●

Reference Books:
1. Christoph Meinel and Larry Leifer, “Design Thinking”, Springer, 2011

2. Aders Riise Maehlum, “Extending the TILES Toolkit” from Ideation

to Prototyping

3. http://www.algarytm.com/it-executives-guide-to-design-thinking:e-book.

4. Marc stickdorn and Jacob Schneider, “This is Service Design Thinking”,

Wiely, 2011

5. Pahl and Vietz, “Engineering Design”, Springer, 2007.

 UNIT-I

1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction to Design
Depending on the industry we are talking about, design can have many
different definitions. Most generally, “design” is a process for deliberately
creating a product to meet a set of needs. Mobile app development requires both
engineering design and product design. Engineering design focuses on physics,
such as speed, mass and other performance measures while product design also
considers user and consumers by asking what the user wants in a product. Thus,
Design is a realization of a concept or idea into a configuration, drawing or a
product.

1.2 Characteristics of successful product development

A product is something sold by an enterprise to its customers or a product is
a set of attributes offered to customers to fulfill their needs or requirements. It is
obtained by conversion of raw material. The product is an entity for which clear

idea of its design and development is known. The purpose of the product should be
clearly visible.
Product Design & Development (PDD)

 Basic need of every manufacturing company

 Consumers want and expect new and better products

 Not to innovate approach is becoming increasingly risky

 Innovating new product is expensive and risky

What is product development?

 Product Development is the set of activities, beginning with the perception of

a market opportunity and ending in the production, sales and delivery of a
product.

 The goal of the subject is to present a clear and detailed way a set of product
development methods while focusing together the marketing, Design and
manufacturing functions of the organization.

1.3 Product Development Process

 Product development is an interdisciplinary activity requiring contribution
from the following three functions.

Marketing

Design

Manufacturing

Marketing: The marketing function mediates the interactions between the firm and
its customers. Marketing also typically arranges for communication between the firm
and its customers, sets target prices and oversees the launch and promotion of the
product.

Design: The design function plays the lead role in defining the physical form of the
product to best meet customer needs. In this context, the design function includes
engineering design (mechanical, electrical, software etc.) and industrial design
(aesthetics, ergonomics, user interfaces).

Manufacturing: The manufacturing function is primarily responsible for

designing and operating the production system in order to produce the product.
Broadly defined, the manufacturing function also often includes purchasing,
distribution and installation. This collection of activities is sometimes called the
supply chain.
Elements of a Product Development

Team Project team

Few products are developed by a single individual. The collection of individuals

developing a product forms the project team. This team usually has a single team
leader who could be drawn from any of functions of the firm. The team can be
thought of as consisting of a core team and an extended team.

Core team

In order to work together effectively, the core team usually remains small enough to
meet in a conference room.

Extended team

While the extended team may consist of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of other
members.

Development Team

Reasons for expensive and risky:

 Most of the product ideas which go to product development stage never

reach the market due to non availability of money, technology, manpower or
due to change in demand.
  Many products that do reach the market are not successful mainly due to
inferior quality, high product cost, poor functionality, poor marketing skills
or change in demand.

 Successful products tend to have a shorter life due to change in demand,

stiff competition or rapid technological changes.

Thus, management finds itself in a dilemma, it must development new product, yet
the odds weight heavily against their success.

Product identification related factors:

 Gap in demand i.e. Demand > Supply

 Under-utilized resources-contract manufacturing– lending of facilities

 Diversification- limited customer base

 New product ideas- friends, co-workers, environment.

Product Analysis

 Performed before actual design starts

 It is based on the information collected about the customer’s requirements

and the level of competition.

 Its objective should be to satisfy as many functions as possible.

 Its objective should be to keep the product cost as low as possible.

 It is a trade off b/w product cost and functionality.

 It focuses on multiple product concepts

Why Product Analysis is So Imp.?

 Design modifications are more expensive at later stage of product life.

 Design modifications are unwelcomed, once the product is launched

 Design modifications at later stage also delay the launch of a new product.

Several aspects are considered for product analysis:

  Functionality aspect

 Operational aspect

 Quality aspect

 Reliability aspect

 Durability aspect

 Maintainability aspect

 Aesthetic aspect

Factors to study for PDD

 Marketing related factors

 Prestige of the company

 Technologically sound products

 Customer’s requirements

 Market potential

 Product life

 Competition

Stages in Product life Cycle

 Introduction

 Growth

 Maturity

 Decline

Legal Factors

 Environment pollution

 Import restriction on capital goods

 Restriction on finance

Finance related factors

  Capitalinvestment-manufacturing resources, plant and machinery

 Cash generation

 Govt. support

 Shares

 Fixed Deposits

Manufacturing related factors

 Availability of technological know- how- its cost, related equipments

 Cost of Manufacturing facilities

 Quality of manufactured products – customer requirement

 Rate of production – market demand

Distribution related factors

 Availability of distributors- reputation, facilities and manpower

 Availability of ware houses- space requirement, cost and facilities

 After sale service- maintenance, repair, spares, cost

 Sales personnel – marketing skills, implementation of sale promotional

schemes etc.

Organization related factors

 Skill requirement both workers and managers

 Availability of manager, labor etc.

 Salary and wages of workers – cost implications

Characteristics
Successful product development means “Development of a product that can be
produced and sold profitably.(Very difficult to achieve quickly and
directly).Generally there are five specific dimensions used to measure the
performance of product development effort.

1. Product Quality: Product quality is ultimately reflected in market share and

the price that customers are willing to pay.
  How good is the product resulting from the development effort team.

 Does it satisfy customer needs?

 Is it robust and reliable?

2. Product Cost:

 Product cost determines how much profit accrues to the firm for a
particular sales volume and a particular sales price.

 Capital equipment +Tooling + Incremental cost

3. Development Time:

 How quickly did the team complete the development effort .

 It determines how responsive the firm can be to competitive forces and

to technological development

4. Development Cost:

 It is usually a fraction of investment required to achieve profit.

5. Development Capability:

• Development capability is an asset the firm can useto develop products more
effectively and economically in the future.

• Future Scope

3. Product development process

Product development is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a

business or enterprise to its customers. Development refers collectively to the entire
process of identifying a market opportunity, creating a product to appeal to the
identified market, and finally, testing, modifying and refining the product until it is
ready for production.

A development process can be understood as a risk management system .In the

early phase of product development, various risks are identified. As the process
progresses, risks are reduced as the key uncertainties are eliminated and the functions
of the product are validated . When the process is completed, the team should have
substantial confidence that the product will work correctly and be well received by the
market.

The initial concept development process is important because a better design

process leads to a better design outcome. Decisions made during the early stages of
design tightly constrain future options. It is estimated that 70% cost of a product is
determined in the first 30% of the design cycle.

Planning:

 This is also called as the “zero phase” since it precedes the project approval
and launch of the actual product development process.

 The output of this phase is the project mission statement, which specifies the
target market for the product, business goals, key assumptions, and
constraints.

Concept development:

 Good concept development is crucial, during this stage the needs of the target
market are identified, competitive products are reviewed, product
specifications are defined, a product concept is elected, an economic analysis
is done, and the development project is outlined.

 This stage provides the foundation for the development effort, and if poorly
done can undermine the entire effort.

System level design:

  Includes the definition of the product architecture and the decomposition of
the product into subsystem and components.

 The o/p of this phase usually includes a geometric layout of the product, a
functional specification of each of the products subsystem and preliminary
process flow diagram for final assembly process.

Detail design:

 Detail design, or design-for-manufacture, is the stage wherein the necessary

engineering is done for every component of the product.

 During this phase, each part is identified and engineered. Tolerances,

materials, and finishes and specification of standard parts to be purchased
from suppliers are defined, and the design is documented with drawings or
computer files.

 Process plan and tooling for each part is The output of this phase is the control
documentation for the product.

Testing and refinement:

 During the testing and refinement stage, a number of prototypes are built and
tested. Early alpha prototypes are built with prodn.

 Intent parts but not necessarily fabricated with actual processes. It is necessary
to determine whether the performance of the product matches the
specifications, and to uncover design shortfalls and gain in-the-field
experience with the product in use.

 Later, beta prototypes are built from the first production components received
from suppliers.

Production ramp-up:

 During production ramp-up, the work force is trained as the first products are
being assembled.

 The comparatively slow product build provides time to work out any
remaining problems with supplier components, fabrication, and assembly
procedures.
  The staff and supervisory team is organized, beginning with a core team, and
line workers are trained by assembling production units.

ELOPMENT PROCESS PHASES A GENERIC DEV

A GENERIC DEVELOPMENT PROCESS PHASES

1.4 Identification of opportunities

Design Thinking is a design methodology that provides a solution-based

approach to solving problems. It’s extremely useful in tackling complex problems that
are ill-defined or unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-
framing the problem in human-centric ways, by creating many ideas
in brainstorming sessions, and by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and
testing.

Empathizing: Understanding the human needs involved.

Defining: Re-framing and defining the problem in human-centric ways.

Ideating: Creating many ideas in ideation sessions.

Prototyping: Adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping.

Testing: Developing aprototype/ solution to the problem.

Empathizing:

The first stage of the Design Thinking process is to gain an empathic

understanding of the problem you are trying to solve. This involves consulting experts
to find out more about the area of concern through observing, engaging and
empathizing with people to understand their experiences and motivations, as well as
immersing yourself in the physical environment so you can gain a deeper personal
understanding of the issues involved. Empathy is crucial to a human-centered design
process such as Design Thinking, and empathy allows design thinkers to set aside
their own assumptions about the world in order to gain insight into users and their
needs.

Defining:

During the Define stage, you put together the information you have created
and gathered during the Empathize stage. This is where you will analyze your
observations and synthesize them in order to define the core problems that you and
your team have identified up to this point. You should seek to define the problem as
a problem statement in a human - centered manner.

Ideating:

During the third stage of the Design Thinking process, designers are ready to
start generating ideas. You’ve grown to understand your users and their needs in the
Empathize stage, and you’ve analyzed and synthesized your observations in the
Define stage, and ended up with a human-centered problem statement.
 With this solid background, you and your team members can start to "think
outside the box" to identify new solutions to the problem statement you’ve created,
and you can start to look for alternative ways of viewing the problem.

Prototyping:

 The design team will now produce a number of inexpensive, scaled down
versions of the product or specific features found within the product, so they can
investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage.

 Prototypes may be shared and tested within the team itself, in other departments,
or on a small group of people outside the design team. This is an experimental
phase, and the aim is to identify the best possible solution for each of the
problems identified during the first three stages.

 The solutions are implemented within the prototypes, and, one by one, they are
investigated and either accepted, improved and re-examined, or rejected on the
basis of the users’ experiences.

Testing:

Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product using the best
solutions identified during the prototyping phase. This is the final stage of the 5 stage-
model, but in an iterative process, the results generated during the testing phase are
often used to redefine one or more problems and inform the understanding of the
users, the conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathize.

1.5 PRODUCT PLANNING

1. Developing the product concept:

 The first phase of product planning is developing the product concept.

Marketing managers usually create ideas for new products by
identifying certain problems that consumers face or various customers
need.

2. Studying the market:

 The next step in the product planning process is studying the competition.
Secondary research usually provides details on key competitors and their market
share, which is the percent of total sales that they hold in the marketplace.
 The business can then determine places in which it has an advantage over the
 competition to identify areas of opportunity. Market research is a complex task.
It must include an analysis of products that are indirect competitors products
manufactured by the company observed.

3. Market research:

 A small company should consider doing both qualitative and quantitative

marketing research for its new product. Focus groups are an example of qualitative
information. Focus groups allow companies to ask their consumers about their likes
and dislike of a product in small groups.

 A focus group allows the company to tweak the product concept before testing it
through phone surveys a more quantitative marketing research function.

