Design Thinking

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved.
DESIGN THINKING
Workshop Guide

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 4
Contents
Design Thinking
Process, Methods
& Tools
Mindsets of a
Design Thinker
Key Concepts &
Principles of
Design Thinking
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The Designer Paradox
How the customer
explained it
How the project
leader understood it
How the analyst
designed it
How the
programmer wrote it
What the beta
testers received
How the business
consultant
described it
How the project was
documented
What operations
installed
How the customer
was billed
How it was
supported
What marketing
advertised
What the customer
really need

Video: What is Human-Centered Design?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBu1kkSCHfs
Credit: designkit.org/

13© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 13© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 13
Three Lenses of Human-Centered Design
What can be financially viable?
Desirabilit
y
Viability
Feasibili
ty
What is technically and
organizationally feasible?
What do people desire?

How Does Design Thinking Differ from
Traditional Thinking?
The mindset of a traditional thinker:
“We have this problem,
let’s jump in and get in a
room and brainstorm
solutions.”
“We have this
technology, what can
we use it for?”
“Our competitors just
launched X; how can we
do X quickly?”

19© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 19
Design Thinking Uses Both Deductive &
Abductive Approaches To Solve Problems
Yesterday
Tomorrow
Experiences
Patterns
Stories
Observations
Imagination
Possibilities
Stories
Uncertainty
Today

What Design Thinking IS NOT
 Only for the “creative” people or product designers
 A narrow equation to aesthetics and craft
 Just a brainstorming session
 A “one-day” process where problems can be solved in
24 hours
 A process to replace analytical problem solving
 A silver bullet for all types of problems

Activity: Brainstorming of Problems
1. In your respective groups, brainstorm problems that
occur in:
a) Society (e.g. overcrowding in trains)
b) Business & Services (e.g. bad online experience in re-
contracting mobile/broadband service)
c) Processes & Operations (e.g. backlog issue, excess
inventory)
d) Situations (e.g. customer complaints, natural disasters)
2. List your ideas on the flip chart.
3. Present your findings to the class.
Time: 10 mins

28
“Design must reflect
the practical and
aesthetic in business
but above all… good
design must primarily
serve people.”
Thomas J Watson

Iterative
 The road to success does
not follow a straight line
 The more you are able to
loop through “understand
– create – learn” cycle, the
higher chance you have for
good results

34© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 34© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 34
Industrial Applications of Design Thinking
Launched the mobile
payments app (alternative to
the SB card).
Store lines move 10-20%
faster
Retail stores designed
around activities, not
products.
Most profitable retail
store per square foot
Changed product-based
model to a cloud-based
subscription model.
Creative Cloud software
revenue increased by
44% since 2013
Launched Tide PODS so
customers don’t have to
measure.
Estimated earning of
$131 million in 2012

Framework of Design Thinking
Learn about
the audience
for whom you
are designing,
by observation
and interview.
Who is my
user? What
matters to this
person?
Create a point
of view that is
based on user
needs and
insights.
What are their
needs?
Brainstorm
and come up
with as many
creative
solutions as
possible.
Wild ideas
encouraged!
Build a
representation of
one or more of
your ideas to
show to others.
How can I show
my idea?
Remember: A
prototype is just
a rough draft!
Share your
prototyped
idea with your
original user
for feedback.
What worked?
What didn’t?
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test

Understanding the Framework of Design
Thinking
Action PlanMindsets

Desired Traits of a Design Thinker
 Able to step into the shoes of
your customers
 Have empathy on users and
stakeholders
 Like to challenge the status
quo rebelliously
 Able to ask the right questions
- even to your boss
 Draw and sketch instead of
typing an email
 Like to collaborate in multi-
disciplinary meetings instead
of working in silo
 Able to look at the big picture
and think holistically
 Generate many new ideas
and not afraid to share
 Find and reiterate alternatives
to approach your desired
goals
 Willing to fail early and often

Apple’s Aims
 Make people fall in
love with their
products
 To create computers
for individual use
 Make computers
simple to use

Product Development Strategy & Execution
 Early Years:
- Products developed from scratch and had unique hardware with proprietary OS
- Apple’s market share fell after IBM entered the PC Market and Steve Jobs was
axed
 During 1985-1997:
- Constant change in strategy due to change in regime
- In the face of competition from IBM-cloned devices, company was unable to
decide which products to develop and produce
- Debates on licensing Mac OS and entering unknown segments like the Business
Market (dominated by Windows and Intel)
- Some success like the PowerBook (1990)
- Many failures like the Newton PDA
- Approaches resembling other companies were seen
- Complexity and confusion increased for Apple and its customers (too many
products developed)

