Assignment- 2

Design thinking
Shivani Singh- MBA 1st year
1) Explain the six Hats.
The concept of the six thinking hats allows teams and individuals to
improve their problem-solving and decision-making processes.
Ultimately, such a methodology aims to look at situations and
problems from various perspectives, ensuring that creativity aids in
going beyond the habitual ways of thinking.
In some cases, this technique serves as a powerful lean methodology
tool, in such a way that the six hats of thinking process helps
eliminate “waste” or unnecessary conflicts and disputes during the
discussion. In turn, only clarity and productivity are left in the
process.

Organization-

Using the six thinking hats technique promotes a highly organized

process of thinking. This is because every angle tends to be
considered, which helps further weigh information and remove
unnecessary details, promoting streamlined decision making.

Creativity-

With various team members assuming unique yet common roles

during the thinking process, they are encouraged to probe situations
and suggest ways to address them, going beyond the obvious or
basic ways to do so. This, in turn, lets groups and individuals
challenge their own capabilities, get more innovative ideas, and
combine various perspectives to come up with new ones throughout
the process.
Productivity-

Since the technique strengthens key skills such as organizational

skills and creative thinking, people achieve more in fairly less time.
This is because they are more empowered to work together,
knowing the supposed direction of the discussion or problem solving
process. Hence, the six thinking hats method promotes role
ownership and responsibility.

Quality decision-making-

Ensuring that the context of the discussion is well-defined to a group

is integral to reducing conflict and encouraging a more proactive way
of thinking. One hat at a time, the members of the group can focus
on one perspective then move to the next. This leads to quality
decisions brought about by the positive impact of the process.

Inclusivity-

As the group takes on a role by assuming a common “hat” in the

process, any preconceptions may be set aside so that the group can
collectively focus on one perspective at a time. With minimal conflict
and shared understanding, everyone can feel included in the
discussion.

Interpersonal skills-

The six thinking hats technique also improves one’s listening and
communication skills. Further, using such a methodology helps
people become more persuasive as they pitch ideas, more aware of
when to support others during the discussion, and more confident
with the way they present solutions and resolve conflicts that may
occur.
2) What are the major Challenges in Design thinking?
Challenges of implementing design thinking

Even though many people consider design thinking to be an

exploratory and innovative method of problem-solving, this does not
mean that this approach is flawless.

Despite eliminating the problems that come with wanting to create

or modify a product, design thinking creates new and more complex
obstacles to overcome. Take a look at the major ones below.

A broader perspective-

Design thinking requires taking as broad a perspective as possible,

one that will make us see the big picture. As It is here that we can
encounter the first difficulties. These are the so-called social
problems that arise in every team and at every stage of design. They
can arise from researchers’ lack of familiarity with the culture,
customs or lifestyles of their clients.

Environment-

An important aspect is the environment in which researchers begin

their work. It is natural for them to start working on a project in a
place they feel at ease. Otherwise, it can make the work on the
project significantly difficult including completely changing the
researcher’s thinking. Therefore, paying attention to ensure that the
team is diverse and consists of specialists from many fields and
people who are open to new possibilities and empathetic enough to
accept various ideas.

Collaboration with specialists or departments-

Scientists and academics remain reluctant to share data with

researchers who are trying to gather information for the
investigation or implementation of a product or service. The claim
that laymen lack capabilities to develop worthy solutions is by no
means valid, so much as a view that scientists have always great and
creative ideas. The trick is to use the power of these two groups as
one and make them aware that they are equally critical. The best
solutions pop up when they join forces.

Getting to know the user and their needs-

The most important thing in the design thinking methodology is

precisely knowing the needs and problems that a potential user has.
Most people, even after the initial research, start to draw hasty
conclusions. Often the researchers create additional problems for
themselves and thus try to get to the final stage of solving them as
quickly as possible. However, this would not give the expected
results. Therefore, take all the time you require to get to know the
user inside out.

Communication-

Individuals work in a team and each of them wants their idea to be

noticed. Each person may have their own point of view and vision for
creating a prototype. This results in many versions of one idea and
thus controversies and misunderstandings related to it. Therefore,
every manager, must constantly work on communication in the team
and make sure that everyone will be fully heard – after all,
researchers are working on a common idea.

