This presentation describes the skill of Synthesis: The connection between Synthesis and Enterprise Design Thinking Loop; the difference of Findings, Synthesis and Insights; what is Cluster, and how it works, and; methods to organize unlabeled information. This content was presented to Hortolândia DT Chapter members in August/2019, during the weekly Thursday DT session, created to share knowledge and open space to practice the Enterprise Design Thinking (EDT) framework.

1. EDT Hortolândia
Chapter Stage
Synthesis
Renner Modafares Pereira
August 19

2. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
The process of synthesis
Synthesizing research
doesn’t happen
overnight, but the results
are well worth the effort.

3. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Synthesis: Where are we in the loop?
MakeReflectObserve

4. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Synthesis: Where are we in the loop?
MakeReflectObserve
Align your team
Plan your work
Synthesize
research
Test your ideas
Gather user data
Test your ideas
Generate new ideas
Plan your work
Test your ideas

5. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Synthesis: Where are we in the loop?
MakeReflectObserve
Assumptions & Questions
Daily Syncs
Feedback Grid
Hills
As-Is Scenario
Empathy Map
Needs Statement
Stakeholder Map
Five Whys
Hopes and Fears
Playbacks
Prioritization Grid
Research Plan
Retrospectives
Cognitive Walkthrough
Contextual Inquiry
Interviews
Big Ideas
Vignettes (Ideation)
Experience-Based
Roadmap
Paper Prototypes
Storyboards
To-Be Scenario
User Stories
Wireframe

6. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Learning the language
Findings:
Surface-level facts learned during your research, such as “6 out of 10
people clicked on the correct button.” Findings are things you can
observe. Pain points are examples of observed findings.
Synthesis:
The act of sifting through raw research data—interview notes,
recordings, survey results, and more—to find themes and patterns.
Insights:
Underlying themes discovered through synthesis. They capture the
“why” behind your findings. Insights might describe the reason a group
of users act a certain way. They are actionable and inform decision-
making.

7. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
So, how can we synthesize?
Clustering your findings

8. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Organizing findings into clusters
• A cluster is a collection of objects which are
“similar” between them and are “dissimilar” to
the objects belonging to other clusters.
• Clustering is the process of organizing objects into
groups whose members are similar in some way.
• The goal of clustering is to determine the internal
grouping in a set of unlabeled data.
Source: “Unsupervised Learning and Data Clustering”, Sanatan Mishra, 2017

9. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
What constitutes a good clustering?
•There is no absolute “best” criterion
which would be independent of the final
aim of the clustering.
•It’s the user who should supply this
criterion, in such a way that the result of
the clustering will suit their needs.
Source: “Unsupervised Learning and Data Clustering”, Sanatan Mishra, 2017

10. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Is there a best method to clustering data?
•There are lots of ways to display and
organize the data you collect to find
patterns. The approach you pick will vary
on your time, interest, and skillset, but
any of them can help you unearth new
and different insights.
•Let’s explore four common methods.

11. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Affinity Map
Goal: Group similar
research findings to
reveal common
themes.
How: Cluster the
sticky notes and
name the clusters
Two-by-two Matrix
Goal: Use this approach
when your data reveals
two spectrums of
categories or themes.
How: Draw the two
spectrums as intersecting
lines and map your data
into the four quadrants to
uncover new meaning.
Decision Tree
Goal: Show a process and
highlight key decision
points by organizing your
data into a user journey.
How: Highlight pain points
and moments of
opportunity along the
journey.
Venn Diagram
Goal: Uncover similarities
and differences across
multiple categories.
How: Start with similar
clusters, and see how
they overlap.

12. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Take care of information overload
• Avoid the “analysis
paralysis” of being
stuck between
Observe and
Reflect by only
collecting as much
data as you have
time to synthesize. Observe Reflect Make
Analysis
Paralysis

13. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Moving forward with actionable insights
With meaningful insights in hands,
you will be able to:
▪Write drafts of Hills
▪Write needs statements
for your users
▪Make a prototype
▪Make a persona
▪And so on…

14. Enterprise Design Thinking – Hortolândia Chapter Stage August 19
Lesson almost completed!
•Complete this lesson accessing Enterprise
Design Thinking – Co-Creator course.

15. Thank you!