Design Thinking: How to Come Up With the Best Idea & Test It

design-thinking-how-to-come-up-with-the-best-idea-test-it

Design Thinking: How to Come Up With the Best Idea &amp; Test It

[[p]]Design thinking is an approach to innovation that puts humans at the center. It can help make sure the ideas you come up with are focused on what people need, not just based on assumptions or trends.[[/p]]

[[p]]The [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/what-is-design-thinking-how-can-you-use-it-to-understand-your-audience" target="_blank"]]design thinking[[/a]]&nbsp;process has five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.[[/p]]

[[p]]In this article, we dive into the Ideate and Test stages to come up with ideas that solve people&rsquo;s problems and how to test them by covering:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]5 steps to ideating innovative ideas[[/li]]
	[[li]]5 top ideation techniques[[/li]]
	[[li]]How do you create a prototype?[[/li]]
	[[li]]6 steps to test your idea[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]In this stage of design thinking, you should have already conducted research to empathize with your audience and defined the problem or obstacle that your stakeholders face.[[/p]]

[[p]]Now it&rsquo;s time to begin to find a solution. To do this, you can follow five steps.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/what-is-design-thinking-how-can-you-use-it-to-understand-your-audience" target="_blank"]]Empathize and Define stages,[[/a]] you came up with insights that define the problem your stakeholders are facing.[[/p]]

[[p]]These are often framed using the formula:[[/p]]

[[p]]&ldquo;[[strong]]Stakeholder[[/strong]] does [[strong]]Behavior[[/strong]] because [[strong]]Need[[/strong]], but [[strong]]Barrier[[/strong]].&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]&nbsp;For example:[[/p]]

[[p style="margin-left:48px"]]&ldquo;An older adult ([[strong]]Stakeholder[[/strong]]) tries to manage appointments online ([[strong]]Behavior[[/strong]]) because they want to be organized ([[strong]]Need[[/strong]]), but they find complex digital systems confusing ([[strong]]Barrier[[/strong]]).&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]Now, you need to turn these actionable insights into opportunity statements which are positive, open-ended questions like &ldquo;How might we&hellip;?&rdquo; and &ldquo;In what ways could we&hellip;?&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]For example, your actionable insight on older adults might turn into an opportunity statement like:[[/p]]

[[p style="margin-left:48px"]]&ldquo;How can we simplify online appointment systems so that older adults can manage their care independently without feeling overwhelmed?&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]Or:[[/p]]

[[p style="margin-left:48px"]]&ldquo;In what ways could we help older people feel confident and in control when managing their healthcare appointments online?&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]By reframing problems in a positive and collaborative way, these opportunity statements open a range of possibilities for innovation and a basis for your ideation process.[[/p]]

[[p]]Next, you need to bring together the right people to innovate. The more perspectives you have, the better, so choose your ideation team from different work areas.[[/p]]

[[p]]Set ground rules and ways of working to make the process more effective such as:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]Ensure everyone understands that [[strong]]there are no bad ideas[[/strong]] and each one can open new ways of thinking and spark creativity.[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Set a target[[/strong]] for multiple ideas (e.g. more than 30) because the best ones often emerge after the more obvious ideas are exhausted.[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Define a time limit[[/strong]] to encourage creativity, sharpen focus and help ensure that you move on from each idea before everyone&rsquo;s energy is exhausted.[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]Next, you need to choose and use a technique for ideation. There are many to choose from, and we&rsquo;ll discuss them in more detail in the next section.[[/p]]

[[p]]Techniques like [[strong]]brainstorming[[/strong]], [[strong]]brainwriting[[/strong]], [[strong]]round robin[[/strong]], [[strong]]SCAMPER[[/strong]], and [[strong]]ideas matrices[[/strong]] are all useful ways of unlocking your creativity as a team. Use one, or more than one, depending on how long you have and what suits your team best.[[/p]]

[[p]]Whichever techniques you choose, make use of sketching as well as writing for maximum creativity. Quick sketches can help visualize ideas, communicate your thinking in a rapid way and help spark new connections for other people.[[/p]]

[[p]]Throughout the process, use the &ldquo;yes&hellip;and&rdquo; method. That is, build on people&rsquo;s ideas, don&rsquo;t just shoot them down.[[/p]]

[[p]]Document everything as you won&rsquo;t know until later which ideas turn out to be the most useful and help keep track not just of the ideas, but how you got there.[[/p]]

[[p]]Next, you need to organize ideas, so that you can begin to choose between them.[[/p]]

[[p]]Affinity mapping is a good tool for this. It works by writing each idea on a sticky note, and as a team, place the notes on a board, grouping similar ones together. Then, reorganize the clusters as they form, moving ideas around until you find the most logical groupings.[[/p]]

[[p]]You can also use online tools like Miro or Lucidchart that mirror the real-world process.[[/p]]

