3UNIT I DESIGN THINKING PRINCIPLES

Exploring Human-centred Design - Understanding the Innovation process, discovering areas of

opportunity, Interviewing & empathy-building techniques, Mitigate validation risk with FIR [Forge
Innovation rubric] - Case studies
1.1. Design Thinking
1.1.1. What is Design Thinking?
● Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users,
challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype
and test. It is most useful to tackle ill-defined or unknown problems and involves five
phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.
● Design thinking is a methodology that uses complex problems, and it is a way of using
systemic reasoning and intuition to explore ideal future state
● Design thinking becomes more central to business strategies, marketing strategies and
execution works in operations and product design and helps to tackle social problems.
● A new scope with in design thinking:

1.1.2. Why Is Design Thinking Important?

● Design thinking is important because it combines empathy, creativity, and rationality
to produce innovative, user-centered solutions. Its collaborative and iterative nature
 not only improves the quality of the final product but also fosters a culture of
continuous improvement and innovation within organizations.
● Design thinking is important because it provides a structured yet flexible approach to
problem-solving that prioritizes human needs and fosters innovation.
● Here are several key reasons why design thinking is vital:

1. Human-Centered Focus

● Empathy: Design thinking starts with understanding the users’ needs, experiences, and
challenges. This empathy-driven approach ensures that the solutions developed are relevant
and valuable to the end-users.
● User Satisfaction: By focusing on the users, design thinking helps create products and
services that are more likely to meet their expectations and improve their overall
satisfaction.

2. Encourages Creativity and Innovation

● Diverse Ideas: The ideation phase encourages brainstorming and the exploration of a wide
range of ideas. This fosters creativity and can lead to innovative solutions that might not
emerge from more traditional problem-solving methods.
● Risk-Taking: Prototyping and iterative testing encourage experimentation and risk-taking,
allowing teams to explore unconventional ideas and learn from failures in a low-cost,
low-risk environment.

3. Iterative Process

● Continuous Improvement: The iterative nature of design thinking allows for continuous
refinement of ideas based on user feedback. This ensures that the final solution is
thoroughly tested and optimized before full-scale implementation.
● Flexibility: Design thinking accommodates changes and new insights throughout the
process, making it adaptable to evolving user needs and project requirements.

4. Collaborative Approach

● Interdisciplinary Teams: Design thinking often involves collaboration across various

disciplines, bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise. This cross-functional
teamwork enhances the problem-solving process and can lead to more comprehensive and
effective solutions.
● Stakeholder Engagement: By involving stakeholders early and often, design thinking
ensures that all relevant voices are heard and that the final solution has broader support and
buy-in.

5. Problem-Solving Framework

● Structured Process: Design thinking provides a clear, step-by-step framework for tackling
complex problems, from understanding the user to testing solutions. This structure helps
teams stay focused and organized while navigating ambiguous or uncertain challenges.
● Practical Tools: Design thinking offers a variety of practical tools and techniques (e.g.,
empathy maps, user personas, prototyping) that can be applied to different stages of the
problem-solving process, enhancing effectiveness and efficiency.

6. Business Benefits
 ● Market Relevance: By aligning solutions closely with user needs, businesses can create
more competitive and market-relevant products and services, driving customer loyalty and
business growth.
● Reduced Risk: Iterative prototyping and testing help identify and address potential issues
early, reducing the risk of costly failures and ensuring that the final product is well-received
by the market.
● Efficiency: A focus on user feedback and continuous improvement can streamline
development processes, reducing time-to-market and development costs.

7. Adaptability

● Wide Applicability: Design thinking can be applied to a broad range of challenges across
various industries, from product design and service development to organizational change
and social innovation.
● Scalability: The principles of design thinking can be scaled to address problems of varying
complexity, making it a versatile tool for organizations of all sizes.
1.1.3. The End Goal of Design Thinking: Be Desirable, Feasible and Viable
Three Lenses of Design Thinking.

The design thinking process aims to satisfy three criteria:

● desirability (what do people desire?),
● feasibility (is it technically possible to build the solution?) and
● viability (can the company profit from the solution?).
Teams begin with desirability and then bring in the other two lenses.
Desirability: Meet People’s Needs
The design thinking process starts by looking at the needs, dreams and behaviors of people—the
end users. The team listens with empathy to understand what people want, not what the
organization thinks they want or need. The team then thinks about solutions to satisfy these needs
from the end user’s point of view.
Feasibility: Be Technologically Possible
● Once the team identifies one or more solutions, they determine whether the organization
can implement them. In theory, any solution is feasible if the organization has infinite
resources and time to develop the solution. However, given the team’s current (or future
resources), the team evaluates if the solution is worth pursuing. The team may iterate on the
solution to make it more feasible or plan to increase its resources (say, hire more people or
acquire specialized machinery).
● At the beginning of the design thinking process, teams should not get too caught up in the
technical implementation. If teams begin with technical constraints, they might restrict
innovation.
Viability: Generate Profits
● A desirable and technically feasible product isn’t enough. The organization must be able to
generate revenues and profits from the solution. The viability lens is essential not only for
commercial organizations but also for non-profits.
● Traditionally, companies begin with feasibility or viability and then try to find a problem to
fit the solution and push it to the market. Design thinking reverses this process and
advocates that teams begin with desirability and bring in the other two lenses later.
1.1.4. Design Thinking Principles
● Personality first. A quality product solves problems which its audience may have and
fits into the context. It is necessary to study the audience, identify its problems, and
offer a solution.
● Bidirectionality. Two types of thinking are used: divergent (quantitative) and
convergent (qualitative). First of all, we work to identify a number of issues or invented
ideas, and then, we choose the best one.
● Mistakes allowed. Accept your mistakes and have no scruples about them. It is often a
mistake that leads to a remarkable solution.
● Create prototypes. A prototype is not a product yet. It is actually a model which
clearly explains how it works. Its main task is to help people understand how the
solution will work for them.
● Test them without delay. Prototypes are developed to test them. The audience provides
feedback, interacting with them, and the feedback is used to improve the product.
Testing a prototype is cheaper than product development and saves it from failure after
it was launched.
● Improvements never end. At last, you have developed a cool and popular product,
and everyone is happy with the result.
1.1.5. The Five Stages of Design Thinking
 Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design approached their design process
has five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. These stages are not
always sequential. Teams often run them in parallel, out of order, and repeat them as
needed.
Stage 1: Empathize—Research Users' Needs
● At this stage, developers monitor users. Goal: to understand what people are doing
and why they are doing it.
● We dive into the problem area as much as possible at this step. The user is the
central object of our research. We are concerned with their needs, behavior, and
thoughts. We survey them, listen to them and observe them.
● The essence of the first stage is to understand the problem correctly. It is the only
way to find the right solution.

Stage 2: Define—State Users' Needs and Problems

● Once the team accumulates the information, they analyze the observations and synthesize
them to define the core problems. These definitions are called problem statements. The
team may create personas (identities) to help keep efforts human-centered.
● At this stage, developers process all data received. It is necessary to organize it and
highlight important points. Based on the results, specific, meaningful, and achievable
objectives are set.
 Stage 3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas
● At this stage, the teams gear up to “think outside the box.”
● They brainstorm alternative ways to view the problem and identify innovative solutions to
the problem statement. And the task is to generate as many different ideas as possible to
solve the problem focused on at the previous step.
● However, it is better to avoid obvious solutions as they can divert the group’s attention from
some creative solutions and reduce the probability of innovation.
Stage 4: Prototype—Start to Create Solutions
● This is an experimental phase. The aim is to identify the best possible solution for each
problem
● We select the most suitable ideas and create models (prototypes) to be tested. Prototypes
should be simple.
● It would be best to develop several options and come out with an optimal solution.

● The main task is to test the idea and get the initial user experience. As a rule, new ideas are
generated and old ones are improved in the process of prototype creation.
Stage 5: Test—Try the Solutions Out
● Testing is the stage when feedback from users is received. Developers should clearly
understand what they want to test: which interaction areas, which problem areas.
● At this stage, we receive feedback from users telling us about the prototypes we have
already developed, check if our idea works the way we intended it to work and if users
receive the expected experience.
● It is very important first to create a prototype, not a product. The probability that the target
audience will dislike something in it is very high. If it were a ready product, it would be
difficult to redevelop it.
1.1.6. Design Thinking Process

● Frame a Question: Inspire your team to think about your customers (who you’re
designing a solution for) and what they actually need.
● Gather Inspiration: Go out into the world and seek inspiration by observing and
discovering what people really need.
● Generate Ideas: Use the inspiration you gather to help push past the obvious to come
up with fresh solutions to your problem.
● Make Ideas Tangible: Build rough prototypes and find what’s working and what’s not.
● Test to Learn: Test your prototypes, gather feedback, and iterate.
● Share the Story: Once you’ve arrived at the right solution, craft and share the story to
introduce it to your colleagues, clients, and customers.

1.1.7. Design Thinking Frameworks

a. The 3I model of IDEO
IDEO is a renowned international design firm founded by David Kelley in 2008. Their 3I
model covers the essence of the design thinking. Inspiration to understand people, ideation
to generate ideas and implementation. The 3I model was developed in the year 2001 and
back then it was created to focus on innovation for social purposes. The 3Is in this model
stands for:

● In the “Inspire” phase, the team focuses on understanding users’ needs,

behaviors, and motivations. The team empathizes with people through observation
and user interviews to gather deep insights.
● In the “Ideate” phase, the team synthesizes the insights gained to brainstorm a
wide array of creative solutions. This stage encourages divergent thinking, where
teams focus on quantity and variety of ideas over immediate practicality. The goal is
to explore as many possibilities as possible without constraints.
● In the “Implement” phase, the team brings these ideas to life through
prototypes. The team tests, iterates and refines these ideas based on user feedback.
This stage is crucial for translating abstract concepts into tangible, viable products,
services, or experiences.
● The methodology emphasizes collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach
throughout each phase to ensure solutions are innovative and deeply rooted in real
human needs and contexts.

b. The Five phase model

 The five phase model came from Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University,
these 5 phases of design are what we closely define a the core 5 principles of design
thinking – empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test. You will also recognize that the
three phases of IDEO are also present in the five-phase model.
The five phases inn this model of design thinking are:
1. Emphathize
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
5. Test
c. The Google design sprint
The Google design sprint was developed by Jake Knapp at Google in 2010. It is a model
with the six steps that are – Understand, Define, Sketch, Decide, Prototype, and Validate.
The key differentiator in this design thinking framework is that all this is implemented in a
week. In five days the designer focuses of these six phases to come with a prototype.
The Design Sprint by Google involves of these six phases:
1. Understand
2. Define
3. Sketch
4. Decide
5. Prototype
6. Validate
d. The DEEP design thinking model
The DEEP design thinking model was developed by Mary Cantwell in whose words
“Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to learning, creating, and being through
empathy”. The DEEP design thinking model is a four-phase acronym, which stands for
discover, empathize, experiment and produce. It is pretty clear, the 4 steps involved in this
design process is:
1. Discover
2. Empathize
3. Experiment
4. Produce
e. The SAP design thinking model
The German ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) firm SAP uses a five step model for user
centered design. The SAP design thinking model also takes into account the fact that if the
idea is not working, let’s pivot it and work towards something better. A five phase approach
to innovation that focuses on human centered design. The five phases are:
1. Plan
2. Research
3. Design
4. Adapt
5. Measure
f. Double Diamond model
The Double Diamond model was introduced by the British Design Council in the year
2005. It is called double diamond because of the of four divergence and convergence
phases, that means that each stage has phases that require to balance between divergent and
convergent thinking. the 4 steps involved in this design process is:
1. Understand
2. Define
3. Explore
4. Create

● As the name suggests, the double diamond model consists of two diamonds—one for the
problem space and the other for the solution space. The model uses diamonds to represent
the alternating diverging and converging activities.
● In the diverging “Discover” phase, designers gather insights and empathize with users’
needs. The team then converges in the “Define” phase to identify the problem.
● The second, solution-related diamond, begins with “Develop,” where the team brainstorms
ideas. The final stage is “Deliver,” where the team tests the concepts and implements the
most viable solution.
● This model balances expansive thinking with focused execution to ensure that design
solutions are both creative and practical. It underscores the importance of understanding the
problem thoroughly and carefully crafting the solution, making it a staple in many design
and innovation processes.
With the widespread adoption of the double diamond framework, Design Council’s simple visual
evolved.
In this expanded and annotated version, the framework emphasizes four design principles:
1. Be people-centered.
2. Communicate (visually and inclusively).
3. Collaborate and co-create.
4. Iterate, iterate, iterate!
The updated version also highlights the importance of leadership (to create an environment that
allows innovation) and engagement (to connect with different stakeholders and involve them in the
design process
g. Head, Heart and Hand by the American Institution of Graphic Arts
(AIGA)AIGA stands for American Institution of Graphic Arts and it came up with
the Head, Heart and Hand design thinking framework in order to solve complex
design problems through a design practice with a unique blend of head, heart and
hand.
 As stated above this process divides the design thinking process into 3 parts:
1. The Head – Understanding the problem:
“Head” symbolizes the intellectual component. The team focuses on strategic thinking,
problem-solving and the cognitive aspects of design. It involves research and analytical
thinking to ensure that design decisions are purposeful.
2. The Heart – Empathizing with the user
“Heart” represents the emotional dimension. It emphasizes empathy, passion, and
human-centeredness. This aspect is crucial in understanding the users’ needs, desires, and
experiences to ensure that designs resonate on a deeper, more personal level.
3. The Hand – Implement the solution
“Hand” signifies the practical execution of ideas, the craftsmanship, and the skills necessary
to turn concepts into tangible solutions. This includes the mastery of tools, techniques, and
materials, as well as the ability to implement and execute design ideas effectively
h. The LUMA System of Innovation—LUMA Institute

LUMA System of Innovation is a design thinking framework by the LUMA Institute which
is a well reputed firm that educates designers about innovation and user centered design.
This method is considered to me versatile and flexible enough to solve variety of problems
in any type of setting. The designers at LUMA institute segmented the entire design
thinking process into three key areas:
1. Looking
2. Understanding
3. Making
i. Designing for Growth
Designing for Growth is a design framework developed by Jeanne Liedtka, a professor at
University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and Tim Ogilvie, CEO of Peer Insight
which is an consultancy firm. With their complementary skill sets and experience they came
up with a four-question formula to design thinking:
● What is? Explore the current reality.
● What if? Envision alternative futures.
● What wows? Get users to help you make some tough choices.
● What works? Make the solution work in-market, and as a business.

j. Collective Action Toolkit (CAT) — Frog Design

Collective Action Toolkit or CAT is a design thinking framework designed specifically to
make the design process accessible to communities all around the globe. From Design, the
organization behind is specially known for working towards positive social impact. The
CAT process includes 6 steps for design thinking:
 ● Clarify your goal: Agree on the problem you want to try and solve, as well as what goals
you want to achieve.
● Build your group: Bring people together in your community, identify their strengths and
map out their commitment to your goals.
● Seek new understanding: Ask questions, explore how people live and discover unmet
needs to inform and inspire your group, and gain others’ perspectives.
● Imagine new ideas: Come up with new solutions and decide what makes some of them
more achievable than others.
● Make something real: Test and experiment your better ideas and see what you discover.
● Plan for action: Organize what each group member should do to reach your shared goals.

