Design Thinking

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Design Thinking tasks - Working on design thinking methodology for human-centered innovation. covers the 5-phase ideo/stanford d.school approach (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) with workshop facilitation and exercise templates
• Planning or design - Need guidance on Design Thinking approaches
• Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards

Overview

A human-centered approach to innovation that integrates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a problem-solving methodology developed by IDEO and taught at Stanford d.school. It emphasizes understanding users, challenging assumptions, redefining problems, and creating innovative solutions through iterative prototyping and testing.

Core Principles

Principle	Description
Human-Centered	Start with people, not technology or process
Embrace Ambiguity	Comfortable with uncertainty early on
Bias to Action	Learn by doing, not just thinking
Radical Collaboration	Cross-functional, diverse perspectives
Iterate Rapidly	Fail fast, learn fast, improve fast

The 5 Phases

┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐
│         │  │         │  │         │  │         │  │         │
│EMPATHIZE│→│ DEFINE  │→│ IDEATE  │→│PROTOTYPE│→│  TEST   │
│         │  │         │  │         │  │         │  │         │
│Understand│  │Frame the│  │Generate │  │Build to │  │Learn &  │
│the user │  │problem  │  │ideas    │  │learn    │  │refine   │
└─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘
     ▲                                                    │
     └────────────────── Iterate ─────────────────────────┘

Phase Characteristics

Phase	Mode	Key Question	Output
Empathize	Diverge	What is the user experiencing?	Insights, observations
Define	Converge	What is the core problem?	POV statement
Ideate	Diverge	What are possible solutions?	Ideas, concepts
Prototype	Converge	How can we make it tangible?	Prototypes
Test	Learn	What works and what doesn't?	Validated learning

Phase 1: Empathize

Build deep understanding of users and their experiences.

Empathy Methods

Method	Duration	Participants	Best For
User Interviews	30-60 min	1:1	Deep individual insight
Observation	Hours-days	Field work	Natural behavior
Empathy Mapping	15-30 min	Workshop	Synthesizing research
Journey Mapping	1-2 hours	Workshop	Experience visualization
Shadowing	Half-day	Field work	Workflow understanding

Empathy Map Template

## Empathy Map: [User/Persona Name]

### Says
[Direct quotes from interviews/observation]
- "[Quote 1]"
- "[Quote 2]"

### Thinks
[What might they be thinking? Hopes/fears?]
- [Thought 1]
- [Thought 2]

### Does
[Actions and behaviors observed]
- [Behavior 1]
- [Behavior 2]

### Feels
[Emotional state, what worries/excites them]
- [Emotion 1]
- [Emotion 2]

### Pains
[Frustrations, obstacles, risks]
- [Pain 1]
- [Pain 2]

### Gains
[Wants, needs, measures of success]
- [Gain 1]
- [Gain 2]

Interview Guide Structure

## User Interview Guide

**Duration:** 45-60 minutes
**Objective:** [What we want to learn]

### Opening (5 min)
- Introduce yourself and purpose
- Explain confidentiality, recording consent
- "There are no right or wrong answers"

### Context (10 min)
- Tell me about your role/day-to-day
- How long have you been doing [X]?
- Walk me through a typical [scenario]

### Deep Dive (25 min)
- Tell me about a time when [specific experience]
- What was the most challenging part?
- What did you try? What happened?
- How did that make you feel?

### Needs & Desires (10 min)
- If you could wave a magic wand, what would change?
- What would that enable you to do?
- What does success look like for you?

### Closing (5 min)
- Is there anything else you'd like to share?
- Can we follow up if we have questions?

Phase 2: Define

Synthesize observations and frame the right problem.

Point of View (POV) Statement

## POV Statement

**User:** [Specific user type/persona]

**Need:** [Verb - what they need to do]

**Insight:** [Because - surprising insight about why]

---

**Full Statement:**
[User] needs to [need] because [insight].

**Example:**
A busy working parent needs to quickly prepare healthy meals
because they want to model good eating habits for their children
but feel guilty about the time-cost tradeoff.

