can
tackle a vast range of problems/challenges.
There are also some essential aspects in which design thinking helps, and they are:
● The main objective is to solve the customer’s requirements
● Helps in tackling ambiguous and challenging problems
● Drives people to create innovative solutions
● It helps organisations to run faster with more efficiency

Introduce design thinking in the context of today’s business problems

All businesses have a never-ending list of goals, from constantly releasing new products that increase sales by
resonating with customers to providing better customer support.
When a business decides on a new product, a massive, expensive machine shifts into high gear, especially at large
corporations. The costs are enormous. Applying design thinking can help save vast amounts of money right away
because it directs attention to the specific solutions people need—immediate cost savings are realized as part of the
ROI of design thinking.
According to their report, of the top twelve reasons why projects fail, three are related to user-centered design failure:
1. Badly defined requirements
2. Poor communications among customers and developers
3. Stakeholder politices
Principles, & overview of DT process

Design mind-set: Difference between design and art

Introduce wicked problems: Situations amenable to DT

Modes of reasoning and thinking:

1. Deductive
2. Inductive
3. Abductive

Understand user’s perspective

Ethnographic research for empathizing with users

a. Stakeholder Mapping, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Bold

A simple definition of stakeholder mapping is the process of drawing a visual representation of the various people
involved in or affected by the project. This visual tool should provide a clear picture of who the various stakeholder
groups are, as well as their motives and interests.
Stakeholder maps are designed to facilitate the evaluation of your environment by highlighting what powers are at
play to help or hinder the progress of your project

● Identify the key players at a glance, meaning you know who to target, monitor or inform at each stage of
the project
● Make decisions quickly or hold consultations without overlooking important stakeholders
● Assess the power and understand the interests of each stakeholder to define strategies and
communication plans accordingly

b. Interviewing,
Empathy interviews are the cornerstone of Design Thinking. Through ethnographic research techniques like In-Depth
Interviews (IDI) we can learn how different customers feel about the problem we are trying to solve and how they
might fix it if they could.
During an empathy interview, there is a moderator (question-asker) and a note-taker. These interviews are usually
conducted one by one for 30 minutes to an hour in-person, over the phone or video chat. In-person is best, as it allows
us to see the customer’s reaction, body language, and hear their tone of voice, their excitement and their frustration.
By asking lots of open-ended questions and doing far more listening than talking, we learn valuable insights from real
customers to take back to the team for a truly informed brainstorm session.
 a. observation,
In Design Thinking, these are the purposes of observation:

· Gaining empathy
· Gathering information about your user's needs
· Uncovering existing work-arounds
· Identifying assumptions and areas where you may want to gather additional data

Preparing for User Observations

Before we decide on a technique for our observations; it’s important to do a few things first:
• We need to decide what we expect to learn from our observational study – can this be structured (e.g. a
checklist developed) or will it be unstructured (e.g. we expect the data to be qualitative rather than
quantitative)?
• We need to recruit participants for our research and ensure that we have selected a relevant sample size of our
user base to make our results meaningful.
• We need to recruit observers, ideally trained observers, and define how we will observe participants
• We should be able to explain to participants what they will be doing and what they will be observed for
• We should be able to explain to participants how their data and any data collected will be used and how it
won’t be used

b. contextual inquiry,
• Contextual inquiry is literally inquiry of context. It is a method where participants are observed while they
perform tasks and simultaneously talk about what they are doing while they perform them. Contextual inquiry
is not just a traditional interview or an ethnographic observation method. The key difference between
contextual inquiry and other user research methods is that participants must take a more active role in leading
their session in contextual inquiry.
• Contextual inquiry is usually performed with one participant at a time and in an environment where the
participant usually performs their tasks. Rather than recruiting one participant to perform all tasks, the tasks
can also be split up among different participants to observe and understand all tasks in depth and not exhaust
or tire down one participant.

1. Detailed information gathering

Contextual inquiry produces highly detailed information as opposed to many other qualitative methods, which produce more high-
level information.

2. User centered
As contextual inquiry is led by the participants, it takes whatever course the user wants to give it as well as flexible from their
point of view.

3. Accuracy
As the participant is comfortable and authentic in their environment, the quality of information gathered is highly accurate.