Bold Experimentations
 “Play it safe, that’s the most dangerous
thing we can do. We have to get bolder…”
 Entered Retail business at a time when
everyone was moving online
 Stores opened at prime locations with
Tech Repair Guys called “geniuses” who
serviced phones at the “bar”
 The concept took off as foot traffic (Apple
and Non-Apple customers) were drawn to
these elegant surroundings that hosted
beautiful products
 Apple Stores generated highest revenue
per square foot in entire retail sector

The Story
 Singapore Airlines was
considered the gold standard for
its innovative customer service
 In the face of increased
competition, they realized the on-
the-ground lounge experience is
just as important as their
legendary in-flight experience –
and a consistent experience is
needed to stay as the world’s
most preferred airline

Approach
 Designers facilitated vision
sessions with CEO and
management team through an
experiential dinner experience, over
90 interviews and 100 hours of
lounge observations, as well as
staff and management engagement

Impact
 New design concept was rolled
out in 2013 and progressively
introduced to all of SIA’s
SilverKris Lounges in 15 cities
at an estimated cost of around
$20 million
 With the new “home away
from home” concept, lounge
customers can look forward to
distinct personal spaces,
greater personalized services,
and a delectable selection of
food and beverages

5 Thinking Mindsets
 All 5 mindsets are required for the whole design process
to run
 The 5 mindsets of design thinking are:
1. Think Users First
2. Ask the Right Questions
3. Believe You can Draw
4. Commit to Explore
5. Prototype to Test
 Without the proper mindsets, the action plan is just a
theory

Why Do You Need to Ask the Right Questions?
 Effective questions help you:
1. Empathize your end-users and stakeholders
2. Connect and collaborate with more aligned objectives
3. Gather better information
4. Examine and define the problem more effectively
5. Increase your persuasion and influence
6. Improve your negotiation skills
7. Reduce potential for mistakes or miscommunication
8. Discover potential issues and opportunities

What Are the Different Type of Questions?
 Navigating questions
- Purpose: to assess or adjust the course of the meeting while the
discussion is ongoing. It helps to assure and bring the
stakeholders together.
- Examples:
 Are we on the right track?
 Did I understand this correctly?
 Are we aligned on all this?
 Does anyone have any questions?

What Are the Different Type of Questions?
 Closing questions
- Purpose: Closing questions puts the tire on the road and brings
the project into a pragmatic and realistic state. These are crucial
set of questions as it defines the action plan and steps to take.
- Examples:
 How can we prioritize these ideas?
 What are the action steps?
 Who is going to do what?
 What should we see in the next 2 weeks?
 Which one will bring us forward?

Who Should You Ask Questions?
 Examples of questions for Stakeholders
- What is in it for you?
- What’s your objective?
- What’s your role in this?

How to Align Stakeholders
 It is not unusual for stakeholders to have different
expectations of the proposed project
 You can align stakeholders’ expectations by using these
tools/templates:
- Design Brief
- Stakeholder Map
- Customer Journey Map
- Context Map
- Opportunity Map

What is the Value of Drawing?
1. Imagine better ideas
2. Figure things out
3. Explain and give instructions
4. Helps to remember

Learn How to Draw a Journey or a Process

Mindset 4: Commit to Explore
Requirement:
Develop the ability to explore. In every project, a design thinker will need to commit to
explore and think out of the box, look for solutions that are usually not thought of before.
To explore all possibilities is the core foundation of a design thinker, and without it there is
no divergence and no basis for innovation and creativity.
Traits to follow:
 Always realize that there is more than
one solution to a problem
 Create many ideas and concepts – it
doesn’t matter whether they are feasible
 Constantly brainstorm ideas with
teammates
 Involve in co-creation and collaborative
activities
 Constantly learn from the mistakes and
experiences of others
 Receive inspiration like a sponge
 Share ideas with everyone
Traits to avoid:
 Following your boss’s decision blindly
without asking questions
 Conform to constraints, legacy and red
tape without any discussion
 Agree to everything that others say
 Ignore feedback from the
users/customers

Summary of the 5 Thinking Mindsets
 The secret of a successful design thinker is actually the
mindsets
 The thinking mindsets of Design Thinking is made of 5
mindsets:
1. Think Users First
2. Ask the Right Questions
3. Believe You can Draw
4. Commit to Explore
5. Prototype to Test