How Might We (HMW) Questions

Transform POV into actionable opportunity statements:

## How Might We Questions

**POV:** [Your POV statement]

### HMW Brainstorm

Generate HMW questions by asking:

| Lens | Question | HMW |
|------|----------|-----|
| **Amplify the good** | What's working? | HMW do more of [good thing]? |
| **Remove the bad** | What's painful? | HMW eliminate [pain point]? |
| **Explore the opposite** | What if we flipped it? | HMW [opposite approach]? |
| **Question assumptions** | What's assumed? | HMW if [assumption] wasn't true? |
| **Change status quo** | What's expected? | HMW change when/where/who? |
| **Break it into parts** | What are components? | HMW address just [component]? |

### Selected HMW Questions
1. HMW [question 1]?
2. HMW [question 2]?
3. HMW [question 3]?

**Priority HMW:** [The one to ideate on]

Phase 3: Ideate

Generate a wide range of creative solutions.

Ideation Rules

Rule	Description
Defer judgment	No criticism during brainstorming
Go for quantity	More ideas = better ideas
Build on others' ideas	"Yes, and..."
Encourage wild ideas	Think big, no constraints
Be visual	Sketch, don't just talk
One conversation	Listen, build, riff
Stay focused	Keep the HMW visible

Brainstorming Session Template

## Ideation Session

**HMW:** [The How Might We question]
**Duration:** 30-45 minutes
**Participants:** [Names]

### Warm-Up (5 min)
[Quick creative exercise to loosen up]

### Silent Brainstorm (10 min)
- Write one idea per sticky note
- Work individually
- Aim for 10+ ideas each

### Share & Build (15 min)
- Share ideas one by one
- Build on others' ideas
- No criticism, only "Yes, and..."

### Cluster & Theme (10 min)
- Group similar ideas
- Name each cluster
- Identify promising directions

### Ideas Generated
| Cluster | Ideas | Count |
|---------|-------|-------|
| [Theme 1] | [List] | [N] |
| [Theme 2] | [List] | [N] |

### Top Ideas to Prototype
1. [Idea 1]
2. [Idea 2]
3. [Idea 3]

Ideation Techniques

Technique	Description	When to Use
Classic Brainstorm	Free association	Starting point
Brainwriting	Silent written ideas	Quiet/remote groups
SCAMPER	Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse	Improving existing
Analogies	How would X solve this?	Breaking mental models
Worst Idea	Intentionally bad ideas	When stuck
Mash-up	Combine unrelated concepts	Radical innovation

Phase 4: Prototype

Build quick, cheap representations to learn.

Prototype Philosophy

"If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000 meetings." — IDEO

Prototype Types

Type	Fidelity	Time	Best For
Paper Sketch	Very Low	Minutes	Earliest exploration
Storyboard	Low	30 min	User journey, scenarios
Paper Prototype	Low	1-2 hours	Screen flows, UI
Role Play	Low	30 min	Service experiences
Wizard of Oz	Medium	Hours	Complex interactions
Clickable Mockup	Medium	Days	Digital products
Physical Model	Varies	Varies	Tangible products

Prototype Planning Template

## Prototype Plan

**Concept:** [What we're prototyping]
**Goal:** [What we want to learn]
**Audience:** [Who will test it]

### What to Prototype
- **Include:** [Essential elements to test]
- **Exclude:** [What we won't build yet]

### Prototype Type
**Type:** [Paper/Digital/Physical/Role-play]
**Fidelity:** [Low/Medium/High]
**Time to Build:** [Duration]

### Materials Needed
- [Material 1]
- [Material 2]

### Key Questions to Answer
1. [Question 1]
2. [Question 2]
3. [Question 3]

### Success Criteria
- [How we'll know it worked]

Storyboard Template

## Storyboard: [Concept Name]

### Scene 1: [Setup]
[Sketch/Description]
**What's happening:** [Action]
**User says/thinks:** "[Quote]"

### Scene 2: [Trigger]
[Sketch/Description]
**What's happening:** [Action]
**User says/thinks:** "[Quote]"

### Scene 3: [Interaction]
[Sketch/Description]
**What's happening:** [Action]
**User says/thinks:** "[Quote]"

### Scene 4: [Resolution]
[Sketch/Description]
**What's happening:** [Action]
**User says/thinks:** "[Quote]"

Phase 5: Test

Learn what works, what doesn't, and iterate.

Testing Principles

Principle	Description
Show, don't tell	Let the prototype speak
Create experiences	Have users interact, not just look
Ask "why?"	Dig into reactions
Embrace failure	Every test teaches something
Iterate	Build-test-learn cycles

Test Session Template

## Test Session

**Prototype:** [Name/Version]
**Participant:** [Code or name]
**Date:** [ISO date]

### Introduction
"We're testing a concept, not you. There are no wrong answers.
Please think out loud as you interact with this."