4. Real Insights
Contextual inquiry is performed in the participant’s natural environment so the insights are closely connected to the participants
and their tasks.
Empathy mapping
 Jobs-to-be-done
Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) is a framework that you can use to design more effectively. While personas tend to focus on
the attributes of your audience (age, gender, education, location, etc), JTBD focuses on the motivations and context of
your audience.
Every client, customer, and organization has a unique set of situations, motivations, and desired outcomes that
influence their actions. As designers responding to these issues, we must work creatively to develop forward-thinking
solutions. Of course, there is no silver bullet when it comes to solutions, so the process to develop solutions must be
unique to that issue.
JTBD is an effective way to consider not just what people are trying to get done, but why. By designing solutions that
respond to goals, situations and motivations, designers can uncover additional possible solutions that may not have
been obvious when designing for a single task or requirement.

The Main Elements of the JTBD Framework

There are 6 key steps for using JTBD (developed by Alan Klement):

1. Identify the high level job to be done

2. Identify smaller job(s) that help resolve the higher level job
3. Observe how people solve the problem now
4. Interview people to understand motivations for choosing current solution
5. Develop job stories to investigate motivations, causality, and anxieties/struggles
6. Create a solution to resolve the job stories

Customer journey mapping

Customer Journey Mapping - quick guide

• Select a customer group.

• Lay out your hypothetical view of the customer’s journey from beginning to end. (Include all steps) •Identify a small
number of customers (generally 12 to 20)

• Conduct a few pilot interviews - accurately capturing the steps and getting the kind of data you need.

• Finalise the research approach and conduct the remaining interviews, focusing on the emotional highs and lows of
the experience.

•Identify the essential moments of truth and other themes from the interviews.

• Take these themes and identify insights

Persona mapping
Persona mapping is a logical step in your user persona build process. Persona mapping helps you collect and use your
target audience research data to create more distinct personas.
Despite constantly being in debate, most UX designers consider the act of persona mapping to be from the moment
you start creating your user research questions.
Personas - Benefits

• Focuses on people above other factors.

• Deepens your empathy for others.

• Summarizes your research findings.

• Challenges your preconceptions

Identify consumer needs: Unmet needs and unstated expectation

16 Most Common Types of Customer Needs
Product Needs
1. Functionality

Customers need your product or service to function the way they need in order to solve their problem or desire.

2. Price

Customers have unique budgets with which they can purchase a product or service.

3. Convenience

Your product or service needs to be a convenient solution to the function your customers are trying to meet.

4. Experience

The experience using your product or service needs to be easy — or at least clear — so as not to create more work for your
customers.

5. Design

Along the lines of experience, the product or service needs a slick design to make it relatively easy and intuitive to use.

6. Reliability

The product or service needs to reliably function as advertised every time the customer wants to use it.

7. Performance

The product or service needs to perform correctly so the customer can achieve their goals.
8. Efficiency

The product or service needs to be efficient for the customer by streamlining an otherwise time-consuming process.

9. Compatibility

The product or service needs to be compatible with other products your customer is already using.

Service Needs
10. Empathy

When your customers get in touch with customer service, they want empathy and understanding from the people assisting them.

11. Fairness

From pricing to terms of service to contract length, customers expect fairness from a company.

12. Transparency

Customers expect transparency from a company they're doing business with. Service outages, pricing changes, and things
breaking happen, and customers deserve openness from the businesses they give money to.

13. Control

Customers need to feel like they're in control of the business interaction from start to finish and beyond, and customer
empowerment shouldn't end with the sale. Make it easy for them to return products, change subscriptions, adjust terms, etc.

14. Options

Customers need options when they're getting ready to make a purchase from a company. Offer a variety of product, subscription,
and payment options to provide that freedom of choice.

15. Information

Customers need information, from the moment they start interacting with your brand to days and months after making a purchase.
Businesses should invest in educational blog content, instructional knowledge base content, and regular communication so
customers have the information they need to successfully use a product or service.

16. Accessibility

Customers need to be able to access your service and support teams. This means providing multiple channels for customer service.
We'll talk a little more about these options later.

