How do you use design thinking or other frameworks to guide your ideation process?

1 What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that involves understanding the needs and desires of the users, defining the problem clearly, generating and testing ideas, and implementing and iterating solutions. Design thinking is not a linear process, but rather a cyclical one that allows for feedback and refinement along the way.

2 Why use design thinking for ideation?

Design thinking can help you generate more and better ideas for your problem by encouraging you to empathize with your users, challenge your assumptions, explore different perspectives, and experiment with prototypes. Design thinking can also help you avoid common pitfalls of ideation, such as jumping to conclusions, settling for the first idea, or ignoring the feasibility and viability of your solutions.

3 How to use design thinking for ideation?

Design thinking has many variations and adaptations, but a common framework consists of five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. To guide your ideation process, you can use the empathize stage to gain insights into your users' needs, emotions, motivations, and behaviors through interviews, observations, surveys, or personas. The define stage is about synthesizing your findings and framing the problem. Problem statements, point of view statements, or how might we questions can help articulate the challenge and opportunity. The ideate stage involves generating ideas for solving the problem with techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping, sketching, or SCAMPER. The prototype stage turns ideas into tangible and testable representations using materials such as paper or digital tools. Finally, the test stage evaluates prototypes with users and stakeholders through user testing, interviews, observations, or surveys to validate or invalidate assumptions and identify strengths and weaknesses.

4 What are some other frameworks for ideation?

Design thinking is not the only framework for ideation. There are many other frameworks that can help you generate and evaluate ideas, depending on your context, goals, and preferences. For example, Lean Startup is based on the principles of build-measure-learn and validated learning, and focuses on creating an MVP that can be tested with customers and iterated based on data and feedback. Six Thinking Hats uses parallel thinking and different modes of thought to look at a problem from different angles, while TRIZ is based on the theory of inventive problem-solving and uses patterns of invention and contradiction to generate and refine ideas. These frameworks use tools such as contradiction matrix, inventive principles, or ideal final result to overcome technical and physical limitations.

5 How to choose the best framework for ideation?

The most suitable framework for ideation varies depending on the nature and scope of your problem, the characteristics and needs of your users, the resources and constraints of your project, the objectives and criteria of your solution, and the preferences and styles of your team. You may even opt to combine or customize different frameworks to better suit your specific situation and goals. Ultimately, the goal is to select a framework that will produce ideas that are relevant, original, and actionable for your problem.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?