 Market research is the one stage of product planning and it can be regarded as the
way to accomplish the activity though designing questions, preparing the samples,
collecting data and analyzing.

 Market researchers always use quantitative and qualitative research to differentiate

the methods of investigation into those which are cared about getting an
understanding of a subject and those which are involved in measuring things.

 Quantitative research is about understanding aspects of a market or what kinds of

customers making up the market. And it can be split into soft and hard parts. Soft
part means phenomena like customer attitudes and hard part is market size, brand
shares and so on.

 The differences between quantitative and qualitative research can be summarized

that qualitative research is always open-ended, more flexible, gives consumers more
creativity, pays more attention to deeper understanding so that they can get deeper
data and richer ideas and quantitative research are usually statistical and numerical
measurement and people will be divided into groups to get sampling or
comparisons.

4. Product introduction:

 If the survey results prove favorable, the company may decide to sell the new
product on a small scale or regional basis.

 During this time, the company will distribute the products in one or more
cities.
  The company will run advertisements and sales promotions for the product,
tracking sales results to determine the products potential success.

 If sales figures are favorable, the company will then expand distribution even
further. Eventually, the company may be able to sell the product on a national
basis.

5. Product life cycle:

 Product planning must also include managing the product through various stages of
its product life cycle.

 These stages include the introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages. Sales
are usually strong during the growth phase, while competition is low.

 The first stage is introduction which means it is time for a company or brand to
promote its new products.

 The goal of introduction is to attract customers’ attention as much as possible and

confirm the products’ initial distribution, the company does not need to worry about
the competition generally as the products are new.

 In this stage, there will have the first communication between marketers and
customers as it will be the first time for consumers to know about the new products.

 In addition, the cost of the things will be high like research, testing and
development and the sales are low as the new products’ market is small.

 The second stage is growth. In this stage, the new products have been accepted in
the market and their sales and profits has begun to increase, the competition has
happened so that the company will promote their quality to stay competitive.

 The products also have basic consumers’ attention and can develop their loyal
customers. There will have second communication as marketers can start to receive
customers’ feedback and then make improvements.

 The third stage is maturity where the sales and profit have grown slowly and will
reach their peak.

 The competitions between companies and brands will be fierce so that the
companies will go out of their ways like providing higher quality products with a
lower price or thinking about any improvements to survive in the competitions and
 make profits maximum.

 The last one is decline which means the product is going to end and be
discontinued.

 The sales of product will decrease until it is no longer in demand as it has become
saturated, all the customers who want to buy this product has already got that.

 Then the company or brand will cut down the old products and pays attention to
designing and developing the new products to gain back the customer base, stay in
the markets and make profits.

Product Planning

Product planning is a process that involves all the activities, right from the
conception of the product idea to the introduction of the product in the market.

It includes product engineering and product design. Product planning basically

represents the core of the process of manufacturing.

Its main purpose is to organize resources in such a manner so as to manage

costs, time, staff, and other resources.

Any manufacturing process reaches its full potential if the product planning
operation is efficient at its best.

Product Planning may take either of the two forms:

A. Creating an entirely new product or adding an existing product line.

B. Modifying an existing product suitable to latest changes.

Development of new products is important to meet the ever-changing ‘needs and

wants’ of consumers. Businesses may also introduce new products or update existing
versions if products have reached the end of their lifecycle.

Product planning is also important to counter competitors and environmental

changes that the company wishes to capitalize on. Once a decision is made to
undertake product planning, the following steps are followed:

1. Idea Generation:

 The process of product planning typically commences with idea generation.

 A brainstorming session may be held to decide on types of products that need to

 be manufactured.

 Product concepts are devised to fill the void in the marketplace or to meet
customer expectations.

 For this reason, it is important to undertake market research, SWOT (Strength,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat) analysis of the company, and analysis of
competitors’ products, while encouraging product ideas from employees and
partners.

2. Idea Screening:

 This stage is crucial as it helps to eliminate ideas that are not feasible.

 Ideas are short-listed and finally, the most preferred product is zeroed in on. Idea
screening is an essential process of filtering.

 Factors like return on investment, market potential, company objectives, and

affordability are taken into consideration while selecting the final idea.

 These factors are considered carefully, so as to avoid product failure down the
line.

3. Concept Development:

 Customers are regarded as central to any business.

 Hence, it is important that their feedback is taken into consideration. It helps to

develop a better understanding of customer needs and to identify the marketing
message of the product.

 Businesses may also hire external market research teams to conduct surveys via
the internet, phone or mail.

 These professionals conduct surveys and the information is then tabulated into
bar graphs, pie diagrams, line bars, and other analytical tools for the ease of
understanding.

4. Product Development:

 Once the product concept gets a go-ahead, it is then passed to the marketing
stage for the creation of a limited production model in which companies develop
their products on a small scale in the beginning to see if the response is favorable.
  This helps to reduce costs in case the product fails to take off. Companies also
run advertisements and sales promotions, while tracking sales to determine the
potential for success.

5. Product Lifecycle:

 Product planning does not stop with the introduction of the product.

 It also includes managing the product at various stages in the lifecycle. In the
initial phase, sales may show a steady increase.

 Over time, competitors will introduce similar products that will result in a
decrease in sales or a diminished market share.

 At this stage, various strategies need to be implemented, such as reduction of

product prices, mass production, promotions and offers, product modifications,
and the formulation of different marketing and distribution approaches.

 The process of product planning should be seen as a form of continuous

development, with limitless opportunities.

 Though it requires heavy commitment of technology, finance and staff, it helps

in preventing a product failure.

1.6 Innovation in Product Develpoment

Product Innovation: Product Planning in a Nutshell:

 Innovate or die is the stark message for businesses, but it is no less true, as no
business can sell the same product in its existing form for an indefinite period.

 Along with dynamic changes in the business environment, businesses need to

respond to these changes through their products and services.

 If products offered are not tailored according to the needs and requirements of
consumers, they will switch to competitor products.

 This in turn would reduce sales and profits. Hence, product innovation means
product planning is a crucial function in any business.
 UNIT-1
2 marks questions

1. Explain Design Thinking.

2. Define Product and Product Development.

3. Write a short note on design.

4. Explain Why Product Analysis is so important ?

10 marks question:

1. Explain Product Development in detail.

2. Discuss phases of a generic development process.

3. Discuss Prototyping and Testing in detail.

 UNIT-2

2 INTRODUCTION

2.1 What is design thinking?

Design Thinking is a comprehensive customer-oriented innovation approach

that aims to generate and develop creative business ideas or entire business models.
Essentially, Design Thinking attempts to project designers' approaches and methods
onto business processes.

The approach is ultimately applicable to all kinds of business ideas , whether

they have a product or service character. The first mouse for the Macintosh computer
was created after a similar approach, or the first toothbrush with a wider ergonomic
shaft.

Features of Design Thinking can be summarized as follows:

1. Design Thinking is an integrative approach: This means that for problem solving,
the process of problem solving is considered together with its framework conditions.
The problem analysis and solution development are considered systematically and
holistically in the form of a process. The various experts necessary for problem
analysis and solution development are involved and enter into exchange with each
other.

2. The working environment for this process is designed to promote creativity.

One also speaks here of the three Ps of Design Thinking , People (the human being),
Process (the problem solving process) and Place (the working spaces) must be
considered for a successful idea development. A fourth P can be Partnerships, since a
large number of partners must be involved in the development and implementation of
ideas.

3. focuses on early customer orientation: Design Thinking starts with people and not
with a technology or a business goal. Ultimately, the customer should have a decisive
influence on the "go/stop" decisions in the process. It is no longer sufficient to
question customers about the classic market research instruments. Traditional
methods of (testing) market research often only deliver disappointing results in the
search for innovations.

4. emphasizes Empathy: The central element is to put oneself in the position of the
customer/user and to observe him in detail. Empathy can create distance to the
innovator's own person on the one hand and proximity to the customer on the other.
In other words, this approach creates customer orientation. Developments can thus be
better aligned with the customers and, if necessary, prioritized to what extent they can
satisfy the needs and wishes of these customers.

5. strives to make ideas tangible at an early stage: Prototypes must be created as

quickly as possible this also applies to immaterial services. It is not a question of
testing a quasi-finished (perfect) product, but quite the opposite: individual
functions/features/characteristics or activities of the product/service offer are to be
checked by the customer. The maxim when creating or selecting a prototype is: as
simple as possible, as meaningful as necessary. consists of frequent iteration loops
between the development phases. The return to a previous phase is not a mistake, but
shows the learning success in this process. Failure is an integral part of this approach
and should be tolerated, accepted and even expected by all participants. The motto is:
"Fail fast to succeed sooner".

6. Pay attention to the diversity of the participants. Design Thinking combines

interdisciplinary breadth and technical depth: The knowledge, experience and
perspectives of a team of engineers, natural scientists, humanists, social scientists and
economists, etc., who have the ability for multidisciplinary cooperation, are put to
good use.

Furthermore, differences in age, gender, affiliation to the company (long-time/for

the time being short in the company), experience with the topic (intensive, little, not
at all) and/or personality type (introverted, extroverted, etc.) should be taken into
account.

7. creates team-oriented, creative working spaces: "Me"-spaces (for individual

work) and "We"-spaces (for group work) are flexible and inspiring to equip for
individual, group and plenary work. It can be advisable to choose different locations,
rooms or furniture arrangements for the different Design Thinking phases in order to
create new atmospheres (suitable for the respective work) again and again.
8. combines analytical phases (collecting, organizing, evaluating information) and
synthetic phases (developing, testing, improving solutions). In the first part, the
problem is analysed in detail (so-called problem space), where the focus is on
what? and why? (what is the problem? why is it a problem?). Only in the second part
concrete solutions are developed and tested (so- called solution space): Here the
question is asked about the "how (something can be solved)".

In addition, one can differentiate between divergent phases, which lead to an

expansion of the perspective by collecting information or generating ideas, and
convergent phases, which lead to a focusing of the field of vision by making
decisions between alternatives.

These divergent and convergent phases alternate, so that the Design Thinking process
is framed by a double diamond .

2.2 Principles of Design thinking

When carrying out the Design Thinking process described below, the following
principles must be observed, quasi the "Ten Commandments of Design Thinking”:

1. Leave titles at the door!

There is no hierarchy during a Design Thinking workshop. Chef and other rolls
are hung on the coat hook.

2.Encourage wild ideas!

Let your imagination run wild. Any (supposedly) crazy idea and every idea should be
treated equally.

3.O Go for quantity!

Quantity before quality. Selected, analyzed and evaluated later.

4. Build on Ideas of others!

There is no copyright. Ideas from others should be taken up, supplemented or

changed.

5. Think human centered!

Design Thinking is first and foremost thinking about people and not about

technology or business goals.

6.Be visual and make it tangible!

Use drawings, illustrations, photos, videos, prototypes, etc.

7.Avoid criticism!

Idea generation and evaluation must be strictly separated.

8.Fail early and often!

Failure means learning. Often failure means that you have learned a lot.

9.Stay focused!

Set yourself limits, stick to the concrete tasks in the Design Thinking

process**.

10. Let`s have fun!

Developing new ideas in a team should be fun. Creativity needs this fun.

The rule "Stay focused! appears at first contradictory to the rule "Encourage wild
ideas! Experience with creative processes has shown, however, that setting clear
boundaries or limitations, in which the imagination should be given free rein, is a
target-oriented approach for the idea generation and, in particular, development phase
("necessity makes invention!"). Such limits may include, but are not limited to, the
broad direction set by the vision and corporate strategy, specific time and cost
objectives (e.g. product/service offering to be launched within X months), a specific
regional focus, number of new features, compliance with regulatory constraints or
limited resources available. speak here aptly of "Thinking Inside the Box" in order to
add a counterpoint to the "Thinking Out of the Box" mainstream approach .

