WNS Denali Procurement Solutions: Pioneering Efficiency for Seamless Operations

1 © Copyright 2020 WNS (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved
© Copyright 2020 WNS (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved
Design Thinking for
Procurement
A handbook to help you increase
value and accelerate innovation

AlparKamber
Design Thinking helps reframe how you
approach problems, conversations, and
relationships at your organization. As
Procurement practitioners, applying
Design Thinking concepts allows us to:
• Approach your end users with empathy
and creative solutions
• Help our teams become more aligned
with business needs
• Empower our Category Managersto
increase their strategic impact
• Ensure our processes become more fit-
for-purpose
Design Thinking is your tool to look at
problems through a telescope – to see the
big picture and understand how your
business functions in a holistic way. The
entire procurement ecosystem benefits
from Design Thinking because all the
components feed off each other – just like
in the wild.
I’d like to introduce you to an actual
product of Design Thinking for
Procurement. Meet Pia – a Procurement
Intelligent Assistant. We used Design
Thinking to develop Pia for our own
internal procurement organization at WNS
Denali. Now, we configure her for our
clients as well. Today, Pia will act as your
narrator for this handbook to share the
latest research and inspiration applying
Design Thinking at your organization.
Finally, I am happy to partner with Hervé
Legenvre, PhD – Professor and Director of
Value Creation Observatory at EIPM, to
provide you with the knowledge and tools
to think outside of the box and develop
solutions that you never thought were
possible.
Don’t be afraid to do things differently.
You are ready. And we are here to help
you succeed.
A notefromtheAuthor:
Research Contributions
by Hervé Legenvre, PhD
Narrated by Pia:
WNS Denali
Procurement
Intelligent
Assistant

Summaryof Contents
What is Design
Thinking?
How is Design
Thinking Relevant
for Procurement?
Examples of How
Design Thinking Adds
Value in Procurement
A Design
Thinking Toolkit
3
New to Design Thinking? Don’t
worry! In a recent conference
poll, only 1 in 10 procurement
executives knew about Design
Thinking principles.
By reading this handbook, you
are one of the few innovative
leaders ready to drive change in
a big way at your organization.
Well done, you!
Follow me through this
handbook so I can provide you
with more insights, actionable
tips, and recommendations.

What is
Design
Thinking?

Design Thinking
is a mindset.
Reframe problems and generate ideas that
fit the needs of your end-users, including:
Team
Members Stakeholders
Category
Managers Suppliers
Let’s start off with a definition so we are all aligned.
Design Thinking is a human-centered, iterative process
that can be applied by all business functions to define
problems and create innovative solutions.

The Design ThinkingProcess:
Five ActionPhases
In order to uncover the true frustrations and
dissatisfactionof people, empathy is
essential. Through empathy, we can put
ourselves in other people's shoes. We give
ourselves space to connect with how they
might feel about their challenge and current
situation. Watch this short video from Brene
Brown to learn more about becoming an
empathetic leader.
Empathy Define Ideate Prototype Test
To solve the right
problems, start with
accessing frustrations
and dissatisfactions
from your users.
Actively listen to their
stories and observe
their experiences.
The first idea is rarely
the best one. Design
Thinking suggests
that you generate 5
to 7 solutions for any
given problem. This
way, you can cross
fertilize ideas and
increase your chances
of success.
Prototyping is not a
search for perfection.
Simple prototyping
techniques, such as
Franken-Prototyping
(Google it!), can
boost learnings.
Many times, people
show a prototype and
explain why it is great.
Instead, step back and
present the solutions.
Allow your users to
react and respond to
your recommendations.
Think about your current processes for solving
problems. Are you following all of these action
steps? If not, consider the gaps in your processes
and uncover how you can improve through these
action phases.

A Design
Thinking
CheatSheet
Search for rich stories
and find some LOVE
User
+ Need
+ insight
YES! and…
YES! and…
YES! and…
YES! and…
Build to
LAST LEARN
SHOW,
don’t tell
1
2
3
4
5
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
CHEAT
SHEET
Start all over
(do it as many
times as possible)
= POV
(point of view)
If you decide to print off one
sheet, this should be the one!
Design Thinking is a robust
concept. To simplify the process,
check out this action step cheat
sheet created by Guido Kovalskys.

How is Design
Thinking
Relevant to
Procurement?

