Daniel Oliveira’s Post

Design as a practice will inevitable fail if it's too insulated, and isolated from other parts of the organisation. We can't expect to be included, if we exclude others by default by assuming that designers are the only advocates of the users, and we are masters of 'design' and no one else. In reality everyone has a role in advocating for their users, and everyone contributes from their craft/skills to solve the problem at hand. Design as we know today is not what it is 5 years ago, and 5 years from now design will be different from what it is today. The future and survival of design is not in the zero sum game of 'craft' and other skills/acumens, but it's how design is leveraged as a connector of other disciplines and parts of the organisations. The 'Design and ...' framework is very useful for design leaders to understand how design can play a valuable role in the organisation. Design and (cyber security, sustainability, efficiency, profitability...) is a framework to help force you to think how design can play a role in the organisation beyond posting post its and fiddling with Figma. If we are to elevate design as a c-level position, we need to demonstrate, articulate, proof, and breathe value. Design is a verb, the art of problem solving.

Design thinking offers a versatile approach applicable across industries, fostering innovation and problem-solving. Its human-centric methodology encourages empathy, creativity, and iterative ideation, enabling organisations to tackle diverse challenges effectively. By prioritising user needs and embracing experimentation, design thinking cultivates a culture of innovation, driving sustainable solutions and meaningful outcomes across industries. #DesignThinking #Innovation #ProblemSolving

A positive and inspiring article on #Design #Thinking from the MIT Sloan School of Management, that unfortunately comes at a time when "Design Thinking" has become a #toxic expression in many circles of the design industry itself. There are any number of good reasons for this. Here are just three: 1️⃣ Any insight—regardless of its initial depth—that can be expressed as a pretty graph on a #PowerPoint slide is ultimately going to be #trivialized, stripped of its foundational #insight, and #demoted to a talking point for people who don't genuinely understand or apply it. Every cliché your high school English teacher crossed off of your term paper was once a fresh, clever insight into the way the world works that no one had ever expressed that way before. All business models work the same way: it's a testament to the power of their insight, in a way, that their expression survives long past its #freshness date. 2️⃣ There is a very thin line between seeing and applying the value of an idea—like design thinking—to an area where its originators never considered that it could be applied, and #coopting and #exploiting that idea and ultimately #diluting it to the point where it has no meaning. "Empathize, Ideate, Prototype, Test" is, in fact, a thought process that can be applied to nearly any problem in any industry, but in doing so it is sometimes legitimately necessary to redefine powerful words like #Empathize to their least common denominator to make the model fit. At that point, the "Law of Unintended Consequences" predicts that all terms in the model will trend toward the same diluted meaning, reducing the value of the insight for everyone. 3️⃣ It's impossible to separate the principles or application of "Design Thinking" from those of "User-Centered Design" (#UCD), which demands a rigorous approach to #listening to, #empathizing with, and #rigorously #observing and #documenting user behaviors and roadblocks, to #intuit their struggles and needs, including challenges or aspirations they may not be consciously aware of or might even struggle to express. The people who are good at #UCD are artists of empathy: without diminishing the value that the framework brings to more casual applications, it shouldn't be surprising that people with deep commitments to the core principles would feel a loss when those principles are lost in the #generalization. But while it's understandable that the expression now has a mixed reputation in the very community that gave birth to it, it would be a shame—to borrow a cliché that my own English teachers would relish striking from my prose—to "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Every call for greater #empathy and #understanding is a worthwhile one. If you're not a fan of the dilution of "Design Thinking," use the inspiration in articles like this one to introduce others to the art and science of User-Centered Design. #Refresh those PowerPoints, and use the opportunity to deepen and to teach.

CHANGE BY DESIGN by Tim Brown is a definitive book on Design thinking. His humility, intellect and compelling stories create a delightful journey. Desig thinking is basically a problem-solving approach. It is an approach to innovation (which is basically problem solving) that is powerful, effective, and broadly accessible. It creates a human-centred rather than technology- centred view. It is basically a set of principles that can be applied by diverse people to a wide range of problems. The book helps in identifying the framework, tools & skills required for practicing design thinking. Design thinking is a willing embrace of constraints. The first stage of design process is about discovering which constraints are important and establishing a framework for evaluating them. Constraints can be visualised in terms of three overlapping criteria for successful ideas: feasibility (What is functionally possible within the foreseeable future); viability (What is likely to become a part of sustainable business model); and desirability (what makes sense to people and for people) The approach consists of three overlapping spaces- Inspiration, Ideation and implementation.  Inspiration- Gathering insights from every possible source. Insight is learning from the lives of others.  Observing our customers can provide us with invaluable clues about the range of unmet needs. Empathy- Standing in the shoes of others - empathy is the mental habit that moves us beyond thinking of people as laboratory rats or standard deviations. If we are to” borrow” the lives of other people to inspire new ideas, we need to begin by recognizing that their seemingly inexplicable behaviours represent different strategies for coping with the confusing, complex, and contradictory world in which they live. Prototyping- Giving form to an idea, allowing us to learn from it, evaluate it against others, and improve upon it. It is amazing to see the kind of success you can create when you keep customers at the centre of your business. Dig in....... 