In individual cases, a balance must be struck between, on the one hand, the
danger of stifling unconventional ideas with potential and, on the other, pursuing
utopian spinning.

Staying focused also refers to the Design Thinking process described below.
Limits here can mean setting clear time budgets for the individual phases or
specifying for whom, how and where the solution is to be used. Used to the right
extent and communicated in a challenging way, these limitations can promote
creativity and have a motivating and inspiring effect on the Design Thinking team.
2.3 The process of Design Thinking

“Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's
really how it works."- Steve Jobs, Apple

Design Thinking process consists of six process steps with iteration loops:
Understanding, observing, defining problems, finding ideas, developing prototypes
and testing. The initial three phases, the so-called problem space, describe the
problem and its causes (what is the problem and why is the problem there?). The
subsequent three phases, the so-called solution space, describe which solutions there
can be and how these can be implemented.The process steps are described briefly
below and then explained in more detail step by step.

Even if the following process representation is shown sequentially, the process

is strongly iterative, i.e. there are numerous feedbacks to the previous phases in each
phase. The individual process steps should be completed quickly in order to learn
fast through iteration loops according to the "fail early and often" principle or, if
necessary, to be able to terminate the process completely. It is helpful to define
concrete time budgets for the individual phases (in agile project management, this is
referred to as Timeboxing, see chapter 8.5).

Phase 1 “Understand“ (Understanding the Problem):

In the first phase it is first about developing an understanding for the challenge/the
problem/the need or the requirement (problem understanding). It must be clarified
who has to be integrated into the process and, in particular, which technical
perspective (process organisation) is necessary Finally, it must be clarified how the
question can best be formulated so that the customer need/problem is defined in
concrete terms.

Phase 2 “Observe“:

In this phase, detailed research and on-site observations are carried out on the
customer's need/problem. Numerous methods can be used for this, such as interviews,
written surveys, observations with recordings through photos or even videos. The
results are the clarification of the general conditions, the exact definition of the target
group and a comprehensive understanding of the customer and his needs and
behaviour.
Phase 3 “Point-of-View“ (Define the problem):

After the observations, the findings should next be condensed to a single

prototypical user whose problem/need is to be summarized in a clearly defined
question.

Phase 4 “Ideate“ (Finding and selecting ideas):

It is only in this phase that the actual brainstorming process takes place. Here the
creativity techniques can be used. Strictly separated from this, the ideas can then be
analysed in a customer-oriented manner in order to identify weak points, and a
selection decision can be made on the basis of an idea evaluation.

Phase 5 „Prototype“ (Develop the prototype):

In this very important phase, ideas should be visualized as quickly as possible,

made tangible, sketched, designed, modelled/simulated, etc. Following the technical
field one can speak here of "Rapid Prototyping", whereby the prototype development
applies decidedly not only to products, but also to services. A variety of methods for
prototype development are available for this purpose.

Phase 6 “Test“:

In this final phase, the ideas are to be further developed and tested through
further experiments and customer feedback. In addition, important development,
production and market issues have to be clarified.

In the process flow presented here, the actual implementation phase with the
development of the idea to a marketable product/service would only follow
afterwards.
Process of Design Thinking supplemented with the Double-Diamond model
2.4 Innovation in design thinking
Design thinking provides a consistent approach to defining challenges.

Employing Design Thinking:

 Inspiration: during which the problem that motivates solution-finding is

identified.

 Ideation: the process of generating and developing ideas.

 Implementation: the activities that enable a creative idea to move from the
drawing board to the marketplace.

Module 1:

 Idea Generation In this module we will explore various approaches to

innovative thinking and techniques for idea generation from a range of
sources.

 In addition to Nominal Group Technique, Round Robin, and Creative Matrix,

we will cover the Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) approach and its tools.
(SIT is a rigorous approach to problem solving that evolved from the TRIZ
engineering tradition.)

Module 2:

 Concept Development This module will focus on the critical role that
prototyping, experimenting, and iteration play in the development of ideas.

 From the designer's perspective, failure - when designed to occur early and
cheaply - can be a rich source of learning that often reveals new options and
nearly always leads to a better final outcome.

Module 3:

 Implementation Until an idea is implemented, it remains just that-an idea.

 This module will focus on tools and approaches for thinking creatively (and
strategically) about implementing ideas and bringing innovative ideas to the
marketplace.
2.5 BENEFITS OF DESIGN THINKING

Reduced Risk of Launching New Ideas:

 Design Thinking focuses on showing prototypes to sponsor users early and

often.

 This ensures that new ideas stay on a course that will actually meet user needs,
while eliminating the churn and cost of bad ideas.

 The end result is product launches backed by more data and imbued with more
confidence.

Innovative Solutions and Offerings :

 Too often, businesses fall into the trap of internally creating ideas that are just
incremental improvements on existing products and services.

 Incremental improvements are fine, but they can leave a business at risk of
being disrupted from the outside.

 Design Thinking engages creativity through a process designed to surface

truly innovative ideas and then test them quickly. The results can provide far
greater upside.

Faster Pace of Learning :

 The Design Thinking process is designed to get multiple people from multiple
departments (plus sponsor users) in a room at once to generate a high quantity
of ideas.

 Then, because everything is a prototype, you can stage and test ideas quickly,
allowing you to pursue further where you have traction and move on when
you don’t. The result is a faster pace of learning and solutioning.

Happier Users:

 When you actually listen to users and give them input about what you’re
building, they are happier with the end result. This may seem like an obvious
thought, but Design Thinking seems to be one of the best tools for actually
breaking down the wall between company leaders and actual users.
More Revenue and Returns :

 A recent McKinsey study identified significant financial benefits of a human-

centered design approach: 32% more revenue and 56% higher total returns.

 This extensive study goes to show that there can be a significant financial,
measurable outcomes and ROI that result from a consistent Design Thinking
approach to business.

2.6 Design thinking and innovation, case studies.

The Design Thinking process is particularly useful because it generates a unique

and specific outcome: knowledge.

This methodology has a wider scope of use, but for the purpose of this Design
Thinking Case Study, we will focus only on one specific field - Software Product
Development.

The Theory of Design Thinking

Before we delve into the practical applications of the Design Thinking ,let’s take
a deeper look at the Design Thinking process.

Design Thinking is a methodology that provides a solution-based approach to

solve problems. It focuses on understanding the user perspective, with a human-
centered point of view. The power of this methodology is the possibility to test
quickly if an idea, solution or enhancement can bring real results to our customers.
Integrating different methodologies, tools, and techniques coming from different
fields (marketing, psychology, design, business), the purpose of Design Thinking is to
put the user on the very center of the problem we have to solve.

The goal of the methodology is to “find the user itself and define its needs” and
by finding those needs, create a solution or a product that can be really useful. To
achieve this goal, the whole concept is split into six design thinking phases.

1. Empathize: The goal of this phase is to understand your customer, by searching

and gathering information about their business. During this phase, we can use several
different tools, such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and surveys
2. Define: In this phase, we collect and categorize information from the Empathize
phase. It’s here where we define User Personas and User Journeys.

3. Ideate: Using the above information, here the team ideates solutions. There are no
silly or wrong ideas! Everything must be expressed and documented.

4. Prototype: During this phase, something tangible is created, that will allow you to
verify your idea in real life. Don’t overcomplicate and create this MVP as quickly as
possible.

5. Test: Verify your idea in real life with actual users. Get feedback. Ask questions on
how to improve it.

6. Implement: This is the phase where all the collected knowledge gets translated into
a final product.

If after reading this you may be thinking: “This is great but how is this going to
help to quickly make my app a reality.” In order to make this more tangible, I will go
over a case study from my personal experience which benefited from the design
thinking process.
Design Thinking Applied - A Real-life Case Study

Intro: Project X

Some time ago, I found myself at a meeting with an entrepreneur, a few managers,
and many ideas flying around the room. Their direct competitor had recently released
a new application and the tension was palpable. The company wanted to go out with
something new on the market, to avoid losing ground to their competitor.

They prepared a document with some requirements, a vague idea of what

the product should look like, and how much should it cost.

“We have to follow what others have done, with a lower price,” the Marketing
Director said. “We have to create a more usable system, which simplifies the user
journey,” added another manager. “We have to change the way we collect
information, simplify it and integrate our processes with third parties,” said another.
“It will take us months,” the technical manager shook his head, who mentally
translated all those requests into hundreds of hours of code to be implemented.

While I can’t disclose all of the project details, I can disclose that the product was
hub communication software. This piece of software managed different channels
(email to SMS, fax to VoIP) and it was created for the web and mobile platforms. The
product was originally created a few years before, but its usability was poor. At the
time of the launch, the competitor was far ahead in terms of user experience.
Moreover, they had an excellent mobile app, which was gaining ground in the mobile
app store.

Company X was a traditional process driven company, familiar with traditional

projects. It had run a few Agile projects in the past, but it was new to the idea of
creating an MVP and testing it on the market. More notably, they feared the unknown.
What if the new MVP would have an undesirable or unpredictable effect on their
customer user base? This lack of control didn’t inspire confidence.

The meeting described above and the following ones did not lead to a clear
definition of what the product to be achieved actually was. We only knew that we had
to hit the target as soon as possible.

However as the project progressed and a competitor was beginning to gain traction,
consent from the company was solidifying. Most agreed with the idea that: “We
cannot afford to launch a half-finished product, we need a product that is working
from the start.”

Despite some initial perplexity and fear, this was an opportunity to learn what
would bring real value to their user base and potentially attract more users by
making a streamlined lightweight product.

This prompted the company to look for approaches that they haven’t tried
before, in order to have a complete product built on time even if it’s going to have
only essential features at its launch. We decided to use the Design Thinking process
and focus on the things that would really bring value to the end user and thus, beat the
competition by bringing only what’s necessary to the customer.

Stage 1 - Empathize

Empathizing Phase: The goal of this phase is to understand your customer, by

searching and gathering information about their business. During this phase, we
can use several different tools, such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and
surveys.

In the most literal sense, empathy is the ability to understand and share the
emotions of others. In design thinking, empathy is a “deep understanding of the
problems and realities of the people you are designing for.”

Our first step was to ensure that the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (otherwise
known as HiPPO) was not ruling over everyone else’s. Therefore, together with
managers and the founder, we have compiled a list of possible stakeholders to be
involved in the decision-making process.
 In a day-long meeting, we compiled the first list of 30 names (between employees,
functional managers, and customers) that could be contacted directly and then we also
picked a target audience of 4000 customers (about 10% of their recurring customer
user base).

We tried to “normalize” our target customer base as much as possible, by

including diversity in terms of gender distribution, industry, and other data points. To
add an additional level of complexity, the physical location of the sample to be
interviewed were all divided into different cities and in some cases countries. We now
had points of contacts to carry out interviews and questionnaires.

The group was organized to carry out the interviews remotely, following a
scripted set of questions and some basic rules:

 During the interview, try to use the “5 Whys” technique.

 Try to understand the main “What, How, Why” behind every behavior.

 Make sure the interviewee used a webcam and that there was sufficient
distance from the camera to be able to at least partially include the
body language.

 Record all interviews, in case they need to be seen in the future.

We prepared our interview questions with the intention of understanding which

main features should be enhanced or eliminated, such that we could quickly build a
new version that responded to the needs of our users.

For the second group of users, we prepared a series of questions in a Google form.
We opted for multiple-choice questions, with some formulated open-ended questions
to facilitate more interaction from the users, including a question requiring the user to
try the new version of the product just available in closed beta.

To organize the entire information gathering process, we used remote tools that
allowed the team to collect information more easily, including Skype, Zoom, Google
Forms, and a digital Kanban Board where we put all of our activities and tracked their
status.
The first results of the interviews were encouraging, as the interviewees were open to
providing feedback on the weaknesses and the strengths of the system.

However, the first batch of questionnaire answers was much less exciting: out of all
300 emails sent, only 5 people completed their questionnaires.