[[p]]As you discuss the groupings, you may find that some ideas may be more similar than they originally appear, and some may feed into each other in ways that weren&rsquo;t apparent.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]With the ideas organized, it&rsquo;s time to vote on the best one to work on. There are a couple of useful techniques you can use to help choose the best idea.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the [[strong]]ICE method[[/strong]], for example, you score your ideas based on their Impact, Confidence, and Ease.[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Impact[[/strong]] refers to the effect your proposed solution will have on the stakeholders you&rsquo;re targeting.[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Confidence[[/strong]] refers to how sure you are that the solution will have that level of impact.[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Ease[[/strong]] refers to how easy it will be for you as a team to implement the proposed solution.[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]Each element gets a score out of 10. Then, you multiply all three numbers to get the ICE score. That makes it easy to compare each idea&rsquo;s score to find the most promising idea.[[/p]]

[[p]]For example, say Solution 1 has an Impact score of 6, a Confidence score of 5, and an Ease score of 7, while Solution 2 has an Impact score of 8, a Confidence score of 7, and an Ease score of 2.[[/p]]

[[p]]Solution 1&rsquo;s ICE score is 210, while Solution 2&rsquo;s score is 112. Even though Solution 2 scores higher on Impact and Confidence, its Ease score means it&rsquo;s likely too complex to put into practice.[[/p]]

[[p]]A simpler method is [[strong]]dot voting[[/strong]]. In this method, everyone gets a set number of dots and assigns each dot to their favorite ideas. Then, you simply count the dots on each idea to find out which one is most popular.[[/p]]

[[p]]Whichever process you use, it&rsquo;s important to be collaborative. People will feel more motivated to help the idea succeed if they have been involved in making the choice.[[/p]]

[[p]]Let&rsquo;s take a closer look at some of the ideation techniques you can use in the Ideate stage of design thinking.[[/p]]

[[p]]Brainstorming is one of the most widely used ideation techniques. In this technique, team members share ideas out loud while someone records them.[[/p]]

[[p]]The aim of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time. So set a timer and generate as many ideas as you possibly can.[[/p]]

[[p]]The key is to focus on quantity over quality and encourage participants to share even unusual or incomplete ideas. Sometimes the most creative solutions start as ones that seem unrealistic.[[/p]]

[[p]]The 6-3-5 brainwriting tool is another powerful ideation technique. In this approach, six participants each write down three ideas in five minutes.[[/p]]

[[p]]They then pass their sheet to the next person, who builds on those ideas or adds new ones. You can repeat the process several times, which enables you as a group to produce several ideas.[[/p]]

[[p]]As people write at the same time, brainwriting can generate ideas faster than brainstorming and reduce the risk of people getting stuck on the first ideas that come up. It also allows people who might be reluctant to shout out ideas in front of the group.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the round robin technique, each person gets a sheet or document containing an opportunity statement and three boxes labeled with some version of the following: &ldquo;Idea&rdquo;, &ldquo;Response&rdquo;, and &ldquo;Evolution.&rdquo;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Each person takes five minutes to sketch or write down an idea. When the time is up, each person passes their document to the next person, and the next person spends five minutes writing down their response to the idea - the challenges and the positives.[[/p]]

[[p]]Then, the document goes to the next person, who spends another five minutes filling out the &ldquo;Evolution&rdquo; box to address the challenges identified while maintaining the positives. At the end, everyone presents revisions to the group for discussion.[[/p]]

[[p]]SCAMPER helps you think about how to reimagine an existing solution. Each letter stands for a separate element to give prompts that can spark creativity:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]S is for Substitute &ndash; What elements could be replaced?[[/li]]
	[[li]]C is for Combine &ndash; What ideas or features could be combined?[[/li]]
	[[li]]A is for Adapt &ndash; How could the solution be adapted for this situation?[[/li]]
	[[li]]M is for Modify &ndash; What could be changed, enlarged, or simplified?[[/li]]
	[[li]]P is for Put to another use &ndash; Could this idea work in a different context?[[/li]]
	[[li]]E is for Eliminate &ndash; What could be removed to make it simpler?[[/li]]
	[[li]]R is for Reverse &ndash; What would happen if you reversed or rearranged the process?[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]By asking targeted questions, SCAMPER helps teams to look at solutions from different angles and figure out ways to iterate them.[[/p]]

[[p]]An idea matrix starts with a matrix with columns and rows and helps generate ideas based on the intersection of two sets of key factors.[[/p]]

[[p]]First, break down your opportunity statement into the elements you want to consider in defining your solution. Your column headings focus on goals, people, and experiences (i.e. stakeholders&rsquo; needs or constraints).[[/p]]

[[p]]Your row headings focus on things that enable solutions e.g. technologies or trends. Where the rows and columns intersect, you find prompts that help come up with focused solutions.[[/p]]

[[p]]For example, let&rsquo;s look again at the statement: &ldquo;How might we simplify online appointment systems so that older adults can manage their care independently without feeling overwhelmed?&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]A column heading might include one of your users&rsquo; constraints: Low digital literacy. A row heading might be an enabler like: Voice assistants.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the square where Low digital literacy and Voice assistants intersect, you might write something like: Step-by-step spoken guidance.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the Ideate stage, you used the deep understanding of your stakeholders that you gained through the Empathize and Define stages to come up with the best ideas to meet your audience&rsquo;s needs.[[/p]]