If companies can begin to make changes before their customers' needs aren't fulfilled, this can ultimately lead to growth,
innovation, and retention. However, with many types of customer needs, how do you understand which ones apply to your
customers specifically?

Problem framing and brainstorming techniques

Problem definition

The purpose of problem framing is, often, to produce a problem statement. A problem statement is a concise
statement that summarises the current state (problem), the ideal state (goal), and the gap between them.
There is no standard to write a problem statement. Some problem statements come with a proposed solution. Here is
an example of a simple problem statement for a small business facing challenges with remote working.
How to frame a problem?
You will need as much data and research as possible to begin this exercise. Trawl through user interviews, feedback,
market research, and any relevant data sets you can find. There are many problem framing techniques including:

1. The 5W Problem Framing Canvas

You can do this exercise in a group. In this exercise, you are considering the Who, What, Why, Where, When of a problem.

· Who is facing this problem?

· What is the problem they are facing right now?
· Where does this problem happen?
· When does this problem arise?
· Why is this problem worth solving?

2. Diverge and Converge Brainstorming

Allow each stakeholder to define the problem on their own. Gather all definitions, discuss, and select the best one. Or craft the
best problem statement from what’s on the table.

3. Empathy Mapping
This exercise is putting yourself in shoes of who you’re solving the problem for. You will fill up 4 quadrants – what a user thinks,
feels, does and says. Mapping them out will give you a better picture of the problem.

Tips on problem framing

1. Focus on users
This exercise is putting yourself in shoes of who you’re solving the problem for. You will fill up 4 quadrants – what a user thinks, feels, does
and says. Mapping them out will give you a better picture of the problem.

2. Not too broad or narrow

A problem statement shouldn’t be too generic or specific. Being too broad makes problem solving much harder because you’re trying to solve
too many issues in one instance. A broad statement can be further divided into smaller statements, to tackle one by one.
A narrow problem statement will limit creativity. Usually, a narrow statement is when you have included assumptions about the solution before
solving the problem. Writing that your user needs a better app means you’re already assuming the answer is a mobile app, limiting the
possibilities.

3. Try different settings

Imagine the problem in a different environment, severity, size, and with different types of users. Seeing a problem under different scenarios will
broaden your mind to see it from multiple points of view. Testing it under varying conditions can help you go deeper into the problem and
untangle complex issues.

4. Do it early, do it together
It sounds like common sense, but a lot of companies leave it too late to frame a problem, skip it altogether, or have one person dictate and define
everything. This defeats the purpose. Problem framing is an exercise that needs to be done as early as possible, and with the relevant
stakeholders. You should involve people with authority, knowledge of the matter and, ideally, an open mind.

Framing and re-framing

Reframing Explained
Reframing is a tool to think differently about an issue by exposing conventional “wisdom” that stands in the way of
progress. Let’s face it, we have collective thoughts about audience preferences, technological disruption, competition,
differentiation, etc. These are inviolable. That is, until someone breaks them.

Reframing: An Easy 4-Step Process

Step 1: Determine a Core Belief (~10-15 minutes)

Each team should identify the most prevalent, long-held belief related to the topic on which they’re working. Only pick one
limiting core belief.

Step 2: Define Supporting Notions (~15-20 minutes)

Each team should identify four supporting notions by asking:

● Why do we believe this core belief?

· What makes this core belief true?

Step 3: Define Opposite Supporting Notions (~15-20 minutes)

Next, each team should turn the four notions on their heads:

· Start with the literal opposite of each notion.

· Make each notion extreme.
· Select the most interesting one. It does NOT have to be true, logical or even possible. If the team members
are laughing, you’re on the right track.
· Select one opposite per each supporting notion.
Step 4: Construct a Reframed Core Belief & Solution Space (~15-20 minutes)

Define a reframed version of your core belief. This should not be a direct opposite of the original core belief. Do this
by asking:

· Considering these four new notions, what would be our new core belief?
· If this was the world in which we lived, what would be our core belief?

Ideation tools
Ideation is the third and important step in the process of design thinking. Design Thinking is not the kingdom of designers. It’s a
systematic process to empathize with human problems and design the right solutions to them.

Ideation is about challenging assumptions and exploring hidden territories. It helps to learn user problems and come up with new
solutions. If ideation is carried out correctly, you never know which idea becomes the next innovatory solution.