1.1.8. Common Elements of Design Thinking Frameworks

 1. Start with empathy. Focus on the people to come up with solutions that work best for
individuals, business, and society.
2. Reframe the problem or challenge at hand. Don’t rush into a solution. Explore the
problem space and look at the issue through multiple perspectives to gain a more holistic,
nuanced understanding.
3. Initially, employ a divergent style of thinking (analyze). In the problem space, gather as
many insights as possible. In the solution space, encourage team members to generate and
explore as many solutions as possible in an open, judgment-free ideation space.
4. Later, employ a convergent style of thinking (synthesize). In the problem space,
synthesize all data points to define the problem. In the solution space, whittle down all the
ideas—isolate, combine and refine potential solutions to create more mature ideas.
5. Create and test prototypes. Solutions that make it through the previous stages get tested
further to remove potential issues.
6. Iterate. As the team progresses through the various stages, they revisit different stages and
may redefine the challenge based on new insights.

1.1.9. Design Thinking Mindsets: More than a Process

A mindset is a characteristic mental attitude that determines how one interprets and
responds to situations. Design thinking mindsets are how individuals think, feel and express
themselves during design thinking activities. It includes people’s expectations and
orientations during a design project.
The key mindsets that ensure a team can successfully implement design thinking are.
● Be empathetic: Empathy is the ability to place yourself, your thinking and feelings in
another person’s shoes. Design thinking begins from a deep understanding of the needs and
motivations of people—the parents, neighbors, children, colleagues, and strangers who
make up a community.
● Be collaborative: No one person is responsible for the outcome when you work in a team.
Several great minds are always stronger than just one. Design thinking benefits from the
views of multiple perspectives and lets others’ creativity bolster your own.
● Be optimistic: Be confident about achieving favorable outcomes. Design thinking is the
fundamental belief that we can all create change—no matter how big a problem, how little
time, or how small a budget. Designing can be a powerful process no matter what
constraints exist around you.
● Embrace ambiguity: Get comfortable with ambiguous and complex situations. If you
expect perfection, it is difficult to take risks, which limits your ability to create radical
change. Design thinking is all about experimenting and learning by doing. It gives you the
confidence to believe that new, better things are possible and that you can help make them a
reality.
● Be curious: Be open to different ideas. Recognize that you are not the user.
● Reframe: Challenge and reframe assumptions associated with a given situation or problem.
Don’t take problems at face value. Humans are primed to look for patterns. The unfortunate
side effect of these patterns is that we form (often false and sometimes dangerous)
stereotypes and assumptions. Design thinking aims to help you break through any
preconceived notions and biases and reframe challenges.
● Embrace diversity: Work with and engage people with different cultural backgrounds,
experiences, and ways of thinking and working. Everyone brings a unique perspective to
the team. When you include diverse voices in a team, you learn from each other’s
experiences, further helping you break through your assumptions.
 ● Make tangible: When you make ideas tangible, it is faster and easier for everyone on the
team to be on the same page. For example, sketching an idea or enacting a scenario is far
more convenient and easier to interpret than an elaborate presentation or document.
● Take action: Run experiments and learn from them.

1.1.10. Agile Vs Design thinking

Aspect Agile Design Thinking

A methodology focused A human-centered approach to
on iterative innovation and
Definition development and problem-solving that involves
collaboration to deliver understanding user needs and
high-quality software. developing creative solutions.
Efficiency,
collaboration, and Empathy, creativity, and
Focus continuous user-centered design to solve
improvement in complex problems.
software development.
Iterative and
Approach Iterative and user-centered.
incremental.
Follows frameworks
Follows stages: Empathize,
Process like Scrum, Kanban,
Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.
XP.
Collaboration,
Key Empathy, ideation,
flexibility, customer
Principles prototyping, testing, iteration.
feedback, rapid delivery.
Cross-functional teams Diverse teams with designers,
Team
including developers, researchers, engineers, and
Composition
testers, product owners. stakeholders.
 Delivering working
Creating innovative solutions
Primary software frequently with
that are desirable, feasible, and
Goal a focus on customer
viable.
satisfaction.
Timeframes vary based on
Short, time-boxed
Timeframes stages and can be more
iterations (e.g., sprints).
flexible.
Continuous feedback
from stakeholders, Feedback through user testing
Feedback
frequent releases, and and iterative refinement.
reviews.
User stories, backlogs,
Personas, journey maps,
Tools & sprints, stand-up
brainstorming, prototyping,
Techniques meetings,
user testing.
retrospectives.
Working software that Innovative solutions that
Outcome meets user needs and address user needs and solve
business goals. complex problems.
Primarily used in Used across various fields
software development including product design,
Usage
but can be applied to service design, and business
other fields. strategy.
Addressed through
Risk Addressed through user testing
iterative development
Management and iterative prototyping.
and constant feedback.
Adaptive,
Human-centered, creative, and
Mindset customer-focused, and
empathetic.
iterative.

1.1.11. Similarities between Agile and Design Thinking

Aspect Agile Design Thinking

User-Centric Focuses on customer feedback and Centers around understanding and
user needs. solving for user needs.
Iterative Process Employs iterative cycles for Uses iterative prototyping and
continuous improvement. testing.
 Collaboration Encourages cross-functional team Promotes collaboration among
collaboration. diverse team members.
Flexibility Adapts to changes and new Iteratively refines ideas based on
information quickly. user feedback and insights.
Problem-Solving Aims to solve problems through Seeks innovative solutions through a
incremental development. structured creative process.
Stakeholder Involves stakeholders regularly for Involves stakeholders and end-users
Involvement feedback and validation. throughout the process.
Risk Manages risk through frequent Manages risk by testing prototypes
Management releases and feedback loops. early and often.
Value Delivery Strives for frequent delivery of Focuses on delivering solutions that
valuable, working products. provide real value to users.
Mindset Encourages a mindset of continuous Fosters a mindset of empathy,
improvement and adaptability. creativity, and experimentation.
Tools and Uses visual management tools like Utilizes visual tools such as journey
Techniques Kanban boards, and task boards. maps, empathy maps, and
storyboards.
Focus on Encourages innovative approaches Drives innovation through creative
Innovation to software development. problem-solving techniques.
Customer Aims to enhance customer Seeks to delight users by addressing
Satisfaction satisfaction through frequent their needs and challenges directl
delivery and feedback.

1.1.12. Design Thinking and Human-Centered Design:

Aspect Design Thinking Human-Centered Design (HCD)
Definition A methodology for solving A design approach that focuses on
complex problems by prioritizing creating solutions that are tailored to the
the user’s needs and perspectives. needs, behaviors, and experiences of
users.
Focus Innovation and creative Empathy and understanding the
problem-solving. end-user’s context.
Approach Iterative and user-centric, often Deeply empathic and iterative, often
involving multiple stages. involving extensive user research and
testing.
Process Follows stages: Empathize, Follows stages: Inspiration, Ideation,
Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. Implementation.
Key Principles Empathy, ideation, prototyping, Empathy, user involvement, co-creation,
testing, iteration. iterative prototyping.
Team Diverse teams including designers, Diverse teams with a strong focus on user
Composition researchers, engineers, and researchers, designers, and end-users.
stakeholders.
Primary Goal Creating innovative solutions that Designing solutions that are deeply
meet user needs and are feasible aligned with the users’ needs,
and viable. experiences, and contexts.
Timeframes Flexible, based on the stages and Flexible, often involving extensive
iterations. research and iterative cycles.
Feedback Gathers feedback through user Gathers feedback through direct user
testing and iterative refinement. interaction and iterative prototyping.
Tools & Personas, journey maps, Ethnographic research, personas, journey
Techniques brainstorming, storyboards, maps, co-creation sessions, prototyping.
prototyping.
 Outcome Innovative and user-centered Solutions that are highly tailored to and
solutions. effective for the end users.
Usage Applied across various fields Applied in fields where user experience is
including product design, service critical, such as product design, service
design, and business strategy. design, and social innovation.
Risk Addresses risk through user Mitigates risk by involving users early
Management testing and iterative prototyping. and often in the design process.
Mindset Creative, empathetic, and iterative.
Deeply empathetic, user-focused, and
iterative.
Innovation Drives innovation through creative Ensures innovations are aligned with user
Focus ideation and prototyping. needs and contexts.

1.2.What is Human-Centred Design (HCD)?

Human-centred design is about believing you can make a DIFFERENCE, and having an intentional
PROCESS in order to get to new, relevant SOLUTIONS that create POSITIVE IMPACT
Human-centred design is a practice where designers focus on four key aspects. They focus on
people and their context. They seek to understand and solve the right problems, the root problems.
They understand that everything is a complex system with interconnected parts. Finally, they do
small interventions. They continually prototype, test and refine their products and services to
ensure that their solutions truly meet the needs of the people they focus on.
Cognitive science and user experience expert Don Norman sees it as a step above user-centered
design.
“The challenge is to use the principles of human-centered design to produce positive results,
products that enhance lives and add to our pleasure and enjoyment. The goal is to produce a
great product, one that is successful, and that customers love. It can be done.”
— Don Norman, “Grand Old Man of User Experience”
IDEO is a design and consulting firm developed contextualized toolkits which repackaged the
Design Thinking processes. One such iteration focuses on the social innovation setting in
developing countries. For this context, the terminology needed to be simplified, made memorable
and restructured for the typical kinds of challenges faced. The HCD process (Human-Centred
Design) was re-interpreted as an acronym to mean Hear, Create, and Deliver.
H: Hear
Similar to early phases in other Design Thinking processes, the Hear stage is about developing an
empathic understanding of users, as well as Defining the problem that the team is trying to solve. It
serves the purpose of gaining a solid foundation in the context of the problem and sufficiently
reframing it to progress. In this phase of the process, design thinkers need to:
● identify their challenge,
● recognize existing knowledge in the challenge space,
● identify people to engage with to understand the deeper human side of the challenge,
● engage in a range of ethnographic research activities to uncover sufficient human insight,
and
● Develop points of view or stories to guide the creation phase.

C: Create
Similar to the Ideate and Prototype phases in design school’s 5-stage approach, the Create stage is
concerned with exploration, experimentation and learning through making. It involves pinpointing
potential areas of exploration, and then engaging those closest to the problem to co-create
solutions. This allows design teams to maintain the highest levels of empathy during early design
phases, as well as weed out potential problematic assumptions made by designers who do not
sufficiently understand the context.
 ● Highlight opportunities to explore from insights gained in the Hear phase
● Recruit participants for the co-design task from a diverse pool of those affected
● Maintain awareness of sensitivities by avoiding judgments
● Encouraging storytelling and expression
● Facilitate action orientated creation of tangible solution
D: Deliver
The Deliver phase of the HCD process is centred on logistical implementation, and overcoming
any obstacles which may exist when rolling out a solution within the required context. Though
solutions arrived at may provide a functional patch to a problem, getting by in communities and
bypassing any other roadblocks on the path of implementation is essential for the process to be
completed successfully.

1.2.1. Human-Centred Design (HCD) process

Definition:
Human-centered is a philosophy that empowers an individual or team to designing products,
services, systems and experiences that address the needs and insights of the user who experience
the problems
• Human-centered design is a creative approach to solve problems
• It has been championed by Nobel Prize Laureate Herbert Simon, Developed by Stanford
university Design school
• Human-centered design is distinguishing other problem-solving approaches by its intensive focus
on understanding the perspective of the person who experiences a problem and needs.
• The solution that has been designed for the end users is truly meeting their needs effectively.
• The end users are constant part of design process and become part of the design team itself in this
human centered design.
• Human-centered design process has many forms, the model developed by Stanford design
school has 5 Key phases.
• The phases are
1. Empathize
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
5. Test and iterate
• For general understanding
1.2.2. Human-centered design consists of three phases.

1. Inspiration Phase (Empathize and Define stages) : In the Inspiration Phase designer learn
directly from the people (end users and stake holders) for his design, and immerse himself
in their lives and come to deeply understand their needs
 2. Ideation phase (ideate stage and prototype): In the Ideation Phase designer make sense
of what he learned, identify opportunities for his design, and prototype possible solutions
3. Implementation Phase (testing and iterate stages): And in the Implementation Phase
designer will bring solution to life, and eventually, to market. And the solution will be a
success because it kept the people looking to serve at the heart of the process
• Human-centered design is all about building a deep empathy with the people designing for;
generating tons of ideas; building a bunch of prototypes; sharing with the people, and
eventually putting a new innovative solution out in the world.
• . Human-centered design (HCD) is a term product creators use to describe a process of
designing for people
• HCD develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the
problem-solving process
1.2.3. Principles of HCD
• The four fundamental principles of HCD.
1. Focus upon the people:
• Whatever the designer designs always thinking of people who will use this
• product/service.
• Keep in mind that product or service is just tool that helps people to reach their goals
• It is vital to identify the real goal of real people who will use the product.
• The process of identification starts with who will be using this product? IN
• what context (time, place, device etc) will it most likely happen?
• After define the target, figure out critical user journeys. A tool called the job to be done
(JTBD) frame work can help that.
• When_______, I want to____, so I can____
• This frame work provides an excellent way to identify critical user journeys and
• map them to possible solution.
JTBD Framework
When_______, I want to____, so I can____

2. Find the Right problem

Not all problems worth solving. Don Norman identifies two types of problems:
• Fundamental problems and symptoms of the problem. It is essential to solve a fundamental
problem first because by doing that it will solve a root cause of problem.
• Identifying Fundamental problem requires time. But no matter how much time it takes, the
process of identification of core problems should be an inalienable part of the design
process. Otherwise it leads to wrong orientation towards the problem.
3. Think of everything as a system
• Users Should Have Good User experience at all touch points, both digital and physical.
• Don’t focus solely on one part of a user journey; always think about the big picture. i.e.
what want to achieve with experience and what is the final result care about.
4. Always test design decisions
The feedback from the testing session will help to understand what part of design requirement will
improve further. No matter how much time spend on ideating and prototyping design solution, but
it should be always test it with real people.
1.2.4. Examples of human centered design:
Human centered approach problem is an approach of problem solving mostly used in design and
management sectors by defining human perspectives in all steps of problem solving.

