How do global players like Apple, Nike, World Bank, and more remain competitive through innovation? They utilize the process of Design Thinking!

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is about understanding problems like a designer. It’s a methodology that takes the creative cognitive processes they use, and can be applied to any industry. Design Thinking is a mindset that is focused on solutions, rather than problems. It is action-oriented to create the benefit a user wants.  Sometimes, a customer doesn’t necessarily know their needs. Design Thinking taps into those unarticulated needs to create a new source of ideas and true competitive advantage.

Design Thinking programs, like KAUST’s REVelate Corporate Innovation, are focused on creating innovators, instead of just a particular innovation. Teams receive training on how to think like a designer in order to be innovative. A designer focuses on the solutions that are desired, and then creates a product based on solving those needs. For example: There’s a difference between improving the design of a pair of scissors, versus finding a better way to cut paper, and then designing a product.

Attributes of Design Thinking

Corporate Innovation training programs, such as REVelate, focus on team members acquiring Design Thinking mindset to be successful. Here’s how:

Human Quality
Having empathic understanding of end-users’ needs, soliciting their feedback, and then translating those insights into a beneficial product.

Collaboration
Team-based practices are tailored to create opportunities for people with varying backgrounds and viewpoints to work together on a common goal. This fosters insights and ultimately, breakthrough solutions.

Holistic Approach
Combining user and business goals along with technical expertise.

Optimism, experimentation and non-judgmental mindset are all features that are inherent in the Design Thinking model.  These attributes create and foster an ideal environment for innovation, likes the atmosphere at REVelate!

Design Thinking Phases:

For the next few weeks, we will spotlight a different phase of the Design Thinking model and the tools that are utilized during those stages to achieve innovative thinking to solve business problems. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Empathize
• Define
• Ideate
• Prototype
• Test & Repeat
• Storytelling (Marketing)

This series is part of our focus on Design Thinking, find all the articles in the series below:

Part 1: Why your company needs Design Thinking!

Part 2 – Empathize: How to know what your customers really want

Part 3 – Define: Can you define your startup in one sentence?

Part 4 – Ideate: What makes a good startup idea?

Paty 5 – Prototype: Why and how to use prototypes