The Four Ideal Methods of Ideation:

· Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a combined method of solving the problem. It encourages putting up or storming up ideas randomly. It lets the

team freely let out their thinking process.

· Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a visual representation of ideas. It is a form of creating connections between ideas by building relationship webs.

The participants have a central focus on the problem.

· Sketch Storm

Sketch Storm is putting out ideas and solutions in the form of diagrams and sketches. Not just words. It lets participants sketch out

ideas in the form of various shapes which suit the idea formation.

· Story Board

Storyboarding encourages participants to create a story revolving around the problems. It emphasizes creating visual stories with

main characters as design, dynamics of problems, a direction towards a solution, etc.

 Insights
What is an insight?

· Insight is the capacity to discern the true nature of a situation or to grasp the inward or hidden nature of
something

· Insights occur when we recombine knowledge (the maps in our brains) in a new way

· Insights are particularly helpful when we reach an impasse, a roadblock to a desired mental path

· Insights are not immediately obvious

· It comes from empathetic immersion and repeated observation and context-related interviewing of the user
and listening to his/her stories.

· This can lead us to uncovering the emotional needs

· Insights are not immediately obvious

· It comes from empathetic immersion and repeated observation and context related interviewing of the user
and listening to his/her stories.

· This can lead us to uncovering the emotional needs.

· Since Insights are not immediately obvious, we will not be able to find them easily

· But when we do, its an ‘aha’ moment…..a moment of truth about the user

Empathy Map:The “Say” part

· Don’t limit yourself to things which are mere information. You already know most of it. Things under ”say”
should be linked to the objective of the research.

· Note down the specific facts / quotes from the user, a point of view or a stance that she has, a memorable and
evocative quote, or any unusual phrases or words that ‘struck’ you as something, which if probed, might contain a
deeper meaning

· I couldn’t save my baby due to lack of hospital incubators

· Even doctors couldn’t save my baby’s life

· I did not have money to reach the city hospital

· My baby stopped drinking milk. She would not open her eyes . . .

· The day my child was born the only thing that I wanted was to help her live
Empathy Map: The “Do” part

• Resort to desperate measures to save their babies including:

1. Use electric bulb to keep the baby warm
2. Use warm bottles, blankets to keep the baby warm
• Try to connect with the nearest hospital
• Mothers who lost their child were inconsolable

Empathy Map: The “Think” part

• · Capture phrases that begin with “I think . . .” or “I believe . . .” specifically state by the user. You could
also capture thoughts, beliefs or hypotheses, that may not be explicitly stated but can be inferred from what
was said.
• I don’t know whether I will be able to save my baby
• Whatever happened with me should never happen with anyone else
• I should have taken care of my nutrition and health
• If I had this device, I could have saved my baby. Even I could have had children (Sheetal, who lost 3 babies
due to low weight at birth

Empathy Map: The “Feel” part

• Capture feelings and emotions that the user displayed or talked about. Often from specific experiences. Also
capture feelings and experiences that you might infer from actions and behaviours.
• Desperate to save my child
• Helplessness
• I was so afraid. I thought that my baby might die.
• I felt so much pain and agony when I lost my baby…it was unbearable. I broke down
Example- 1) Safety‐concerned parent with toddlers wants a shopping experience with active kids who can be
independent but always in sight.

2) Poor mother of a new-born baby in a remote village needs to save her underweight baby so that she can experience
the joy of motherhood and see her baby live and grow.

A good POV will:

• · Provide focus.
• · Allow you to determine relevancy of competing ideas.
• · Inspire your team.
• · Empower colleagues to make decisions independently in parallel.
• · Fuel brainstorms.
• · Capture the hearts and minds of people you meet.
• · Save you from the impossible task of developing concepts that are all things to all people.
• · Be something you revisit and reformulate as you learn by doing
• · You land somewhere you’ve never been before.
• · Someone gives you a high five for moving a post‐it note.
• · Your team is speaking its own language.
• · You understand ordinary things in new ways.
• · You’re dealing with implicit needs rather than explicit problems.
• · You can’t sleep at night because of the opportunity you have found