3) Elaborate the role and techniques applied in Design thinking.

The Design Thinking Research Role-

Most design thinking projects will start with a research phase. The
research phase gives the context needed for the Empathize part of
the work, but that is not all. Design research is also an input into
the Definition phase and can inform Ideation and help in the Test
phase.
Design thinking projects that skip the research work generally fail.
Design thinking requires rich contextual knowledge about …

 Larger social, cultural and environmental factors that create

the overall context
 Past solutions, what has worked or not, in what contexts
 Root causes, what has led to the situation, what forces keep
the situation in place, what could be changed
 Stakeholders, their experiences, situation and aspirations
(often captured in persona and journey maps)

Design thinking research combines qualitative and quantitative

research and often includes some form of ethnographic research.
This last point is interesting. We have learned a great deal from
ethnography on how to understand communities of users. Research
here can range from simple observation and the study of artifacts
to a full participant observer study.

Techniques-

1 – Empathize
For every successful product, empathy is at the heart of design. If
you do not understand what others feel, see, desire, or experience,
then this whole process is pointless. To understand what the target
audience desires or feels, it’s essential to engage with users to gather
information. Discover stories and find out responses to various
situations.

Empathy is a phase where you come back from time to time in order
to understand the desires further, which tells you more about what
the users want so that you can improvise accordingly. You might
have come across questionnaires on Facebook for feedback to help
them improve the user experience. Every product keeps improving
with the desires of users. If you are launching a new product, you
may ask friends and relatives about the problem identified and
discover different angles to the same story, which will help you in the
later stages.

2 – Define
Defining the problem statement is essential to ensure all team
members understand what users want and are aligned with the
needs of the users. Your application would be used by various
personas, which makes it vital to identify who would interact with
your product and their needs. At times, we assume having everything
in our mind will be fine in later stages, but in most cases, we miss out
a few points, due to which the product suffers. If every member of
your team has a clear understanding of the problem they need to
solve, you would not only save time and increase relevancy of ideas
in later stages, but also improve the quality of work produced.

3 – Ideate
With the data collected so far, it’s time to bring them to use.
Generating ideas is a collaborative approach. In this approach, we
don’t look for the right idea; the aim is to generate the broadest
range of possibilities. In generating ideas, we mainly use
brainstorming techniques.

Brainstorming is a group technique where efforts are made to find as

many solutions to a problem. The focus should be on the quantity of
ideas in a defined time. Chances of producing a radical and effective
solution increases when you have a broader range of ideas. Every
team member should be encouraged to participate openly, as their
ideas would not be laughed upon, but instead improvised. Hence, it’s
essential to defer judgement. At times, ideas that may seem funny
are the ones that are improvised to meet the needs of users.
“Minds are like parachutes; they only function when they are
open” – Albert Einstein
Brainstorming helps in generating new ideas and thinking outside the
box. There are many brainstorming techniques which you can use.
The widely used ones are group ideation, mind mapping, and SWOT
analysis.

4 – Prototype
After selection of the best ideas generated during the brainstorming
sessions, you start creating a prototype of the solution. You build to
think, and test to learn when prototyping.

Prototyping helps in communication. Images have a stronger impact

on the human brain, and make it easier to interpret the idea being
conveyed. The advantage prototyping provides are enormous. You
can have better feedback when communicating with a set of people
as they would have graphical representations of a possible solution
in front to give an honest opinion. It’s also the cheapest and quickest
way to fail, which is essential early on, to improvise for a great
product. Moreover, with prototypes you can also present multiple
solutions without much investment of cost and time, which keeps
you open to ideas and suggestions.

5 – Test
“Fail fast and cheap. Fail often. Fail in a way that doesn’t kill you” –
Seth Godin
Test your prototype with users to learn about your solution and your
target audience. It will help you analyze what further needs to be
done, what is working and what is not, the pain points of users and
the glitches in experience. This helps you avoid any potential disaster
beforehand at a very low cost. So far, you haven’t created a product.
You are showing prototypes on paper. Cost? Low. Improvisation?
Quick!
4) Explain the role of creativity in industry.

Role of creativity in industry-

High overall success

There is a misconception that people only need intelligence to

achieve everything they need in life.

However, it takes time for aspiring entrepreneurs to realize that

creativity plays an integral role as well.