[[p]]Now, in the Prototype stage, you&rsquo;re going to create a quick, low-cost representation of your idea. You&rsquo;ll use this prototype to bring it to life, so audiences can see and feel what the solution will be like.[[/p]]

[[p]]Design thinking is iterative so the prototype will be refined as you test it so you&rsquo;re not aiming to create a prototype that defines every aspect of the solution.[[/p]]

[[p]]That&rsquo;s why a key feature of prototyping is that it needs to be fast &ndash; you&rsquo;re looking for a rough and ready set-up that you can abandon if you need to. The aim is to create a learning tool, not a finished product so you can surface issues early.[[/p]]

[[p]]Your prototype will depend on the kind of solution you&rsquo;re aiming to design. You might use concept sketches to show the various touchpoints of a user&rsquo;s interaction with your solution or use storyboarding to map the stakeholder&rsquo;s journey.[[/p]]

[[p]]If you want users to explore a physical product, put together a physical model using cardboard or Lego. Or use click-through wireframes to give hands-on experience with a digital solution.[[/p]]

[[p]]Once you&rsquo;ve created your prototype, it&rsquo;s time to get it into the hands of real customers. Here are six steps to test your solution and get the input you need to refine the idea.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The first thing you need to do is figure out what you&rsquo;re trying to achieve with your test.[[/p]]

[[p]]If it&rsquo;s early in the process, you may be looking to identify risks and challenges. Whereas later, when you&rsquo;ve iterated further, you may be trying to validate the changes made.[[/p]]

[[p]]Either way, you&rsquo;re likely looking to find out something about one or all of three aspects: [[strong]]desirability[[/strong]], [[strong]]feasibility[[/strong]], and [[strong]]usability[[/strong]].[[/p]]

[[p]]You want to find out if users can complete tasks effectively and without confusion, if changes need to be made to make the process easier and if people enjoy using it.[[/p]]

[[p]]Next, figure out how you&rsquo;re going to conduct the test. For some use cases, open tasks are best as they allow users to explore the prototype and you observe what they do. In other cases, you might prefer closed tasks e.g. asking users to perform a task with a binary outcome, either solve or fail.[[/p]]

[[p]]Whichever you choose, plan a realistic scenario or a realistic environment, so the test replicates the real conditions in which your solution will be used.[[/p]]

[[p]]You also need to consider who will act as testers. In the design thinking approach, it&rsquo;s best to test with real world users. If that&rsquo;s not feasible, choose testers from anyone who wasn&rsquo;t involved in the earlier stages of the process.[[/p]]

[[p]]Ensure from the start that people know you&rsquo;re testing the prototype. If something seems difficult or obscure, that&rsquo;s useful information.[[/p]]

[[p]]Don&rsquo;t over-explain the context or prototype, or you&rsquo;ll risk creating biases. Just tell them enough to enable them to complete the tasks you&rsquo;ve set.[[/p]]

[[p]]To keep testers engaged and get the best feedback, encourage think-aloud testing, where users verbalize their thought process as they go through the test.[[/p]]

[[p]]You might also choose to ask users to interact with different versions of the prototype. This kind of [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/toolkits/a-b-testing-tool" target="_blank"]]A/B testing[[/a]] can provide valuable insight, while enabling you to avoid asking too many questions.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Observe and record the users as they work through the test and try to limit the influence you have on the process.[[/p]]

[[p]]Don&rsquo;t jump in to help if people struggle to complete the tasks and avoid doing anything that disrupts the user&rsquo;s flow as you will learn a lot from their challenges.[[/p]]

[[p]]Ask questions when you need to understand something but remain neutral to avoid bias or making people feel like you&rsquo;re looking for a particular outcome or answer.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Once the test is complete, have testers complete a user questionnaire and give them an opportunity to provide feedback beyond what you&rsquo;ve asked.[[/p]]

[[p]]When you&rsquo;ve had a chance to review the feedback provided, go back and ask follow-up questions to avoid misunderstandings and get the most usable feedback.[[/p]]

[[p]]The testing process is about obtaining user feedback so that you can learn and iterate your solution. So, it&rsquo;s essential that you approach this stage in an open way and avoid being defensive about your solution.[[/p]]

[[p]]When you&rsquo;ve absorbed everything you can from the testing process, return to the earlier stages as needed.[[/p]]

[[p]]You may need to do more user research based on what you learn so, go back to the Empathize and Define stages. You might need to revisit the Ideate stage to come up with new ideas or integrate new aspects. Or you might need to refine your model in the Prototype stage.[[/p]]

[[p]]In the Ideate stage of design thinking, creative solutions take shape. Remember the goal of this stage is not to find the perfect idea instantly, it&rsquo;s to explore possibilities and discover the most promising directions.[[/p]]

[[p]]The Prototype and Test stages of design thinking help you turn your ideas into learning tools that can help you find out how well your solution meets real user needs.[[/p]]

[[p]]By moving through these stages, you&rsquo;ll come up with a solution that is exactly what your customers and clients need and want.[[/p]]

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Design Thinking: How to Come Up With the Best Idea & Test It

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