Disappointed by this result, we were ready to try new ways to involve the user base,
when one of the sales managers came to us with an idea:

“I do not think they will answer any emails, they are not used to interacting with us.
But, if we communicate with all those who have an expiring renewal and give them a
small incentive, I am sure they will give us a hand.”

The idea was simple but exceptional. In a few hours, we had a new list of users
(3800), which maintained the same division between the mainstream and extremes.
However, these users would be “forced” to interact with the system, due to the
proximity of their renewal.

This time around, they were asked to answer a series of questions, participate in the
beta and in return, get a discount on renewal. The adhesion was complete and at the
first delivery of this new model, over 70% of users replied and completed the
questionnaire.

After iterating and changing some of the questions, and thanks to some users willing
to interview more than once, we were ready to define our user base more clearly.

Stage 2 - Define

Defining Stage: In this phase, we collect and categorize information from the
Empathize phase. It’s here where we define User Personas and User Journeys.
The dictionary meaning of define is to determine the identity and the
essential qualities of a notion. In our case we wanted to define the following:

 our ideal customers

 their problems

 the solutions to their problems

 the needs and fears of our customers that we had to address

In the design thinking terms, the define phase is where you analyze your observations
and synthesize them into core problems that you have identified.

We had a sufficient database to understand what the real problems were. In addition
to the feedback received in the Empathize phase, it contained points that were
highlighted by Company X employees but had never been pointed out to
management, as well as strengths, weaknesses, and other problems that have never
been taken into account.

The next action was to create our User Personas. During this brainstorming phase, we
involved the entire extended team. The brainstorming phase was always performed
remotely, using video-conferencing systems and tools to track the personas and their
creation in real time.

For each Persona, we identified their biography, their approach to technology, their
use of social media, preferred brands, their needs, and ideas and speculated on what
would have been their Customer Journey.

After this, we had selected the common client User Personas and had a finished set of
data coming from interviews and surveys. This was the right time to get our hands
dirty.
During the definition phase, we tried to transform a generic definition of a problem
like, “We need a product that will increase our sales by 10%,” into a more specific
solution like: “Men and adult women, between 35 and 45 years that are working in an
office need to receive communications that have a legal validity to be sure that the
sender is actually who they say they are.”

At this point in the project process, we had completed brainstorming sessions around
our users, hypothesized solutions, and kept an open mind to every possible
innovation. “The only stupid idea is the one never expressed” was the mantra.

In a short time, bearing in mind who our subjects were, we had a clear view of what
was useful to our users, along with what needs and fears we should address along the
customer journey.

We then engaged in building a “User Story Map,” which allowed us to categorize the
process of users, mapping up to themes. For each of the personas, we defined the set
of activities, stories, and tasks that we assumed they must complete during the
journey. In doing so, we could quickly test our idea and understand if it met the core
needs. If it did, we could bring it into the market faster than everyone else which was
essential as our competitor was becoming more successful every day.

Stage 3 - Ideate

Ideation Phase: Using the above information, here the team ideates solutions.
There are no silly or wrong ideas! Everything must be expressed and documented.

One step further from the definition is the Ideation phase, where the key is forming
real concepts and solution, not just abstract definitions.

In design thinking terms, ideation is “the process where you generate ideas and
solutions through sessions such as Sketching, Prototyping, Brainstorming,
Brainwriting, Worst Possible Idea, and a wealth of other ideation techniques.”

Our team was completely remote so we decided to proceed to work in a Lean way
when producing materials and reviewing them. For example, designers and other
members of the team have agreed that to be as fast as possible, the best solution
would be to start with drawings on paper and to share photos of them in the group.
Only then we would produce the most interesting designs in Balsamiq or Axure.
 For each sketch that was produced, we gathered information from users, we
defined a set of solutions and we came back to those users (whenever it was possible
and as often as it was possible) to test with them the process and the result.

Stage 4 - Prototype

Prototyping Phase:_ During this phase, something tangible is created, that will allow
you to verify your idea in real life. Don’t overcomplicate and create this MVP as
quickly as possible. _

During the prototype phase, it was finally time to make our definitions and ideas
come to life. A prototype is the first, original model of a proposed product, and this is
exactly what we set out to build. By design thinking standards, the prototype stage is
where you create an inexpensive, scaled down versions of the real product to
investigate solutions from the previous stages.

After almost 10 days from the beginning of our journey, we arrived at the crucial
moment, a meeting with a developer team where we had a chance to check our
assumptions and estimations. After a session of consultation and definition with the
team of developers, we weighed the stories and understood that the major effort of the
development work will be in the development of the back-end system and interfacing
with the legacy systems currently in place. Alongside this, we also realized that
creating the front-end systems will be a much shorter exercise. Thus, we decided to
create a front-end prototype using the components which already existed in the system
to save time.

We had a time limit of 3 days to have a first version of the prototype ready. This
prototype had to reflect the product as much as possible and maintain the necessary
functionality.

After 3 days we had our first version of the prototype ready. It had “fake” data which
reflected the behavior of the software we were aiming to create. Some accessory
elements were missing, but the software in that state visually represented a good
percentage of total content planned.

At the end of two weeks of work, we had software that we could try and test with
actual users. We used user experience monitoring software to analyze heat maps and
user attention, while they were navigating our prototype.

Stage 5 - Test

Testing Phase - Verify your idea in real life with actual users. Get feedback.
Ask questions on how to improve it.

After a definition, ideation and a prototype phases it was finally time to see if our
product actually worked in real life. In design thinking terms, testing means putting
the complete product to trial using the best solutions created in the prototyping phase.

In our case, the testing phase did not only take place at the end, but it was a constant
loop of feedback and iteration whenever it was possible. At the end of each
accomplished step, we tried to get feedback from users or customers, before
convincing ourselves to move on to the next phase.

Once the prototype was completed, it was time to test it with the widest possible
audience and check with them how effectively it met their needs, understand their
perception, and understand if it accomplished their goals.

The testing phase specifically included a walkthrough prototype where users were
able to see the new workflow and perform actions, along with a few sessions where
the team directly observed users, while tracking their responses. A simple
questionnaire was used to collect conversion rates across specific features in the
platform, where users were asked to score the process from 1-10.

The testing phase was later extended to the whole team and even to some individuals
outside the organization (customers and users) who during the earlier sessions, had
willingly consented to give their feedback on the implementation of the system.

The results of this testing were encouraging. The stakeholders of the Company X
were able not only to see the mockups but to try out and “touch” the product for the
very first time. The extended team had the opportunity to test and verify their
assumptions and correct them over time within the period of two weeks.

Now the final test was waiting: opening it to users and understanding what would
happen next.

Stage 6 - Implement

Implementation Phase: This is the phase where all the collected knowledge gets
translated into a final product.

We had data, ideas, personas, and our first tangible prototype. It was time to roll up
our sleeves and start developing. We had a month and a half to implement our new
system.

We defined a set of rules to get our MVP implemented in a short period of time:

 We will build only what we had defined, without adding new features.

 We will keep ourselves focus on the main business goal.

 We will use agile methodologies within teams to manage the workload.

To complete the project in time we have brought on a few new team members who
had not been involved in the project since the very early stages of the discovery phase.

We added frontend developers, backend developers, and designers. The new members
of the team were working remotely and it was not possible to bring them all in the
same room for the period of the project, so we made sure that we have the right tools
for keeping the communication going.

The process put in place to manage the work was an Agile one. We divided the
remaining time into several short sprints, with remote meetings every day and updates
via Slack during the day to exchange the ideas and to help each other to solve
problems.

We didn’t have a full documentation stored somewhere, but mentally we all had a
comprehensive set of actions, a common shared vision, and goals amongst the team.
We all started to perceive the User Personas to be a real user, with his own needs and
problems. Once our team started to have an aligned vision, we moved onto defining
what needed to be done and when in order to finish the project on time.

The activities were outlined within a User Story Map, to maintain the original
evidence of the personas and the flow we want to give to the product.

The User Story maps were created via three clear steps: identifying the activities,
identifying the steps required to complete the activity, and the list of stories/tasks
associated with each. We sorted the stories according to priority (Must, Should,
Could), which dictated what components made it into the product.

The team was able to proceed in a fast pace since the very beginning of the
implementation, thanks to a clear vision shared by the team, and by the method we
employed which enabled the team to stay on track without direct steering from the
management above. Everyone working in the project had questions from the Design
Thinking stages in mind:

 What action each user inside our platform should perform and what were they
trying to achieve?

 Which steps those users should take to reach the final goal?

 Which pain points they had before and how should we avoid them?

This allowed our team to make their own micro-decisions, and steer the product
towards its final goal.

We made two reviews of the work in progress at the end of each sprint and one final
release review at the end of the path, before the product was finally put into
production. We used the last sprint to prepare the infrastructure needed to run and
launch the product.

Finally, the users who have used our old product were invited again to try out the new
version. Our product was released into production two months after the meeting in
Conclusion

Throughout this case study, we have shown how Design Thinking

methodology can be applied to a real-life problem with a limited time and budget.

Instead of using more traditional approaches and producing things in sequential

steps, we have chosen to iterate through the six design thinking stages. Empathize.
Define. Ideate. Prototype. Test. Implement. This became our mantra and allowed us to
produce a very well received product.

Using Design Thinking has lead so to save time, and in turn, save costs spend on
the project. We were not working on millions of different features, but only on few,
well thought through actions that were clear to everybody in the team. Most
importantly, we were able to deliver the product and value that users needed.

Using Design Thinking process helped us in many different areas:

 From the project management perspective, it enabled us to clearly define the

scope of the project and prevent scope creep.

 From the business perspective, it allowed us to pick the features which

bring the real value to the business.

 From the development perspective, it helped us see the clear goal of what
we have to build before we even started building it.

 From the team perspective, it involved all team members and allowed them
to effectively work together and have their opinion heard in every part of the
process.
 When we started Design Thinking process was met with skepticism by the
client, but when we finished and got the feedback from our customers, it was
immediately clear that the steps we have laid out have helped us to achieve
something that would have been very hard or impossible otherwise. This was valued
by the client and became their internal a flagship project for the future challenges
ahead. which the idea to make it was expressed. The product worked, users started
using it, and we progressively sent more new users to this tool instead of the old
one. A/B testing showed us that they preferred the new product, and the project was
accepted in the company as a great success.

More importantly, a Design Thinking methodology was finally accepted. We

believe this will have a good and long-lasting impact and will allow them to build
better products in the future.

UNIT-2
2 marks questions

1. Explain Faster Pace of Learning.

2. Discuss the Key Design Thinking principles ?

3. Define Iterative and Human-Centric.

10 marks questions:

1. Explain Design Thinking principles in detail.

2. Discuss about benefits of Design Thinking .

 How the design thinking re-imagined billions of life in India!!

Design resolve the complex socio-economic problems. which makes a viable impact &

deliver incredibly powerful results mainly on rural India

In today's digital transformation age, The slogan 'innovate or perish' stands true to its words.
As brands can only survive in the market if they are constantly innovating and offering
something new on the platter with time.

Ultimately, It's the innovation that helps businesses differentiate their products and services
from competition, deliver greater value to customers, and build brands. In order to survive in
this battle, Design thinking is one of the best solutions.

Well, Kept "thinking outside the box" on this core principle new way to solve the wicked
problems & Its a powerful tool to tackle the unknown.

What's Changed? The Internet has changed absolutely everything, like other disruption affect
the print media very badly from this way of consuming the news & Consumer behaviour
around the world is changing dramatically.
What is better product design? From above 3 set of Images, Starting from the conventional
way of getting the news with comprehensive details, full of scrolling grids, videos and text
(CNN BBC NBC, TOI) which include both relevant & irrelevant news.

