Design Thinking for the Self

Design Thinking for the Self
Randy Gregory II
PHXDW 2016
v 1.2.1 (Phoenix Design Week Take Home Edition)

Design is the intent
behind an outcome.

The Goal:
Humans can utilize design thinking techniques
to develop empathy for themselves by allowing
themselves to be open and freely discover
opportunities for self-improvement in their
creative pursuits, school projects, and life
choices

Basis:
1. I’ve personally used this framework to treat
my own issues with self-confidence.

2. Some individuals within IBM Design have
been utilizing Design Thinking tools in order
to figure out their career progression, life
goals, relationships, et cetera.

3. Design Thinking is a framework for
problem solving and storytelling, utilizing
the power of empathy.

Serious caveat:
Design thinking will not save your life.

If you are suicidal, or if you are spiraling, seek professional help. A therapist can do wonders.

Why design
thinking:
Design thinking allows you to contextualize the
problems & situations you find yourself in, which
can result in a variety of solutions.

This isn’t just for building product or developing
design artifacts, it can help bring clarity to the
problems that are affecting us internally, and
enable solutions to present themselves.

Design Thinking:
There are a ton of different design thinking
frameworks/methodologies/ideologies…you
have probably been doing one of these your
entire life.

Observe
Reflect
Make
IBM Design Thinking methodology: The Loop

Observing is  
about immersing
yourself in your
world.
Meaningful outcomes come from an
understanding of the real problems that
exist.

Reflecting is about
converging on a
point of view.
Good decisions begin with an understanding
of your situation, your purpose, and how you
can make a difference. 
 
If you dissect your problems, you can discover
the true source of them.

Making is about
giving form to ideas.
You can’t know everything but you do know
some things, so jump right in. The earlier you
make, the faster you’ll learn.

What design thinking can accomplish:
Build stronger empathy for yourself.

Assess the situations you’re in from a non-biased point of view.

Discovering the root cause of emotionally troubling issues.

Develop big, creative solutions to resolve those issues.

Understand the feasibility to execute a solution.

Develop a roadmap to achieve the solution, and move on to the next.

Tool Framework:
• Empathy Mapping

• As-is Scenario

• Needs Statements

• Big Ideas

• Do-Ability Chart

• Near Term/Long Term Goals

Additional tools:
Reflection moment

To accomplish:
Post It Notes

Sharpies

Large pieces of paper

Flipchart markers

But:
You can really use anything. Notebook, Laptop,
Tablet, stone slab…the possibilities are endless.

Empathy Map
An empathy map is a simple tool designed to
allow someone to gain empathy either for a
user, or for themselves.

In this case, you can use this to gain a better
understanding of yourself.

 
Use the four axis to plot stickies of what you,
feel, says, thinks, and does.

Feel free to have a close friend do this for you,
instead of yourself. Choose someone you trust,
if you can’t assess yourself without bias.

As-Is Scenario
What is a situation where your

triggers come out?

1) Outline the scenario

2) Fill in the steps, one per column

3) Annotate what you’re doing,
corresponding thoughts, and the
emotions behind that.
4) Once the map is complete, go back through,
and group similar artifacts.

Needs Statements
Establish the problems, group them, redefine.

1) Review & Redefine the grouped issues

2) Develop positive outcomes from the issues

3) Write these down as “needs statements”

______________ needs a way to ______________ so that ______________
do something
that addresses
their needThe user
the user  
beneﬁts  
directly.
Traditional User Needs:

______________ needs a way to ______________ so that ______________

Big Ideation
Now that you know the issues that face you,
you’re open to ideate on ways to solve those
issues.

Draw out ideas & descriptions, as many as you
can. Share ideas, steal ideas (if you can).

Do as many as possible. Do not let feasibility
scare you.

Big ideas are broad and conceptual
and focused on high level needs.
Tactics are focused solutions to the
problem…they are too prescriptive.

This is a
tactic.

This is a
big idea.

Do-Ability Chart
You’ve developed some fantastic ideas, but can
you actually do them? 
 
What will it take to learn the skills necessary?

How much time do you need to focus?
Is there a financial cost involved?

Do-Ability Chart
Considering these factors, plot your ideas on a
chart that looks like this:

The “Learnability” axis is strictly under your own
context. What is your bandwith? How much
time would you need?

Naturally, the best ideas will fall in the upper
right hand quadrant.

These are called “No Brainers.”


Planning
How will you achieve your goals?

Realistically planning them can lead you to
success…think about your goals, and break
them out into achievable steps.

Planning
Remember to be reasonable. Think of the
timelines that you have to focus on their
goals…and if there is something extreme
going on, make sure it gets handled
immediately.

And make time for life & love too.

Thanks!
Want a copy? Say Hello.
rjgregor@us.ibm.com
All images come from the Flickr Library of Congress archive or my own drawings

Reflect
Reflection Moment
Use this as a tool to “playback” the tool or
moment you just experienced.  
 
Ask yourself questions like:
“What stood out in the previous exercise?”
“What have we learned so far?”
“What are we assuming?”

Design Thinking for the Self

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