1. Pull/Push Door:

The Normon Door

Problem Solution designed
• The design had interrupted human • The push part of the door does not need
brain cognitive Bias. handle.
• For brain seeing handle triggers an • Design a door with only in the pull side
action to pull it. of the door.
• In this case the push and pull part of • Leave the push side with a plain pad.
the door are fitted with a handle, • People will push the door automatically
this creates confusion in brain. if they don’t see a handle
 2. Kids Toothbrush:
Kids hold tooth brushes is totally different from an adult. so it is harder for them to use a
toothbrush that are designer for adults.

Tooth brush for adult

Problem Solution designed
• Kids hands are so small
• They hold tooth brush inside their • Made the hands of brush fat and squishy
fist. Adults hold it inside the fingers • Introduced small bristles
• Lack of motivation to brush their • Introduced funny character to the handle
teeth • Created funny accessories

Designed by IDEO for Oral-B

3. Portable Music player –I pod Shuffle
➢ Portable music players are introduced in 1997 from that time manufacturers tried to include
more and more functionalities of music players. This result in abandoning the user experience of
these devices.
➢ Too much of functionalities and complicated design. The control buttons are too close and
accessibility was an issue. Most people use portable music player when they are outside (jogging
,gym, gardening etc) .and it was difficult to hold it during activities
Problem Solution designed
• Inaccessible buttons • Simple and accessible
• Too much features and increased buttons
complexity • Comes with a clip
• Difficulty in carrying it • Reduced complexity with
sleek design

Designed by Apple Inc

4. Ketchup bottle:
• Getting full ketchup out of a ketchup bottle was a pain task. The ketchup was thick and it takes
more time to squeeze out till the last drop from that bottle and that’s why HEINZ introduced an
inverted bottle design.
• HEINZ purchased the inverted bottle design from an American designer named Paul Brown.
They redesigned the bottle to have a handgrip and holding space. because of its inverted design ,
the user will get the last drop from the bottle
Problem Solution designed
• Difficulty in getting full ketchup out • Designed inverted standing
of the bottle bottle
• Designed bottle for easy
handling with one hand
 • Difficulty in handling and squeezing Designed by Paul Brown for
HEINZ

the bottle with one hand

5. Lay’s Stax packaging

• The famous snack and beverage Brand PepsiCo introduce a new type of packaging for lays.
• PepsiCo previous CEO Indra Nooyi Introduced the human centered design approach in lays
• PepsiCo’s design team analyzed how people are using their products, and they find out most of
the women prefer to eat neat and clean.
• They want to have last chip in that packet but they are not ready to dump all that small cracked
chip into their mouth
• Solution is created a vertical and round bottom can with tray, so the user can take out the tray
whenever they need a snack and put it back in after use
 Problem Solution designed
• Normal package can’t be reused • Designed around pillar
• Product wastage is high the bottle with package
one hand • Introduce a tray for easy
access
• Snack size was reduced .so
user can finish it in two bites

1.2.5. Winning Companies Use Human Centered Design:

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes:

Human centered Design has been around since the 1800’s. In 1894, Kellogg Cereal was invented as
a more digestible breakfast alternative for hospital patients. In seeing how they struggled to east
toast, Kellogg boiled wheat and rolled the dried flakes to make cereal the patients could eat more
easily. He then tried this technique with corn and observed how the patients ate the corn. This
became today what know Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
This focus on observing human interactions with empathy for their needs is putting the customer at
the hub and why human centered design is so valuable to a products or service’s success.

Uvex:

Uvex wanted Altitude to Create a new generation of protective safety eyewear. By incorporating
user centered design in their approach to learn what user really want, they were able to design fit
logic safety Eyewear, an innovate product design that combines comfortable fit, functionality, and
style and subsequently generated high sales for Uvex.
Colgate (Electrical Toothbrushes):
Colgate Hired Altitude to restore their leadership position in electronic toothbrushes. Innovation
Strategy and research team determined that users wanted a better fitting, more effective, longer
lasting, and easier to maintain toothbrush. They develop the motion, a high-powered, slim profile
brush, with dual oppositional oscillating heads and a patented ergonomically correct arcing neck

1.3.What is Innovation?
● Innovation is defined as the process of bringing about new ideas, methods, products, services,
or solutions that have a significant positive impact and value. It involves transforming creative
concepts into tangible outcomes that improve efficiency, and effectiveness, or address unmet
needs.
● Innovation is not limited to technological advancements and encompasses novel approaches to
problem-solving, processes, organizational practices, or business model innovations. At its
core, innovation involves challenging the status quo, thinking outside the box, and taking
calculated risks to drive progress and achieve breakthrough outcomes.
● Innovation is driven by a combination of factors, including curiosity, creativity, and the desire
for improvement. It requires a mindset that embraces change, welcomes ideation, and
encourages experimentation. Innovation can occur in various contexts, such as business,
science, technology, social sectors, or public services. It can lead to economic growth, social
progress, improved quality of life, and sustainable development.
1.3.1. Key components that make innovation possible in an organization
Several key components contribute to making innovation possible in an organization. These
components provide the foundation and enable organizations and individuals to drive innovation
effectively. Here are the key essential components:
● Creativity and Ideas: Creativity is the fuel for innovation. It involves generating new and
original ideas, challenging assumptions, and thinking beyond conventional boundaries. It is the
ability to connect disparate concepts and envision novel possibilities. The generation of diverse
ideas, both incremental and disruptive, serves as the starting point for innovation.
● Culture of Innovation: An organizational culture that fosters and supports innovation is
crucial. It includes values, attitudes, and behaviors that encourage curiosity, risk-taking,
collaboration, and experimentation. A culture of innovation promotes an open and inclusive
environment where individuals feel empowered to contribute their ideas and embrace change.
● Resources and Infrastructure: Adequate resources, both financial and non-financial, are
essential for innovation. This includes dedicated funding, skilled human capital, technology
infrastructure, research and development capabilities, and access to relevant information and
data. Organizations need to allocate resources strategically to support innovation initiatives.
● Leadership and Vision: Effective leadership plays a vital role in driving and supporting
innovation. Leaders set the vision, create a sense of purpose, and provide guidance and
 resources for innovation initiatives. They foster an environment that encourages risk-taking,
empowers employees, and leads by example. Leadership commitment and support are crucial
in nurturing a culture of innovation and driving innovation efforts.
● Feedback and Adaptation: Innovation requires a feedback loop that allows for continuous
innovation. Feedback can come from customers, users, stakeholders, and market trends.
Organizations need mechanisms to gather and analyze feedback, learn from successes and
failures, and iterate on their innovation initiatives. The ability to adapt and pivot based on
feedback is essential to refine and enhance innovative solutions.
● Effective Risk Management: Innovation involves inherent risks and uncertainties, which
makes effective risk management crucial to mitigate potential challenges and ensure successful
outcomes. Organizations need processes to identify, assess, and manage risks associated with
innovation initiatives. This includes evaluating the feasibility, viability, and potential impact of
innovative ideas and implementing risk mitigation strategies.

1.3.2. Types of Innovation

Innovation can take various forms, and different types of innovation serve different purposes and
bring different benefits. Here are the key types of innovation:
1. Product Innovation: Product innovation involves developing new or improved products or
services. It can include innovations in functionality, features, design, performance, or
packaging. It aims to create value for customers by addressing their needs, solving problems, or
introducing novel and desirable offerings.
2. Process Innovation: Process innovation focuses on improving the efficiency, effectiveness, or
quality of internal processes within an organization. It involves rethinking and redesigning
workflows, technologies, and systems to streamline operations, reduce costs, enhance
 productivity, or improve the delivery of products or services. Process innovation often leads to
increased operational efficiency and competitive advantage.
3. Business Model Innovation: Business model innovation involves rethinking and redesigning
the fundamental ways in which an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. It explores
new approaches to revenue generation, cost structure, distribution channels, partnerships,
customer engagement, or value proposition. Business model innovation can disrupt industries,
create new markets, or enable organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors.
4. Service Innovation: Service innovation involves developing new or improved services,
delivery methods, or customer experiences. It focuses on enhancing the value and satisfaction
customers derive from service interactions. Service innovation can include innovations in
service design, customization, accessibility, convenience, or personalization. It aims to meet
evolving customer expectations and create a competitive edge.
5. Incremental Innovation: Incremental innovation refers to small, gradual improvements made
to existing products, services, or processes. It involves making iterative changes, optimizations,
or enhancements to existing offerings. Incremental innovation is often characterized by a focus
on continuous improvement, efficiency gains, or evolutionary advancements. It can help
organizations stay competitive, maintain market relevance, and refine their offerings over time.
6. Disruptive Innovation: Disruptive innovation refers to the creation of new products, services,
or business models that disrupt existing markets or industries. It introduces novel solutions that
fundamentally change the way value is created, delivered, or consumed. Disruptive innovations
often start in niche markets or with underserved customers, and they gradually gain traction and
displace established players.
7. Open Innovation: Open innovation involves collaborating with external partners, such as
customers, suppliers, research institutions, or startups, to generate new ideas, share knowledge,
or co-create innovative solutions. Open innovation recognizes that valuable ideas and expertise
exist beyond an organization’s boundaries and seeks to leverage external resources and insights
to drive innovation.
8. Sustainable Innovation: Sustainable innovation is the process of developing and
implementing new products, services, technologies, or business models that have a positive
environmental, social, and economic impact. It involves finding creative and efficient solutions
to address pressing challenges, such as climate change, resource depletion, pollution,
inequality, and poverty.
9. Social Innovation: Social innovation is the development and implementation of novel
solutions to address social, cultural, economic, or environmental challenges. It involves the
creation and adoption of new ideas, products, services, or approaches that result in positive
societal impact and sustainable change.
10. Digital Innovation: Digital innovation refers to the application of digital technologies and
advancements to create new or improved products, services, processes, or business models. It
involves leveraging digital tools, platforms, data, and connectivity to drive innovation and
transform traditional practices.
11. Technology Innovation: Technology innovation refers to the creation, adoption, and utilization
of new or improved technologies to drive progress and improve outcomes in various domains.
It encompasses advancements across a wide range of technological fields, including but not
limited to information technology, biotechnology, renewable energy, nanotechnology, robotics,
materials science, and telecommunications.
12. Computing Innovation: Computing innovation pertains to advancements and breakthroughs in
the field of computing and information technology. It involves the development and application
of new hardware, software, algorithms, and computational approaches to solve complex
problems, enable new capabilities, or improve existing systems.
13. Continuous Innovation: Continuous innovation refers to incremental improvements or
enhancements made to existing products, services, processes, or business models. It involves
making small, gradual changes over time to refine and optimize existing offerings. Continuous
innovation aims to improve efficiency, quality, or user experience without fundamentally
altering the underlying concept or value proposition. It is often driven by feedback from
customers, market insights, and the organization’s desire to stay competitive. Continuous
innovation helps organizations maintain their market position, meet evolving customer
expectations, and sustain long-term growth.
14. Discontinuous Innovation: Discontinuous innovation, also known as radical or disruptive
innovation, involves introducing significant and transformative changes that disrupt existing
markets, business models, or ways of doing things. It represents a departure from the existing
norms and practices and often involves the introduction of entirely new products, services,
technologies, or business models. Discontinuous innovation can create new market segments,
open up new possibilities, and challenge established players. It is characterized by a higher
level of risk, uncertainty, and potential rewards. Discontinuous innovation is driven by
identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends, technological advancements, or changing
customer needs.
1.3.3. Innovation Examples: 10 Best Across Industries
Here are the ten best innovation examples from various industries:
1. Airbnb: Airbnb disrupted the traditional hospitality industry by creating an online marketplace
that allows individuals to rent out their homes or spare rooms to travelers. This peer-to-peer
accommodation model provided an alternative to traditional hotels and revolutionized the way
people travel and experience accommodations.
2. Electric Vehicles: Electric vehicles by brands like Tesla, have revolutionized the automotive
industry by pioneering electric vehicles (EVs) that offer long-range capabilities, high-performance
features, and sustainable energy solutions. Their technology innovation in battery and charging
infrastructure has played a significant role in accelerating the adoption of EVs worldwide.
3. SpaceX’s Reusable Rockets: SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, developed reusable rockets that
can be landed and reused, significantly reducing the cost of space exploration and making space
travel more accessible. This innovation has opened up new possibilities in the aerospace industry.
4. 3D Printing: 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has transformed various
industries by enabling the production of complex and customized objects with precision. It has
revolutionized manufacturing, healthcare (e.g., prosthetics), and design prototyping, among other
sectors.
5. CRISPR Gene Editing: CRISPR-Cas9 is a revolutionary gene-editing technology
innovation that enables precise and efficient modification of DNA sequences. This innovation has
the potential to revolutionize healthcare, agriculture, and biotechnology by offering new
approaches to treating genetic diseases, enhancing crop resilience, and developing new therapies.
6. Netflix’s Streaming Service: Netflix disrupted the traditional video rental and television
industry by introducing a streaming service that allows users to watch movies and TV shows on
demand. This innovation led to a shift in how content is consumed, paving the way for other
streaming platforms.
7. Mobile Payment Solutions: Companies like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal have
transformed the way payments are made by enabling secure and convenient mobile transactions.
This innovation has simplified payment processes and enhanced financial inclusivity.
8. Amazon’s Alexa Voice Assistant: Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant, Alexa, introduced a
new way of interacting with technology leveraging digital innovation through natural language
processing. It has revolutionized the smart home industry and paved the way for voice-controlled
devices and services.
9. Electric Scooters and Bike-Sharing Services: Electric scooters and bike-sharing services, such
as Lime and Citi Bike, have provided eco-friendly alternatives for urban transportation. These
innovations have facilitated short-distance travel, reduced congestion, and promoted sustainable
mobility options.
10. Solar Energy Technologies: Advancements in solar energy technologies, including more
efficient photovoltaic cells and cost reductions, have made solar power increasingly accessible and
economically viable. This innovation has driven the growth of renewable energy sources and
contributed to the transition towards a sustainable energy future.
1.3.4. Innovation Process: 7 Key Steps

