A Beginners Guide To Design Thinking Workshop in 2024

design-thinking-workshop

Is there a lack of innovation, collaboration, and competitiveness in your design team? Or are your designers facing a high rate of project failures, customer dissatisfaction, and resistance to change? This means you need a Design Thinking Workshop. 

There are instances when design teams face complex problems and run out of creative juices and problem-solving techniques. At this point, a Design Thinking Workshop will do wonders for your team by promoting creativity, guiding members to come up with innovative solutions and human-centered design thinking, and developing collaborative problem-solving by welcoming diverse perspectives. 

Are you excited to know more about Design Thinking Workshops and how you can smoothly execute one? Luckily, you’ve landed at the right place, as this is a beginner’s guide to design-based thinking workshops. 

Let’s jump straight into it.

What Is A Design Thinking Workshop?

what-is-design-thinking-workshop

Design Thinking Workshops are collaborative sessions that bring together team members of different backgrounds. These meetings mainly aim to solve complex problems through constructive collaboration, generate revolutionary ideas, and develop solutions with a human-centric focus

The team members have a design thinking approach, which includes empathizing with the end-users, identifying the issue, ideating possible solutions, prototyping concepts, and testing ideas with users for feedback. The whole idea is to make the end user the center of the design process so that the team comes up with results that benefit the product customer. 

The design thinking consultant or leader also comes up with useful tools and methods to help team members develop user-centric strategies for product creation. Some of these tools include brainstorming activities, journey mapping, testing scenarios, prototyping exercises, and user persona development. 

Ranging from product development and business strategy to education and healthcare, Design Thinking Workshops are becoming a go-to process across various industries. This is because of their ability to unlock creative thinking, encourage innovation and break down silos in teams.

Key Components of a Design Thinking Workshop

design-thinking-workshop-components

Here are the key components of a workshop on design thinking for innovation and problem-solving. 

Design Thinking Workshop ElementsDescription
EmpathizeUnderstanding the user’s perspective through activities that give deep insights and promote empathy
DefineDefining the main issue at hand to address it collectively in the workshop
IdeateComing up with diverse ideas through brainstorming and other ideation methods.
PrototypeConverting ideas into tangible presentations for quick and iterative testing 
TestTesting prototypes on users to gather real-world insights

Benefits Of A Design Thinking Workshop

benefits-of-a-design-thinking-workshop

It has been estimated that 75% of companies have self-reported to be into design thinking. You might be wondering what is so special about this activity that several organizations in the world are using the design thinking method. This is because a Design Thinking Workshop has several benefits for your team. 

Let’s have a look at some of them

Unleashing Creativity and Innovation

Regular design thinking workshop exercises in your organization give rise to exceptional product development creativity. This results from having different team members from diverse viewpoints with innovative ideas, leading to breakthrough solutions.

Empathy-Driven Problem Solving

The main idea of design thinking companies is to create products that fulfil user needs and eliminate their problems. All the design thinking workshop activities revolve around the customer perspective, ensuring there are more relevant and effective solutions. These workshops ensure that the products or solutions meet customer needs.

Accelerating Decision-Making Processes

Design thinking workshops have a structured framework for product development. This enables the teams to make informed decisions so that there are minimum chances of errors that can mess up product design. Design thinking workshops prevent indecision and delays. 

Empowering Stakeholders 

Design thinking workshops are a great way to bring stakeholders and team members on the same page. Stakeholders participate in these activities right when the team is in the problem-solving phase. This way, the stakeholders can add their valuable insights and perspectives for the success of products. 

Enhancing Collaboration and Team Dynamics

Design thinking workshops encourage cross-functional collaboration to develop a collective understanding of goals. It promotes working together to collectively achieve a common goal or deal with a single problem. This ensures exceptional teamwork and unity in the organization.

Enhancing Communication Skills

Design thinking workshop activities excessively improve communication skills as participants actively participate. They convey their novel ideas and problem-solving techniques to fellow team members. They also gain expertise in translating complex ideas into understandable concepts.

 Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Design-based thinking is a great way to build a culture of innovation, adaptation, and continuous learning. The experimentation and feedback in workshops encourage team members to continue learning and improving themselves within the organization for better product development. 

Key Workshop Roles 

A design thinking workshop involves several individuals with different roles. Let’s have a look at some of the most important ones.