The Design Thinking Process Consists of 5
Action Phases
Learn about
the audience
for whom you
are designing,
by observation
and interview.
Who is my
user? What
matters to this
person?
Create a point
of view that is
based on user
needs and
insights.
What are their
needs?
Brainstorm
and come up
with as many
creative
solutions as
possible.
Wild ideas
encouraged!
Build a
representation of
one or more of
your ideas to
show to others.
How can I show
my idea?
Remember: A
prototype is just
a rough draft!
Share your
prototyped
idea with your
original user
for feedback.
What worked?
What didn’t?
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test

1. Not Just a Brainstorming Session
 The design action plan is not a process that works
instantly
 It requires time and effort from committed users and
stakeholders involved with the same objective to make it
work
 It is not a “one-day” process where problems can be
solved in 24 hours
 There are phases where you need multiple iterations,
such as testing and checking back with users and then
refining the solution

3. Divergent & Convergent Thinking
Problem space Solution space

3. The Design Phases Contains Both
Divergent & Convergent Thinking
 The Define, Prototype and Test phases require
convergent thinking
- Convergent thinking means to actively select and decide the
right solutions to the problem, based on constraints or feedback
- Within the phase, you are encouraged to analyze and make
decisions and constantly ask critical questions to solve the
problems at hand
 Both sides of thinking are necessary for the process to
work

Activity: Let’s Start to Design!
Time: 5 minsDesign your ideal WALLET.
Sketch of your ideal wallet:

Phase 1:
Empathize

Empathize
Verbal,
7%
Vocal,
38%
Body,
55%
Verbal & Non-verbal Communication

Empathize: Engagement
Through engaging in
their environment,
they learned …
The road to the water
wells is long and the
water barrels too
heavy.
Water wells installed
by NGO’s are not
being used.
90-litre Hippo Roller
enables user to collect
5 times more water
than a single bucket
and improved water
access.
SOLUTION
Source: Hippo Roller
Example: Water accessibility

Empathy – Methods & Tools
 Assume a beginner’s
mindset
 What? – How? – Why?
 Use camera study
 Prepare for interview
 Interview for empathy
 Engage extreme users
 Story share and capture
 Empathy map
 Journey map

Ask Questions – What do you need to know from
your user or customer?
1. Who they are
2. What they do
3. Why they buy
4. How they buy
5. What makes them feel
good about buying
6. What they expect of you
7. What they think of you

USER FEEDBACK TEMPLATE
Empathize your end-users by writing down what you observe and listen
Customer profile:
Questions to ask:
User feedback:
List of questions Why do we ask those questions?
Observations and feedback Insights / Actions
Empathize Phase Deliverable

Benefits of Persona
1. Identify opportunities and product gaps to drive
strategy
2. Provide a quick and cheap way to test, validate and
prioritize ideas
3. Give focus to projects by building a common
understanding of customers across teams
4. Help development teams empathize with users,
including their behaviors, goals and expectations
5. Serve as a reference tool that can be used from
strategy through to implementation

ILLUSTRATIVE
Name: John Smith, 38
Profile / Lifestyle Characteristics
 Lawyer, single
 Likes to play golf once a week
 Owns an apartment in New York
 Ambitious
 Knowledgeable
 Financially savvy
Goals / Ambitions Behaviors / Habits
 Wants to invest money for his retirement
 Aiming for promotion to Senior Counsel
later this year
 Impatient
 Prim and proper
 Don’t take no for an answer
Fears / Challenges Influencers & Activities
 Not working well with colleagues
 Unable to find time with family
 Uncle, who is also a lawyer
 Golf
Persona – Example 2

What does the person
THINK & FEEL?
Customer
What really counts
Major preoccupations
Worries and aspirations
HEAR?
What friends say
What boss says
What influencers say
SEE?
Environment
Friends
What the market offers
SAY & DO?
Attitude in public
Appearance
Behavior towards others
PAIN
Fears
Frustrations
Obstacles
GAIN
Wants/Needs
Measures of success
Prestige
The Empathy Map

ILLUSTRATIVE
Pain
Gain
Holiday
Maker
Think & Feel
Say & Do
Hear See
Will I have a
memorable
experience?
Tourists get
picked-
pocketed
Tourists look
happy &
having fun!
Wow, I
can shop
all day
and night!
Many locals
don’t speak
English
May not be
safe to go
out at night
Food are
cheap and
delicious!
I am
uploading
photos into
Facebook!
Food taste
really great!
I don’t want
to go home!
Polite and
patient
service staff
at hotel
Many touts
on the
streets
Traffic jam
almost
everywhere
Did the hotel
reserve us a
non-smoking
room?
Will I be hit
with food
poisoning?
Will taxi
drivers over-
charge me
for rides?
A holiday maker’s concern
The flea
markets are
interesting
Nice
breakfast
buffet
Empathy Map – Example 1