Prototyping, Experimentation and testing strategies

Prototyping-
Prototyping is an experimental process where design teams implement ideas into tangible forms from paper to digital.
Teams build prototypes of varying degrees of fidelity to capture design concepts and test on users. With prototypes,
you can refine and validate your designs so your brand can release the right products.
● Why do we Prototype-
● Empathy gaining
● Exploration
● Testing
● Inspiration
● To learn
● To solve disagreements
● To start a conversation
● To fail quickly and cheaply
● To Manage the solution building process
 ❖ Developing and testing prototypes
Developing a Prototype: Step by Step
1. First, find products that are similar to your design. Take them apart to get an insider perspective on their
function.
2. Using paper, draw what your idea will look like. Write or type out any additional ideas. This will give you an
idea of what the first prototype will be like and will help you find flaws and other ways to improve the
product's design before you spend the time, effort, and money to build a prototype.
3. Hire a professional to assist you in developing a computer-aided design (CAD) of your prototype. This design
will be much more detailed than your sketch and will be sent to the prototype maker to enable them to make
the most detailed and accurate prototype possible.
4. If possible, create a handmade version of your product. Having a sample in-hand will make it much easier to
discuss your parameters and ideas with the prototype maker. In addition, it will allow you to further refine
your idea.
5. Find a prototype maker that will fit your budget. Oftentimes, making a prototype can be somewhat expensive.
Decide which material you'll use for your prototype. Prototype materials should be the same materials that
you intend to use in the final product.
6. As you meet with prototype-making companies, inquire about their credentials and previous work to make
sure that your prototype will be high quality and accurately represent your design. Regardless of whether the
company has worked cooperatively with its clients in the past, obtain a nondisclosure agreement from them,
unless you've already acquired a patent.
7. Consider creating a prototype with 3D printing. These printers can use CAD designs or 3D models to build a
working prototype, layer by layer.
8. Raise funds by getting in touch with your family and friends first. You may still need to approach other
sources to turn production into a reality. Investors may be especially useful during this stage.
9. Fulfill your customers' orders and produce as much of your product as you can sell. Constructing a prototype
can be an expensive process, so make sure to avoid getting stuck with a large inventory. As you sell your
product, you'll need to improve upon the initial design until it becomes a profitable and attractive
 ● What is prototype testing?
Prototype testing is the process of testing your prototype with real users to validate design decisions before
development starts. The goal is to identify problems and areas of improvement early so you can make the necessary
changes prior to development and build a product that meets users' needs and expectations.

● When should you test your prototype?

Testing your prototype and getting early-stage feedback on your work is essential. A product that hasn’t been tested
with users is doomed to fail. It might be perfect in your head—hey, you’ve been working for hours on it—but by
being so close to the project, you could be overlooking major problems in your product.
By testing your prototype early, you can bring your customers into the process and incorporate their feedback into the
final product iteration.

● How does prototype testing work?