  • Facilitator: The facilitator is like the leader of the workshop as they know how to facilitate a design thinking workshop. They make sure everything goes smoothly and that everyone stays on track. They should know a lot about design thinking and be comfortable leading a group of people.
  • Scribe: The scribe’s job is to write down all the ideas that come up in the workshop. They also jot down any drawings or diagrams that go along with the ideas. Having a scribe is crucial because it ensures that all the ideas are recorded and can be shared with the whole team later on.
  • Decider: The decider is another essential individual in the workshop as they decide the things to move the workshop forward. They look into the team’s contributions to make important decisions.
  • Customer expert: They offer insights into the needs, preferences, and experiences of the target audience. They ensure that the solutions generated during the workshop effectively address the customers’ perspectives and challenges.
  • Business experts: They see the feasibility and viability of proposed ideas from a business perspective. This ensures the solutions generated align with the organization’s goals and objectives.
  • Prototyper: They bring ideas to life by creating tangible prototypes. They transform abstract concepts into physical or digital representations, allowing for testing and iteration to refine the final product.
  • Marketing expert: They have a sharp eye on consumer behavior and market trends to ensure that the product or solution being developed aligns with the needs and preferences of the target audience.
  • Financial expert: They look at the budgeting, cost analysis, and financial feasibility of proposed solutions. This way, ideas align with financial goals and constraints.

How To Conduct A Design Thinking Workshop Step By Step?

conduct-design-thinking-workshop

You might be wondering what steps are likely to follow in a design thinking workshop. Several steps are involved in executing an effective workshop that solves problems, sparks innovation, and nurtures a user-centric mindset within your design team. 

We have divided the process into two stages: how to prepare for the workshop, and how to execute the workshop. Here are the essential steps for conducting a productive design thinking workshop, just as our design team at Denovers does.

Stage 1: Making Preparations For The Workshop

making-preparation

Start your design-based thinking operations by first preparing for it. Don’t just start mindlessly, lacking the data and other necessities for executing a fruitful workshop, as this would waste your organization’s time and efforts. 

Here is how you prepare for your design thinking workshop

Research Like A Detective 

research-like-a-detective

The basic step to prepare for your workshop is researching like a detective. Step into the shoes of Sherlock and start exploring every single bit, starting from why you need the workshop in the first place. This can be followed by researching your customer to ensure that human-centered design thinking fulfils your user’s needs. Extract even your user’s tiniest bit of information to come up with ideas that point in the right direction.

Here are some practical ways to research for your design thinking workshop:

  • Know your research objectives to guide your efforts.
  • Identify your target audience and create user personas.
  • Use effective research methods like surveys, observations, and interviews.
  • Come up with open-ended questions on user needs.
  • Use different channels, such as online, in person, or community, for diverse research.
  • Conduct analyses on gathered data for patterns and key insights.

Define Your Objective 

design-thinking-workshop-objective

A common problem amongst several designers is that they lose their way. They often miss out on fulfilling the user’s needs while designing a product. This happens when you fail to define your objectives before starting your design thinking workshop.

Let’s see some ways to state your aim for the workshop:

  • Be Specific
  • Focus on Problem-solving
  • Ensure user-centricity
  • Set Measurable Outcomes
  • Prioritize Impact
  • Align with Business Goals
  • Encourage Creativity
  • Include Collaboration
  • Allow Flexibility

Plan The Location

plan-the-location

If you are conducting the design thinking workshop physically, find a suitable location with ample space for your team and the relevant setup required to conduct the activities smoothly. However, if you are conducting the workshop remotely, it is crucial to ensure you have the necessary presentation tools you will use. 

Here are some things to consider before you choose your workshop location:

  • Make sure the team can easily access the venue.
  • Ensure the location can comfortably accommodate all participants and necessary equipment.
  • Facilities like projectors, whiteboards, Wi-Fi, and restrooms should be there to support workshop activities.
  • Look for spaces that also have private areas for confidential discussions
  • Pick a budget-friendly place.
  • Opt for a space that allows for flexible layouts and can accommodate various workshop activities.
  • Choose a place that offers technical support in case of equipment or connectivity issues during the workshop.

Gather Essential Tools 

gather-essential-tools

Using effective tools in a design thinking workshop is not only beneficial but also important as it provides structure, facilitates collaboration, and enhances the creative process. Some essential tools required to conduct a design workshop include sticky notes, whiteboards, markers, prototyping materials, persona templates, user journey maps, mind mapping tools, presentation gear, timer or alarms, post-its or voting dots, digital collaboration tools, and feedback forms.