Empathize
Activities Tools to use Deliverables
 User interview
 Informal chats
 Observation
 Shadowing
 Mystery shopping
 Picture-taking
 Immersion
 Interview checklist
 Observation checklist
 Writing tools
 Flipcharts and paper
 Camera
 Personas
 Empathy map
 List of user feedback
 Problems identified

142
“If I had an hour to
solve a problem, I'd
spend 55 minutes
thinking about the
problem and 5
minutes thinking
about solutions.”
Albert Einstein

Point of View
POV = USER + NEED + INSIGHT
I am a college student and I hate folding laundry
because I can’t seem to fold it the right way.
 Developing a strong POV can be challenging
 Getting it right is very important as it will shape the future of
the project

POV Statements
Point of View
Statement
How Might We
Question
1
2
I am an A-level student and I
need to pass the second
language exam because it is one
of the admission criteria to the
local university.
How might we develop a learning
method to help the student pass the
examination for second language?
Example 1

How Might We (HMW) Statements
 “How might we” (HMW) questions are short questions
that launch brainstorms
 HMWs fall out of your POV statement or design
principles as seeds for your ideation
 Create a seed that is broad enough that there are a wide
range of solutions but narrow enough that the team has
some helpful boundaries
 The proper scope of the seed will vary with the project
and how much progress you have made in your project
work

ILLUSTRATIVE
DESIGN BRIEF
User Perception / Feedback
 Darryl needs a fast and efficient way to track his health
and fitness
 He runs/swims often and does not like to carry a phone
while running/swimming
Problem Statement (Point of View)
 User could not track his health and fitness while running/swimming
Design Goal / Objective (How Might We)
 How might we design a convenient and hands-free health and fitness tracking device for running/swimming?
Design Requirements
Our product / service should…
 Track health and fitness while doing activity
 Lightweight
 Waterproof / Sweat-proof
 Impact proof
 Convenient to use / Hands-free
Example: Design Brief

Example of STAKEHOLDER MAP
Vendors / Influencers
External stakeholders
Project team
Derrick
(Design Agency)
Frank
(IT Implementor)
Stakeholder Map of an IT Project
TBD
(Steering Committee Members)
TJ
(Knowledge
Panel)
Henry
(E-business)
Calvin
(Sales Team
Lead)
Grace
(Legal/Compliance)
Amanda
(Marketing)
Danny (Designer)
Joyce (User PM)
David (IT PM)
ILLUSTRATIVE
Vendors / Influencers

Source: Adaptive Paths

RESEARCH PURCHASE USE
THINKING
 How will this process
work?
 What sort of payment
plans are available?
 How do I even get
started?
 Is there a trial period
for this product?
 Would a friend like
this product?
 Can I save money by
buying multiple
products?
 Can I buy it online?
Do I need to go to a
store?
 Does this store has a
return policy?
 Why is nothing about
returns or warranties
written on their
website?
 I’m happy about my
purchase and would
be willing to tell
others about this
service!
FEELING
 Excited, but a little
anxious
 Unsure
 Ready to get started
 Worrying about money
 Want to consult friends
and family for advice
 In the mood to spend
 Convinced
 Excited to own
something brand new
 Happy
 Relieved
 Impressed
 Satisfied
 Ready to refer
friends and family to
service
DOING
 Browsing the internet
 Comparing
experiences with
friends and family
 Doing background
research
 Reading horror stories
review online
 Watching commercials
 Reading
advertisements
 Interacting with sales
staff
 Sharing information
about the purchase
via social networks
 Driving to brick-and-
mortar store to buy
product
 Relaxing
 Writing rave reviews
online
 Using a new product
on a regular basis
 Referring friends and
family
HIGHLIGH AREAS OF
GREATEST OPPORTUNITY
CHOOSE THE STORY YOU WANT TO
TELL USING SCALE, CONTRAST, AND
COLOR TO CREATE HIERARCHY
MAKE SURE SUPPORTING
INFORMATION IS PRESENT,
BUT SECONDARY
“YAY!”
“CAN SOMEONE
HELP ME?”
“OH, NO!”
Source: Adaptive Paths
ILLUSTRATIVE
Customer Journey – Example 1