Prototype testing is an essential part of the design and product development process. The way you go about testing
your prototype depends on the type of product, where you are in the development process, your goals, and the
resources available. But here are some general steps to follow.
Before you build your prototype and start testing, you should have a clear idea of what you want to validate. This will
help you define the kind of prototype you need. Prototypes can vary in complexity, from low-fidelity sketches to fully
functional and interactive prototypes. While low-fidelity prototypes are used for testing out concepts, high-fidelity
prototypes are great for testing usability and identifying issues in the workflow.
Once the prototype is ready, it’s time to get it in front of your users. When you run the test, try to recruit participants
that are representative of your target audience. By watching how users interact with your prototype and listening to
their feedback, you’ll learn what works and what needs to be improved. The insights gathered will allow you to iterate
and create a better product.
● How to test your prototype: step-by-step
1. Know exactly what you're testing
Clarity is key here. What exactly are you looking to test? Avoid being vague with your end goal to ensure you get
those key results that will be actionable at the end of the testing.
It's important you determine the goal of testing prototypes before you create the prototype. Being clear on the goal will
help you determine the kind of prototype you need (low vs. high-fidelity), and the type of elements you need
2. Create the prototype
What kind of prototype you create will depend on what stage of testing you’re at and, as mentioned above, on your
test goal. If you’re doing lo-fi prototype testing, it might be on paper or be online in its most basic form whereas if
you’re at the hi-fi prototype stage, you’ll be using a tool like Figma or Sketch to create an interactive prototype
3. Choose the right audience
Who will you invite to test your prototype? If you’re launching a fitness tracking app, it would make sense to only
include test participants who work out at least twice a week.
Similarly, if you were launching a product that helps undergrad students manage their workload, you’d want to limit
the age to under 25. In other words, you need to test with the right target audience.
When you test your prototype, you should look to include both current customers and users who haven’t interacted
with your product before to get the best results.
4. Choose your usability testing method
What usability method are you going to use to test your prototype? Will it be moderated or unmoderated? Will you
invite users into the office or would you rather test remotely? It generally depends on the product and the goals of your
test.
If you have a tangible product, it makes sense to invite users into the office to try things out as IKEA does to test their
chairs. But this is a costly way of testing. For those of us in the digital world, it might be quicker to use an online
testing tool that allows us to get insights from users around the world.
5. Give people a clear objective
Set a clear task for users to achieve. For example, imagine you’re working on a new product that will help people find
the best brunch bars in town for them.
6. Pick the right questions to ask users
Throughout your prototype testing, you have the chance to ask usability questions that will give you even more
insight. Make sure you pick the right ones to get effective feedback.
Curious for more questions? Here are some examples of prototype testing questions to ask at various stages of the
process:
Screening
How much time do you spend online each day?
Have you ever used our website/app before?
What industry do you work in?
Before the test
Have you used any products in the [X industry] before?
What type of product do you use to do [X action]?
How confident are you with doing [X action]?
During the test
What did you think about the [X] experience?
How was the language used on this page?
Can you tell us what you think of [X]?
After the test
What did you like the most/least about this product? Why?
Would you use such a product to do [X activity] in real life?
What would you change about the product?
Wrapping up a prototype test can be difficult. Users have spent a certain amount of time interacting with your design
and you want to maximize your insights before they go. Chris recommends asking “What one thing would you
improve about X?” as your final question.

1. Launch your test

The time has come—it’s prototype testing day. Consider a trial run with a colleague or friend if you’re going to be
doing the testing in-house, or set up a pilot test in your remote testing app so that you’re 110% prepared before doing a
real-world test.

2. Share the results

After you go through your responses and analyze the test results—it’s time to share them with all key stakeholders.
Whether it’s good—cue the beers—or not so great, you now know what you need to improve the user interface and
experience and iterate on to get to the next stage of your product launch process.

❖ Low and high fidelity prototypes

● Low- to medium-fidelity prototype testing

The sooner you get your users to view your design work, the better. Lo-fi prototype testing happens at the earliest
stages of the design process with a paper prototype or basic wireframe.
With a low-fidelity prototype, you can test:
1. If the layout of the design makes sense to other people
2. Experiments in your initial design—you might have two or more design ideas, test them out here
3. The hierarchy of your information architecture
4. Basic interactions with the design. You can mimic these manually or through a prototype testing tool.
As you move onto your medium-fidelity designs, you should be taking all the user feedback onboard, polishing your
design up, and begin to add some early-stage copy. You want to really validate your concepts here—test early and test
often.
 ● High-fidelity prototyping
After you’ve made your changes in the UX design tool or prototyping tool based upon the findings of your low- to
medium-fidelity tests—it’s time to get user feedback on your hi-fi design.

At this stage, you should be pretty confident with your design—any big issues should have been solved during earlier
tests. You shouldn’t be looking for huge UX flaws, instead, this hi-fi prototype test should be a final step in your
design testing process to truly validate your final iteration and to uncover any hidden usability issues before handing
over the designs to the development team.
With a hi-fi prototype, you can get insights on:
1. The overall design direction of a new product or feature
2. The copy: does it add value to the user experience?
3. The user flows: can people find their way when completing user tasks?
4. UI components, e.g., accordions, drop-down menus
5. Graphical elements e.g., image quality, text readability

❖ Minimum viable product (MVP)