The innovation process typically involves a series of key steps that organizations follow to foster
and implement innovation. While specific approaches may vary, here are the common steps
involved in the innovation process:
Step 1. Identify Opportunities
The first step is to identify opportunities for innovation. This can be done through market research,
customer insights, trend analysis, or internal assessments. The goal is to uncover unmet needs,
emerging trends, or areas for improvement that can be addressed through innovation.
Step 2. Generate Ideas
Once opportunities are identified, the next step is to generate ideas. This can be done through
brainstorming sessions, idea competitions, customer feedback, or cross-functional collaboration.
The aim is to generate a wide range of creative and innovative ideas that have the potential to
address the identified opportunities.
Step 3. Evaluate and Select Ideas
After ideation, the next step is to evaluate and select the most promising ones. This involves
assessing the feasibility, viability, and desirability of each idea. Consider factors such as market
potential, technical feasibility, resource requirements, alignment with strategic goals, and potential
impact. The goal is to identify the ideas that are worth pursuing further.
Step 4. Develop and Prototype
Once ideas are selected, they can be further developed and prototyped. This involves translating the
selected ideas into tangible prototypes, mock-ups, or minimum viable products (MVPs). The aim is
to test and validate the concepts, gather feedback, and refine the ideas based on customer insights
and technical feasibility.
Step 5. Test and Iterate
In this step, the prototypes or MVPs are tested with users or in real-world scenarios. Customer
feedback is collected, and the concepts are iterated and refined based on the insights gained. This
iterative process helps to validate assumptions, uncover potential issues, and improve the
innovation before moving to the next stage.
Step 6. Implement and Scale
Once the innovation has been tested and refined, it can be implemented and scaled up. This
involves developing a detailed implementation plan, allocating resources, and executing the
necessary actions to bring the innovation to market or implement it within the organization. The
goal is to ensure a smooth transition from the development phase to full-scale implementation.
Step 7. Monitor and Evaluate
After implementation, it is important to monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of the
innovation. This involves tracking key metrics and performance indicators to assess the success of
the innovation. Regular evaluation helps identify areas for improvement, make necessary
adjustments, and capture learnings for future innovation initiative
1.3.5. Understanding Innovation process in Design Thinking

Understanding the innovation process in Design Thinking involves grasping the iterative and
user-centered nature of this methodology. Here are the key stages of the Design Thinking process,
which facilitate innovation:
1. Empathize
 ● Objective: Understand the users and their needs.
● Activities: Conduct user research through interviews, observations, and other methods to
gather insights into users' experiences, emotions, and motivations.
● Outcome: Develop empathy and gain a deep understanding of the user's context and
challenges.
2. Define
● Objective: Clearly articulate the problem to be solved.
● Activities: Analyze the information gathered during the Empathize phase to identify core
problems and create a problem statement or point of view (POV).
● Outcome: A well-defined problem statement that guides the ideation process.
3. Ideate
● Objective: Generate a wide range of creative ideas and solutions.
● Activities: Brainstorming sessions, mind mapping, and other creative techniques to explore
possible solutions without judgment or constraints.
● Outcome: A diverse set of potential solutions to the defined problem.
4. Prototype
● Objective: Build tangible representations of ideas.
● Activities: Create simple, low-fidelity prototypes such as sketches, models, or digital
mock-ups to quickly and inexpensively explore ideas.
● Outcome: Physical or digital prototypes that can be tested and refined.
5. Test
● Objective: Validate solutions through user feedback.
● Activities: Test prototypes with real users, gather feedback, and observe how users interact
with the prototypes.
● Outcome: Insights into what works, what doesn’t, and what can be improved.
Iteration
● Objective: Refine and improve solutions based on feedback.
● Activities: Iterate between prototyping and testing, making necessary adjustments to better
meet user needs.
● Outcome: Continuous improvement of the solution until it effectively solves the user's
problem.
Key Principles Supporting Innovation in Design Thinking
User-Centeredness: Keeps the focus on the users and their needs throughout the process,
ensuring solutions are relevant and valuable.
Collaboration: Involves diverse teams and stakeholders to bring multiple perspectives and
expertise.
Creativity: Encourages out-of-the-box thinking and exploration of unconventional ideas.
Experimentation: Promotes building, testing, and learning from prototypes to refine ideas.
Flexibility: Allows for adapting and iterating based on new insights and feedback.
1.3.6. 5 STEPS OF THE OUTCOME-DRIVEN INNOVATION PROCESS
1. Define your market around the job-to-be-done
People buy products and services to get a job done. Defining your market around this
job-to-be-done gives your company a stable focal point around which to align and orchestrate
value creation.
This step includes:
● Defining customers differently. Get to know your true customer—the job executor
● Defining the market around the job. The JTBD must be defined at the right level of
abstraction.
2. Uncover desired outcomes
Customers want to get their jobs done perfectly. The 100+ metrics customers use to measure
the successful execution of a job-to-be-done define what perfection means—and instruct your
company how to deliver it.
This innovation process step includes:
● Understanding all of your customer’s needs. It’s possible when you define customer
needs as desired outcomes.
3. Quantify which outcomes are unmet
Customers have underserved and overserved needs. Knowing with statistical certainty which
needs should be the focus of your value creation and cost reduction ensures the efficient
deployment of resources.
This step includes:
● Understanding where customers need help most. Determine if your markets are under or
overserved and precisely which outcomes hold the key to your growth.
4. Discover hidden segments of opportunity
Customers rarely agree on which needs are unmet. Segmenting your markets into groups of
people with unique sets of unmet needs allows you to pursue opportunities your competitors
will fail to see.
This process step includes:
● Segmenting the market around outcomes. People struggle differently when executing the
job-to-be-done.
5. Formulate and deploy a winning strategy
 With a common understanding of the customer’s unmet needs, your company is able to better
position and improve existing products, identify and fill gaps in your portfolio, make impactful
R&D investment decisions, and more.
In other words, you have everything you need to develop a reliable innovation strategy.
1.4.Discovering areas of opportunity
Discovering Areas of Opportunity in the Innovation Process
Discovering areas of opportunity is a crucial aspect of the innovation process, particularly
within the Design Thinking framework. This involves identifying gaps, unmet needs, and
potential enhancements that can lead to innovative solutions. Here's how to discover areas
of opportunity during each stage of the Design Thinking process:
1. Empathize
Objective: Gain deep insights into users and their needs.
● Activities:
o Conduct Interviews: Engage with users to understand their experiences,
challenges, and desires.
o Observe Behavior: Watch how users interact with current solutions or
environments.
o User Diaries and Surveys: Collect detailed information about user experiences
over time.
● Outcome: Identify pain points, frustrations, and unarticulated needs that present
opportunities for innovation.
2. Define
Objective: Clearly articulate the problem to be solved and uncover opportunity areas.
● Activities:
o Synthesize Findings: Analyze the data collected during the Empathize stage to find
patterns and insights.
o Create User Personas: Develop detailed personas that represent key user segments
and their needs.
o Define Problem Statements: Articulate specific problems or challenges that users
face.
● Outcome: Highlight areas where existing solutions fall short and identify gaps that could be
addressed with innovative solutions.
3. Ideate
Objective: Generate a broad range of ideas and potential solutions.
● Activities:
o Brainstorming Sessions: Encourage free thinking to generate a variety of ideas
without judgment.
o Mind Mapping: Visually explore connections between different ideas and concepts.
o SCAMPER Technique: Use this technique (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify,
Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse) to think about how to improve existing
solutions.
● Outcome: Discover multiple possible approaches to solving identified problems and
explore new opportunities for innovation.
4. Prototype
Objective: Build tangible representations of ideas to explore potential solutions.
● Activities:
o Create Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Develop simple models or mock-ups of the most
promising ideas.
o Rapid Prototyping: Quickly iterate on prototypes to explore different aspects of the
solution.
 o User Scenarios: Test prototypes in various user scenarios to uncover additional
needs and challenges.
● Outcome: Identify practical opportunities for refinement and new areas where the solution
can be improved or expanded.
5. Test
Objective: Validate solutions through user feedback and identify new opportunities.
● Activities:
o User Testing: Observe users interacting with prototypes and gather feedback on
usability and effectiveness.
o A/B Testing: Compare different versions of a prototype to see which performs
better.
o Feedback Sessions: Conduct debriefs with users to understand their experiences
and suggestions.
● Outcome: Uncover additional needs, preferences, and pain points that were not initially
considered, leading to new areas for innovation.
Iteration and Continuous Discovery
● Objective: Continuously refine solutions and discover new opportunities.
● Activities:
o Cycle Back Through Stages: Use feedback from the Test stage to revisit and refine
earlier stages.
o Continuous Improvement: Keep iterating on prototypes and solutions based on
ongoing user feedback.
o Regular Check-Ins with Users: Maintain an ongoing dialogue with users to stay
updated on their evolving needs and contexts.
● Outcome: A dynamic and evolving understanding of opportunities, leading to continuous
innovation and improvement.
1.5.Interviewing & empathy-building techniques in design thinking
● Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that involves understanding
the user's needs, reframing problems in human-centric ways, brainstorming innovative
solutions, and adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing.
● Interviewing is a critical part of the Design Thinking process, as it helps gather insights
directly from users and empathy-building techniques are fundamental to the Empathize
stage of the Design Thinking process.
● These techniques help designers gain deep insights into the users’ needs, Behaviors, and
experiences. Here are some effective techniques and strategies for conducting Design
Thinking interviews Techniques Interviewing
1. Open-Ended Questions:
o Encourage the interviewee to share more detailed responses.
o Examples: "Can you tell me about a time when...?", "How do you usually...?"
2. Probing Questions:
o Dig deeper into responses to uncover more insights.
o Examples: "Why do you feel that way?", "Can you explain what you mean by that?"
3. 5 Whys Technique:
o Keep asking "Why?" to delve deeper into the root cause of a problem.
o Example: "Why did that happen? Why do you think that is?"
4. Show Me Technique:
o Ask participants to show you how they perform a task.
o This can reveal nuances in behavior that might not be articulated verbally.
5. Think-Aloud Protocol:
o Ask participants to verbalize their thought process while performing a task.
 o This helps understand their cognitive process and challenges.
6. Empathy Mapping:
o Use tools like empathy maps to capture what users say, think, feel, and do.
o Helps in understanding the user's experience more holistically.
7. Storytelling:
o Encourage users to share stories related to their experiences.
o Stories provide context and emotional depth to the data.
1.5.1. Interviewing Techniques
What is a User Interview?
User interviews are guided interviews where a researcher asks existing or potential users
questions to gain an understanding of their preferences, thoughts and feelings. User
interviews can be used to examine the user experience and usability of a product or
service, as well as flesh out demographic or ethnographic data for input into
user personas.
The ideal user interview involves two UX researchers and one user. The first UX
researcher asks questions and guides the interviewee through the interview, and the second
researcher takes notes.
It’s important to have a second researcher when you conduct user interviews as they can then
be the one to take notes. There are three types of notes you can take, however it is descriptive
notes that are most important and relevant to user interviews.
Typical topics covered within user interviews include:
● The background of the user (ethnographic data, for example)
● The use of related technology
● How the user uses the product
● The user’s main objectives and motivations to use the product
● The user’s pain points with the product

1.5.1.1.3 Key Steps to Prepare for User Interviews

 Preparing for user interviews is crucial for gathering meaningful and actionable insights. Here
are three key steps to effectively prepare for user interviews:
1. Define Clear Objectives
● Identify the Goals:
o Understand what you want to learn from the interviews.
o Define specific objectives and outcomes you hope to achieve.
● Prioritize Key Questions:
o Develop a list of questions aligned with your goals.
o Ensure questions are open-ended to encourage detailed responses.
● Determine the Scope:
o Focus on particular aspects of the user experience or problem space.
o Be clear about what you will and won’t cover in the interview.
2. Select and Understand Your Participants
● Identify Target Users:
o Choose participants who represent your target audience or user base.
o Consider different segments to get a diverse range of perspectives.
● Screen Participants:
o Use screening questions to ensure participants fit your criteria.
o Avoid biases by including a variety of users with different experiences.
● Research Backgrounds:
o Gather background information about the participants.
o Understand their context, roles, and any relevant prior interactions with your
product or service.
3. Plan the Interview Logistics
● Schedule and Confirm:
o Arrange convenient times for participants and confirm the details.
o Send reminders and provide any necessary information or materials beforehand.
● Prepare the Environment:
o Choose a quiet, comfortable location for the interview.
o Ensure necessary tools (recording devices, consent forms, etc.) are ready and
functioning.
● Create an Interview Guide:
o Outline the structure of the interview, including introductions, main questions, and
wrap-up.
o Plan for flexibility to follow interesting threads that may emerge.
● Test Your Setup:
o Conduct a dry run to check your equipment and interview flow.
o Ensure you can record audio or video clearly if required.
By following these steps, you will be well-prepared to conduct user interviews that yield
valuable insights and inform your design process.

1.5.1.2.Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions are designed to encourage detailed, thoughtful responses,

providing deeper insights into a participant's thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Here are
a few examples of open-ended questions you can use in user interviews:

Experience-Based Questions:
 "Can you tell me about a time when you had to use our product/service? What was that
experience like?"
"What are the biggest challenges you face when using this type of product/service?"
Behavioral Questions:

"How do you typically go about [specific task]?"

"What steps do you usually follow when you're trying to solve [specific problem]?"
Perception Questions:

"What do you like most about using our product/service?"

"What frustrates you the most about this process?"
Motivational Questions:

"What made you decide to use this product/service over others?"

"What are the main reasons you use this feature regularly?"
Future-Oriented Questions:

"If you could change one thing about our product/service, what would it be?"
"How do you see your needs changing in the next few years?"
General Feedback Questions:

"What are your overall thoughts on our product/service?"

"How do you feel our product/service compares to others you have used?"
These types of questions help elicit comprehensive and qualitative data, which is essential
for understanding the user's perspective and needs in the Design Thinking process.

1.5.1.3.Five Whys
The five whys technique was first developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in the 1930s to
improve its manufacturing processes. It has since been adopted by organizations in
various industries, including product design, to identify and solve problems.
One of the key benefits of the five whys technique is that it helps designers and developers
identify the underlying cause of a problem rather than just addressing the symptoms. By
drilling down to the root cause, designers and developers can implement a more effective
solution that addresses the issue at its source rather than just treating the symptoms.
For example, if a product is experiencing a high rate of returns due to a design flaw, the five
whys technique can help designers and developers identify the root cause of the problem. By
asking “why” five times, they might discover that the problem is due to a lack of user testing
during the design process, which can be addressed by incorporating more extensive user
testing.
 Case Study for 5 why’s
Here are a few examples of situations when big tech companies have used the five whys
technique to solve problems:
1. Google: Google used the five whys technique to identify the root cause of a problem with
their Gmail service. When users reported that they could not access their emails, the
company used the five whys technique to identify the root cause of the problem. After
asking “why” five times, they discovered that the problem was due to a software bug
causing the server to crash. They were able to fix the bug and restore access to the Gmail
service for users.
2. Apple: Apple used the five whys technique to identify the root cause of a problem with
their iPhone 6 Plus devices. When users reported that the devices were bending, Apple used
the five whys technique to identify the root cause of the problem. After asking “why” five
times, they discovered the problem was due to a design flaw in the device’s casing. They
were able to redesign the case and prevent the problem from occurring in future devices.
3. Amazon: Amazon used the five whys technique to identify the root cause of a problem
with their fulfilment centers. When employees were experiencing high levels of stress and
burnout, Amazon used the five whys technique to identify the root cause of the problem.
After asking “why” five times, they discovered that the problem was due to unrealistic
performance expectations and a lack of employee support. They implemented changes to
the fulfilment center operations, including more realistic performance expectations and
increased employee support, which helped reduce stress and burnout.