Arobustecosystemprovidesconnectivityandinformationflowwithoutfriction. Allparticipants
inyourunique ecosystemfeedoffeachothertodrivechangeandinnovation.
Design Thinking Supports Your Unique Procurement Ecosystem
9
Because all systems have
a natural tendency to
revert to a state of lower
energy, Design Thinking
can create the energy
you need to keep your
ecosystem together.
You can read this
Harvard Business Review
article for more insights
about building a strong
procurement ecosystem.

ProcurementHas a Unique
Cross-FunctionalRoleinAll
Organizations
Yet, we are still trying to evolve
into a more forward-thinking and
innovative function.
Don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith and
change the way you approach problem
solving and innovation.
If you want to realize the full potential
of your organization, you must
operate differently. This requires
changing your mindset within your:
Talent and
capabilities
Organizational
model
Systems and
processes

Develop empathy
to truly understand
your business
stakeholders
Become an
active listener
without jumping
to conclusions
Involve your end-
users in the process
to iterate and refine
potential solutions
Consider the
broader Procurement
ecosystem and
connect the dots
Design Thinking helps
you shift minds and
develop strategic skills.
11
As you can see, Design Thinking is
about building strong soft skills –
those skills we often overlook or
forget to use when we feel busy,
rushed, or overwhelmed. You can
use these principles to better work
with your stakeholders and
participate in strategic initiatives
at your company.

WhenDoes DesignThinking
Failin Procurement?
Mistake 3: When
decision makers are
not included in the
process.
Mistake 1: When
owners do not take
the ideas forward.
Mistake 2: When
you jump to
conclusions without
actively listening.
Despite what many of us grew up hearing, failing is not always negative –
failing can be a strength. We fail and we learn. So, the only real failure is when
you fail to focus on your end user. Client centricity is key with Design Thinking!

Supporting
Research
Design Thinking can become the new
superpower to transform your team. Let’s
hear what Hervé Legenvre and Bernard Garcia
have to say next!

The answer to those
questions is…
By using six work
modes based on speed
of change on demand
and supply side.
Purchasing teams will
need to adopt a
business mindset and
move swiftly from one
work mode to another.
These image comes from the book, “Fifth Generation Purchasing.”
Learn more about the book here.

The Six Work Modes Defined
Tactical
Here the ambition is to ensure that
prices and transaction costs are
kept to a minimum, while users
benefit from a great experience
and stakeholders benefit from
business advantages.
Consolidation
Here, the ambition is to achieve
cost optimisation, while enhancing
the value offered across the
business. The challenge is to
respond to diverse needs across the
demand side with a single solution.
Collaboration & Alliances
Here, the ambition is to create
business opportunities out of long-
term relationships with strategic
partners. This requires the
orchestration of close alignment and
joint projects across companies.
Agile Advisor
Here, the ambition is to respond to
diverse and rapidly evolving business
expectations. This requires
establishing strong relationships
with stakeholders and to strike the
right balance between anticipation
and acceleration.
Competence Centre
Here, the ambition is to advise the
business on opportunities coming
from the supply side. This
requires knowledge and access to
rapidly changing markets.
Exploration
Here, the ambition is to contribute
to teams in charge of innovative,
exploratory projects. This requires
organisations to assemble
innovative solutions from external
partners in order to seize new
business opportunities.

Incorporating Design Thinking into your core
purchasing process can help make progress across the
following modes: agile advisor, collaboration and
alliance, and exploration.
This image comes from the book, “Fifth Generation Purchasing” – and the illustration shows how
traditional procurement process are aligned to Design Thinking.
Maintain independence towards
users
Long list of requirements
One solution described in a
proposal
Long process with a singe
decision at the end
Empathy with users
User stories & Pain points
5 prototypes that help you learn
Multiple loops
By accessing the true needs of
the users through empathy and
allowing suppliers to listen
actively to user stories and pain
points
Agile advisor
By sharing stakeholder ideas with
suppliers and asking them to
create prototypes of how they
can help us solve such problems
Collaboration and Alliance
Creating an iterative process
where solutions evolve and are
refined to finalize innovative
development
Exploration

Examples of
How Design
Thinking Adds
Value to
Procurement

Driving supplier
innovation in a crisis
Coming to the supplier
meeting armed with a
slide deck demands, and
formulaic feedback
Bringing buyers,
suppliers, and
stakeholders together to
uncover common goals
Improving stakeholder
alignment and
engagement
Dictating priorities to
stakeholders based on
what procurement needs
Asking thoughtful
questions to discover
what stakeholders need
and aligning to BU goals
Inviting end users
(employees) to share
feedback and needs
upfront during vendor
sessions
Sourcing an enterprise
SaaS solution
Selecting a platform
based on lowest-cost
with “cookie cutter”
requirements
Accelerated innovation and
co-created new service
offerings to safely re-open
and boost long-term ROI
Increased spend under
management from
36% to 76%
Achieved a 95% adoption
rate after the go-live date
Use Case
Examples
Traditional Procurement
Approach
With Design
Thinking Applied
Client
Results
I hope you enjoyed the latest research from Herve and Bernard. Design Thinking can generate impactful results
for your company. Here are a few ways Design Thinking adds value in procurement.

