Unit 2

Unit 2
Design Thinking
• Design thinking is an iterative process in which you
seek to understand your users, challenge assumptions,
redefine problems and create innovative solutions
which you can prototype and test.
• The overall goal is to identify alternative strategies and
solutions that are not instantly apparent with your
initial level of understanding.
• Design thinking is more than just a process; it opens up
an entirely new way to think, and it offers a collection
of hands-on methods to help you apply this new
mindset.
Phase 1: Empathize – Gather High-Quality
Consumer Understanding
• As marketers, we think that we have our finger on the
pulse of our business. But often in reality, we are talking to
ourselves first, and framing the problem with myriad
assumptions that aren’t necessarily true or correct,
particularly about our users and consumers. Empathy is
the critical starting point for successful design thinking
solutions, with the first order of business to know who it is
you’re solving a problem for; and despite the importance
of strategic business objectives, it isn’t your client. This
may sound harsh, but deeply understanding the consumer
is the most important input to assuring business success.
Phase 2: Define – Create a Brilliant Design Brief
for All Stakeholders
• The second stage in the process is about clarity, focus and
definition. Gather all the insights you’ve collected—
consumer need states and barriers, lifestyle realities and
cultural influences—to begin to make sense of the
landscape of solutions you’re exploring.
• A great creative brief, built with both strategic focus and
creative inspiration, is the key to unlocking the best
solutions and building consensus along the way. Internally, a
strong brief allows guidance and actionability for our design
teams, but it also brings early thought leadership to the
table with clients to gain consensus and build momentum.
Phase 3: Ideate and Collaborate
• With a deep understanding of your consumer and a focused, well-

articulated challenge to solve, it’s time to start developing potential
solutions. This phase is where creativity is unleashed on the
intelligence—where the rubber meets the road. Prior to the
granularity of executional options, a multi-stakeholder team (led by
design) must establish the creative or design “pathways” that might
offer solutions.
• Brainstorming, mind-mapping, landscape mapping and Post-it
Notes are all viable tools to fuel this brilliant but messy phase. The
key is to create an environment where divergent and provocative
options are embraced and assessed, with the eventual goal of
converging on a few strongest pathways to pursue.
Phase 4: Prototype – Hold Inspirational Rapid-Sketch
Sessions or Design Sprints
• The fourth step is all about experimentation:

transforming ideas into tangible “artifacts.”
These artifacts may be a packaging design
system, a retail experience, a new structural
innovation or a customer journey. Regardless
of the task at hand, rapid iteration and even
prototyping is a crucial step in quickly
breathing life into the work.
• Throughout this stage, proposed solutions may be
improved, redesigned or rejected through a series
of reviews and critiques from the broader team.
This rapid iterative process does many beneficial
things: It allows creatives to be imperfect and
detach from their work in healthy ways, it embraces
collaboration by “piggybacking” ideas from
different sources, and it depersonalizes the delicate
process of creativity in a way that empowers teams.
Phase 5: Test – Get Fast, Productive Feedback
From Human Beings
• After your iterative creative development and
prototyping, find ways to test fast and organically with
consumers. Although design testing is often relegated to
quantitative “benchmarks” or eye-tracking, a qualitative
sharing session with consumers can go much deeper on
the “why” of the feedback. If budgets are tight or clients
are uncomfortable with breaking free from their
traditional corporate methodologies, engage a “friends
and family” approach. It’s important that the consumers
you speak with have a vested interest in the problem
you’re solving.

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Unit 2

• With a deep understanding of your consumer and a focused, well-

• The fourth step is all about experimentation:

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