What is Design Thinking and why is so important?

Let us now consider another methodology, that of Design Thinking.

There are various interpretations given by different theorists and researchers about the definition of Design Thinking.

According to the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (known as d-school), there are five stages in the design thinking process and are the following: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

Although these stages seem to be linear, following one after the other, design thinking is not considered as a linear process. Stages are often run in parallel or repeated when necessary.

Step 1: Empathise

The goal of the initial step is to explore the users’ needs and feelings. After initial interviews and observations, a project team intentionally selects a specific target user group to investigate in more depth. Four actions are important in this phase: observe, engage, watch and listen in order understand the problem and also the user’s feelings and needs.

Activities and tools that you can use for Empathize step:

• Empathy Map: is a tool for emphatic target group analysis and helps users to perceive their own feelings better and to empathize with their own actions. Explore it here through the following template: En Dt-toolbook
• Interview for empathy: is intended to provide a good understanding of the user's needs, emotions and motivation. The goal is to look at the world from the user's perspective and learn more about his motivations. Explore it here through the following template: En Dt-toolbook

Step 2: Define

After gaining empathy for the person they are designing for, the Define stage is about making sense of the widespread information they have gathered. In other words, the goal of this phase is to create a meaningful and actionable problem statement, by analyzing the observations and synthesizing them to define the core problems.

Activities and tools that you can use for Define step:

• Problem statement: this is the most typical activity to be followed for this step.  Problem statements (Points of view) are concise descriptions of design problems. Design teams use them to define the current and ideal states, and to freely find user-centered solutions. Explore it here through the following template: En Dt-toolbook

Step 3: Ideate

The ‘Ideate’ step is the mode of the design process by which the participants concentrate on idea generation. The goal is to challenge assumes and create ideas by embracing different perspectives. In this step the team usually brainstorm alternative ways to view the problem and identify innovative solutions to the problem statement.

Ideation provides both the “fuel” and also the “source material” for building prototypes and finding out innovative solutions that will be leveraged by the design thinker’s user. This step is the transition from identifying problems to creating solutions for the design thinker’s users.

Activities and tools that you can use for Ideate step:

• Bad idea brainstorm: the idea of this activity is to name all the bad ideas to make room for good ones. So instead of trying to find the right answer, the team lists all the wrong ones. Next they reflect on them and they are discussing if there are some ideas (form the previous ones) that can be turned into a good idea with a little work? Bad Idea Brainstorm
• Mind Map: is an easy way to brainstorm thoughts organically without worrying about order and structure. What Is A Mind Map? | MindMapping.com

Step 4: Prototype

This is an experimental step. The central objective of the prototype phase is to start creating draft and low-resolution prototypes of the selected solution(s). The outcome is to give substance to the suggested solutions through a creative process. A prototype is nothing more than an artifact that serves as draft miniature of the solution. This stage is more demanding in terms of preparation and materials. Participants are not just asked to theoretically brainstorm and produce ideas, but they must in fact use with their hands tangible materials to create a draft product of the idea.

Activities and tools that you can use for Prototype step:

• Prototype to test: with this exercise a prototype can be defined purposefully. After the idea phase, the ideas are converted into prototypes and tested with real users. En Dt-toolbook

Step 5: Test

The team tests the prototypes with real users to evaluate if they solve the problem. The test might generate new insights, based on which the team might refine the prototype or even go back to the previous stages to revisit the problem or a more sustainable solution.

Activities and tools that you can use for Test step:

• Testing sheet: takes place in interaction with a potential user. This activity makes it possible to prepare the test sequence and to document the test results. The aim is to plan the test situation and document the test results. En Dt-toolbook
• Exploration map: provides the team with an overview of the experiments carried out and shows, for example, in which areas additional experiments should be carried out. The map provides information about the expectations of an experiment and its effect on the target group. En Dt-toolbook

Explore more about Design thinking & its importance in the following video, with the valuable contribution of David Kelly, founder of IDEO and Stanford d.school:

• What is Design Thinking? | IDEO U

Find out more about DT steps in the following detailed guide:

• Interaction Design Foundation. (n.d.). Design Thinking (DT). What is Design Thinking? — updated 2025