1.5.1.4.Laddering
Laddering is a qualitative research technique used in design thinking to explore and
understand the deeper motivations, values, and beliefs behind users' Behaviors and
preferences. It involves a series of probing questions to "ladder up" from concrete
attributes to abstract motivations. This helps uncover the underlying reasons why users
feel or act in certain ways. Here’s how laddering works in the context of design thinking:
Steps in Laddering
1. Identify the Starting Point:
o Begin with a specific product feature, behavior, or preference.
o Example: "What do you like about this product?"
2. Ask Why (Attributes):
o Focus on the tangible, observable attributes of the product or experience.
o Example: "Why do you like this feature?"
3. Ask Why Again (Consequences):
o Explore the functional and psychological consequences of the attributes.
o Example: "Why is that important to you?"
4. Ask Why Once More (Values):
o Delve into the core values, beliefs, and motivations behind the consequences.
o Example: "Why does that matter to you?"
Example of Laddering
Imagine you are interviewing a user about their preferences for a particular smartphone
app.
1. Identify the Starting Point:
o "What do you like about this app?"
o User: "I like the app’s clean and simple design."
2. Ask Why (Attributes):
o "Why do you like the clean and simple design?"
o User: "It makes it easy to navigate and find what I need quickly."
3. Ask Why Again (Consequences):
o "Why is it important for you to find what you need quickly?"
o User: "Because I am often in a hurry and don’t have time to waste."
4. Ask Why Once More (Values):
o "Why does not wasting time matter to you?"
o User: "I value efficiency and productivity, and I want to make the most of my time."
Benefits of Laddering
● Uncover Deeper Insights:
o Helps understand the fundamental motivations and values driving user behavior.
● Identify Core Needs:
o Reveals underlying needs that might not be immediately apparent.
● Improve Design:
o Informs design decisions that align with users’ deeper values and motivations.
● Enhance User Experience:
o Creates products and services that resonate more deeply with users’ core values.
Applying Laddering in Design Thinking
1. Interview Preparation:
o Develop a list of initial questions related to specific product features or user
behaviors.
o Be prepared to follow up with multiple "why" questions to ladder up to deeper
insights.
2. Conducting the Interview:
o Start with broad, open-ended questions and gradually focus on specific attributes.
o Use active listening to identify opportunities for deeper probing.
3. Analysis and Synthesis:
o Analyze responses to identify patterns and themes in users’ motivations and values.
o Use these insights to inform personas, journey maps, and ideation sessions.
4. Iterate and Validate:
 o Validate findings with additional users to ensure consistency.
o Iterate on designs based on the deeper insights gained from laddering.
By using laddering, you can gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of your users, which
can significantly enhance the design thinking process and lead to more user-centered
innovations.
1.5.1.5.Contextual Inquiry
Contextual inquiry is an essential component of the design thinking process, which emphasizes
empathy, ideation, and experimentation to create innovative solutions. Here's how contextual
inquiry fits into the stages of design thinking:
1. Empathize:
o Understanding Users: Contextual inquiry is primarily used in the empathy phase to
gain a deep understanding of users, their environments, behaviors, and challenges.
o Observations and Interviews: By observing and interviewing users in their natural
settings, designers can uncover insights that are often missed through other research
methods. This helps in understanding the context in which users operate and the
problems they face.
2. Define:
o Synthesizing Data: The data gathered from contextual inquiries are analyzed to
identify patterns, themes, and key insights.
o Defining Problems: These insights help in defining the core problems or challenges
that need to be addressed. This phase involves creating problem statements that
reflect the users' needs and pain points.
3. Ideate:
o Generating Ideas: With a clear understanding of the user needs and problems, the
team can brainstorm and generate a wide range of ideas and potential solutions.
o User-Centered Ideas: The insights from contextual inquiries ensure that the ideas
generated are grounded in the real experiences and needs of users.
4. Prototype:
o Creating Prototypes: The team creates low-fidelity prototypes or models of the
proposed solutions.
o User Scenarios: These prototypes are often designed with specific user scenarios in
mind, reflecting the contexts and workflows observed during the contextual inquiry.
5. Test:
o User Testing: The prototypes are tested with users to gather feedback and
understand how well they address the identified problems.
o Iterative Refinement: Based on the feedback, the prototypes are iteratively refined
to better meet user needs. This can involve revisiting the insights from the
contextual inquiry to ensure alignment with user requirements.
6. Implement:
o Developing the Final Product: The refined solution is developed into a final
product or service.
o Continuous Feedback: Even after implementation, continuous feedback and user
observations are crucial to ensure the solution remains effective and user-centered.
Benefits of Contextual Inquiry in Design Thinking:
● Deep Empathy: Provides a profound understanding of users, leading to more empathetic
and effective design solutions.
● Real-World Insights: Captures authentic user behaviors and challenges that are often
missed in lab settings or through surveys.
● Informed Decision Making: Ensures that design decisions are based on real user needs and
contexts, leading to more relevant and useful solutions.
 ● Iterative Improvement: Facilitates continuous refinement and improvement of solutions
based on real user feedback and observations.
Contextual inquiry, integrated into the design thinking process, ensures that solutions are not
only innovative but also deeply aligned with the needs and experiences of users.

1.6.Role of Empathy in design thinking:

● As the starting point of the design process, Empathy allows a designer to understand the
people who will eventually use their product or service
● Empathy is a core value of design thinking .it is also the first step in the
● design thinking process.
● Empathy, draws attention to the abilities of researchers and designers to see the world
through other people’s eyes, feel what they feel, and experience things as they do
● Empathy allows a designer to understand the user’s physical and emotional needs.
● The Oxford Dictionary defines Empathy as “the ability to understand and share the
feeling of another”.
● Empathy is the first step in design thinking because it is a skill that allows us to
understand and share the same feelings that others feel. Through empathy, designers are
able to put ourselves in other people's shoes and connect with how they might be feeling
about their problem, circumstance, or situation
Some questions to consider:
o What is the person feeling?
o What actions or words indicate this feeling?
o Can you identify their feelings through words?
o What words would you use to describe their feelings?
• Empathy is the cornerstone of any successful design project. The extent to which you
understand and empathize with your users ultimately determines the outcome of your
design
• This means observing and engaging with people in order to understand them on a
psychological and emotional level. During this phase, the designer seeks to set aside their
assumptions and gather real insights about the user.
• Design Thinking cannot begin without a deeper understanding of the people that designers
are designing for. In order to gain those insights, it is important for designer as a design
thinker to empathize with the people you are designing for so that you can understand their
needs, thoughts, emotions and motivations
• Finally, empathy shows a designer how users think about the world and what is meaningful
to users.

1.6.1. Why Empathy is so important?

• In a social context, empathy is often what drives us to take action

• If we see people suffering or struggling, and we are able to empathize with their situation, we
are compelled to help relieve them in some way.
• Designers need to build empathy for their users in order to take the right course of action
• It’s important to understand how the user feels when interacting with a certain product or
interface; does the layout of this website evoke feelings of frustration?
• In building empathy, designers can create products which truly please the user and make their
lives easier
• Without this empathy, the design process lacks that all-important user- centricity which often
marks the distinction between product success and failure.
1.6.2. Where does empathy fit into the Design Thinking process?

• During the empathize phase, the designer spends time getting to know the user and
understanding their needs, wants, and objectives
• Empathize phase requires you to set aside your assumptions. It’s human nature to assume that
others will think and feel the same as you in particular situations, but of course this isn’t always
the case.
• the first step in empathizing with your users is to suspend your own view of the world around
you in order to truly see it through your users’ eyes
• When it comes to Design Thinking and Human –Centered Design it’s time to stop guessing and
start gathering real insights about the user!

1.6.3. What is empathic design?

• One of the main objectives of empathize stage is to identify user needs and behaviors
that are latent, or unarticulated.

• As a designer, it’s important to distinguish between what people say they would do in a
certain situation, and what they actually do
• In reality, users may have habits or desires that they’re not aware of, so it’s essential for
the designer to observe the user in action
• Empathic research and design is not concerned with facts about the user, such as their
age or location. Rather, it focuses on their feelings towards a product and their
motivations in certain situations.
• Why do they behave in a certain way? Why do they prefer to do this instead of that?
Why do they click here rather than there when presented with a particular screen or
page?
• These are the kinds of insights you will uncover during empathize phase, and they will
help you to create user experiences that cater to your audience.

1.6.4. Methods and tools of empathy:

1.6.4.1.Various Mindsets:

• Observing Everything
• Building Empathy
• Immersing in daily life
• Listening openly
• Looking for problems and needs

a. Observing Everything:
• Observe everything in the context of study, not just the people or the products in use.
• Notice places notice other people, notice inconsistencies between what people say and
what they do.
• Be prepared to consider innovations that address these seemingly external factors. Even
more importantly, look at who and what is not in the field of study

b. Building Empathy:
• Is it possible to go beyond just knowing about people’s experiences and feelings, to the
point of sharing them?
 • e.g Spend a day with a busy mom as she struggles to organize the family’s day, share,
and identify with her daily experiences, frustrations, and challenges
• make a deep, direct emotional connection with end users’ needs, we will be in a far better
position to develop new ideas in tune with the customer
c. Immersing in Daily Life
• Spending time with people in their everyday lives can be eye opening. Use the
ethnographer’s approach to live with and learn about the behaviors, practices, and
motivations that form the context in which people will use the tools, artifacts, messages,
and services that you intend to create
• Spending a day in the life of people for whom you are designing will be revealing.
d. Listening Openly:
• We should not just prepare and follow a script for our interaction with research
participants. We should let them guide the discussion toward what is important to them; we
must be students, not teachers.
• We ought to think of open-ended questions, suggest general solution alternatives, and be
prepared to hear things

e. Looking for Problems and Needs:

• What is not working well in the current situation and why? How are people facing
challenges in their daily lives? How are they working around the problems? Or are they
just giving up since there is nothing that can support their needs?
• These are great questions that we should ask to reveal opportunities for new products or
services

1.6.4.2.Know People Methods:

• The concept of “user-centered” or “human-centered “design is not exactly new
• In fact, most definitions of design include some reference to crafting things that people use
• However, as an antidote to the one-size-fits all, mass production age of 19th and 20th
century design, it has become important to re- emphasize the centrality of users to the
process
• Design That is sensitive to and based on people’s needs and patterns of behavior will be
good design.
• The mode of Know people, with its focus on Empathy, observation, personal engagements,
and problem solving, is an indispensable of the design process.
• Knowing people is about gaining an empathic understanding of thoughts, feelings, and
needs by listening, observing, interacting, and analyzing.
• Immersing yourself in people’s daily lives and keenly listening to their stories can reveal
very valuable insights, sometimes quite surprising and nonobvious
• To get to such valuable insights we should focus on everything that people do, say, and
think; we should be in the mindset to deeply understand people’s activities, needs,
motivations, and overall experiences, just as well as we study our products when we do a
product development project.
• Knowing people well can lead us to entirely new categories of products, services, or
business strategies that fundamentally address people’s needs and desires, create significant
new value, and are very hard to copy.

a. Research Participant Map

b. Research Planning Survey
c. User Research Plan
 d. Five Human Factors
e. POEMS
f. Field Visit
g. Video Ethnography
h. Ethnographic Interview
i. User Pictures Interview
j. Cultural Artifacts
k. Image Sorting
l. Experience Simulation
m. .Field Activity
n. Remote Research
o. User Observations Database

a) Research Participant Map

A Research Participant Map in design thinking is a visual representation that categorizes and
organizes different user groups and stakeholders involved in a project. It helps in understanding
their relationships, interactions, and roles within the context of the design process. Here’s a
brief overview:
1. Purpose:
o Visualization: Provides a clear picture of who the users and stakeholders are.
o Relationship Mapping: Shows how different groups interact and influence each
other.
2. Components:
o User Groups: Primary, secondary, and tertiary users categorized based on their
roles and interactions with the product or service.
o Attributes: Includes demographics, behaviors, and needs of each user group.
3. Usage:
o Recruitment: Guides the selection of participants for research activities, ensuring a
representative sample.
o Design Decisions: Informs design decisions by highlighting diverse user
perspectives and needs.
4. Benefits:
o Empathy Building: Enhances empathy by visualizing users’ contexts and
experiences.
o Strategic Planning: Aids in planning research and design activities that align with
user requirements.
By using a Research Participant Map, design teams can ensure that their solutions are inclusive,
user-centered, and effectively meet the needs of all stakeholders involved.

b) Research Planning Survey

A Research Planning Survey in design thinking is a strategic tool used to gather initial insights
and understand user needs before diving into detailed design processes. Here’s a concise
overview:
1. Objective:
o Purpose: Identify user preferences, pain points, and behaviors to inform design
decisions.
o Goals: Gather qualitative and quantitative data to understand user motivations and
expectations.
2. Methodology:
 o Survey Design: Develop questions that explore user experiences, preferences, and
challenges.
o Distribution: Use various channels to reach a broad audience and ensure diverse
perspectives.
3. Execution:
o Data Collection: Collect responses to analyze and identify patterns or common
themes.
o Ethical Considerations: Ensure privacy and obtain informed consent from
participants.
4. Analysis:
o Insight Generation: Analyze survey data to derive actionable insights for the
design process.
o Synthesis: Summarize findings to guide subsequent design phases.
5. Benefits:
o Informed Design: Provides foundational insights that drive user-centered design
decisions.
o Efficiency: Helps prioritize design efforts by focusing on validated user needs and
preferences.
By conducting a Research Planning Survey early in the design thinking process, teams can
gather essential data to create solutions that effectively meet user expectations and improve
overall user experience.

c) User Research Plan

A User Research Plan in design thinking outlines how to gather insights from users to inform
the design process. Here’s a succinct overview:
1. Objectives:
o Define goals: Understand user needs, behaviors, and preferences.
o Formulate research questions to guide data collection.
2. Methods:
o Choose qualitative methods like interviews, observations, and usability tests.
o Use quantitative methods such as surveys to gather statistical data.
3. Execution:
o Recruit participants based on defined criteria.
o Collect data through structured interviews, observations, or surveys.
4. Analysis:
o Analyze qualitative data for themes and patterns.
o Interpret quantitative data to uncover trends and insights.
5. Application:
o Use findings to create personas, empathy maps, and design requirements.
o Iteratively test and refine prototypes based on user feedback.
A well-executed User Research Plan ensures that design decisions are grounded in user
insights, leading to more effective and user-centered solutions.

d) Five human factors

In design thinking, five key human factors focus on understanding and integrating user needs
into the design process:
1. Empathy:
o Understanding users' emotions, experiences, and perspectives to design solutions
that resonate with their needs.
2. Usability:
 o Ensuring products or services are easy to use, intuitive, and accessible to all users,
regardless of their abilities.
3. Desirability:
o Creating designs that users find attractive, enjoyable, and emotionally engaging.
4. Functionality:
o Designing products or services that effectively perform their intended tasks and
meet user expectations consistently.
5. Feedback:
o Incorporating user feedback throughout the design process to validate assumptions
and iterate on solutions for continuous improvement.
These factors ensure that design solutions are user-centered, impactful, and aligned with real
user needs and preferences.