Moved to the customised, hand-curated, short, crisp and relevant news within 60 words. (In
short, Flipboard) Finally, we are in the age where, news feed based on your behavioural data
& digital demography via AI, deep learning & chatbot (Quartz,Toutiao) From above
example, there is a paradigm shift in the news consumption & also in the Product Design.

WHAT WENT WRONG? : THE FORD EDSEL is often viewed as the biggest automotive
industry failure in history. what Ford Motor Company promoted as "The car of the future"
instead became the poster child for commercial failure.

The reasons why the Edsel failed have been widely discussed and debated, but a failure
majorly due to the bad product design certainly played a major role. Potential buyers were
widely polled during the planning phase of the project - but these insights were largely
ignored. The front vertical grill feature to be much more slender than what resulted in
production.

Engineers enlarged his grille, insisting that the original design wouldn't have delivered
sufficient cooling air to the radiator. The resulting shape was commonly called the horse
collar, which is one of the biggest reason for the bad design. Sadly, these aspects mask ford's
most ambitious Edsel make more embarrassment of a company, the Edsel turned ford into a
worldwide laughing stock!!!
The Point: From above 2 classic example prove that Human centre design is the core
principle of the success or failure of the product. Nowadays, There is a shift happening in
innovative product design - and it's putting people at the centre of it. The human-centred
design is the practice of connecting with the needs and emotions of customers to create
compelling products and services.

Design Thinking

Ask anyone to define good design, and they'll probably say `Apple`,`AirBnB`.
But, What is Design Thinking??

Design thinking is a method for practical, creative resolution of problems. It is a form of

solution-focused thinking with the intent of producing a constructive future result.

Design thinking is a creative approach to problem solving.& Its slowly overlap the User
Experience design UX/UI method. Multiple factors influenced by the product design &
mainly on diversity, culture, region, gender, generation of people & many more. For the
design thinking approach the ultimate goal is to drive a customer focus deep within a
corporation. Design Thinking brings together what is desirable from a human point of view
with what is technologically feasible and economically viable.

Design Thinking Success Stories

Here, there are six Design driven innovations that use the design thinking approach to resolve
the social problem. which make a visible impact on the people.

Airbnb

OVERVIEW: Airbnb, one of the biggest online rental of the Home,Hotel rooms apartments,
homestay across the world, Once close to going bust. Like so many startups, they had
launched but barely anyone noticed.A small change in the design principle makes it a multi-
billon dollar business.

CHALLENGE: Company able to get traffic for there site, but unable to convert that into the
checkout. Even though they have a diverse listing of properties in various categories & cities.
REALIZATION: They realised that there was a common pattern in the pictures of the 40 ads
published NewYork. They weren't very good, since the owners took them with smartphones,
not all the rooms of the homes were shown and those interested had no idea where they were
going to live. People were not booking rooms because they couldn't even actually see what
they were paying for.

SOLUTION: Airbnb tossed out a completely non-scalable and non-technical solution to the
problem travel to New York, rent a camera, spend some time with customers listing
properties, and replace the amateur photography with beautiful high-resolution pictures.

OUTCOME: A week later, the results were in improving the pictures doubled the weekly
revenue to $400 per week. This was the first financial improvement that the company had
seen in over eight months.

Life Saving Dot

OVERVIEW: Millions of women across rural India suffer from breast cancer, fibrocystic
breast disease and complications during pregnancy. Most of these cases are linked to an
iodine deficiency.

CHALLENGE: Supplements in the form of pills are available, but women weren't getting or
taking them.So, The real change is how do you help these women get the required dosage of
iodine?

REALIZATION: Almost every Indian woman wears a bindi - a traditional symbol of

beauty.But what if these tiny little dots could do more? What if they could save lives?
SOLUTION: The Life Saving Dot - an idea that transformed bindis into iodine patches.Every
woman requires between 150–220 micrograms of iodine daily. These bindis dispensed that
amount to the wearer daily. These bindis dispensed that amount to the wearer daily.

OUTCOME: The Life Saving Dots were distributed to women across rural India via health

camps and clinics and reached many villages.

Aarambh Help Desk

OVERVIEW: Schools in rural India could be as worse as we can't even expect, very basic
amenities like a writing-table, a chair to sit even a school bag are rarely viewed.who get
nothing better than a bad posture, poor eyesight,bad handwriting and the quality of education.

CHALLENGE: Build a product which is economically viable & easily to produce in large
scale.

REALIZATION: they need to provide each and every student in the each school
(approximately 15k schools)with very less cost.

SOLUTION: portable Study table cum School Bag and that too in a most economical and
efficient manner. They collected discarded carton from retailers, corporate houses and retail
outlets. Making use of a stencil design, the cartons were then folded to form a portable
writing desk, which also doubles up as a school bag.

OUTCOME: Drastically decrease the school drop out rate in rural India.Student in this school
study comfortably & cheerfully. were able to achieve their 'most economical' target by
making it in less than Rs 10 ($20 cents)
Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS)

OVERVIEW:Due to the Rapid Increase in the urban population Managing Traffic is whole
nightmore to the authority & daily commutator

CHALLENGE: Convince the people to choose the Public/Mass transport over there private
vehicle. simultaneously make sure that its more comfortable than there vehicle.

REALIZATION: Metro, Sub urban railways are the possible best alternate mode of public
transport with in the city. but its long term project with huge capital.

SOLUTION: "Buses, More Buses, Better Buses" Setting up BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit
System)a dedicated line for bus line for commutate which is economical & cheap compared
to the other mode of transport. With ease of Implementation compared to the other way like
metro, sub urban.

OUTCOME: Rapid decline in the traffic. Connect to the Remote area with less time than
own vehicle. with economically viable prize.
Cashless Society

OVERVIEW: The Government of India & E-commerce operator has been taking several
measures to promote and encourage digital payments in the country.the government aims to
create a 'digitally empowered' cashless economy.

CHALLENGE: Bring the 55% un organised sector of the people out of the banking system. &
convince them to use the online payment system. via lean, economical & simple learning
curve.

REALIZATION: Internet penetration reach only around 480 million with 35% overall Internet
penetration of the total population in India. most of them are low speed 2G 3G with basic
mobile or no Internet connection & those are outside the digital eco system,people have less
knowledge on online payment or there is no proper alternative way of transaction. so they
still depend on cash.

SOLUTION: Innovate new way of payment method which less dependent on Internet
payment system or offline mode of payment like Paytm/BHIM QR code scan, PhonePe point
of sale (POS) device based on Bluetooth technology, UPI mode of payment,Mobile Wallets

OUTCOME: there will be a rapid increase in the cashless transaction. which will leads to the
financial inclusion in the many unorganised sectors people into the digital economy.
Embrace Incubator

OVERVIEW: Every year 1 Mn premature babies perish around the world. The biggest cause
of their death was Hypothermia.Its a challenge for authorities & hospitals to provide a low
cost Incubation to new born child.

CHALLENGE: Many of the hospital's incubators were unused, due to the High Price &
unequal distribution of Incubator in Urban & Rural cities.

REALIZATION: Babies who needed them were born in remote place of a village. No matter
how well designed the incubator, life-and-death battle was being fought mainly due to the
unavailable of medical treatment on time.

SOLUTION: Build a low-cost incubator which has a tiny sleeping bag, containing a paraffin-
based pouch that, once warmed in a heater.

OUTCOME: the new Embrace Incubator was an easy-to-use medical device with very less
cost than a traditional baby incubator. It has the potential to save millions of newborns.
Design thinking methods turn the creativity & data into Growth.Here are 5 steps that keep in
mind when you hack this process.

Empathize: Empathizing is central to the design thinking process. It highlights the

significance of listening to the requirements and wants of our customers relative to the
particular problem.To create meaningful innovations,you need to know your users and care
about their lives.

Define:Here we combine all the insights collected at the time of listening and observing
people. We start to synthesise and face the challenge ahead of us. That means we start to
define a problem. An aspect that design thinking proves vital at is framing a problem in a
clear manner so that we end up devising solutions and exploring opportunities. Try framing
the problem correctly so that more avenues and solutions open up.

Ideate:Framing the right problem is the only way to create the right solution.So, now as the
problem or the opportunity is clearly framed, we can search for methods to handle it. We
should spur as many ideas as possible. Yes, we brainstorm or ideate. It's not about coming up
with the 'right' idea, it's about generating the broadest range of possibilities. Design thinking
encourages a team approach to brainstorming and very rightly promotes multi-disciplinary
teams that bring across varied outlooks.

Prototype: "Build to think and test to learn" Prototyping brings the solutions into vision.
Different methods are involved in it such as sketching, rapid prototyping and many others.
the core purpose of this is, we intend to create rough drafts of solutions to decide if these will
prove beneficial for the problem. Looking into its context, a prototype can later transform
into a beta product or a minimal viable product (MVP)
Test: Testing is an opportunity to learn about your solution and your user. It provides solicit
feedback, about the prototypes you have created. To refine prototypes and solutions. To learn
more about your user. To refine your POV.

Summing up:

Human Centered Design is the core theme of Design thinking Those using human-centered
design in their work are often trying to make an impact in the lives of others through design.
They make and stay in contact with users and customers and get feedback along the way. It's
driven by a methodology of connecting with and developing empathy for users This process-
heavy, the people-oriented approach includes researching existing products, interviewing and
observing customers, quick and iterative prototyping, and resonance testing - all with the goal
of achieving solutions that create value.

Design thinking is all about building a deep empathy with the people you're designing for.

Design thinking is a structured methodology of using design to conceptualise and device

products. Much of design thinking’s success owes to its ability to address latent human needs.
It uses an iterative process driven by empathy, ideation, prototyping and testing to create
products that deliver improved user experience. Companies using design thinking doesn’t just
limit its use to designing the products but also how consumers interact with it and by
extension with their brand.

Design thinking has become a pet phrase for many successful businesses today but its
impacts are very circumstantial and differ for each industry. It helps brands stay ahead of the
curve by driving innovation in a business environment. A human-centric approach towards
problem-solving makes it an effective bridge between brands and customers. Experts use it
for enhancing both physical and digital experiences of products and services. Companies
resorting to design thinking consider design much more than a phase or a department – in
fact, it shapes the entire thought behind business goals.
Building a design-optimised company culture will certainly drive more innovation and
customer satisfaction. If you are wondering how different industries benefit from design
thinking, we have compiled a list of case studies to help you understand how it can be applied
in each context.

ENTERTAINMENT

The rise of online video streaming might have reached new heights today with players like
Netflix and Amazon Prime leading the scene, but even a decade back satellite independent
entertainment was an obscure idea. Today, consumers are watching their favourite shows at a
time convenient to them and from locations/devices suitable to them. However, the scene was
quite different a few years back, when entertainment was cable dependent and consumers
couldn’t access their favourite shows at their own discretion. Back then HBO became the first
brand to introduce the idea of satellite and cable independent subscription based
entertainment.