Helping the business
balance best cost,
quality, and speed of
service
Getting the most out of
supplier relationships
Effective category
planning
Stakeholder fills out a
hard-coded bid-request
form
Bringing a pre-baked
plan to the stakeholder
Forcing suppliers into a
spec on their own
Talking through the
request and asking: why,
why, and why?
Co-creating a strategy
that aligns with the plan
for that BU
Hosting an innovation
contest to break down
barriers
Increased adoption by
90% and incremental
savings of 12% by
listening to the end user
Built a 2X pipeline within
4 months of
collaborative planning
Logging more than a
dozen opportunities for
new innovative business
ideas
Here are more ways Design Thinking adds value in procurement.
Use Case
Examples
Traditional Procurement
Approach
With Design
Thinking Applied
Client
Results

Train your team on these
concepts. Innovative
procurement practitioners
require new skills to solve
problems and develop solutions.
Use active listening, empathy, and an
understanding of the procurement
ecosystem to drive change.
The heart of Design Thinking is learning
how to reframe problems and consider your
customers’ feedback. Be empathetic and
curious; don’t be judgmental.
Shift your mindset to
feel and think like
your customers.
Phew. We covered a lot today – hopefully, you found this information helpful and applicable to your role as an innovative
problem solver. In the next section of this handbook, you will find a toolkit to dive deeper. For now, here are four key
takeaways for how you can apply Design Thinking principles at your organization.

Your Design
Thinking
Toolkit

Now, it’s your turn to
deploy Design
Up next, I will walk you through
templates and guides you can
use to have your own
conversations and host
breakout activities using Design

Questionsto ask for customer empathy mapping
What do they think & feel?
What really matters to them?
What are their dreams?
What do they worry about?
What do they see?
What is their environment?
What kind of offers are they
exposed to?
What problems do they face?
What do they hear?
What do their friends and family tell
them?
What do they hear in their work
environment?
Who are their main influencers?
What do they say & do?
How do they behave in public?
Do they influence anyone?
What do they say to people?
What compels them to take action?
Who is your first customer?
This could be a stakeholder / buyer
/ end user
Problem statement
How might we…
Design Thinking always starts with
empathy. Host a customer
empathy mapping activity by
asking these questions and logging
all responses that come up! True
brainstormingmeans you
document and consider all options
without upfront rejection.

Remember, empathy is a skillset. Below are some empathetic phrases you can use when
talking to your team, stakeholders, and suppliers. Printoff these statements and hang them
on your desk for quick inspiration. Empathy gets better with daily practice!
“I would love to
learn more about
your work.”
“It’s so motivating to
hear your ideas on
improving our
purchasing process.”
“That’s
interesting! Can
you tell me more
about your daily
work?”
“I am sure that is
frustrating. Can
you tell me more?”
“You can be
upfront and
honest with me.
I care about
your feedback.”
“As someone close
to this challenge, I
am sure you have
many great ideas
for improvements.”
“I love what you
just shared.
What else have
you learned?”
“Thank you for
sharing that
perspective with
me. Your feedback
is valid.”

Host an exercise to think about your customer’s
needs, important moments, and feelings about
Procurement. The goal here is to use empathy and
think like your user from step one!
Customer Journey Canvas
Take time to reflect on your customer interactions with
Procurement. What are the required steps before, during,
and after working with your team?
Customer needs
• What goal is your
customer trying to
accomplish?
• When do they experience
a need for Procurement’s
support?
Key moments
• What does each big
interaction look like with
Procurement?
• How will Procurement help
accomplish their goal?
Feelings
• How satisfied is your
customer at each moment?
• Which moments add value
and set your department
and support apart?

