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What are the key skills you need to solve problems at work? A common-sense approach and steady nerves would top the list.
We all encounter problems at work. Whether you’re in manufacturing, software development, or a grocery store, you face challenges every day. And solving them is often based on raw intelligence.
But the core of creative problem-solving is to take a human-centric approach. Every invention and product is geared for market demands, but market demands are based on human needs. You have to look at every individual user of your service or product to find creative solutions for unique problems.
One effective approach is the design thinking method which focuses on problem-solving through a thorough understanding of the stakeholders’ needs and challenges.
What is the design thinking process?
Design thinking is a process that helps you tackle highly complex and seemingly unresolvable problems by understanding the user and defining the problem clearly. The design thinking process consists of the following steps.
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Empathize
The first design thinking step is to empathize. It simply involves looking at the problem from the end user’s perspective without any assumptions or biases. What would you do if you were in their shoes? Looking at a problem from a third-person point of view clarifies what the stakeholders need.
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Define
The next design thinking step is defining the problem. Once you’ve collected all the data, it becomes easier to define the problem. It is best to approach it in human terms rather than business terms as it will allow the user as well as the stakeholders to relate to the problem.
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Ideate
The next design thinking step is ideating a solution. Analyze the data you’ve collected to come with an idea to tackle the problem This is where an individual moves on from identifying the problem and starts focusing on the exploration of the solutions.
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Prototype
After you’ve explored different ideas, you can move to the next design thinking step of prototyping. This is when you make a scaled-down version of your product to see if it’s feasible and sustainable. This stage helps you identify any problems and work on a viable solution.
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Test
Once you have a working prototype, you can move ahead with the design thinking process and start with the final step called testing. Everyone knows that the prototype needs to be tested by stakeholders to check how it works in real life. If this step is successful, the product is ready for distribution after further changes suggested in the testing step.
Harappa Education’s Unleashing Creativity course teaches you how to solve problems creatively with the design thinking process and by cultivating a creative mindset. The power of design thinking stages will enable you to tackle real-life problems through empathy. It allows an individual to focus on the end-user and find out creative ways to come to a solution. Sign up for the course to learn how to think out of the box and solve problems creatively.
Explore topics such as What is Design Thinking & the Examples of Design Thinking from our Harappa Diaries blog section and hone this skill of strategically thinking in business.