HBO turned to design thinking to revamp their product and user experience. Eventually it
became a pioneer in the entertainment industry to introduce an on-demand online viewing
experience. They used design thinking to understand customer behaviour and design a
product that would address their customer needs aptly. They crafted the first-of-its-kind HBO
original shows which were based on key customer behaviours and engaged audiences like
never before. Design thinking helped HBO reimagine the audience experience and create a
roadmap for delivering consumer-inspired products. As part of their design thinking strategy,
HBO implemented iterative prototyping and saved considerable expenses while launching
products that customers loved.
CONSUMABLES

In the 2000s PepsiCo was seen as a sinking ship which couldn’t retain its investors or sales.
As a way to address this issue, PepsiCo shifted the brand’s focus towards a holistic consumer
experience through design thinking. They tried to capture what appealed to their target
customers and used that data to ideate for a renovated product. After cycles of prototyping
what finally emerged was a series of products which established the brand’s values of putting
the customer first. The Pepsi Spire was the first in the series of products to communicate
these values to the consumer. Design was the key driver behind all their innovations leading
to successful customer-product interaction.
User experience was not a part of PepsiCo’s business strategy until the early 2010s. Whether
it was their product packaging, form or function, a human element was missing in the design.
Once they focused on customer experience and made design a priority, customers responded
by engaging with the brand more. Today, a decade later PepsiCo has not only reclaimed their
position in the market but also inspired other brands to introduce lines of products designed
specifically for personalized consumer profiles. Read more about PepsiCo’s journey here.
BANKING

Persuading people to open bank accounts can be quite a daunting task, especially in a
competitive market. In the 2000s Bank of America wanted to target a specific customer
base and inspire them to open accounts with them. As part of their strategy, Bank of America
utilised the ethnographic details of their customer base to understand their requirements and
behavioural patterns. They moved their business to where it truly belonged- amidst people to
observe how they interacted with money. A simple discovery, that people in charge of
household finances round up their figures for easier calculation led to a very successful
campaign – “Keep the Change”. This design thinking approach resulted in understanding
customers better and delivering tailor-made solutions.
Empathy is the central motif in design thinking and Bank of America banked on it to convert
potential customers. Once they realised that rounding up the numbers not only made
calculations easier but also gave a buffer in spending, they approached these families with a
customised service – expenditures made with a debit card could be round up and the overage
amount would be transferred to their savings account automatically. Additionally, the bank
would match up this transferred amount to a certain dollar amount. This scheme helped
people who were struggling with savings and needless to say, became very popular and drew
in thousands of customers.

Another bank tapping into Design Thinking is ABN AMRO, one of the leaders in the field of
design thinking. A major proponent of Dutch design, ABN AMRO sponsors the Dutch
Design Week. Services such as Apple pay, have become easy to use and are a preferred way
to make payments, and banks need to adapt to these changing patterns. The bank has its
innovation center, this trains employees to become design thinkers and come up with more
innovative outcomes.
TRAVEL & LODGING

Design thinking can transform a company from being conventional to progressive. Even
simple changes in product presentation can enhance customer experiences and improve
sales. Airbnb’s rise in the travel and lodging industry was aided by simple design thinking
elements. In the late 2000s, when the company’s sales were dropping to new lows, the
founders started looking for flaws in their business strategy. What came out of their deep dive
were simple yet non-scalable changes. However, the founders were quick to realize that not
all business strategies need to be scalable to be successful. When they finally allowed
themselves to pursue these non-scalable changes, Airbnb saw a steep rise in their revenues.
The changes that we are talking about here were design changes. A close look at their listings
revealed that the property images were of low quality and obscure. When they replaced these
amateur photos with high quality images, their revenues doubled within a week in 2009.
People were finally willing to spend their money on what they saw and they saw high
resolution images of quality properties. When the founders focused more on the customer
experience and provided all kinds of product details to help them make an informed buying
decision, sales and revenue shot up.

Another successful case from the travel and food industry is UberEATS. UberEATS designs
improvements in the way people find their food. It combines brand new technology with the
very old, fundamental activity of enjoying cuisine. Designers at UberEats love logistical
challenges and culture. They take pride in being able to connect with people across the world,
from various backgrounds and food habits. They have used various techniques such as A/B
testing and Operations team experiments to come up with the most suitable strategies.
Introducing design thinking to a basic concept such as food delivery has helped improve the
brand to a great extent. The design team constantly seeks to innovate and were able to expand
to 80 cities worldwide in a short span of time.
TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATION

Design is not limited to the look and feel of any product but extends to its functionality.
Chinese mobile brand Vivo understood how crucial design is for a product and crafted their
products to target the young consumer market in China. Vivo built a brand experience that
transcended their products and established a connection between the brand and its young
customers. Vivo built a concept store as a way to promote their brand values in a more
tangible way. A market research revealed that young customers look for opportunities that
will expose them to new experiences, enrich them personally and help them build their
knowledge and skills. Vivo’s concept store implemented design elements to feature photo
booths, lighting technology and sound recordings. Customers engaged with these multimedia
units to try Vivo’s improved user experience.
Design thinking helped Vivo to understand and connect with its customers in a highly
competitive market. Thanks to the concept store, customers now associate the ideas of fun
learning with the brand.

Redesigning Make in India through design thinking

Of late, the government’s “Make in India" programme, which intends to transform India into
a global manufacturing hub, has led to considerable debate. To some, it intends to foster
innovation and build the economy by attracting foreign investment to develop infrastructure
in the manufacturing sector. To others, it focuses on domestically manufacturing products
innovated by foreign firms. However, unless R&D is strengthened and the manufacturing
ecosystem for homegrown entrepreneurs is developed, Make in India will not help the nation
emerge as an innovation hub.

Make in India lacks systemic thinking, and does not have a human-centred approach, which
are key tenets of design thinking. The programme also lacks granularity in terms of details
and foresightedness towards building an innovation-driven nation. This is because the
programme fails to address the following issues.

First, due to a lack of systems thinking, Make in India will not lead to the creation of a
sustainable economy. The government’s target is for Make in India to contribute to 10%
growth each year for the next 10 years. This push for growth is being interpreted as an
opportunity for foreign corporations to set up manufacturing industries in India for sectors
such as defence, automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals and textiles. Foreign companies
will set up factories at preferential rates, hold rights to technology and intellectual property,
create low-wage jobs for Indian workers and extract profits. This excludes the maintenance
and repair rights. The Russian fighter jet MiG-21, which is manufactured in India, is a classic
example. The entire product span costs us double to triple more than its purchase costs. This
is because the jet’s repair, upgrade and maintenance rights are controlled by the foreign
vendor. A systems thinking approach would allow policymakers to have a more holistic and
cohesive approach to policy framing.

Second, due to a lack of empathy for domestic manufacturers and entrepreneurs, Make in
India by itself will not foster domestic innovation. Considering the lack of infrastructure at
present, the programme will definitely awaken the manufacturing units by creating blue-
collar jobs and much-needed skilled labour (only 12% of India’s population is skilled). This
may be a good starting point for employment generation. However, the policy seems to be
biased towards foreign investment. The worry is whether the government will give equal
priority to homegrown innovators and entrepreneurs, especially when these domestic
innovators compete directly with foreign manufacturing units supported through Make in
India.
Third, Make in India does not encourage inclusive growth. The lack of priority for R&D and
upgrade of small scale manufacturers followed by a liberal FDI regime has led to quixotic
consequences, such as people purchasing Ganesh idols, phulkari works, saris and kites that
are made in China! By inviting those foreign manufacturers to make in India, is the
government supporting inclusive growth so necessary for a developed country? After 68
years of independence, perhaps we should first define what, precisely, are the tenets of the
“developed nation" that Make in India seeks to achieve.
Fourth, Make in India focuses on the economy, but misses on the socio-cultural and
behavioural aspects of encouraging productivity. When the government talks of the
“economy", it does so in a way that is disconnected from the thought that eventually people
and culture drive the economy. Innovation cannot thrive when our education system produces
students programmed in rote learning that discourages them from working hands-on and
solving real-life problems. Right from kindergarten to college education, students master
linear thinking. Most Indian organizations do not nurture innovation because of frozen
hierarchies and stiff formalism. People take great pride in not working by hand! Manual work
is despised. With such a state of education and organizations, Make in India will not kindle
innovation. Parallel to the programme, on the pretext of promoting innovation, large grants
were sanctioned by the government to premiere institutes to establish innovation hubs.
Giving large grants to support innovation is similar to providing subsidies for building toilets.
Neither can address the core issues of innovation and sanitation that require an ecosystem
leading to behavioural/cultural change in India. We need to change the way people relate to
sanitation personally and publicly, and similarly, we need to change the culture in
organizations and how policies are interwoven to support innovation.

What the government is missing in formulating Make in India is design thinking: a systemic
problem-solving process that can visualize or shape tools, society, policies, products,
businesses and environment by driving human-centred and context-sensitive innovations.
Design thinking can bring about societal change, especially when injected into the education
system from kindergarten all the way to training of administrative officers and civil servants.
Design thinking can be applied to visualizing new policies as well as re-framing existing
policies, to make them human-centric, cohesive and to include multiple stakeholder needs
and views, thus increasing their adaptability and efficiency in implementation. The British,
Dutch and Australian governments have been engaging with design specialists in this process
to frame human-centred policies and bring about societal changes. Sadly, in India, the most
common notion of design is still only linked with aesthetics.

A design thinking approach is essential to nurturing a culture of innovation. For Make in

India to focus on inclusive growth through innovation, it must be clubbed with “Made in
India". It must focus on building a robust ecosystem and leading a cultural change that drives
innovation encouraging entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Innovative energy will drive the
development of new products and services indigenously conceptualized and manufactured in
India, thus gaining intellectual capital. Design thinking can facilitate a comprehensive
understanding of the current needs for upgrading and reviving manufacturing units in
different sectors. It is especially required for grooming innovation in small and medium-sized
enterprises, and streamlining the framework to connect innovative ideas to existing utilities
by installing knowledge-sharing mechanisms. By involving multi-stakeholder views and an
iterative thinking cycle at the time of envisioning policy, granular details towards building up
high quality R&D units and manufacturing to build an innovation ecosystem can be detailed
out. Only then can Make in India bring about societal change, creating a new breed of
thinkers and innovators who take pride in building high-quality products that are trusted for
quality and that bear the imprint “conceived and manufactured in India".
Infrastructure Innovation

6 innovative technologies about to transform our infrastructure

Delayed arrival … New York's Second Avenue Subway, which might have benefitted from
recent infrastructure innovations.

Stewing in a traffic jam, huffing over a late train or waiting out a delayed flight at an
overburdened airport, one can be forgiven for feeling frustrated by creaking infrastructure.

When New Yorkers finally welcomed the opening of the Second Avenue Subway in 2017,
they had been waiting nearly 100 years from the project’s conception to completion of its
first phase. Beleaguered Berliners are still waiting on Brandenburg airport – scheduled to
open in 2011 – to start accepting passengers. Over-budget and over-deadline projects too
often seem the norm, all while innovation is flourishing in the rest of the economy.

However, appearances can be deceptive; innovation is actually thriving at all stages of

infrastructure development. Exciting new ideas are being generated around the world and
have the potential to change the field.

1. BIM: design that keeps tabs

Observing a construction site from afar, one can be forgiven for thinking not much has
changed. Yet, a closer look will reveal advances that are changing the way infrastructure
projects are designed. Building Information Modeling (BIM) software programs grant the
ability to digitally design a construction project that moves beyond two-dimensional technical
drawings and Computer Aided Design. BIM allows professionals at all stages, from the
architects to the engineers to the building managers, to collaborate on a construction project.

It not only enables three-dimensional computer-generated design, but can also provide
insights into functional considerations like time and cost, and even environmental impact.
Will floor-to-ceiling windows increase the energy bill? The architect wants to add a new
wall: How does this affect the engineering requirements? BIM can answer all these in real
time and give access to all necessary parties on multiple platforms. This, among other things,
optimises design, decreases errors and gives greater cost predictability, which help to deliver
projects that are on time and on budget.

The MX3D bridge under construction

2. 3D printing: taking the strain of construction

While on-screen advancements like BIM are increasing collaboration to improve

infrastructure design, on-site technological advances are changing the way infrastructure is
physically constructed. 3D printing is poised to totally disrupt the construction site. MX3D, a
Dutch 3D printing company, attempted to design and built the world’s first 3D printed steel
bridge – all in mid-air. The project involved constructing a special six-axis robot that could
create weight-bearing structures beneath it, which it could slide forward upon to continue the
project as the building material set. The 12.5-metre span is due to be installed over a canal in
central Amsterdam this year after safety testing and will include sensors to gather insights on
how the bridge reacts over time. The technology holds the potential to increase the efficiency
of infrastructure mega-projects, while reducing the cost and safety concerns of operating in
sprawling, chaotic construction sites.
Computer rendering of the rendering of 24-storey wooden HoHo Tower in Vienna

3. Mass Timber: the era of wooden skyscrapers

The brave new world of infrastructure development isn’t confined to new designing and
building technologies – new materials are also leading the field. The centuries-long reign of
concrete as a primary building material may be coming to an end, as the use of various Mass
Timber alternatives continues to become more mainstream. Mass Timber is increasingly
replacing other building materials like cement and steel, and new products like CLT (cross-
laminated timber, formed by stacking and gluing perpendicular layers of wood) and Glulam
(glue-laminated timber, formed by stacking and gluing layers of wood directly on top of each
other) are allowing for even higher and stronger wood buildings.

