Page 48 - Transforming an Idea Into a Business with Design Thinking

S tage 1: Understand Problem to Grasp Desirability ◾ 27

The team should come to a consensus on the stakeholders and their
placement on the template. The team should also identify at least one and
no more than three target stakeholders for the problem space. We also call
them users.

3.1.5.4 Document Assumptions

After agreeing on the stakeholders, the session lead should ask the team
to write down all the assumptions that you are making and record those
assumptions in the assumptions template in Chapter 6.

3.1.5.5 Review Prior Steps

At this point, it is suggested to review the problem statement to ensure it is
still valid. Adjust the problem statement as needed with the consensus of the
team.

3.2 Step 2: Research

Many entrepreneurs jump into solving the problems from day one without
adequately understanding the needs of the primary beneficiary of the imag-
ined solution, the context in which the user operates, the wider context,
including competitive options, behavioral trends, technology trends, industry
trends and other relevant aspects.

Spending some time in conducting research about these aspects will help
guide your thinking in the right direction. Research also gives you valuable
insights into the needs of the users.

Business Context in step 13 will guide you through the macro context in
which you are operating. In this step, you’ll focus on the core user and how
to research to uncover real needs of the user.

User research is “the single most” important aspect of any project. If done
right, you are likely to uncover insights that will enable you to address real
needs of the user. The main objective of research is to “empathize” with the
users/core stakeholders. There are three important aspects of user research:

1. Planning
2. Observation
3. Engagement