Patterns of thinking become ingrained in our minds based on repetitive activities and social constructs. These thought processes help us by problem-solving in familiar situations, but can also hinder new, out-of-the-box ways of seeing, understanding and solving problems. Enter Design Thinking, described by the Interaction Design Foundation as “an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding”. Design Thinking is extremely useful in tackling ambiguous problems by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways. Brainstorming sessions, prototyping and testing are all methods used in Design Thinking.

The Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, also known as d.school, proposes a five-phase model of Design Thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. This non-linear approach involves putting yourself in your user’s shoes, defining their needs, challenging assumptions, prototyping new solutions, and testing those solutions.

The first stage, Empathize, acts as an information-gathering phase. It can involve consulting experts to find out more about the area of concern, as well as immersing yourself in the subject’s physical environment so you can gain a personal understanding of the issues involved. The Define stage requires organizing and analyzing the information to outline the core problem that will need to be solved for. This exercise will prompt questions that start to generate ideas for the following phase: Ideate. Now, you and your team members can start to “think outside the box” to identify new solutions to the problem statement you’ve created in the Define stage.

The aim of the Prototype phase is to identify the best possible solution for each of the problems identified during the first three stages. The solutions are implemented within the prototypes, and, one by one, they are investigated and either accepted, improved and re-examined, or rejected on the basis of the users’ experiences. Finally, the team will rigorously test the prototype. As this process is iterative, the results generated during the testing phase are often used to redefine one or more problems and inform the understanding of the users, the conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathize.

Rooted in theory and science, Design Thinking seeks to generate a holistic and empathetic understanding of the problems people face. This concept can be applied to creative problem solving in designs, businesses, international relations and even our personal lives. At Colloqui, Design Thinking is one of three components that make up Interactivity Experience Design (IXD). We apply IXD to create humanized engagements that enable the audience to achieve their objectives impactfully online.