Vienna’s HoHo tower is set to be 24 storeys and 84 metres tall, and Norway’s recently
completed 85.4 metre, 18-storey Mjøsa Tower is now the tallest timber tower in the world.
The Fort McMurray International Airport Terminal in Canada was the largest cross-laminated
timber building in North America at the time it was built in 2012. Using CLT in the
terminal’s construction to cut building time was ideal given Fort McMurray’s small labour
force, its remote location in Canada’s northern Alberta province and its harsh seasonal
weather conditions.
The Fort McMurray International Airport Terminal

Using Mass Timber can reduce construction time up to 25% and use up to one-third the
energy production of steel and one-fifth of concrete in addition to using significantly less
carbon-intensive production methods. The airport terminals and train stations of tomorrow
could be built faster and cleaner using Mass Timber, as builders tackle taller and larger
projects with materials like CLT and Glulam.

4. Plastic roads: recycling under our wheels

This disruption of traditional building materials continues with efforts to replace asphalt as a
primary material in road construction with plastic. Dutch engineering firm KWS has
developed a lightweight, prefabricated, modular road made with recycled plastic waste.
Advantages over asphalt include a quicker installation time, triple the service life and
introducing an effective way to recycle the plastic that ends up in our oceans and landfills.
The road is hollow to allow room for utility pipe placement and rainwater drainage. It is also
covered in a special coating to prevent the release of microplastics, which often end up our
food supply. Though the pilot project has been a 30-metre bike path made from the
equivalent of 218,000 plastic cups in the Dutch city of Zwolle, sensors imbedded in the road
are helping the team capture insights that can be used to develop plastic roads, plastic
highways – perhaps even plastic airport runways. Plastic roads not only have the potential to
take plastic waste out of the environment, but to introduce savings through faster installation
and less disruptive maintenance.
The traceability of a blockchain-based smart contract

5. Blockchain: streamlining contracts

Improved design technologies and new building materials are positive steps, but a
transformation-ripe area of infrastructure development lies long before the first blueprints are
drawn. Moribund contracting and procurement processes dramatically slow down projects
before they even begin. Blockchain is one such technology that can eliminate the many layers
of contracts and middlemen that sit between the conception and delivery of an infrastructure
project. Blockchain’s potential to undergird smart contracts can be used to pay for important
aspects of an infrastructure asset (for example, a subway car or important parts of an
ventilation system) by releasing direct payments over time to the supplier, the shipping
company or the installer without a web of separate contracts and intermediate parties.

Additionally, it provides full traceability. Its identity certification applications could reduce
issues around finding workers or firms with the right construction certification or security
clearances. Indeed, leveraging Blockchain’s use of digital IDs could lead to automation of
contract and sub-contract administration making for more direct agreements and less
confusion. Using blockchain throughout the project life cycle, particularly in conjunction
with BIM, could significantly cut down on time, cost and fraud.

Six Common Examples Of Innovation In Higher Education

1. Competency-Based Learning

“Schools don’t graduate employees, they graduate human beings. And just as universities
haven’t been ‘job training facilities,’ more immediately, neither has K-12. The rub comes
when universities seek to revise themselves. The more connected K-12 is to university goals
and aspirations, the more K-12 is on the hook here as well to ‘tighten the curriculum’ to make
it ‘more efficient.’ To straighten and shorten the path from student to ‘job.’ In thinking like
this, we’re lowering our sights from person and place to job and market. When we seek to
train students, we have to ask ourselves what we’re training them for, and make sure we can
live with the consequences.”

Competency-Based Education isn’t necessarily an example of innovation in higher education,

but a move to Competency-Based Education can lead to other innovations–using technology
to personalize a student’s navigation of to-be-mastered content, for example. The definition
of asynchronous learning helps us understand the need for asynchronous access to this
content, especially when this access is not through a dated university learning management
system, but something more authentic to the student, maybe even accessed on their own
mobile devices.

Competency-Based Education, at least in terms of the learning process (as opposed to

content), should be more student-centered and efficient. That’s good. Not sure how that will
translate to increased knowledge when that knowledge (and subsequent certification) is what
the university has historically commodified (and thus has restricted). Also not sure how this
will help one of the higher ed’s most urgent matters–out of control cost. Something that
makes something else more efficient should have a slew of other positive effects elsewhere.

2. Video Streaming/Flipped Classroom/eLearning Trends

From Zoom to Skype to Webinars and even live streaming on social media itself, video is
perhaps the most visible and common form of technological innovation in K-12 and higher
ed.

Video, of course, enables other innovations. An example? The flipped classroom movement
seems to, in pockets, be threatening the college lecture. As does–or should–YouTube. There
is so much great content already published and accessible, that curation matters as much as
creation.

None of this is particularly exciting, really. As in K-12, there is a lack of leadership in higher-
ed, with every university or league for itself. This is further exacerbated by equity issues,
where, in spite of programs claiming otherwise, the quality of one’s education is almost
entirely dependent on how much money their parents make.

3. Open Curriculum

Open curriculum, like MIT’s OpenCourseWare, has been out for years but hasn’t disrupted
much.

MOOCs are great ideas, but assessment and feedback loops and certification are among the
many issues holding them back. And anymore, they end being the punchline of edtech jokes,
somehow. I don’t agree with many of the grievances people seem to have with them. It may
be a matter of what kind of expectations you’re bringing to your evaluation. Comparing an
unsupported MOOC from 2008 to an in-person college experience isn’t apples to apples.

Compare that same MOOC to a self-determined learner Googling topics or searching reddit
for information, and suddenly it’s not so bad. eLearning will eventually be at the core of the
university experience rather than the fringe, I’d guess, but that’s vague: eLearning how?
What content? What kind of delivery models? There’s a lot to consider. Still, this is definitely
an example of innovation in higher education.

4. Changing nature of faculty

Whether this is ‘innovation’ that results in a ‘leaner’ business model that offers an improved
ability to pivot or simply an unfortunate effect of a lack of funding is up to you. However,
there is a clear trend towards adjunct faculty and a mobile, ‘global’ faculty with new
contractual relationships with higher education institutes.

In a 2016 article, ‘Innovation in Higher Education: Can Colleges Really Change?’, Dustin
Swanger, Ed.D explained how faculty is changing.

Today, digital networks of information make access to data and areas of specialty ubiquitous,
particularly in the scientific fields. Therefore, researchers no longer need to be in the same
physical location to collaborate. This change will reduce the attractiveness of many
universities for expert faculty. For example, a faculty member may choose to teach at a small
institution in a rural setting, yet collaborate on research with faculty in a large urban
environment.

5. Changing revenue sources for institution funding

With the Coronavirus already having a massive impact on the global economy, existing
attempts at funding higher education institutions through state funding, federal subsidies, and
other methods are going to have to be scaled up fast–along with significant cost-cutting. This
makes ‘finding new business models for college’ among the most important innovations in
decades.

And as far as examples of innovation in higher education, eLearning absolutely must be a

part of that. Swanger’s article continues:

The 2008 recession had a devastating impact on the US economy; and, higher education was
not insulated from that impact. In 2008 nearly every state in the nation significantly reduced
state support for higher education institutions. In 2015, the fiscal support for higher education
by state governments had not rebounded since the 2008 collapse. In their 2015 report,
Michael Mitchell and Michael Leachman cite significant fiscal realities faced by higher
education. For example, “Forty-seven states – all except Alaska, North Dakota, and
Wyoming – are spending less per student in 2014-15 school year than they did at the start of
the [2008] recession.” So how bad is public funding for higher education? In 2015, the
average state spending per student was $1,805 which was 20% lower than the average state
spending per student in 2007-08. While most states had moved toward restoring funding for
higher education, almost none had reached pre-recession levels. In fact, 13 states had reduced
their funding per student in 2014-15 school year. These reductions in state support forced
colleges and universities, particularly those in the public sector, to increase tuition at a greater
rate than inflation. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, on average, public universities have
increased tuition by 29% since 2007-08 school year. In some states, tuition has risen as much
as 60% over the same time period. Elected officials and the public have reacted negatively to
tuition increases; however, little has been done to return state support to pre-recession levels
in order to stabilize tuition. It does not appear that such support will return in the near future.
Donald Heller, Dean at Michigan State University, suggests that public funding may never
again be what it was in the beginning of the century. He writes, “It is quite possible that state
appropriations for higher education are not going to recover after this recession as they have
in the past. Publicly-funded colleges and universities will have to develop innovative
solutions to reduce costs, shift revenues, and deliver effective programs using new models
and technologies.”

And this was in 2015–well before the new economic realities of the 2021 budget year had
dawned.

6. Digital textbooks

This is a relatively minor innovation but an innovation nonetheless: free, open-source

textbooks, digital textbook rental, etc. If nothing else, this makes textbooks more accessible
than ever before (much like MOOCs made courses more accessible–for better or for worse).

T.E.A.L

TEAL classroom supporting team engagement

TEAL classroom layout, top view

In the late 1990s, educational innovations in teaching freshman physics, specifically a method
called interactive engagement, were delivering greater learning gains than the traditional
lecture format. These innovations were not lost on Professor John Belcher, teacher of first-
year physics at MIT and one of the three principal investigators on the Technology Enabled
Active Learning (TEAL) project. Belcher was grappling with the mismatch between
traditional teaching methods and how students actually learn. Despite great lecturers,
attendance at MIT's freshman physics course dropped to 40% by the end of the term, with a
10% failure rate. Even though MIT freshmen had good math skills, they often had a tough
time grasping the concepts of first-year physics. Traditional lectures, although excellent for
many purposes, do not convey concepts well because of their passive nature.

COMMITMENT

In the TEAL project, Belcher teamed up with Co-Principal Investigators Peter Dourmashkin
and David Litster to reformat the teaching of freshman physics at MIT with a new mix of
pedagogy, technology, and classroom design. They borrowed from innovations made at other
universities, most notably from North Carolina State University's Scale-Up program, and
added visualizations of electricity and magnetism to meet the needs of 8.02, MIT's second
term intro physics course in electromagnetism. Belcher was heavily involved with 8.02, but
the effort involving 8.01, MIT’s first term intro physics course in mechanics, was developed
entirely by Dourmashkin and Litster.

Funding came from several sources. MIT funded the renovation of two classrooms for $1.5M
each. The d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, iCampus—the MIT-
Microsoft Alliance, and the School of Science provided funding for projection equipment,
laptop computers, and redesign of both the first and second-semester intro physics courses. In
fall 2000, the TEAL project kicked off with a prototype course in 8.02 for 150 students.

STRATEGY

The two 3,000-square-foot TEAL classrooms each contain an instructor's workstation in the
center of the room surrounded by 13 round tables, each seating nine students. Thirteen
whiteboards and eight video projectors with screens dot the room's periphery. Each table
holds three groups of three. Groups are formed by mixing students of varying levels of
knowledge in a single group to facilitate peer instruction. Each group uses a computer to view
lecture slides and collect data from experiments.