Design thinking can be applied to any problem in any industry. Here’s how. https://lnkd.in/euZtaauQ

Insightful article by Rebecca Linke that delves deep into the world of design thinking. Traditionally rooted in product and service innovation, this approach is much more than a creative process; it’s a powerful tool for solving complex problems in both professional and personal contexts. 🔍 **Why It Matters Professionally:** In the workplace, design thinking helps teams go beyond conventional problem-solving by encouraging a deeper understanding of user needs. It fosters an environment of innovation, allowing businesses to stay ahead in competitive markets through improved products and services. 💡 **Why It Matters Personally:** On a personal level, design thinking equips us with the skills to tackle everyday challenges more creatively and effectively. Whether it's planning personal projects or making life decisions, this approach encourages us to think outside the box and come up with solutions that truly meet our needs. 🎓 **Why It Should Be in Every College Curriculum:** Introducing design thinking into college curricula could revolutionize education by empowering students with critical thinking, empathy, and iterative learning skills. These are essential for their professional careers and personal lives, making them more adaptable and adept at facing the world’s ever-evolving challenges. Design thinking isn’t just a skillset; it’s a mindset that promotes continuous learning and growth. #DesignThinking #Innovation #EducationReform #ProfessionalDevelopment

Highly recommend the Design Thinking course by MIT Sloan School of Management . This article is is a high level view of key learnings from the course. #designthinking

As a firm believer in the power of design thinking, I see it as a versatile approach that extends beyond traditional boundaries. It's not just about creating products, but also about solving operational, strategic, and interpersonal challenges within an organization. In my role, I consistently apply design thinking and methodologies in my daily work and with teams. I truly believe that design thinking is a powerful tool for reshaping the way we approach problems and innovate.  #designthinking #innovation #problemsolving

Good design is invisible; great design is unforgettable 😎 Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative problem-solving approach that aims to create innovative solutions by focusing on empathy, experimentation, and collaboration. The main components of design thinking can be broken down into the following stages: 𝟏) 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐞: Understand the needs, emotions, motivations, and context of the end-users or customers. By putting yourself in their shoes, you can gain insights into their experiences and identify the real problems they face. 𝟐) 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞: Clearly articulate the problem statement. This involves synthesizing the information and insights gathered during the empathize stage to define the users' needs and challenges. A well-defined problem statement helps guide the ideation process and ensures that the focus remains on addressing the users' pain points. 𝟑) 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞: Generate a wide range of possible solutions to the defined problem. 𝟒) 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞: Create low-fidelity prototypes of the most promising solutions. These can be simple sketches, physical models, or digital mockups that help visualize and test the concepts. 𝟓) 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭: Test the prototypes with real users to gather feedback and validate the proposed solutions. This feedback is crucial to understanding how well the solution addresses the user's needs and to identify any areas for improvement. Based on the test results, the team may need to iterate through the earlier stages to refine the solution or explore new ideas. 𝟔) 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (not a formal stage, but often included): Solutions or concepts developed during the design thinking process are brought to life. It can be seen as part of, or following, the Test stage, depending on the specific circumstances. During this phase, the solution is rolled out, and its impact in the real world is observed.

. In large organizations, design is moving closer to the center of the enterprise. This shift isn’t about aesthetics and product development, however. It’s about imparting the principles of design—collectively known as design thinking—throughout the organization. The approach is in large part a response to the complexity of many products, services, and processes. People need help—they need their interactions with technologies and other complicated systems to be intuitive and pleasurable. Design thinking is an essential tool for simplifying and humanizing. The principles include a focus on users’ experiences, especially their emotional ones; the creation of physical models, such as diagrams and sketches, to explore problems; the use of prototypes to experiment with solutions; a tolerance for failure; and thoughtful restraint in product features so that even a complex piece of technology can be easy to use. Creating a design-centric culture requires understanding that the returns on an investment in design are difficult to quantify, allowing people to take chances, and appreciating what design can and cannot achieve. Design helps people and organizations cut through complexity and imagine the future, but it doesn’t solve all problems https://lnkd.in/d3UuWzFq