e) POEMS
POEMS is a framework used in design thinking to help organize and analyze observations
about users and their interactions within their environment. POEMS stands for People, Objects,
Environments, Messages, and Services. Here's a brief overview:
1. People:
● Focus: The users and stakeholders involved.
● Considerations: Who are they? What are their roles, behaviors, and interactions?
2. Objects:
● Focus: The physical and digital tools that users interact with.
● Considerations: What objects are present? How are they used and interacted with?
3. Environments:
● Focus: The physical, social, and cultural context in which interactions occur.
● Considerations: Where do interactions take place? What environmental factors
influence behavior?
4. Messages:
● Focus: The information exchange between users and systems.
● Considerations: What information is communicated? How is it conveyed and
received?
5. Services:
● Focus: The support systems and services available to users.
● Considerations: What services are provided? How do they support user needs and
activities?
Using the POEMS framework helps designers systematically observe and analyze different
aspects of user interactions, leading to more comprehensive and user-centered design solutions.

f. Field Visit
A field visit in design thinking involves going to the user’s environment to observe and interact
with them in their natural setting. This helps designers gain deep, contextual insights into users'
behaviors, needs, and pain points. Here's a brief overview:
1. Preparation:
o Objective: Define the goals and what you aim to learn.
o Plan: Identify the locations, users, and activities to observe.
2. Observation:
o Watch and Listen: Observe how users interact with their environment and
products.
o Note Context: Pay attention to the context, including physical and social settings.
3. Interaction:
 o Engage Users: Ask questions and interact with users to understand their
experiences and challenges.
o Collect Data: Take notes, photos, or videos to capture details.
4. Analysis:
o Identify Patterns: Look for recurring themes and insights from the observations.
o Synthesize Findings: Translate insights into design opportunities and user needs.
5. Application:
o Inform Design: Use the insights to guide ideation, prototyping, and testing phases.
o Empathy Building: Ensure that the design solutions are deeply rooted in real user
experiences.
Field visits are crucial for building empathy and ensuring that design solutions are grounded in
the actual context and needs of users.

g. Video Ethnography
Video ethnography in design thinking is a research method where video recordings are used to
capture and analyze users' interactions, behaviors, and environments. This approach provides
rich, visual insights that can inform and inspire the design process. Here’s a brief overview:
1. Preparation:
o Objective: Define the purpose and scope of the video ethnography.
o Plan: Identify the users, settings, and activities to record.
2. Recording:
o Capture Real Interactions: Record users in their natural environment performing
relevant tasks.
o Contextual Focus: Include details of the physical, social, and cultural context.
3. Engagement:
o Minimal Interference: Ensure the presence of the camera minimally impacts user
behavior.
o Ethical Considerations: Obtain consent from participants and respect their privacy.
4. Analysis:
o Review Footage: Watch the videos to identify key moments, behaviors, and
interactions.
o Extract Insights: Look for patterns, challenges, and opportunities for design.
5. Application:
o Empathy Building: Use video insights to foster empathy among the design team.
o Informed Design: Apply findings to guide ideation, prototyping, and testing phases.
Video ethnography provides a vivid and detailed understanding of user experiences, making it a
valuable tool for creating user-centered designs.
h. Ethnographic Interview
An ethnographic interview in design thinking is a qualitative research method that involves
deep, contextual exploration of users' experiences, behaviors, and environments. Here’s a
concise overview:
1. Purpose:
o To uncover insights into users' attitudes, motivations, and behaviors in their natural
settings.
2. Approach:
o Conducted in-person or remotely to observe and engage users authentically.
o Emphasizes open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses and uncover
hidden needs.
3. Techniques:
o Use of probes and prompts to delve into specific aspects of users' experiences.
 o Focus on building rapport to create a comfortable environment for sharing.
4. Analysis:
o Transcription and thematic analysis to identify patterns, emotions, and key insights.
o Integration of findings into personas, journey maps, or design requirements.
5. Benefits:
o Provides rich, qualitative data that informs empathetic and user-centered design
solutions.
o Offers nuanced understanding of user contexts and challenges for more effective
problem-solving.
Ethnographic interviews in design thinking help teams gain a deeper understanding of users'
real-world behaviors and needs, guiding the development of solutions that truly resonate with
users.

i. User Pictures Interview

A "User Pictures Interview" is a qualitative research method where participants use images or
visuals to express their experiences, emotions, and perceptions. Here’s a brief overview:
1. Method:
o Participants select or create pictures that represent their thoughts, feelings, or
experiences related to a topic or product.
o They explain the meaning behind each image, providing insights into their
preferences, behaviors, and needs.
2. Purpose:
o Gain deeper, visual insights into user perspectives that may not be easily expressed
through words alone.
o Understand user emotions and connections to products or services in a more
nuanced way.
3. Benefits:
o Enhances engagement and creativity during the interview process.
o Provides rich, qualitative data that informs empathetic and user-centered design
decisions.
4. Application:
o Use findings to develop personas, journey maps, or design requirements.
o Integrate insights into the design process to create solutions that resonate with user
preferences and needs.
User Pictures Interviews help uncover meaningful user insights through visual storytelling,
enriching the design thinking process with diverse perspectives and deeper understanding.
j. Cultural Artifacts
In design thinking, "cultural artifacts" refer to objects, symbols, or practices that reflect the values,
beliefs, and behaviors of a particular culture or community. Here’s a brief overview:
1. Definition:
o Objects: Physical items like tools, clothing, or art that carry cultural significance.
o Symbols: Representations such as logos, icons, or rituals that convey cultural meaning.
o Practices: Behaviors, traditions, or customs observed within a culture.
2. Role in Design Thinking:
o Understanding Context: Cultural artifacts provide insights into user contexts and
preferences.
o Empathy Building: Helps designers empathize with diverse user groups and tailor
solutions accordingly.
o Inspiration: Sparks creativity by integrating cultural elements into design solutions.
3. Application:
 o Research: Use cultural artifacts to gather insights during ethnographic studies or user
interviews.
o Design: Incorporate cultural elements into product designs, services, or marketing
strategies.
o Validation: Ensure designs respect and align with cultural norms and values through user
testing and feedback.
By considering cultural artifacts in design thinking, teams can create inclusive and culturally sensitive
solutions that resonate with diverse audiences and enhance user engagement.

k. Image sorting

Image sorting in design thinking is a method used to gather and analyze user preferences,
perceptions, or priorities through the sorting and categorization of images. Here’s a concise
overview:

1. Method:
o Participants are presented with a set of images representing different concepts,
features, or scenarios related to a design challenge.
o They sort these images into groups based on similarities, preferences, or relevance.
2. Purpose:
o Gain insights into user preferences, perceptions, and priorities in a visual and
interactive manner.
o Understand which concepts or features resonate most with users.
3. Benefits:
o Encourages participants to express preferences and opinions through visual
selection.
o Provides quantitative and qualitative data that informs design decisions.
4. Application:
o Use findings to prioritize design elements, validate assumptions, or refine concepts.
o Integrate insights into ideation and prototyping phases to create user-centered
solutions.

Image sorting in design thinking enhances user engagement, facilitates meaningful discussions, and
guides the development of designs that align closely with user expectations and preferences.

l. Experience Simulation
Experience simulation in design thinking involves creating and immersing users or stakeholders
in simulated scenarios to understand and improve their experiences with a product, service, or
environment. Here’s a concise overview:
1. Method:
o Design and create realistic scenarios that replicate user interactions and experiences.
o Participants actively engage with the simulation to mimic real-world usage and
interactions.
2. Purpose:
o Gain firsthand insights into user behaviors, reactions, and pain points.
o Test and refine design solutions in a controlled environment before implementation.
3. Benefits:
o Provides realistic and tangible feedback on user experience and usability.
o Validates assumptions and identifies potential improvements early in the design
process.
4. Application:
o Use insights to iterate and enhance designs based on user interactions and feedback.
 o Improve overall user satisfaction and adoption through user-centered design
iterations.
Experience simulation in design thinking allows teams to iteratively refine and optimize
solutions, ensuring they effectively meet user needs and expectations while minimizing risks
associated with real-world implementation.

m. Field Activity
A field activity in design thinking involves conducting observations, interviews, or interactions
with users in their real-world environments to gather firsthand insights. Here's a brief overview:
1. Objective:
o Understand user behaviors, needs, and challenges in their natural settings.
o Gain contextual understanding of how users interact with products, services, or
environments.
2. Approach:
o Conduct observations to witness user actions, behaviors, and routines.
o Engage in interviews or contextual inquiries to gather qualitative data and personal
insights.
3. Benefits:
o Provides authentic, firsthand data that reflects real user experiences and contexts.
o Fosters empathy by immersing designers in users' environments and perspectives.
4. Application:
o Use insights to inform persona development, journey mapping, or problem framing.
o Guide ideation, prototyping, and testing phases to create user-centered solutions.
Field activities in design thinking help ensure that design decisions are grounded in user
realities, leading to more effective and empathetic solutions that address genuine user needs.

n. Remote research

Remote research in design thinking refers to conducting user research activities such as
interviews, usability tests, or surveys remotely, typically using digital tools and communication
platforms. Here’s a brief overview:
1. Purpose:
o Gather insights into user behaviors, needs, and preferences without physical
proximity.
o Overcome geographical limitations and reach diverse user groups.
2. Methods:
o Interviews: Conduct one-on-one or group interviews via video calls to explore user
experiences and perceptions.
o Usability Testing: Use screen-sharing and remote testing tools to observe users
interacting with prototypes or digital interfaces.
o Surveys: Distribute online surveys to collect quantitative data on user preferences
and behaviors.
3. Benefits:
o Accessibility: Reach a wider audience regardless of location, enabling diverse user
perspectives.
o Cost and Time Efficiency: Reduce travel costs and time associated with in-person
research.
o Flexibility: Conduct research asynchronously or in different time zones to
accommodate participant schedules.
 4. Challenges:
o Technical Issues: Potential connectivity or technology barriers that may affect the
quality of interactions.
o Contextual Insights: Limited ability to observe physical environments or
non-verbal cues compared to in-person methods.
5. Best Practices:
o Use reliable video conferencing tools and collaboration platforms.
o Maintain participant engagement through clear communication and structured
sessions.
o Combine remote methods with occasional in-person interactions when possible to
deepen understanding.
Remote research in design thinking enables teams to gather valuable user insights efficiently
while adapting to global or remote work environments.
o. Users Observation Database
In design thinking, a Users Observation Database serves as a repository for systematic
recording and organizing of observations gathered during user research activities. Here’s a
concise overview:
1. Purpose:
o Centralized Storage: Store detailed observations, insights, and findings from user
interviews, usability tests, and field studies.
o Accessibility: Enable team members to access and reference user data for informed
decision-making throughout the design process.
2. Components:
o Structured Entries: Record user behaviors, preferences, pain points, and contextual
details.
o Tags and Categories: Organize data using tags or categories to facilitate search and
analysis.
o Privacy and Compliance: Ensure data security and compliance with privacy
regulations.
3. Benefits:
o Data-Driven Insights: Support evidence-based design decisions by referencing real
user experiences.
o Collaboration: Foster collaboration among team members by sharing and
discussing observations.
o Iterative Improvement: Facilitate iterative design improvements based on
continuous user feedback.
4. Application:
o Analysis: Analyze aggregated data to identify patterns, trends, and user needs.
o Persona Development: Inform the creation and refinement of user personas and
empathy maps.
o Design Validation: Validate design concepts and prototypes against observed user
behaviors and preferences.
A well-maintained Users Observation Database enhances the effectiveness of design thinking
processes by ensuring that design solutions are grounded in comprehensive user insights and
continuously refined based on empirical data.

1.7.Empathy-Building Techniques
1. Empathy Maps
● Objective: Visualize user attitudes and behaviors.
● Components:
 o Thinks, Feels, Says, Does, Pains, Gains.
● Process:
o Fill out the empathy map based on user research data.
● Outcome: A comprehensive view of the user's experience and emotional state.
2. Personas
● Objective: Create fictional characters that represent user archetypes.
● Components:
o Name, background, goals, frustrations, behaviors.
● Process:
o Use research data to build detailed and realistic personas.
● Outcome: Enhanced empathy and a clear reference point for design decisions.
3. Journey Mapping
● Objective: Map out the user’s experience over time.
● Components:
o Steps, touchpoints, emotions, pain points, opportunities.
● Process:
o Chart the user’s journey from start to finish for a specific task or experience.
● Outcome: Identification of key moments of truth and areas for improvement.
4. Observation
● Objective: Watch users in their natural context to understand their behavior.
● Example:
o Shadow a user through their day-to-day activities.
o Take notes on actions, interactions, and environment.
● Outcome: Uncover implicit needs and contextual factors influencing user behavior.
5. Storytelling
● Objective: Use stories to capture and communicate user experiences.
● Process:
o Collect stories from user interviews and observations.
o Share these stories with the team to build empathy.
● Outcome: A deeper emotional connection with users’ experiences and needs.
6. Role-Playing
● Objective: Step into the user’s shoes to experience their challenges and emotions.
● Process:
o Act out scenarios that users go through.
o Reflect on the experience to gain insights.
● Outcome: First-hand understanding of user frustrations and needs.

1.7.1. Empathy Maps:

• Designing and developing a product or service often involves a large team of people with
different background and experiences who must be on same flatform regarding the project
(user’s needs, behaviors, and objectives) and even the processes involved.
• This common understanding is often built with visualizations (commonly referred to as
Mappings).
• Mappings Make sense of and describe various aspects and processes associated with a
product or services.
 Empathy Maps help team members understand the user’s
Empathy Map Mindset

Customer journey maps Focus on a specific customer’s

Customer Journey map interaction with a product or service

Experience Maps generalize the concept of customer-journey maps

Experience Map across user types and products.

Service blueprints are counterparts to customer journey maps, focuses

Service Map on the employees.