A minimum viable product, or MVP, is a product with enough features to attract early-adopter customers and validate
a product idea early in the product development cycle. In industries such as software, the MVP can help the product
team receive user feedback as quickly as possible to iterate and improve the product.
Because the agile methodology is built on validating and iterating products based on user input, the MVP plays a
central role in agile development.
● Purpose of a Minimum Viable Product
The version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers
with the least amount of effort.
A company might choose to develop and release a minimum viable product because its product team wants to:
1. Release a product to the market as quickly as possible
2. Test an idea with real users before committing a large budget to the product’s full development
3. Learn what resonates with the company’s target market and what doesn’t
In addition to allowing your company to validate an idea for a product without building the entire product, an MVP
can also help minimize the time and resources you might otherwise commit to building a product that won’t succeed.
● Define Your Minimum Viable Product
1. Make sure your planned MVP aligns with your business objectives.
2. Start identifying specific problems you want to solve or improvements you want to enable for your user persona.
3. Translate your MVP functionality into a plan of development action.
● Examples -
1. Airbnb
With no money to build a business, the founders of Airbnb used their own apartment to validate their idea to create a
market offering short-term, peer-to-peer rental housing online. They created a minimalist website, published photos
and other details about their property, and found several paying guests almost immediately.
2. Foursquare
The location-based social network Foursquare started as just a one-feature MVP, offering only check-ins and
gamification rewards. The Foursquare development team began adding recommendations, city guides, and other
features until they had validated the idea with an eager and growing user base.

● Prototyping in action:
1.) Piloting- Like prototyping, piloting is a way to test, iterate, and refine. But piloting usually requires a higher
level of fidelity and a greater commitment. When piloting, an organization has developed a prototype that
works and is taking the next step: testing it with a small group of users over time.
Pilots work best when “you believe you have an effective solution and are looking to iron out the creases and
understand how it works in reality.” If the goal of prototyping is to learn, the goal of piloting is to collect data;
effective pilots are designed to gather feedback, track behaviors, and document outcomes.
Sometimes a pilot will validate a concept and prototype, but even at this more advanced stage, “failure” is informative.
Some organizations pilot a prototype they fully expect to discard; tearing down and rebuilding something better is part
of the planned innovation cycle.
Once a prototype is operational and ready for more rigorous testing, pilots bring those prototypes to a small group of
users in the real world. Ideally, additional cycles of learning, iteration, and development eventually result in a product
or service that’s ready to launch; after a successful pilot, the organization can move forward with an operating plan.
2) Mock-ups- Mockups are high-fidelity renders of your product’s design that showcase how the finished product will
look. A mockup can take the shape of an image or a product model, and you normally create them using digital design
tools.
● When should you use a mockup?
Now that we know what mockups are, we can dig deeper into what you can do with them.
1. Product discovery: You can also use mockups before starting a project and test out different approaches to
your potential product.
2. Keep stakeholders aligned: Designing and building a product involves a lot of people — at every stage of the
process. A mockup can help keep everyone aligned on the finished product, or even impress potential
investors.
3. The final step in the design: Designing a mockup is an important part of the product development cycle —
usually happening during the design phase.
Regardless of how you use them, mockups help you communicate what you want your final product to look like. They
are essential tools in your design arsenal — because it’s always better to over-communicate when it comes to design.

3) Storyboards- One of the design techniques we use is to create Storyboard Prototypes. Storyboarding is an iterative,
interaction design methodology that uses a series of sketches or pictures to demonstrate an end to end solution for a
user scenario. This type of low fidelity prototype is used to illustrate design concepts and obtain feedback early in the
design process. Storyboards are particularly useful for refining and validating concepts before writing detailed
functional specifications. The technique enables you to work effectively with your multi-disciplinary team to create
highly usable, user centered designs.
● Benefits of a storyboard
A storyboard can be beneficial in usability testing. Before usability testing, experts often predict how they believe
users will react and interact with a software application. A storyboard can also be created to help plan the different
steps of the usability test. Once usability testing has been performed, the results can be compared to the predictions
shown on the original story board. Modifications are often made to the product or prototype that has been tested in
order to improve the usability and experience for users.
● How to create a storyboard
Storyboards are created by making paper or virtual slides, which display the different steps of the intended interaction
between a user and a product. For example, the first picture may display a person going to their computer and the
second might show them opening up the browser and typing in the website URL. The third might show them clicking
on a call to action button and the story continues until the entire process has been displayed. Then a focus group can
be formed to analyze these ideas and point out potential issues in the design. The storyboard should be modifiable and
the duration of time it will take depends on how complex and detailed the scenario is.