If you are unable to host a brainstorming session,
use this template to write down your own
observations about customer interactions with
Procurement.
Customer Journey Canvas
Template: Take time to reflect on your customer interactions
with Procurement. What are the required steps before,
during, and after working with your team?
Customer needs
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Key moments
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
____________________
Feelings
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
___________________

ProblemStatements
Context
When does the problem occur?
Problem
What is the root cause of the problem?
Alternatives?
What do customers do now to fix the
problems?
Customers
Who experiences the problem most often?
Emotional Impact
How does the customer feel?
Quantifiable Impact
What is the measurable impact (include
units)?
Alternative shortcomings
What are the disadvantages of the
alternatives?
Objective: Help everyone understand the complexity of the problem
while entirely leaving out the solution.
You must be ready to talk about problems when using Design Thinking. Here
is a worksheet you can use to document problems at your organization.

Ask These 7 Questionsto BetterDefineProblems
What are you trying to achieve when you use
(insert your example)?
What frustrates you when you do/use
What are your ultimate priorities when you do/use
What is the biggest problem you would like to eliminate
when you do/use (insert your example)?
What would make you prefer a new solution?
What would be the biggest benefit you would dream of
for the future generation of (insert your example)?
What would you want to see improved for
(your example)?
Listening to user stories and pain points is
critical for the success of any project with
Design Thinking principles applied.The way
you phrase your questions will make a big
difference in the ideas you foster and
document.
Write down these questions to help better
define the problem.

An IdeationExerciseto
CaptureTeam Ideas
How might we…
(help or create /
define user)
by… (providing
them with a
solution such as a
product or service)
as they can…
(realize a benefit)
To encourage ideationon your team, host a
“how might we” exercise by using these post-it
notes as a conversation guide.

Here is an example of how dot-voting works to prioritize
innovative ideas or new opportunities.
Idea
Idea
Idea
Prioritized Ideas
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Dot VotingTactics
Consider using dot voting to rank or group solutions together! You can do
dot-voting online using technologyplatforms OR host in-person.

As a best practice, you
should offer 5-7
prototypes. Don’t
forget to document
user reactions to each
potential solution.
BuildPrototypes and DocumentUser Reactions
Comments about user the reaction:
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Idea 1 Idea 2
Idea 3 Idea 4 Idea 5

A Team Canvas
Frameworkfor Testing
Here are the most important things to talk about as a
team to be productive, happy, and stress free.
People and roles
What are our names and the
roles we have on the team?
Strengths & assets
What individualskills within the team help us achieve our goals?
What are the interpersonal/softskills that we have?
What are we good at, individuallyand as a team?
Common goals
What do we want to achieve?
What are our key goals that
are feasible, measurable and
time-bounded?
Personal goals
What are our individualgoals?
Are there personal agencies
that we want to open up?
Purpose
Why are we
doing what we
are doing in the
first place?
Values
What do we stand for? What
are our guiding principles?
What are the shared values
that we want to be at the core
of our team?
Needs & expectations
What does each team member
need to be successful? What
are our personal needs to be
at our best?
Weaknesses & risks
What are our weaknesses individuallyand as a team?
What should our teammates know about us?
What are some obstacles we see ahead of us that we are like to face?
Rules & activities
What are the rules we want to
introduce after dong this
session?
How do we communicateand
keep people up to date?
How do we make decisions?
How do we execute and
evaluate what we do?
Now it’s time to put your idea in action. This
worksheet is designed to help you build a framework
for launching andtesting your new idea!

Template:A Team CanvasFramework for Testing
Use this template to align on your testing and launching plan, as described on the previous slide.
People and roles
What are our names and the
roles we have on the team?
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
Strengths & assets
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Common goals
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
Personal goals
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
Purpose
______________
______________
________
Values
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
Needs & expectations
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
Weaknesses & risks
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Rules & activities
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

And that’s a wrap! Now is the time for me to say
goodbye. You are officially ready to pave a path of
innovative, inspirational change, and growth at your
organization using Design Thinking. Apply these
principles, print the worksheets, read more books, and
let us know how you do!
Contact us to request more information or see a live
demo of Pia in action! I can help you:
• Improve stakeholder satisfaction by simplifying the
buying experience and eliminating communication
delays
• Enable policy compliance and improve data accuracy
• Speed up and improve team productivity

RelatedmaterialsaboutDesignThinkinginProcurement
LinkedIn Article: “Fifth Generation
Purchasing: When Pace Meets
Power”
by Hervé Legenvre
Read More
Video: “4 Tips for Applying Design Thinking:
Procurement Pro-Tip Series”
featuring Dolores Lionetti
and Hervé Legenvre
Watch Now

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