Three -step Decision Framework:

• Before beginning any mapping effort (regardless of the type), 3 decisions must be made
1. Current Vs Future
2. Hypothesis Vs Research
3. Low-fidelity Vs high-fidelity
 Current Vs Future • This decision involves the actions and states depicted in the
visualization: do they reflect the current state of the world
or a desired state of the world?
• Current mappings are based on an actual “today” state of
what are going to map. This approach is ideal when the
mapping goal is to identify and document existing
problems and pain points. Use current state maps to help
analyze research or align a team around a data validated
problem
• Future mappings are based on an “ideal” state for a user
type, experience, or a to-be service structure. Future
state maps help reinvent and conceive how a user or
experience would feel in the future. Use future state maps
to set a benchmark or goal for the ideal form for products
or services

Hypothesis Vs • This decision depends on the type of input that it will use
Research to build the map
• Hypothesis mappings are based on an accumulation
of existing understanding within a team or organization.
This approach is a great way to merge multiple existing
team views, create a research plan (based on the gaps that
emerge from your hypothesis map), and make a first step
towards a higher- fidelity, research-based map.
• Research mapping is based on data gathered specifically
for building the map. This approach is best when there are
time and resources dedicated to creating a research plan.
While this method creates the best maps, it takes time and
significant buy-in. Regardless of where to start, the maps
should be iterative and constantly updated with new
findings

Low-fidelity Vs • This decision pertains to the quality of the final map

high-fidelity visualization
• Low-fidelity maps are unpolished and often created with
Sticky Notes in a flexible, unrefined manner. These
maps are best in an early part of the process. Low fidelity
means little commitment or creation effort and empowers
people to collaborate, revise, and update as needed. Use
sticky notes (physically on the wall or digitally) or
collaborative excel sheets
• High-fidelity maps are polished, created digitally, and
look final. High fidelity maps are the best for creating an
artifact that is going to be shared amongst many. High
fidelity can be easier to read, but less flexible because of
the “finished” nature of the product. These maps are often
created digitally, then dispersed
Definition of Empathy Map:

An Empathy Map is a collaborative Visualization used to articulate what is known about a

particular user. It externalizes user knowledge in order to
1. Create a shared understanding and
2. Aid in decision making.

Format of an Empathy Map

Traditional empathy maps are split into 4 quadrants (Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels), with the
user or persona in the middle. Empathy maps provide a glance into who a user is as a whole
and are not chronological or sequential. Empathy maps widely used is a powerful,
fundamental tool for design communities.

Empathy Mapping Quadrants:

Says
The Says quadrant contains what the user says out loud in an interview or some other usability
study. Ideally, it contains verbatim and direct quotes from research.
“I am allegiant to Delta because I never have a bad experience.”
“I want something reliable.”
“I don’t understand what to do from here.”
Thinks
The Thinks quadrant captures what the user is thinking throughout the experience. Ask
yourself (from the qualitative research gathered): what occupies the user’s thoughts? What
matters to the user? It is possible to have the same content in both Says and Thinks. However,
pay special attention to what users think, but may not be willing to vocalize. Try to understand
why they are reluctant to share — are they unsure, self-conscious, polite, or afraid to tell others
something?
“This is really annoying.”
“Am I dumb for not understanding this?”
Does
The Does quadrant encloses the actions the user takes. From the research, what does the user
physically do? How does the user go about doing it?
Refreshes page several times.
Shops around to compare prices.
Feels
The Feels quadrant is the user’s emotional state, often represented as an adjective plus a short
sentence for context. Ask yourself: what worries the user? What does the user get excited
about? How does the user feel about the experience?
Impatient: pages load too slowly
Confused: too many contradictory prices
Worried: they are doing something wrong

One User vs. Multiple-Users Empathy Maps

Empathy mapping can be driven by any method of qualitative research (and can be sketched
even if research is lacking). They can help UX professionals understand what aspects of their
user they know and where they would need to gather more user data.
Empathy maps can capture one particular user or can reflect an aggregation of multiple
users. One-user (individual) empathy maps are usually based on a user interview or a user’s
log from a diary study.

Why Use Empathy Maps

Empathy maps should be used throughout any UX process to establish common ground among
team members and to understand and prioritize user needs. In user-centered design, empathy
maps are best used from the very beginning of the design process.
Both the process of making an empathy map and the finished artifact have important benefits
for the organization.
Capture Who Users Are
The empathy-mapping process helps distill and categorize your knowledge of the user into one
place. It can be used to:
● Categorize and make sense of qualitative research (research notes, survey answers,
user-interview transcripts)
● Discover gaps in your current knowledge and identify the types of research needed to
address it. A sparse empathy map indicates that more research needs to be done.
● Create personas by aligning and grouping empathy maps covering individual users
Educate Teammates About Users
An empathy map is a quick, digestible way to illustrate user attitudes and behaviors. Once
created, it should act as a source of truth throughout a project and protect it from bias or
unfounded assumptions.
Be sure to keep empathy maps ‘alive’ by revising and adjusting them as you do more research.
Collect Data Direct from Users
When empathy maps are filled in directly by users, they can act as a secondary data source and
represent a starting point for a summary of the user session. Moreover, the interviewer may
glean feelings and thoughts from the interviewee that otherwise would have remained hidden.

How to Build an Empathy Map

1. Define scope and goals

a. What user or persona will you map? Will you map a persona or an individual user?
Always start with a 1:1 mapping (1 user/persona per empathy map). This means that, if you
have multiple personas, there should be an empathy map for each.
b. Define your primary purpose for empathy mapping. Is it to align the team on your user?
If so, be sure everyone is present during the empathy-mapping activity. Is it to analyze an
interview transcript? If so, set a clear scope and timebox your effort to ensure you have time to
map multiple user interviews.
2. Gather materials
Your purpose should dictate the medium you use to create an empathy map. If you will be
working with an entire team, have a large whiteboard, sticky notes, and markers readily
available. (The outcome will look somewhat like the illustration above.) If empathy mapping
alone, create a system that works for you. The easier to share out with the rest of the team, the
better.
3. Collect research
Gather the research you will be using to fuel your empathy map. Empathy mapping is a
qualitative method, so you will need qualitative inputs: user interviews, field studies, diary
studies, listening sessions, or qualitative surveys.
4. Individually generate sticky notes for each quadrant
Once you have research inputs, you can proceed to mapping as a team. In the beginning,
everybody should read through the research individually. As each team member digests the
data, they can fill out sticky notes that align to the four quadrants. Next, team members can add
their notes to the map on the whiteboard.
5. Converge to cluster and synthesize
In this step, the team moves through the stickies on the board collaboratively and clusters
similar notes that belong to the same quadrant. Name your clusters with themes that represent
each group (for example, “validation from others” or “research”). Repeat themes in each
quadrant if necessary. The activity of clustering facilitates discussion and alignment — the goal
being to arrive at a shared understanding of your user by all team members.
Once your empathy map is clustered, you can begin to vocalize and align as a team on your
findings. What outliers (or data points that did not fit in any cluster) are there? What themes
were repeated in all the quadrants? What themes only exist in one quadrant? What gaps exist in
our understanding?
6. Polish and plan
If you feel that you need more detail or you have unique needs, adapt the map by including
additional quadrants (like Goals the example below) or by increasing specificity to existing
quadrants. Depending on the purpose of your empathy map, polish and digitize the output
accordingly. Be sure to include the user, any outstanding questions, the date and version
number. Plan to circle back to the empathy map as more research is gathered or to guide UX
decisions.
Example of Empathy Map-2:
Context: Students are not enjoying teaching process in school
Description: Everybody goes to school but still there is too much of
unemployment even when there are so many job opportunities. Somewhere there is a gap
between what is been taught and being learnt.
Stakeholders:
• stakeholders-Employees with 2-3 years of experience
• No. of interviewed :3
• Average age:27
Focus areas during Interview:
• Mode of teaching in schools
• How does things taught in school help them at their workplace?
• Do they feel that they benefited by things taught in school?
Observations from one of the interviews:
• Approach which is used in school to teach is totally theoretical, while in workplace it is totally
practical
• Innovative & practical approach should be used while designing study material.
• Counselling should be done for students to figure out their interest areas
• Promotion to a higher class should be done based on learning level
• Course should include more of project work, by taking real life examples
• Examination pattern needs be in a form of interview rather than written pattern
• Schools need to focus more on personality development for students
• Environment of classroom needs to be changed to a friendly place where exchanges of ideas
take place
Insights:
• Use working models which resembles filed work activities
• The teaching mode consists the practical approaches
• Change the exam patterns
• Textbooks and material should consist innovate teaching method and more real time
examples, project works
1.7.2. Customer Journey Mapping:
Definition:

A customer or user journey map is detailed record of how a customer experience a specific task,
product, or service.
Or
A Customer Journey Map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through
accomplish a goal tied to a specific business or product or service.
Or
A Customer journey map is research-based tool. It examines the story of how a customer relates
to the business, brand, or product over a time
 • It is used for understanding and addressing customer needs and pain points
• Journey mapping starts by compiling a series of user goals and actions into a timeline skeleton.
• The skeleton is fleshed out with user thoughts and emotions to create a narrative.
• Then the narrative is condensed into a visualization used to communicate insights that will inform
Design Processes.
• It could either be constructed based observations and interviews with end users or it could be
something ask the customer to draw out and explained.
• Each journey map should contain the journey that a customer goes through and could be either
closely relevant or even tangential to the focus of the design project
• A customer journey map can help to build empathy towards the users as designers try to experience
what they go through
• When Designers compare journeys between customers or end-users, they will also find common
threads of find conflicting behaviors which will provide greater insights into user’s needs, wants
and motivations.
● Journey Mapping Combines two powerful instruments: storytelling and Visualization.
• Storytelling and visualization are essential facets of journey mapping because they are effective
mechanisms for conveying information in a way that is memorable, concise and that creates a shared
vision.
Characteristics:
• The map is tied to a specific product or service.
• It is split into 4 swim lanes: Phases, actions, thoughts, mindsets/emotions
• It reflects the user’s perspectives:
o Including mindset, thoughts, and emotions
o Leaving out most process details
• It is chronological
• There is one map per persona/user type (1:1 mapping)
Why Use it:
• To pinpoint specific customer journey touchpoints that cause pain or delight
• To break down into parts that shared, organization-wide understanding of the customer journey
• To assign ownership of key touchpoints in the journey to internal departments
When to use it:
• At any point in the design process, as a reference point amongst a team throughout a design cycle.
• While journey maps vary based on the specific context for which designers are used, they
tend to follow a general model that includes zones for the “lens” the mapped experience and
insights learned throughout the process.

Zone A
The lens provides constraints for the map
by assigning (1) a persona (“who”) and
(2) the scenario to be examined (“what”).
Zone B The heart of the map is the visualized
experience, usually aligned across
(3) chunk able phases of the journey.
The (4) actions,
(5) thoughts, and
(6) emotional experience of the user has
throughout the journey can be supplemented
with quotes or videos from research
Zone C The output should vary based on the
business goal the map supports, but it could
describe the insights and pain points
discovered, and the
(7) opportunities to focus on going
forward, as well as
(8) internal ownership.

Key Elements of Customer Journey Maps:

While journey maps can (and should) take a wide variety of forms, certain elements are
generally included:

Point of view • First and foremost, choose the “actor” of

the story. Who is this journey map
about?
• Actors” usually aligns with personas if
they exist
• For example, a university might choose
either students or faculty members,
both of which would result in very
different journeys

Scenario • Determine the specific experience

to map
• This could be an existing journey,
where mapping will uncover positive and
negative moments within that current
experience, or a “to-be” experience,
where the mapper is designing a journey
 for a product or service that does not
exist yet

Actions, mindsets, and emotions • At the heart of a journey map’s

narrative is what the user is doing,
thinking, and feeling during the journey.
• These data points should be based on
qualitative research, such as field
studies, contextual inquiry, and diary
studies

Touchpoints and channels • The map should align touchpoints

(times when the actor in the map interacts
with the company) and channels
(methods of communication or service
delivery, such as the website or physical
store) with user goals and actions
• These elements deserve a special
emphasis because they are often
where brand inconsistencies and
disconnected experiences are uncovered

Insights and ownership. • The entire point of the

journey-mapping process is to uncover
gaps in the user experience (which are
particularly common in omnichannel
journeys), and then take action to
optimize the experience. Insights and
ownership are critical elements that are
often overlooked
• Any insights that emerge from journey
mapping should be explicitly listed. If
politically possible, also assign ownership
for different parts of the journey map, so
that it’s clear who’s in charge of what
aspect of the customer journey

Rules for Creating Successful Journey Maps:

• Successful journey maps require more than just the inclusion of the “right” elements
• Journey mapping should be a collaborative process informed by well- defined goals and built
from research.
Rules:
Establish the “why" and the identify the business goal that the journey map will
“what.” support. Make sure there are clear answers to these
basic key questions before you begin the process:
Base it on truth Journey maps should result in truthful narratives, not
fairy tales. Start with gathering any existing research,
 but additional journey-based research is also needed
to fill in the gaps that the existing research.
This is a qualitative-research process
Collaborate with others The activity of journey mapping (not the output
itself) is often the most valuable part of the
process, so involve others. Pull back the curtain and
invite stakeholders from various groups to be a part
of compiling the data and building the map
Don’t jump to visualization The temptation to create an aesthetic graphic or jump
to design can lead to beautiful yet flawed journey
maps. Make sure the synthesis of your data is
complete and well-understood before moving to
creating the visual.
Engage others with the end • Don’t expect to get “buy-in” and foster interest in
product. your journey map by simply sending a lovely graphic
as an email attachment
• Make it a living interactive document that people can
be a part of. Bring up your story in meetings and
conversations to promote a narrative that others
believe in and begin to reference
1.7.3. Mind Maps:

• A Mind Map is a powerful Graphic technique which harnesses the full range of cortical (brain
power) skills in a single powerful manner.
• A mind map is an easy way to get information into and out of the brain
• A mind map is the best way of coming up with new ideas and planning projects
• A mind Map is made up of words, colours, lines, pictures, numbers, logic, rhythm and spatial
awareness.
• The Mind Map ca be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clear thinking
which enhances human performance.
• Originated in the late 1960’s by Tony Buzan
• Mind maps provides an overview of large subject/area.
• It enables to plan routes/ make choices and know where to go and where have been
• It allows together and represent large amounts of data.
• It encourages problem solving by showing new pathways
• It is attractive, easy to read and remember
• It is tool, not a solution
• It shows whole picture and details at the same time
 Advantages of Mind Maps:

• It is quick and record more information in the same amount of time

• It can easily add ideas or links later.
• It helps to concentrate on information structure and relationships between ideas rather
than disconnected facts
• With mind maps easy to visualize connections and similarities between various
information
• Add sketches to make mind maps more memorable than conventional notes
• Mind maps can incorporate mass of material
• Mind mapping can help revision, even material is conventional. It condenses material
into a concise, memorable format.
Disadvantages of Mind Maps:
• Maps of person personal view. It could be difficult for others to understand
• Mind maps are of great help when preparing essays and presentations, but they may be
inappropriate as the final piece of work

• A Mind map Enables:

• To clear the mind of paradigms, this providing space for new creative thought
• To capture and develop ‘flashes’ of insight when they occur
• To explore all the creative possibilities of a given subject
• To encourage more consistent creative thinking
• To create new conceptual frameworks within which previous ideas can be reorganizes
• To plan creatively

Why Mind Map?

