Page 26 - Transforming an Idea Into a Business with Design Thinking

D emocratizing Entrepreneurship ◾ 5

4. The approach takes time. It can be months or even years before key
stakeholders see a solution. Requirements are consolidated in a spread-
sheet where importance is given to the functional feature rather than the
use by the user. The sponsor is fixated only on how to plan and create
the corresponding features in the product to satisfy the list of require-
ments. This takes a long time, as all the kinks have to be straightened
out on paper first so that each department can give its seal of approval
before development can start. Once the scope is agreed upon, develop-
ment is started, which again takes a silo-ed approach. In technology
projects, the various teams work independently in building their capa-
bilities, which are set forth in the specification document. These teams
include infrastructure, database, application, user interface and integra-
tion. The final project, though it works, fails to satisfy the end users.

5. The approach is focused on “How” and “What,” but rarely addresses
“Why.” Rather than stepping back and asking the questions such as
“Why is this feature useful for the user?” or “What are the users’ needs?”,
the focus is on “What features do we need to add?” and “How should
we build the features?”

1.4.2 The New Design Thinking Approach

Design Thinking is a human-centered design approach that starts with
understanding the needs of the stakeholders (desirability) and brings the
viability and feasibility aspects together (Figure 1.1).

The key tenets of Design Thinking are presented next.

1.4.3 Empathy

At the heart of Design Thinking is an empathetic understanding of the user/
stakeholder. It is characterized by trying to have intent observations with a
childlike curiosity, not just paying attention to what the stakeholder says but
paying attention to actions and actively listening to what wasn’t expressed.
Doing this allows you to have insights into the thoughts and feelings of
users. It is easier said than done, though (Figure 1.2).

1.4.4 Have a Better Understanding of the Problem
before Thinking of the Solution

Contrary to the traditional approach where the proposition starts with a
solution in mind, Design Thinking is based on exploring the problem first,