Context Map
 What is it?
- Is a tool and document to represent complex factors affecting the
organization or the design of the product or service
 Why use it?
- Create a shared strategic vision with the team
- Document knowledge existing informally within the organization
- Understand the external factors which plays in deciding and
planning of the design of the product / service

Opportunity Map
 What is it?
- Allows comparison of any product/service that is in the market
which helps to identify saturation of competitors or areas of
opportunities
- Allows stakeholders to identify the direction of the product/service
to meet the opportunity in the market
 Why use it?
- Identify area of opportunities
- Identify areas of saturation and competition where the positioning
of the new product / idea should be avoided
- Align stakeholders with shared direction and meaning

Define
Activities Tools to use Deliverables
 Workshops
 Shareholder
meetings
 Drawing and writing
tools
 Post-its
 Flipchart / Whiteboard
 User feedback (from
Empathize)
 Design brief (POV +
HMW)
 Stakeholder map
 Context map
 Customer journeys
 Opportunity map

175
“The only way to
have a good idea is
to have lots of
ideas.”
Winston Churchill

3 Ways to Unleash Creativity in the
Workplace
1. Reward creativity
2. Creative working space
3. Encourage collaboration
and co-creation

The Silly Cow Exercise
1. In your respective groups, sketch out three different
ways that the cow can be used to create value for
customers.
2. You have to use the characteristics of a cow (e.g.
produces milk, eats all day, makes a mooing sound,
etc.) to develop innovative value propositions.
3. Present your sketches to the class and explain the
value propositions.
Time: 3 mins

Initial Exploration – Brainwriting
 What is it?
- Brainwriting is a powerful method in leveraging the building of ideas in a
systematic manner
 Procedure
1. Define the problem.
2. Each person should brainstorm three ideas in two minutes on a piece of paper.
3. Then have them pass the sheet of paper to the person on the left.
4. Have the next person to build upon or add to the existing ideas by writing/
drawing their own ideas underneath the existing ideas. Allow 3 minutes.
5. Repeat the process around the table with the next person building on existing
ideas or add on new ideas, until the paper comes back to the originator.
6. Share all the ideas on the table and pick out a couple of outstanding ones.
Divergent Method

Pushing Boundaries – SCAMPER
 What is it?
- SCAMPER is a brainstorming
technique and innovation
method that uses seven words
as prompts:
1. Substitute
2. Combine
3. Adapt
4. Modify
5. Put to another Use
6. Eliminate
7. Reverse
 Procedure
1. Select an idea / concept /
existing product to apply the
SCAMPER method.
2. Facilitator will lead the team to
ideate out of the box by asking
questions based on
SCAMPER.
3. Create as many ideas based
on the questions.
4. Analyze and prioritize.
5. Select a couple of ideas to
further develop and prototype.
Divergent Method

Pushing Boundaries – What If?
What If Questions:
1. Scarcity / Abundance:
- What if a car can run without petrol?
- What if you have unlimited budget to change this website?
2. Extreme Simplicity:
- What if the army fight with no soldiers?
- What if you can apply for a bank loan in one step?
3. Opposite:
- What if your mobile phone runs to you instead of you running to your mobile
phone?
- What if an employee pays the company to work instead of the company paying
the employee?
Divergent Method

PRIORITIZATION MAP TEMPLATE
Organize your ideas by prioritizing based on benefit and ease of implementation
Ideate Phase Deliverable
High Benefit
Difficult to
Implement
Idea A
Idea B
Idea C
Idea D
Idea H
Idea I
Idea E
Idea F
Idea G
Easy to
Implement
Low Benefit

AFFINITY MAP TEMPLATE
Organize your ideas by grouping them in broad categories
Category
D
Category
A
Category
C
Category
B
Random Post-Its of ideas Categorize and group the ideas

EVALUATE IDEAS TEMPLATE
Organize your ideas by evaluating them based on a set of criteria
Evaluation Criteria Idea A Idea B Idea C Idea D
Customer Impact
Business Impact
Potential Improvement
Feasibility
Innovativeness
Others

Phase 4:
Prototype

Why Do We Need a Prototype?
1. Find design issues early
2. Iterate more quickly on a design concept
3. Compare design variations quickly
4. Gather design feedback better
5. Good presentational tool
6. Encourage collaboration
7. Cheap, fast and easy
8. Gather design feedback better

ILLUSTRATIVE
Storyboard – Example 1

STORYBOARDS
Prototype service or experience related processes using storyboarding or role plays
Prototype Phase Deliverable
Print additional sheets if necessary
STORYBOARD
Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3
<insert picture here> <insert picture here> <insert picture here>
Dialog Dialog Dialog
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