Mind Maps are more convenient than traditional linear notes because
• Traditional notes writing is time wasted and energy wasted
• Other information may be missed while noting down one idea
• It takes longer to read and review
• Associations and connections between key words and ideas not readily apparent.
• It lacks colour and other visual qualities

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 68
 Principles:
• Start in the centre of the page with a clear title
• Main ideas are written on the lines branching off the subject. Other ideas branch off these as
twigs would grow from the bought of a tree
• Write only keywords, not sentence and draw pictures where possible
• Write keywords on the lines so text is always connected to the lines showing the whole idea
structure. draw additional lines connecting ideas wherever necessary
• Print words. Mix lower- and upper-case letters so the text is varied, clear and easily readable.

Various mind maps:

Simple Mind Map:

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 69
 Complex Mind Map

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 70
 Example: 1
Mind map for home
Step 1: Draw the house

Step2: write the rooms by using different colours on the lines

Step3: Add pictures to the rooms then it is easy to remember

Example 2: Triangles:

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 71
 Example-3: World Climate

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 72
 Example 4: party planning

The Mind map Tool Kit

• Manual toolkit: paper, colour pens/pencils
• Digital toolkit: Mind Map software.

• Mind Maps keeps focused on the main idea and all the additional ideas.
• It helps to use both sides of the brain
• Mind maps helps to
o ✓ Remembering Things
o ✓ Making better notes
o ✓ Coming up with ideas
o ✓ Saving time
o ✓ Concentrating
o ✓ Effective time utilization
• It is a graphical, learning and creating aid
• Mind Mapping links the left side of the brain that focuses on numbers, words, lists and logic
to the right creative side.

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 73
• Using Images, keywords and colour in mind maps are maximizing brain power which
enhances learning and creativity.

1.7.4. Experience map

An experience map is a visual representation that captures the various touchpoints a user or
customer interacts with while engaging with a product, service, or brand. It helps to illustrate
the user journey, emotions, and experiences at each stage. Here’s a basic guide on creating an
experience map:
Steps to Create an Experience Map
1. Define Objectives: Determine the purpose of the experience map. What do you want to
achieve with it? Understand and improve user experience, identify pain points, or
streamline processes.
2. Identify Personas: Create detailed personas that represent your target users. This helps
in understanding different user perspectives.
3. Map Stages: Identify the key stages of the user journey. Common stages include
awareness, consideration, decision, purchase, and post-purchase.
4. Touchpoints: List all the touchpoints where users interact with the product/service.
These can be both online (website, app) and offline (store visits, customer service).
5. User Actions: Document what users are doing at each touchpoint. This can include
actions like searching for information, making a purchase, or contacting support.

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 74
 6. Emotions and Thoughts: Capture the emotions and thoughts users experience at each
stage. This helps in understanding the user’s mindset and feelings during their journey.
7. Pain Points and Opportunities: Identify any challenges or frustrations users face and
look for opportunities to enhance their experience.
8. Visual Design: Create a visual representation of the experience map. Use diagrams,
charts, or illustrations to make the map easy to understand.
Components of an Experience Map
● User Persona: A detailed description of the user.
● Journey Stages: Different phases the user goes through.
● Touchpoints: Points of interaction between the user and the service/product.
● User Actions: What the user does at each touchpoint.
● Emotions and Thoughts: How the user feels and what they think during each stage.
● Pain Points: Challenges faced by the user.
● Opportunities: Areas for improvement.
Example of an Experience Map
Experience maps generalize the concept of customer-journey maps across user types and
products.

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 75
 Experience map: A visualization of an entire end-to-end experience that a “generic” person
goes through in order to accomplish a goal. This experience is agnostic of a specific business
or product. It’s used for understanding a general human behavior (as opposed to a customer
journey map, which is more specific and focused on related to a specific business).
Characteristics:
● It is not tied to a specific product or service.
● It is split into 4 swim lanes: phases, actions, thoughts, mindsets/emotions.
● It offers a general human perspective; it is not a specific to a particular user type or
product/service.
● It depicts events in chronological order.
Why use it:
● To understand a general human behavior
● To create a baseline understanding of an experience that is product/service agnostic

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 76
 When to use it:
● Before a customer journey map in order to gain understanding for a general human
behavior
● When converging multiple experiences (tool and specific user agnostic) into one
visualization

Service Blueprinting
Service blueprints are counterparts to customer journey maps, focused on the employees.

PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 77
 1.7.5. Service blueprint
A visualization of the relationships between different service components — people, props
(physical or digital evidence), and processes — that are directly tied to touchpoints in a
specific customer journey.
Think of service blueprints as a part two to customer journey maps. Similar to customer
journey maps, blueprints are instrumental in complex scenarios spanning many
service-related offerings. Blueprinting is an ideal approach to experiences that are
omnichannel, involve multiple touchpoints, or require a crossfunctional effort (that is,
coordination of multiple departments).
Characteristics:
● It is tied to a specific service.
● It is split into 4 swim lanes: customer actions, frontstage actions, backstage actions, and
support processes.
● It reflects the organization’s perspective:
o Focusing on the service provider and employees
o Leaving out most customer details
● It is chronological and hierarchical.
Why use it:
● To discover weaknesses in the organization
● To identify opportunities for optimization
● To bridge crossdepartment efforts
● To break down silos and create one shared, organization-wide understanding of how the
service is provided
When to use it:
● After customer journey mapping
● Before making organizational or process changes
● When pinpointing a funnel or breakpoint internally

Comparison of various Mapping Methods

Here is a comparative table of various mapping methods, including Experience Mapping,

Customer Journey Mapping, Service Blueprinting, Empathy Mapping, and Process Mapping:

Feature/Aspect Experience Customer Service Empathy Process

Mapping Journey Blueprinting Mapping Mapping
Mapping
Focus User Steps and Internal and Understanding Detailed steps
experiences interactions of a external users' of business
and emotions service emotions, processes

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 throughout customer with a processes thoughts, and
their journey product/service and behaviors
touchpoints
Primary Improve Enhance Optimize Gain deeper Increase
Purpose overall user customer service insight into efficiency and
experience satisfaction and delivery and users’ feelings standardization
streamline internal and of business
touchpoints processes motivations processes
User-Centered Yes Yes Partially Yes No
(focus on
both user and
internal
processes)
Visualization Touchpoints, Touchpoints, Customer User tasks, Steps,
Elements stages, stages, emotions, actions, feelings, sequences,
emotions, pain points, frontstage thoughts, pain roles,
pain points, opportunities and points, gains responsibilities,
opportunities backstage inputs, outputs
actions,
support
Involves Yes Yes No Yes No
Emotions (primarily
focuses on
processes)
Includes Yes Yes No Yes No
Personas
Stages Awareness, Awareness, Customer User tasks, Process
consideration, consideration, journey feelings, initiation to
decision, decision, stages, thoughts, pain completion
purchase, purchase, frontstage points, gains
post-purchase retention and
backstage
processes
Internal Sometimes Sometimes Yes (detailed No Yes
Processes (indirectly (indirectly analysis of
through through internal
touchpoints) touchpoints) processes
and
interactions)
Service Yes Yes Yes No No
Interaction

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Tools & Diagrams, Diagrams, Flowcharts, Empathy Flowcharts,
Techniques flowcharts, flowcharts, service maps, user BPMN,
customer customer blueprints, interviews, SIPOC,
interviews, interviews, stakeholder surveys process
surveys surveys interviews diagrams
Primary Users UX UX designers, Service UX designers, Business
designers, product designers, researchers, analysts,
product managers, operations product teams operations
managers, marketing teams managers, managers,
marketing process process
teams improvement improvement
teams teams
Outcome Enhanced Improved Optimized Deeper Streamlined
user customer service empathy and processes,
experience, journey, delivery, understanding increased
identified identified identified of user needs efficiency,
opportunities touchpoints for process and pain reduced waste
optimization inefficiencies points

Each mapping method serves different purposes and is suitable for different types of analysis,
depending on the goals and focus areas of the organization.

1.7.6. Empathy Building Strategies

1. Prepare Thoughtfully:
o Develop an interview guide with key questions but remain flexible.
o Research your participants' backgrounds and context.
2. Create a Comfortable Environment:
o Build rapport and make participants feel at ease.
o Ensure a non-judgmental atmosphere to encourage openness.
3. Active Listening:
o Listen more than you talk.
o Show interest and empathy in the participant's responses.
4. Observe Non-Verbal Cues:
o Pay attention to body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions.
o These can provide additional insights beyond verbal responses.
5. Avoid Leading Questions:
o Phrase questions neutrally to avoid influencing the responses.
o Example: Instead of "Don't you think this feature is useful?", ask "How do you
feel about this feature?"
6. Iterate and Adapt:

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 o Be prepared to adjust your questions based on the flow of the conversation.
o Follow interesting threads that emerge during the interview.
7. Summarize and Clarify:
o Paraphrase responses to confirm your understanding.
o Ask clarifying questions if something is unclear.
8. Document Thoroughly:
o Take detailed notes or record the interview (with permission).
o Use these records for deeper analysis later.
Post-Interview Analysis
● Synthesize Findings:
o Look for patterns and themes across different interviews.
o Use affinity diagrams to organize and prioritize insights.
● Create Personas:
o Develop personas based on the interview insights.
o Personas help in understanding different user archetypes.
● Journey Mapping:
o Map out the user journey to visualize pain points and opportunities.
o Helps in identifying areas for improvement or innovation.
● Ideation and Prototyping:
o Use the insights to inform ideation sessions.
o Develop prototypes and test them with users for feedback.
By employing these techniques and strategies, you can effectively gather and analyze user
insights, which are essential for creating solutions that truly meet the needs and expectations
of your users.

1.8.Innovation Risk Diagnostic — Forge Innovation Rubric

A diagnostic tool to guide innovators through a fast-tracked process of validating inherent risks
by linking their progress to customer-acceptance and customer-commitment, and thereby
evaluating the true market potential of product innovations.
For any Product Innovation, Validation Risk is associated with the following factors:
#1 Problem definition & Customer selection and specificity
#2 Problem significance & magnitude
#3 Motivation level of target customer to solve the defined problem
#4 Quantification & its acceptance by the target customer of the Value Proposition offered by the
innovation

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#5 Adoption barriers that will prevent target customer from experiencing the value proposition
Higher the Validation Risk, lesser the possibility that this product innovation can succeed in the
market. To reduce Valuation, Risk the innovator is expected to demonstrate ‘traction’ and that
requires a market-ready product and money to market, sell, distribute, acquire customers, and
generate revenues. However, to reduce Validation Risk, one requires much less money, but sure
needs skills, tools, and a structured process.
Design Thinking — a scientific approach to innovating solutions, is easily the most popular,
and Steve Blank — referred to as the Father of Modern Entrepreneurship has created a rich body
of knowledge on the science and strategies of converting product innovations into high-growth
enterprises.
In Forge, inspired and guided by the resources of such thought leaders, we have focused our
efforts in developing a rigorous process of managing innovations. This process along with the
attendant tools, techniques, and milestones, guides innovators to systematically address each of
the factors and to neutralise the Validation Risk inherent in their product innovations.
Innovators come up with innovative ideas to solve real-world problems, and they would use tools
enabled by fundamental science or applied technology to do so. From the earliest ideation stage
onwards it is essential to profile/measure the Validation Risk inherent in product innovations, and
work meticulously to neutralise the risk.
To aid this process, make it competitive, fun and effective, we have come up
with Forge Innovation Score — a point score on a scale of 0 to 100, consisting of 5 equal
weightage factors with a max score of 20 points each. Each of the 5 factors in turn have qualified
or descriptive sub-levels that indicate a measure of the Validation Risk as measured by the
corresponding factor.

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 Forge Innovation Rubric offers a simple validation tool to use customer linked evidences to
systematically validate assumptions and translate them to facts, giving a truer picture of the
real commercial potential of product innovations, especially in industrial sectors.

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9 PADMAPRIYA SHANMUGAM 84
 Parameter wise descriptors for the sub-levels to ease the scoring process..
#1 Problem definition & Customer selection & specificity (20 points)
● Unable to understand the problem statement, very poorly described; (0)
● Vague definition of the problem but unable to understand a real-world use-case/scenario
and end-users that face the problem; (2)
● Only a generalised problem statement without any indication of a real-world
use-case/scenario and end-users; (4)
● A novel idea but purely technical in nature without a strong case for it being applied in a
real-world problem/use-case scenario; (6)
● Clearly defined problem statement as it is experienced by the beneficiary (beneficiaries)
in the real-world but without a description or indication of significance/severity; (10)
● Clearly defined and validated problem statement with description of the significance and
severity of the problem along with profile of different types of beneficiaries impacted by
the problem; (20)
#2 Problem significance & magnitude (20 points)
● Unable to understand the problem statement therefore unable to assess the potential; (0)
● Idea is about offering a very conventional product done several times before; (2)
● A purely technical challenge in the form of a gap in existing systems/solutions/processes
but without any specific description of a real-world use-case/scenario and end-users
facing the problem; (4)
● The idea addresses some minor gaps in pre-existing solutions or is addressing an
unsolved problem with limited significance/severity; (8)
● Higher degree of problem significance/severity but relates to gaps/issues in the existing
solutions in the market today; (14)
● Unsolved problem with very high degree of significance/severity impacting multiple
beneficiaries; (20)
#3 Customer Motivation (20 points)
● A generalised description of the beneficiary without any indication of a specific
target-customer; (4)
● A weak profile of the target customer (end-user) chosen is indicated along with a
generalised description of use-case (problem scenario); (6)
● Good selection and profiling of target customer but isn’t aware or convinced that the
problem/need is a top priority to because the gains are not substantial; (8)
● Good selection and profiling of target customer, actively addressing the problem/need
and dissatisfied with existing solutions; (14)
● Target customer is willing to collaborate actively on high-priority with a budget
commitment and co-create an innovative solution and in a time-bound manner; (20)
#4 Value Proposition — Definition, Quantification & Validation (20 points)

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 ● Vague description of the target customer (end-user) but unable to understand how solving
this problem offers any benefits; (2)
● A generalised description of the beneficiary without indication of specific target customer
but the benefits offered are too minimal or insignificant; (6)
● A generalised description of the beneficiary without indication of specific target customer
with reasonable benefits offered but not quantified; (10)
● A compelling value proposition targeting a specific target customer but lacks any
validation in the form of user/customer feedback; (12)
● A strong value proposition with quantified gains backed by strong validation from a
reasonable number of target users/customers; (20)
#5 Effectiveness of Solution Concept in testing Value Proposition (20 points)
● Vague definition of the solution without a specific set of outcomes that prove that the
problem has been solved; (2)
● Solution is presented purely from a technical point of view and will work in the lab but
looks impractical for end-user adoption; (6)
● Solution offers only the core feature/functionality to test/ prove the value proposition, but
has not been designed to overcome adoption barriers; (12)
● A very cost effective solution that can be prototyped rapidly to test the value proposition
and capable of overcoming the adoption barriers; (16)
● Proven solution/prototype effectively solving the core problem and has been tested for
usability, integration/ deployment constraints in one or many paid pilots (end-user trials);
(20)

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