These tools act as guiding frameworks that help the team members navigate the different stages of the design thinking process. They streamline complex problem-solving into manageable steps. Additionally, they foster effective communication and alignment of ideas.

Make An Agenda 

make-an-agenda

You should consider several points when creating a Design Thinking workshop agenda. Start by outlining our goals and objectives for the session. Define what you aim to achieve through the workshop and tailor activities accordingly. Moving forward, structure the agenda to include diverse activities that cover each phase of the Design Thinking process—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Ensure you incorporate individual brainstorming, team collaboration, and prototype development time. Moreover, allocate sufficient breaks to keep participants refreshed and engaged. Additionally, make sure there is open communication and an inclusive environment. This will encourage everyone to contribute ideas without judgment.

Don’t forget to add lots of fun activities to make the workshop engaging. Lastly, remain flexible during the workshop, allowing for adjustments based on participants’ progress and needs, ensuring an organic and effective Design Thinking experience.

Stage 2: Executing The Design Thinking Workshop 

design-thinking-workshop-execution

After completing stage 1, you will have devised your workshop’s general plan and agenda. It is now time for stage 2, where we will go through each pointer in detail to successfully execute the design thinking workshop. 

Dive Straight Into The Workshop

It’s time to begin the workshop by welcoming all team members. Start by introducing yourself and what expectations you have from all your team members. Some things you can include while beginning the workshop include:

  • Introduce yourself if you are working with a new team or a client. 
  • Explain everything about the workshop. This can include the agenda, objectives, and aims of the workshop. For example, “Introducing a user-centric system: How to improve the user experience of customers on SaaS products?”
  • Tell them what you’ve planned for them.
  • Convey what level of involvement and interaction you expect from your team members.
  • Tell them about the workshop’s schedule. 

Break The Ice

It has been estimated that employees spend one-third of their workweek in meetings. Out of this, 47% complain that unproductive meetings result in 31 hours of wasted time in a month. As a result, the only way to make meetings meaningful is to ensure they are engaging from the start. This can be done by creating a fun icebreaker so everyone can know each other and interact freely throughout the meeting. 

Here are some ways to break the ice through fun activities.

Speed Networking:

speed-networking

There are teams of two participants each, where they get a chance to introduce themselves. They also share interests and discuss prompts and ideas related to design thinking. After a few minutes, the various teams switch partners. This encourages constructive interaction and communication. 

Marshmallow Challenge:

marshmallow-challenge

Make small teams and give them a tape, a marshmallow, and spaghetti. Each team must work together to build the tallest freestanding structure in a set time. This fun activity promotes creativity, problem-solving, effective communication, and teamwork. 

Human Bingo:

human-bingo

Make bingo cards containing different design-related experiences and characteristics. For instance, “He speaks more than two languages” or “He /She has worked on a mobile app design.” This way, the participants can mingle as they try to find someone who fits each description and have them sign the corresponding square. 

Design Thinking Poker:

design-thinking-poker

Make different cards with different design thinking aspects like prototyping, iteration, and empathy. This way, participants share their personal and professional experiences related to that particular aspect by drawing a card.

Introduce The Design-Based Thinking Concept

design-based-thinking-concept

Introduce the concept of design-based thinking and how it can benefit designers in the long run. Share the core idea of design-based thinking: it is a problem-solving approach that involves empathizing, defining, ideation, prototyping, testing, and iteration to generate innovative solutions. 

Give team members a heads-up about the design thinking method in the workshop. 

  • Empathize: Conduct interviews, observations, or surveys to gain insights into users’ experiences and challenges.
  • Define: Clearly articulate the problem based on insights gathered during the empathy phase. Create a problem statement summarizing the user needs and challenges identified in the empathy phase.
  • Ideate: Generate a wide range of creative solutions without judgment. Use brainstorming sessions, mind mapping, or other ideation techniques to generate diverse ideas.
  • Prototype: Create tangible representations of selected ideas to test and refine. Build low-fidelity prototypes, such as sketches, paper models, or digital mock-ups, to visualize and communicate ideas.
  • Test: Gather feedback by testing prototypes with users and refine solutions iteratively. Conduct user testing sessions, observe interactions, and gather feedback to inform further improvements.
  • Iterate: Repeat the design process, making improvements based on user feedback and testing. Continuously refine and enhance the solution through multiple iterations, incorporating insights gained from testing.

