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Design Thinking is not just an innovation method but encompasses the whole mindset with which you approach the change processes surrounding innovations. We use special terms when discussing the attitude, the process of Design Thinking, and the critical roles involved. We have compiled these in the glossary.
In qualitative design research, "observing" means systematically recording users' behavior in their natural environment. Using methods such as behavioral observation, interviews, or immersion (putting oneself in the user's shoes), Design Thinkers build empathy for users in this way.
A check-in is a short session at the beginning of a work phase and describes the targeted interpersonal exchange in a group or team. It serves to get to know each other (better), to adjust to each other, and promote team dynamics.
A check-out is a short session at the end of a work phase, a working day, or a meeting. During this session, team members exchange ideas in person, share insights, and reflect on what has been achieved.
The design challenge is formulated as a question, which outlines a problem area and serves as a starting point for a Design Thinking project.
Design research encompasses qualitative research methods that aim to understand users' needs, issues, and conflicts. Based on this understanding, we develop user-centered solutions for products, services, or systems.
Design Thinkers are people who live and apply the mindset and methods of design thinking.
Design Thinking is a creative problem-solving method that focuses on users' needs. Innovative solutions are created through repeated, iterative prototyping and testing. The Design Thinking process focuses on the users' perspective and living environment. Applying Design Thinking requires an empathetic understanding of users. Multidisciplinary teams ensure a wide range of perspectives when developing and improving ideas.
A Design Thinking Coach has extensive experience in Design Thinking, moderating and supporting (Design Thinking) teams. With their expertise, this person helps the innovation team to achieve their maximum potential and solve problems and challenges in the best possible way.
The success of Design Thinking depends crucially on a cooperative culture of work and thought. This is based on three essential elements: multidisciplinary teams, flexible spaces, and the Design Thinking process.
Design Thinking combines three essential components to develop innovative and valuable solutions: (technological) feasibility, (economic) viability, and (human) desirability. In doing so, Design Thinking usually focuses more on the latter.
The Design Thinking process consists of six phases: understanding, observing, defining perspectives, finding ideas, developing prototypes, and testing. It is non-linear and iterative (repeating).
Empathy is the profound understanding and ability to put oneself in users' shoes and identify with their needs, feelings, and perspectives. It forms the basis for user-centered solutions and innovations.
Extreme users have an extreme, above-average relationship to the respective design question. They are included in the Design Thinking process and design research because they can help to provide particularly inspiring insights.
In Design Thinking, targeted ideas arise from understanding users' needs and living environments. Each idea can represent a potential solution. It is important to separate the generation of ideas from their evaluation.
Iteration means flexibly switching between the individual Design Thinking phases and repeating phases that have already been completed. These iteration loops help you to learn, refine ideas, and continuously improve the result.
Complexity refers to the challenge that arises from the diversity of a system with a wide range of contexts and their interactions. In Design Thinking, teams manage complexity through diverse experimentation, iterative processes, and continuous learning from successes and failures.
A Design Thinking team ideally consists of 4-6 people with diverse perspectives and skills. This diversity can include gender, professional background, area of work or responsibility, and cultural differences.
User-centeredness puts users' needs, desires, and problems at the center of the innovation process.
In design thinking, an open error culture refers to a positive attitude that values errors as an opportunity to learn and to improve problem solving.
Our program managers (also program leads) are the interface between our practice partners, clients, and coaches. They understand the expectations and goals of our practice partners and clients, develop new academic programs and customized workshop formats for professional development, and design the desired Design Thinking experience in close collaboration with the coaches.
In Design Thinking, prototypes are tangible, often simplified models or simulations of a product or service used to visualize, test, and iterate ideas quickly and cost-effectively. They test hypotheses, gather user feedback, and validate assumptions. Prototypes can be developed to various degrees of sophistication, from simple sketches and paper models to functional digital or physical models, and are crucial to the iterative process of learning and improvement.
Flexible spaces help Design Thinkers think flexibly. Spaces and furniture should be easily reconfigured to provide teams with the right conditions for different working modes.
In Design Thinking, the point of view (also known as the "Point of View") is the clear and precise definition of a problem from the users' perspective. It summarizes the insights gained from the empathy phase and identifies the specific needs and insights of the target group. A well-formulated point of view helps develop creative solutions by focusing on the users’ central challenges and desires and encouraging the design team to innovate in a targeted manner.
Synthesis refers to the process of combining the information from the research-intensive process steps to create a meaningful overall picture. In this process, data is condensed into insights, resulting in a comprehensive understanding of the problem area.
Testing prototypes is essential for the iteration loops in the Design Thinking process. Each prototype represents the team's current knowledge and assumptions. Through continuous "testing", the team expands its expertise and improves its solutions.
Understanding is the first step in the problem-solving process. To gain a thorough understanding, the team analyzes the problem space with the following questions: Who and what is part of the challenge? What needs and issues exist? What solutions have been tried before?
The acronym VUCA describes an environment characterized by high volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Flexible innovation methods like Design Thinking are crucial to surviving in a VUCA environment.
A warm-up is an exercise that mentally or physically prepares a team for an upcoming work phase, e.g. at the beginning of a day or after a lunch break. It can have different goals, such as increasing the team's energy level or preparing them for the next steps in the work.