### Scenario
[Context to set up the test]

### Observations

| Moment | Observation | Quote | Insight |
|--------|-------------|-------|---------|
| [When] | [What happened] | "[Said]" | [Meaning] |

### Key Learnings
1. [Learning 1]
2. [Learning 2]
3. [Learning 3]

### What to Keep
- [Element that worked]

### What to Change
- [Element to modify]

### Questions Raised
- [New question to explore]

Iteration Framework

## Iteration Review

**Prototype Version:** [N]
**Tests Conducted:** [Number]

### Synthesis

| Finding | Frequency | Severity | Action |
|---------|-----------|----------|--------|
| [Finding] | [X/N] | H/M/L | Keep/Change/Remove |

### Next Iteration

**Priority Changes:**
1. [Change 1]
2. [Change 2]

**Hypothesis to Test:**
If we [change], then [expected outcome] because [reason].

Workshop Agenda Templates

Half-Day Workshop (4 hours)

## Design Thinking Workshop

**Duration:** 4 hours
**Participants:** 6-12 people

### Agenda

**0:00 - 0:15** Welcome & Icebreaker
- Introductions
- Creative warm-up

**0:15 - 0:45** Empathy Share (30 min)
- Share research/interviews
- Empathy mapping exercise

**0:45 - 1:15** Define (30 min)
- Synthesize insights
- Create POV statements
- Generate HMW questions

**1:15 - 1:30** Break (15 min)

**1:30 - 2:15** Ideate (45 min)
- Brainstorming
- Clustering
- Voting

**2:15 - 3:15** Prototype (60 min)
- Teams build low-fi prototypes
- Prepare to present

**3:15 - 3:45** Share & Feedback (30 min)
- Each team presents
- Group feedback

**3:45 - 4:00** Wrap-up (15 min)
- Key decisions
- Next steps

Full-Day Sprint (8 hours)

## Design Sprint (1-Day)

**Duration:** 8 hours (condensed from 5-day sprint)
**Participants:** 5-8 people cross-functional

### Morning: Understand & Define

**9:00 - 9:30** Set the stage
- Sprint goal
- Challenge statement

**9:30 - 10:30** Expert interviews / Lightning talks
- Stakeholder perspectives
- User insights

**10:30 - 11:00** How Might We
- Generate HMW from insights
- Vote on priority

**11:00 - 12:00** Sketch solutions
- Individual crazy 8s
- Solution sketches

### Afternoon: Build & Test

**12:00 - 1:00** Lunch

**1:00 - 1:30** Decide
- Critique sketches
- Vote
- Decide what to prototype

**1:30 - 4:00** Prototype
- Build testable prototype
- Prepare test script

**4:00 - 5:00** Test
- 3-5 user tests
- Capture feedback

**5:00 - 5:30** Debrief
- What we learned
- Next steps

Integration with Other Methods

Upstream

• User Research - Feeds into Empathize phase
• Stakeholder Analysis - Identifies who to interview
• Strategic Analysis - Business context for innovation

Downstream

• Lean Startup - Build-Measure-Learn loops
• Agile Development - Iterative implementation
• Business Model Canvas - Modeling the solution

.NET/C# Context

When applying Design Thinking to software products:

// Example: Tracking Design Thinking sessions
public class DesignThinkingSession
{
    public Guid Id { get; init; }
    public required string ChallengeName { get; init; }
    public required DesignPhase CurrentPhase { get; init; }
    public required string HowMightWe { get; init; }
    public DateTimeOffset Created { get; init; }

    public List<EmpathyInsight> Insights { get; } = [];
    public PointOfView? Pov { get; set; }
    public List<Idea> Ideas { get; } = [];
    public List<Prototype> Prototypes { get; } = [];
    public List<TestResult> Tests { get; } = [];
}

public enum DesignPhase
{
    Empathize,
    Define,
    Ideate,
    Prototype,
    Test
}

public record EmpathyInsight(
    string Observation,
    string UserQuote,
    string Interpretation
);

public record PointOfView(
    string User,
    string Need,
    string Insight
);

public record Idea(
    string Title,
    string Description,
    int Votes,
    string Cluster
);

Related Skills

• stakeholder-analysis - Identifying interview subjects
• journey-mapping - Empathize phase visualization
• business-model-canvas - Modeling solutions
• prioritization - Selecting which ideas to prototype

Version History

• v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release