Additionally, tell them about real-life examples of successful design thinking workshops like: 

  • IBM: IBM is a global tech company that incorporated design thinking into its culture and processes by undergoing a significant transformation. Their workshop brought together cross-functional teams to handle complex challenges. Their redesign of the IBM Verse email platform was a great success story, which gave rise to a more user-friendly and efficient platform. The design thinking workshops helped them empathize with users, define pain points, ideate on new features, and rapidly prototype effective solutions. 
  • IDEO: IDEO is a renowned design and innovation consultancy that conducted design thinking workshops to reimagine the air travel experience for Hainan Airlines. Their workshop included passengers, airline staff, and stakeholders to understand pain points and generate constructive solutions. They developed the “Hainan Skywave” project through effective teamwork, ideation, and prototyping. This offered a more personalized in-flight experience. They also improved cabin layouts and brought innovation to the boarding process. 

After explaining the workshop to them, answer any questions the participants have for you.

Understand The User’s Perspective (The Empathizing Step)

user's-perspective

Once your team is in sync, it’s time to delve into the users’ perspectives so that you can learn about them in detail and develop effective strategies. Use empathy maps to understand your user’s feelings, pain points, thoughts, and actions. Use visual templates to record what users see, hear, and do. 

This is what your team should focus on while studying the user:

  • User needs 
  • User likes and dislikes 
  • The common problem the user faces
  • User’s feelings
  • User’s habits and language 
  • User’s expectations 

Moreover, you can also study the current user persona the team is using to assess if it needs updates or replacements. 

Drill Down Into The Nitty Gritty Of The Issue (The Defining Step)

defining-step

Once you’ve studied your user thoroughly, it’s time to record the issue at hand so that all participants can collectively focus on it and work together in the right direction. This will offer direction to your team members, who will be more focused. 

Start defining the problem by:

  • Reviewing Empathy Findings: Revisit data collected during the empathy phase. Go through the user’s perspectives, needs, problems, expectations, and other relevant data.
  • Identify Patterns and Themes: Analyze the collected information to spot recurring themes, common pain points, and patterns. Look for insights that provide a holistic understanding of the problem.
  • Use Affinity Mapping: Use affinity map techniques for group-related insights and observations. This is a visual approach that helps the team to see connections and themes clearly. 
  • Prioritize Insights: Prioritize the essential insights and challenges that align with the project goals and the needs of the end-users.
  • Create Personas: Based on the empathy findings, create user personas to humanize the target audience. They offer a shared understanding of the users and their goals. 
  • Define Problem Areas: Identify the problem areas or aspects that should be addressed. Break down the overarching challenge into more manageable components.
  • Craft “Point of View” Statements: Formulate “Point of View” (POV) statements that encapsulate the user’s needs, insights, and aspirations. This helps frame the problem from the user’s perspective for design-driven innovation. 
  • Encourage Divergent Thinking: Explore a range of problem statements through brainstorming techniques to generate multiple perspectives on the problem.
  • Make Sure To Avoid Solutioning At This Stage: The goal is to define the problem, not to generate solutions. Remind the team to focus on understanding the challenge deeply before proposing solutions.
  • Use Collaborative Tools: Utilize collaborative tools, such as whiteboards or digital platforms, to facilitate group discussions, capture ideas, and visually represent the evolving problem statement.
  • Keep It User-Centric: Use language that reflects the end-users’ emotions, goals, and context.
  • Seek Feedback: Ask team members to share their perspectives and insights. Seek feedback from others in the workshop to validate and refine the problem definition.
  • Document The Process: Document the journey of defining the problem statement to serve as a reference and help communicate the rationale behind the chosen problem statement.
  • Prepare For Ideration: Conclude the defining stage by preparing the team for the ideation phase. The refined problem statement will serve as a springboard for generating creative solutions.

Brainstorm Ideas And Fixes (The Ideation Step)

brainstorming-ideas

It’s time for ideation in design thinking now, as each member of your team needs to come up with possible solutions for the problem. There should be constructive discussions and healthy debates to ensure an effective solution is brought up to resolve the issues faced by the user.

The ideation should be done in the following way.