4) Wireframes- Wireframes are basic design layouts that present key information about your product and what you
want to display. They also show your app or website’s page structure while providing basic information about
elements in the UI.
● When should you use a wireframe?
By framing your design concept in a minimalistic structural design, you can make quick adjustments. Plus, you can
give everyone an idea of how your future design will look. Best of all, it means you can share your ideas early,
without worrying about more complex design elements like colors, shading or intricate menus.
Let’s take a look at a couple of the use cases for wireframes:
1. Communicate structure: The main purpose of wireframes is to share key information about the product’s
design.
2. Quick design: Wireframes should be quick, simple, and easy to modify.
3. Product discovery: Designers and stakeholders use wireframes to identify business requirements, decide the
scope of the product and more.
Before your team writes any code or allocates heavy resources to build a project, it’s important that everyone aligns on
what they’re building. Using a wireframe helps everyone understand what you’re trying to achieve.

5) Use-cases- "Use-cases" refer to the specific scenarios or situations in which the prototype will be used. Use-cases
are typically identified during the design and planning phase of the prototyping process, and they help to guide the
development of the prototype by providing a clear understanding of the user's needs and goals.
Use-cases can take many different forms depending on the type of prototype being developed and the intended user or
audience. For example, in a software prototype, use-cases might include tasks that the user needs to accomplish, such
as signing in, searching for content, or making a purchase. In a physical product prototype, use-cases might include
scenarios in which the product is used, such as carrying a heavy load, withstanding extreme weather conditions, or
being easy to clean.
By identifying use-cases early in the prototyping process, designers and developers can focus their efforts on creating
a prototype that meets the specific needs and goals of the user. This helps to ensure that the final product is not only
functional and useful, but also intuitive and user-friendly.
6) Concept posters- Concept posters typically refer to visual representations of ideas or
concepts. Concept posters can be used to communicate and explore potential design directions for a product or service.
In the early stages of prototyping, concept posters can be created to help generate ideas, organize information, and
gather feedback from stakeholders. They may include sketches, diagrams, images, and text to convey the proposed
concepts. Concept posters can also be used to compare and contrast different design approaches, or to highlight
specific features or benefits of a particular design.
Overall, concept posters can be a useful tool for facilitating discussion and collaboration during the prototyping
process, as they provide a visual reference point for stakeholders to refer to and build upon.
● Benefits- Promotes a vision of the future • Helps you build a business case • Gains support from decision
makers • Provides a road map for moving forward
● How to make concept poster?
• Identify a new idea to introduce. • Assemble a team and some basic drawing materials. • Come up with a name and a
tag line for the concept. • Write a short summary of the big idea. • Include a description of the key stakeholders. • List
a few features and benefits. • Illustrate the concept with a big picture or diagram. • Add a timeline for developing the
solution. • Draft the layout and draw the final poster

Business Model- It describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value.
Extra Topics

Example of DT-
What is Design Thinking
Creative Matrix- A format for sparking new ideas at the intersections of distinct categories
● Identify a design challenge in need of fresh ideas.
● Make a poster showing a large grid (max 5x5 cells)
● Designate columns: Categories related to people.
● Designate rows: Categories for enabling solutions.
● Form teams. Hand out grids. Introduce the topic.
● Give each participant a pen and a sticky note pad.
● Ask them to ideate at the intersections of the grid.
● Instruct them to write one idea per sticky note.
● Start the clock. Limit the time
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty
because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they
were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was
that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Abstraction Laddering
A way of reconsidering a problem statement by broadening or narrowing its focus
Abstraction Laddering-
Helpful Hints • Consider the use of Statement Starters to reframe. • Take a quick poll to help decide which
option is best. • In the end, the initial statement might be the best
Abstraction Laddering- Helpful Hints • Consider the use of Statement Starters to reframe. • Take a quick
poll to help decide which option is best. • In the end, the initial statement might be the best