Design thinking: More than a product design methodology

After graduating as a Product Designer, I was all equipped with the theoretical knowledge about design principles & methodologies. Even though I came across the term “Design Thinking” later in my professional experience, it was the general methodology by which we designed products. But I also realized that it is not merely a process to design things, but it is a tool to solve any problem.

When I joined Turian Labs, my ideas became clearer. I understood that Design Thinking is not confined to design studios but it is applicable to nearly all spheres of life. Every task and every problem — from those faced on personal level to those faced by multinational conglomerates — can be solved using the Design Thinking methodology.

Turian Labs recently worked on a video editing project which involved minor graphical changes and other touch ups. The client was not happy with the work already done by someone else, but was also not entirely clear about what he wanted to improve. This looked to me like a project for a graphic designer or a video editor. I was perplexed why would we accept a video editing task even though we are a User Analysis and Research firm. It took me a little while to understand how design thinking was applicable in solving this particular problem. Let’s see how.

1. Empathy

We stepped into the client’s shoes and tried to understand the unarticulated needs. What was it that was missing?

2. Abductive reasoning

What would make the video more appealing? How could it deliver the message it intended more impactfully? We figured out that we needed to think about the broader context and deconstruct the existing flow of the video.

3. Creative Visualization

We thought of all the possible ways the video could be changed, such as changes to the visuals and also the timeline of the video.

4. Prototyping

We created a few sample videos each having some unique value by adding changes to the video.

Thus, thinking like a designer can transform the way people and organizations develop products and services. It allows us to use creative tools to address a large spectrum of challenges. Design Thinking is not merely a methodology to create things, but a general philosophy to solve various problems and tasks.