A typical 8.01 or 8.02 class incorporates lecture, recitation, and hands-on experiments in one
presentation. Instructors deliver 20-minute lectures interspersed with discussion questions,
visualizations, and pencil-and-paper exercises. Students use animated simulations designed to
help them visualize concepts, and carry out experiments in groups during class. Instructors
periodically ask concept questions, which students discuss and answer through an electronic
polling system with handheld voting keypads. Instructors no longer lecture from a fixed
location, but walk around with a wireless microphone talking to students about their work,
assessing their understanding, facilitating interaction, and promoting better learning.

IMPACT

A variety of assessment techniques used by TEAL have shown the effectiveness of

interactive engagement across a range of student backgrounds. The teaching methods used in
the TEAL classroom produced about twice the average normalized learning gains for low-,
intermediate-, and high-scoring students when compared to traditional instruction. These
findings replicate the results of studies performed at other universities.

At least two classrooms closely patterned on the TEAL classroom have started construction
in Taiwan as part of the iCampus Outreach effort. One of these rooms began operation in fall
2005. The steady stream of visitors from universities around the world to examine the
classroom indicates that more classrooms of this type will likely be built. MIT expects that
within a decade, every physics course in electromagnetism in the US will use visualization
material originally developed by or inspired by the TEAL project. To speed that process, MIT
freely shares materials developed for teaching in this format through the MIT iCampus
outreach and the OpenCourseWare website.

The Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) classroom is a resource at Yale

University that can facilitate a dynamic learning environment. This classroom is located at 17
Hillhouse Avenue Room 101 and is equipped with round tables for small group work,
multiple projectors, screens, and whiteboards accompanying each table. The TEAL
classroom also includes a podium with the ability to project all around the room (see
“Downloads” at bottom of page for podium user guide). Tables also contain microphones that
allow students to report out to the class.

As an Active Learning Classroom (ALC), the TEAL is meant to encourage engaged learning,
collaborative projects, and team-based problem-solving. Research into ALCs suggests that
with the right teaching methods, ALC environments can significantly improve student
motivation, performance, and passing rates. Instructors can reserve the TEAL classroom
through the Center for Teaching and Learning by completing and submitting a request form.

Examples

The TEAL classroom can be particularly effective for courses that utilize problem-solving
approaches.
When using the TEAL room for courses that emphasize problem solving, instructors can ask
students to use their “Table + whiteboard” as a mini-laboratory where they actively solve
problems in groups. Problems can be posted to the flat screen and projectors. The instructor
should keep in mind that the flat screens are easier to read and the projectors take up board
space.

Instructor can post problems to the flatscreens and read them out.

Instructor can give students 2 to 4 minutes to read through/digest/process the information.

One student from each table then sketches the problem on their whiteboard, after which the
role of scribe rotates.
Instructors should ensure students know that the table works as a team to find the solution,
not just the scribe.

Instructor encourages everyone at the table to be part of the problem solving process. With
whiteboards for each group, every student can share perspective, encouraging their ability to
work as a team.

If the problem is difficult and only one or two tables reach the answer, the instructor can
provide closure by reviewing main points on one of boards W1-W8, each of which can be
projected around the classroom.

Recommendations

Advice for Using the TEAL Room. Instructors should:

 Avoid using the TEAL room as a lecture hall for over 100 students if possible.
Instead, use the room for class sizes around 40-80 students. Use 8 tables with 6-8
students/table.

 Integrate 2-3 discussion questions/problems to solve during class to provide natural

breaks.

 View a group+table as a “mini-laboratory.” Each of the students in the group can be

seen as team members working together to investigate or solve a common problem.

 Use the all-around LCD screens to post discussion questions.

 Turn off the projectors as they do not illuminate well and take up extra board space.

 Lecture straight in small doses only. Additionally, use one of the W1, W2 boards,
which project all around the room, to intersperse interactive notes and examples for
students.

 Use moveable whiteboards when necessary. Keep in mind that not all tables have
whiteboards right next to them.

 Bring a box of dry erase markers, e.g. 1 marker per table, as the room often runs out.

 Take notice of missing equipment such as batteries for microphones, pens, etc.

 Have one instructor or teaching fellow per 20 students in the class. These individuals
can circulate the room and guide students in their group work.

NeedofInnovationinBankingSector

For long, banks have been reluctant to update their systems – and for good reason. The
current systems that they use are the product of years of continued innovation to meet
immediate customer requirements. But this has resulted in siloed systems being used for
the transaction, savings, investment and loan accounts. This is not suited for the digital
age when the competition for banks is coming from technology-based FinTech startups.

Banks and other traditional financial service provider have had to respond with an array
of digitization and innovation initiatives. These initiatives employ cutting-edge
technologies to ensure a customer-centric perspective rather than the traditional focus on
products, real-time intelligent data integration rather than slow analysis being performed
after-the-fact and open platform foundation. In this article, we will take a brief look at ten
technologies that are disrupting banking and financial services:

Atos has created a Global Banking Technology Radar that showcases these technologies
beautifully:

Ten Banking Technologies that Are Shaping the Future

1.Augmented Reality
Immersive technologies such as Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality are enhancing
customer experience across the board. So why can’t they do the same for banking
customers?

The possibilities of the implementation of augmented reality technology in banking sector

are only limited by imagination, though these are still in a very early stage of
development. The end-state is to give customers complete autonomy in actions and
transactions they could perform at home. Hybrid branches are envisioned by technology
experts who believe that bank branches as we know them today are a thing of past.

One of the implementations of augmented reality technology in banking sector, that is

already live, has been made by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. They have created
a rich date augmented reality application for their customers who were looking to buy or
sell a home. It provides them with information like current listings, recent sales, and price
tendencies to help the customer make better decisions.

2.Blockchain
Blockchain is a catchall phrase used to describe distributed ledger technologies. You
could think of it as a distributed database with no DBA involved.

It allows multiple parties to access the same data simultaneously, and at the same time
ensures the integrity and immutability of the records entered in the database. At present,
leading banks around the world are exploring proof of concept projects across various
aspects of banking and financial services.

The first major implementation that we are likely to see is in the areas for clearing and
settlement. Accenture estimates that investment banks would be able to save $10
billion by deploying blockchain technology to improve the efficiency of clearing and
settlement systems.

Another major area in which banks will see a huge saving by using blockchain
technology is KYC (Know Your Customer) operations. Business models being developed
at the moment would turn KYC from a cost centre into a profit centre for banks – as they
would come to rely on a shared blockchain for this activity. Syndicated loans, trade
finance and payments are other areas where the smart contracts on blockchain could be
highly effective.

3.Robotic Process Automation

The volume of unstructured data that the bank has to process is increasing exponentially
with the rise of the digital economy. This is not just banking transaction data, but also
other behavioral data that could potentially allow the banks to improve and innovate
customer experience.

This has made bankers realize that they need to find technologies that can mimic human
action and judgment but at a higher speed, scale, and quality. The answer that has
emerged is a combination of various technologies that enable cognitive and robotic
process automation in banking.

These technologies consist of machine learning, natural language processing, chatbots,

robotic process automation, and intelligent analytics in banking that allow the bots to
learn and improve.

It is no surprise that Deloitte’s 2017 State of Cognitive survey found that 88% of financial
service professionals believe that such technologies are a strategic priority. That said, the
current state of the art in robotic automation is still quite weak at the cognitive and
analytical aspects of the processes.

In the years to come, we would see the current cognitive capabilities being bundled with
the robotic process automation to achieve even better results. This is already being
implemented in point-of-sale solutions that automatically suggest marketing promotions
that would be most effective for an individual customer.
4.QuantumComputing

Quantum computing is a way of using quantum mechanics to work out complex data
operations. As is common knowledge today, computers use bits that can have two values
– 1 or 0. Quantum computing uses “quantum bits” that can instead have three states – 1 or
0 or both. This unlocks exponential computing power over traditional computing – when
the right algorithm is used.

This represents a huge leap in computing power, but any commercial implementations are
still decades away. Nevertheless, firms like JPMorgan Chase and Barclays are investing
in quantum computing research in partnership with IBM.
5.Artificial Intelligence

The explosive growth that the last decade has seen in the amount of structured and
unstructured data available with the banks, combined with the growth of cloud computing
and machine learning technologies has created a perfect storm for Artificial Intelligence
to be used across the spectrum of banking and financial services landscape.

Business needs and capabilities of AI implementations have grown hand-in-hand and

banks are looking at Artificial Intelligence as a differentiator to beat down the emerging
competition. Artificial Intelligence allows banks to use the large histories of data that they
capture to make much better decisions across various functions including back-office
operations, customer experience, marketing, product delivery risk management, and
compliance.

WEF report “the New Physics of Financial Services” has identified the following sector-
specific opportunities that will be opened thanks to AI deployment in banking and
financial services. These opportunities are spread across deposits, lending, payments,
investment management, capital markets, and market infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence would revolutionize banks by shifting the focus from the scale of
assets to scale of data. The banks would now aim to deliver tailored experiences to their
customers rather than build mass products for large markets.

Instead of retaining customers through high switching costs, banks would now be able to
become more customer-focused and retain them by providing high retention benefits.
Most importantly, banks would no more just depend on human ingenuity for improving
their services. Instead, performance would be a product of the interplay between
technology and talent.

6.API Platforms

The time when banks could control the whole customer experience through a monolithic
system that controlled everything from keeping records to every customer interaction is
long gone. Both the regulatory requirements and the revolving customer needs have
turned this humongous system into dinosaurs.

Today banks need to instead build “banking stacks” that allow them to be a platform to
which customers and third-party service providers can connect to deliver a flexible and
personalized experience to the end user. To do so, they can use API platforms for
banking.

API Banking Platform is designed to work through APIs that sit between the banks’
backend execution and front-end experiences provided by either the bank itself or third
party partners.

This allows the banks to adopt completely new business models and use cases (for
example, enabling salary advances) and experiment with new technologies
like blockchain at low cost. APIs also help banks to future-proof their systems as the
front-end is no more tightly coupled with the backend.
7. Prescriptive Security

The nature of cyber risk changes at a great speed. This makes the traditional approaches
to risk management obsolete. It is now clear that it is impossible for organizations to
eliminate all possible sources of cyber threats and limiting the attack footprint at the
earliest is the best way to deal with these. The banks will have to be nimble in the way
they approach cybersecurity.

Increasingly banks are deploying advanced analytic, real-time monitoring and AI to

detect threats and stop them from disrupting the systems. The use of big data analysis
techniques to get an earlier visibility of threats and acting to stop them before they happen
is called prescriptive security.

While the disruption brought by implementing the new technique may lead to an increase
in vulnerability at the start, this is the way forward to stop the ever increasing data
breaches that various organizations are reporting.

8.Hybrid Cloud

One of the biggest challenges that the digital age has brought to banking is the need to
respond quickly. The constantly evolving market that banks operate in requires them to be
as agile as possible. They need to be able to provide resources across the enterprise in a
timely manner to address business problems faster.

High performing banks have discovered that the most cost-effective way of achieving this
is through an enterprise-wide hybrid cloud. This allows them to pick benefits of both
public and private while addressing issues like data security, governance, and compliance
along with the ability to mobilize large resources in a matter of minutes.

Hybrid cloud also allows banks to offer innovative new offerings to its customers. For
example, ICICI Bank has partnered with Zoho to allow businesses to automate the basic
reconciliation process through Zoho Books, a cloud accounting software. The partnership
does away with the need for data entry and also makes it easier to offer multiple payment
options to the customers.

9.Instant Payments

As the world moves towards a less-cash economy, the customer expectations around
payments have changed dramatically. Both customers and business expect payments to
happen instantaneously, and this is where instant payment systems step in.

Instantaneous payment is a must if online payments need to replace cash transactions.

Therefore, banks around the world are finding ways of providing their customers options
for instant payment, even when the infrastructure required for the service is lacking.

For example, banks in Kenya are partnering together to provide P2P payment experience
to their customer base. You would soon see banks combining their instant payment
capabilities with third-party e- and m-commerce solutions to develop a new portfolio of
services.