Uncover the power of Digital Design Thinking fused with Maslow's Hierarchy for straightforward problem-solving. Dive into user-friendly mindsets, principles, and the EDIPT process to craft practical solutions. Gain insights into key considerations and seamless implementation tactics for successful digital innovations.

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DESIGN
THINKING

2. Table of contents #bluebashco
❖ Introduction to Design Thinking
❖ Maslow's hierarchy of needs and it's relevance to Design Thinking
❖ Design Thinking Mindsets
❖ Design Thinking Principles
❖ Considerations before approaching problems
❖ Design Thinking Process(EDIPT)
❖ Implementation of solution
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3. Introduction to Design Thinking
 The term is a combination of 2 words:
Design - Design can be referred to as the representation of the output(for e.g. a
car) or even the process of producing the solution
Thinking - Cognitive process of interpreting the stimuli
 Design thinking can be seen as a mindset or as a process:
As a mindset it helps us to think in a far more creative and broader manner.
As a process it helps us to think deeply about human-centric problems.
 Design thinking = Creative thinking(create solutions) + Critical thinking(evaluate
and choose feasible solutions)
 Helps us solve problems with human element.
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Introduction to Design Thinking(contd.)
 Useful in solving wicked problems - Ambiguous problems which mostly don't
have a Yes/No answer and don't have a clear solution in mind
 Using design thinking we can become capable of delivering better solutions to
problems
 Design thinking helps us finding the right problems through which we can then
find the right and user friendly solutions. It also helps us avoiding the high cost
failures
 Creative thinking and emotional intelligence form the core of Design Thinking.
 Meta-cognition - Being aware about how a person is thinking.
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5. 4
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
 Physiological - Basic human needs that
are necessary to function(Food, water,
sleep, etc.)
 Safety - Can be in terms of external
factors, medical, financial, etc.
 Belonging - Humans need to have a sense
of belonging to function properly.
 Esteem - Humans need to have their
efforts recognized and appreciated
 Self-actualization - Fulfillment of a need
as a one's own self
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6. 5
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
 In design thinking we need to realize which need are we trying to fulfill as a part of the problem
we are trying to resolve. It is possible that more than 1 need is operational at one time.
 By knowing the need, the potential solution becomes a better one.
 In human-centered approach, we try to understand the customer on a more broad level so as to
understand their needs better by observing them and observing what problem they are facing
exactly.
 Some examples on our end where we have implemented Design Thinking:
 Bluebash LMS
 ITrust(add-ons such as iTrust Pay, etc.)
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7. Design Thinking mindsets:
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 Empathy - To understand customer's situations better
 Optimism - In order to believe one can come up with the best solution
 Iteration - In order to rethink decisions in order to evaluate solutions proposed
 Creative Confidence - To have belief in one's creative abilities and intuition
 Making - Ideation into tangibility in order to find limitations
 Embracing Ambiguity - To consider that there might be information we don't have currently
to build the solution
 Learning from mistakes - Consider failure as a stepping stone to success
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8. 5
Design Thinking Principles
 Human rule - Design activity have a social element in it.
 Ambiguity rule - Need to consider that there is always some form of
ambiguity.
 Redesign rule - Basic needs remain similar but only the medium is
changed. So existing solutions can be redesigned as well(all design in
redesign).
 Tangibility rule - It is more effective to bring idea into tangibility.
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9. Considerations before approaching problems
 Considerations:
1. Who are our target users?
2. Which user experience are we trying to improve?
3. Why do we want to help the target users?
 Some considerations one can take before proceeding with trying to come up with a
solution:
1. Secondary research
2. Team
3. Funding
4. Time constraints
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10. Design Thinking Process
 Empathy - Gather input from user via
communication and observation to understand the
need of solutions.
 Definition - Define actual problems to find what
needs to be solved.
 Ideation - Come up with creative ideas to solve the
problems.
 Prototype - Turn idea into some form of tangible
solutions.
 Testing - Present proposed solution to the user to
get the feedback.
