IBM Design Thinking

IBM Design Thinking
What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a methodology for creative problem solving. (A
“methodology” is more than just how something is done. It also covers how
it is done, and why.)
At IBM, we define design as the intent behind the outcome: why do we want
something to work in a particular way? It requires not only understanding
the outcome. To design well we also have to understand the user,
developing empathy for that user, and what that user is trying to accomplish
while using our design.
At IBM, Enterprise Design Thinking becomes the framework for delivering
great user experiences to our clients.
From problem to solution

Enterprise Design Thinking is our approach to applying design thinking at
the speed and scale of a modern enterprise. In short, it helps our teams
form intent (design) and deliver the best possible outcomes.
This problem-solving methodology has its origins in creativity techniques
and design methods developed in the 1950s and 1960s. The concept was
further expanded in the 1980s and 1990s at Stanford University, where
design thinking was taught as “a method of creative action.”
Today, corporations and designers of all kinds use design thinking as a way
to respond to user needs and find solutions to broader problems.
Empathy is the first step in design thinking because it allows us to
understand and share the same feelings that others feel. Through empathy,
we can put ourselves in other people’s shoes and connect with how they
might be feeling about their problem, circumstance, or situation. A big part
of design thinking focuses on the impact that innovative thinking has on
individuals.
What’s an Empathy Map?

Before we start to figure out what a problem is or try to solve it, it's a good
idea to “walk a mile in the user’s shoes” and get an understanding of the
user. Empathy Maps help us deepen that understanding, gaining insight
into the user’s behavior.
To create a “persona” or profile for the user, design thinking uses the
Empathy Map activity to create a realistic general representation of the user
or users. Personas can include details about a user’s education, lifestyle,
interests, values, goals, needs, thoughts, desires, attitudes, and actions.
Human-centered design is also known as design thinking and user-
centered design.
The goal of human-centered design is to put people at the core of its
products and programs. It is about designing with and not just for the end
user, aiming to truly meet the needs of the user or clients. In short, it means
designing for people instead of problems.
Before creating a solution, human-centered design seeks to thoroughly
understand the problem by spending time with users and collecting data,
and then turning that information into deep insights about the target users.
Design thinking creates personalized data-driven solutions for specific user
groups rather than adapting existing solutions to fit a unique requirement.
Prototyping involves bringing a version of the solution into the community,
then gathering feedback for further improvements.
The three benefits of human-centered design include:
1. Checking assumptions – building on new and ambitious ideas

2. Helping to cut waste – drastically changing the way organizations
use and spend resources
3. Creating new partnerships – bringing together different types of
thinkers with different disciplinary perspectives, cultural
understandings, and creative abilities
Embrace the Principles, the Loop, and the

Keys
Before you dig too deep into Enterprise Design Thinking, let’s break down
its core Principles, discover the Loops, and take a look at the Keys.
The Principles guide you and your team
See problems and solutions as an ongoing conversation.
A focus on user outcomes

Prioritize the needs of the people who will use your solution. Success
isn’t measured by features and functions; it’s measured by how well we
fulfill users’ needs.
Restless reinvention
Everything is a prototype! Everything—even existing products and
solutions. When you think of everything as just another iteration, you can
bring new thinking to even the oldest problems.
Diverse empowered teams
Diverse teams generate more ideas than teams where everyone thinks
alike, because different perspectives provide different ideas and increase
your chance of a breakthrough. Diverse members should also empower a
team with the expertise and authority to turn ideas into outcomes.
The Loop drives you and your team
Understand users’ needs and deliver outcomes continuously
The Loop drives the team to understand the present and envision the future
in a continuous cycle of observing, reflecting, and making.

As teams gets started, they come together to understand the present and
envision the future. It is everyone’s job to learn more about your users’
world by observing, or jump in and get started by making your ideas real.
Design thinking treats everything like a prototype. Everything is an
unfinished product, that will always be iterated on, that will always be
reinvented. Teams can observe, reflect, and make over and over again as
they try to solve a problem.
The Keys align you and your team
The Keys help keep teams focused and aligned on outcomes that matter to
users.
Enterprise Design Thinking introduces three core practices—the Keys—to
help solve well-known issues that IBM experiences on complex projects.
These can be briefly described as:
 Hills align us as teams.
 Playbacks align us across time.
 Sponsor users align us with their reality.
The Keys help keep teams focused on outcomes that matter to users, and
keep in touch with real-world needs.
 There are three principles of design thinking: focus on user outcomes,

empower diverse teams, and restlessly reinvent.
 Design thinking uses the Loop to continuously understand users’
needs and deliver outcomes. Teams use the Loop to try to solve an
open-ended problem as they observe, reflect, and make.
 Everything is a prototype in design thinking, an unfinished product
that can always be iterated and reinvented.
 The Keys are used to make design thinking work at scale. Hills align
us across teams, Playbacks align teams over time, and Sponsor
Users align us with our users’ reality.
 Design thinking empowers teams to try more audacious ideas. That
freedom inherently leads to more breakthrough outcomes and better
ideas.

IBM Design Thinking

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IBM Design Thinking

What is design thinking?

From problem to solution

What’s an Empathy Map?

1. Checking assumptions – building on new and ambitious ideas

Embrace the Principles, the Loop, and the

A focus on user outcomes

 There are three principles of design thinking: focus on user outcomes,

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