Design Thinking is a lively creative process for generating ideas that is user-oriented and based on design methods. The participants in the process can contribute according to their own strengths and possibilities so that the best possible results flow.
Design Thinking is a developed process for promoting creative ideas. The design thinking method focuses on producing innovations that are only oriented towards the user and satisfy their needs. For the process, the participants in the process are met where they are and how they “tick”: creatively, formally, visually or tactilely.
To ensure this, design thinking uses approaches from the design area, which works explicitly in a user-oriented manner. The Design Thinking method is based on four essential components to promote innovation and eliminate problems in advance:
The design thinking components
One of the essential elements of design thinking is the clearly structured, ongoing process that takes place in loops. Everyone embarks on a journey towards the goal in their strongest way of thinking or expressing themselves.
The intermediate goals are checked again and again and coordinated together. So there is an early exchange and repeated recapitulations. The iterative process of design thinking usually consists of six steps:
Understand
The first step is about understanding the problem, which results in choosing an appropriate question that defines the needs and challenges of the project.
Observe
Intensive research and observation follows in order to gain important insights and findings from the group and to define the framework conditions of the status quo.
Point of view
The observations made are then broken down and named by a single, prototypical user, whose needs are focused in a clearly defined brainstorming question.
Ideation
This step is one of the core elements of design thinking and consists primarily of brainstorming in any available way of working: cognitively playing, thinking and representing or as a group process, always with visualization of different concepts across the entire team.
Prototyping
To test and illustrate the ideas, initial, low-effort prototypes are developed and tested directly as a target group.
refinement
Based on the insights gained through models and prototypes, the concept is further improved and refined until an optimal, user-oriented product is created. This iteration step can refer to all previous steps.
Each participant can contribute their own ideas and values in the way that is easiest for them. Here are the clearly defined values of an exemplary brainstorming phase:
- Work visually (be visual)
- Only one speaks (one conversation at a time)
- Encourage wild ideas
- Defer judgment
- Quantity is important (go for quantity)
- Stay on topic
- Build on the ideas of others
Interdisciplinary teams
In order to ensure the most diverse approaches to a problem, design thinking involves people from different disciplines coming together and solving problems as a team. These groups can be professional, but also cultural, national or simply based on age and gender differences. What is crucial is a multi-layered view of a topic and a focused goal for everyone.
Mobile room concepts
Space plays a big role in design thinking. Working while standing, writing on whiteboards and playful elements with building blocks or LEGO, i.e. mobile and changing spatial concepts, are part of design thinking.
Entwickelt durch IDEO und am Hasso Plattner Institut wurde Design Thinking dadurch sehr bekannt, dass die amerikanische Elite-Universität Stanford ein eigenes Institut unter Schirmherrschaft von SAP-Gründer Hasso Plattner zu diesem Thema ins Leben gerufen hat, die mit der HPI School of Design Thinking später auch in Potsdam einen Ableger gefunden hat.
Das ANDERS Hotel & Tagung Walsrode hat Raum und Möglichkeiten geschaffen, um solche zielgerichteten Planspiele im Design Thinking – Modus störungsfrei und ohne Raumnot bereitzustellen. Finden Sie bei uns im Haus alle Hilfsutensilien, Medien, Klein-Baumaterial oder Tischmöglichkeiten, um ihre Teilnehmer mitzunehmen, einzufangen und zielgerichtet arbeiten zu lassen.
Das Speisen- und Getränkekonzept wird dem vom Team gefundenen Tagesablauf fließend und live immer wieder angepasst – es sichert die Vollversorgung und lässt keine Wünsche offen.