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11. Design Thinking Process - Empathy
 Meaning - Try to put oneself in other person's perspective to understand the solution
better.
We have to consider the People, Context and Complexity related to the problem.
 How to empathize? - Observe, engage, immerse
 E - Eye Contact
M - Muscles of facial expression
P - Posture
A - Affect(emotion behind what is said)
T - Tone of voice
H - Hearing the whole person
Y - Your Response
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12. Design Thinking Process - Definition
 Use the insights from Empathy stage to narrow down the problem(s) to solve.
 We will consider the emotions of the user, insights, ensure clarity of definition and
keeping it open ended to consider multiple possibilities.
 Some methods used in Definition stage:
 Customer journey maps
 Ishikawa Fishbone diagram
 5 why approach
 Once we define problems from various methods we can analyze and synthesize the
problem to narrow down the problems.
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13. Design Thinking Process - Ideation
 Now with the problem being narrowed down we get down to brainstorming for
various ideas to provide the solution for the problem.
 Brainstorming can be done via Flip-charts, Post-its, etc.
 There are various techniques for this phase:
 Brain-writing(can use mind-maps here)
 Alphabet brainstorming
 Worst Possible Ideas
 TRIZ(Theory of Inventive Problem Solving)
o Specific Problem ---> Generic Problem ---> Generic Solution ---> Specific Solution
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14. Design Thinking Process - Ideation
 SCAMPER
o Substitute - What and how can we substitute?
o Combine - Integrate and synergie(can be parts, processes or components)
o Adapt - How existing process, product, service and experience be adjusted in a way
to be made relevant into the current solution for the problem
o Modify - Making changes to strengthen something
o Put to another use - Use something in ways apart from the current intended form
o Eliminate - Remove something to lighten up current product, service, process, etc.
o Reverse - Rearrange in a way to create something new
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15. Design Thinking Process - Prototyping
 A sample of what the proposed solution will look like when idea comes into reality and the user
can interact with it and then give feedback on the proposed solution.
 Communicate effectively with the user about the idea
 Helps in gathering concrete feedback and insights
 Helps in iterating and improving
 Early failures can be encountered before it actually turns into considerable losses.
 Types of prototypes:
 Sketches - Pictorial depiction of the proposed solution.
 Storyboards - Showing user experience from start to end in a story-like format.
 Role-plays - Enact the situation as a user.
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16. Design Thinking Process - Testing
 Once we have the prospective solution with us, we present it to the user so the user can
interact with the solution and then give us adequate feedback on the basis of which we can
either:
 start working on creating the actual solution or
 we go through the entire process again so as to determine if anything else is needed to be
done.
 Tips for testing:
 Don't explain
 Let the users experience
 Give them something to compare(maybe more than 1 prototypes)
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17. ● While the design thinking process is has the abstract element as well, here we need to
make sure we can bring the solution into reality.
● Make sure the objectives are SMART(Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely)
● At this point we reband and create a timeline to achieve the objectives, what will
happen, when and who is responsible.
● Staffing
● Create a pitch
● Monitor and evaluation - Why, what and how
Implementation of Solution
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18. Conclusion
While it might be a time taking process to work with a design thinking mindset and
process, not only does design thinking help us in thinking out of the box but also helps
us in avoiding heavy losses by providing us the option to fail early, i.e. before the
solution is implemented and it fails leading to heavy losses.
Considering how design thinking not only helps us to dig deep into the problems and
derive more useful and innovative solutions to the problems which help in resolution of
problems, it needs to be built into the mindset first before one even thinks of
implementing it as a process. But the results are far better if implemented right.
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19. Contact #Bluebashco
Contact
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BlueBash Consulting Private Limited
A-45, Industrial Area, Phase -8B,Sector 74,
Sahibzada Singh Nagar, Punjab 160059,
INDIA
Contact Number - +91-82848 66471
Email – manager@bluebash.co
BlueBash
1201 Brickell Ave #300 Miami, FL 33131, USA
Contact Number - +1(786) 946-1616
Email – sales@bluebash.co
www.BlueBash.c
o
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