Unfortunately, a lot of learning institutions stress more on

intelligence than creative thinking. It could perhaps be because
intellectual knowledge is measurable whereas creativity can be
challenging to spot. Nonetheless, dynamics are changing, and
entrepreneurs are beginning to realize the importance of bringing
creative people on board. Creative workers can be a game changer in
your company if you harness and shape their skills adequately.

Increase productivity

Creativity allows an entrepreneur to disconnect from the

accustomed and move into uncharted territories with an aim to
discern unique and useful solutions.

It has, therefore, become essential for both leaders and employees

to develop creative skills.
Entrepreneurs are providing the necessary technological resources
such as visual collaboration, which is often confused with video
conferencing to help their workers discover innovative solutions and
ideas.

In fact, this is an extremely cost-effective strategy to increase

workplace productivity. Innovation and creativity bring an
entrepreneur to the success path.

Exploit employee potential

You are probably utilizing only half of your employee’s potential by

not encouraging workplace creativity.

Fortunately, entrepreneurs increasingly realize the ocean of creative

ideas that remain untapped and dormant.

Tapping all these opportunities can result in improved financial

strategies, increased profitability, and quick decision making.
Creativity also enables an enterprise to stay ahead of the curve.

Transcend boundaries

Creativity enables entrepreneurs to find some of the path-breaking

discoveries.

As such, it’s essential to allow collisions and blur to take place to

transcend boundaries set by disciplines.

That way, it’s easier for an entrepreneur to get new perspectives

towards solving a financial or operational problem.
Creativity lets an entrepreneur connect distinct aspects and
extrapolate feasible solutions from unrelated concepts.

Encourage critical thinking

Creativity is slowly turning out to be one of the best ways to alleviate

problems plaguing today’s enterprises.

Problem-solving works best when coupled with highly disciplined and

focused thinking. Entrepreneurs can think in either divergent or
convergent thinking mode.

Convergent thinking involves in-depth analysis and enables an

entrepreneur to find the most feasible solution to a managerial or
financial problem.

It allows entrepreneurs to use various data sources such as

accounting software and computer systems.

In contrast, divergent thinking encourages creativity by enabling

business owners to explore possible solutions for the same problem.

While entrepreneurs can combine both thinking modes, divergent

thinking ensures an enterprise gets the best resolution.

Foster innovation

Manufacturers create unique products to not only meet customer

expectations but exceed them as well.

As such, entrepreneurs need to be cautious to ensure their products

are relevant and useful to the users.
While it may be hard to spot this from the beginning, things start to
get more evident as your idea turns into a reality.

In fact, this is the time an entrepreneur begins to realize

how innovation and invention differ. The invention refers to a new,
unique concept while innovation is an idea which is as unique and
useful as the original one.

5) What are the sources of innovation?

Transformational innovations seem obvious once they’re seen
through the rear-view mirror. It’s only when you have to look at the
blank, open road of possibilities in front of you that developing
innovative new ideas seems a tad more difficult!
Take Starbucks, for example, with its high-quality, high-price coffee
and the idea of a ‘third place’ for people to meet, work and socialize.
Of course, you might tell yourself, that was always an idea that
would succeed. But, back in the early1990s, could you honestly
envisage truck drivers paying £2.50 or more for a coffee, let alone
the concept of a chain of thousands of branded coffee shops across
the world?
In other words, truly innovative business ideas are hard to come by.
We need all the help we can get. In my new e-book, How To Be An
Innovation Leader, I set out five different sources of innovation ideas
and how you can work with these sources to create new, exciting
and innovative growth ideas.

The five sources are:

1. Focus on what won’t change: What are the customer needs and

preferences that will remain constant over the next decade that
you can focus on to drive new growth?
2. Exploit the unexpected: What are the surprise successes and
failures that you or your competitors are facing, and how can you
exploit those events to drive new growth?

3. Steal, don’t imitate: What ideas can you transfer from other

markets and industries and bring into your own?

4. Mind the gaps: What are the frustrations and compromises that

your – and your competitors’ –customers have to accept to buy
and use your products and services?

5. Stick to your strategic essence: What products and services would

you offer, and what changes to your operating model would you
deliver, if you focused exclusively on extending and strengthening
your strategic advantages?