  • Start By Creating A Diverse Team: Make a cross-functional and diverse group of members that bring various ideas. It should be a non-judgmental environment where participants feel free to share their ideas without fearing criticism. Encourage wild ideas beyond conventional boundaries and propose “wild” or unconventional ideas that may spark new thinking.
  • Use Ideation Techniques: Design-based thinking requires constructive ideation techniques like brainstorming, mind mapping, or the “How Might We” method.
  • Silent Ideation: Make participants write their ideas individually before sharing them with the group. This reduces the influence of group dynamics.
  • Build On Other’s Ideas: Encourage participants to build upon or combine each other’s ideas to create more innovative concepts. This will promote teamwork and equal participation. 
  • Quantity Over Quality: Initially generate many ideas, deferring judgment until later.
  • Use Stimulus Material: Use articles, images, and user personas to inspire creative thinking. 
  • Rotate Facilitators: If the session is lengthy, consider rotating facilitators to bring fresh perspectives and energy.
  • Use Visual Tools: Use sticky notes, whiteboards, and other digital collaboration platforms to capture and organize ideas. 
  • Reflect On Ideas: Periodically pause to reflect on the ideas generated, identifying themes and patterns.
  • Diverge And Converge: Alternate between divergent thinking (generating ideas) and convergent thinking (narrowing down and selecting ideas) to balance creativity and focus.
  • Map Out The User Journey Experience: Research has shown that 86% of customers are ready to pay for a great customer experience. Considering this, your team should now map out the user journey experience of a customer who would use your solution and ideas so that you can see the actual turn of events that would arise. Ask the team members to come up with a step-by-step user journey. 

Prototype And Test

prototype-test

The final and most important step is for participants to create basic prototypes of their solution. Your team members are supposed to generate interfaces for every step of their solution. They should also enhance their screen’s functionality by adding buttons.

This would give a practical view of the user experience and improve the design, which is important as, according to a recent UX survey, 94% of first impressions are design-related. 

Here’s a constructive way to get into prototyping.

  • Start with Clear Objectives: Define the specific goals and aspects of the solution you want to prototype in the design thinking workshop. 
  • Choose The Right Fidelity: Decide on the level of fidelity for the prototype (low-fidelity sketches, mid-fidelity wireframes, high-fidelity digital mock-ups, physical models, etc.).
  • Iterative Prototyping: Have an iterative approach, allowing multiple rounds of prototyping to refine and improve the solution.
  • Build Quickly: Prioritize speed over perfection; the goal is to convey the concept rather than create a polished product.
  • Use Available Tools: Use different tools and materials, both digital and physical, to create prototypes efficiently (e.g., paper, sticky notes, design software).
  • Encourage Collaboration: Build a collaborative environment where team members contribute to the prototyping process, combining various skills and perspectives.
  • Capture Key Instructions: Focus on capturing the key interactions and functionalities of the solution to test with users.

Here is how you test your prototypes. 

  • Set Testing Goals: Define your aims to learn or validate through user testing.
  • Select Representative Users: Gather comprehensive feedback by identifying a diverse group of users representative of the target audience. 
  • Create Testing Scenarios: Make realistic situations or tasks that allow users to interact with the prototype as they would in a real-world situation.
  • Observe Actively: Pay attention to user interactions and observe their behaviors, reactions, and feedback.
  • Encourage Honest Feedback: Create a comfortable and open environment that encourages users to provide honest feedback, both positive and critical.
  • Document Insights: Systematically document observations and insights during and after the testing session.
  • Iterate Based On Feedback: Inform iterative improvements to the prototype using the insights gained from testing. 
  • Repeat Testing Cycles: In design thinking workshop exercises, it is essential to do multiple rounds of testing to redefine the prototype after each cycle to ensure continuous improvement.
  • Be Willing To Pivot: Be open to making significant adjustments to the prototype if testing reveals fundamental issues or user preferences, 
  • Share Learnings With The Team: Communicate the findings and insights from user testing to the entire team, fostering collective learning and decision-making.

Wrap Up 

Conclude the workshop by gathering all ideas, solutions, and prototypes created during the session. Discuss the different stages and encourage everyone to share their thoughts and experiences—what worked well, what challenges they faced, and what they learned. This discussion helps in understanding diverse perspectives and experiences.

It’s also essential to identify actionable steps that can be taken after the workshop, whether it’s refining prototypes, conducting further research, or implementing the proposed solutions.

End the workshop by expressing gratitude to everyone for their participation. Additionally, highlight the importance of their contributions in creating innovative ideas. Remember, Design Thinking is an ongoing process, and the workshop is just one step toward fostering a culture of creativity and problem-solving.

How Design Thinking Workshops Can Be Implemented In Different Industries?

There are several industries that are incorporating a design thinking approach in their operations for enhanced user experience, problem-solving, and innovation. Let’s see how some major sectors can implement design thinking workshops. 

Technology and Software Development

The tech industry’s main challenge is enhancing user experience for a software application. This can be done by conducting design thinking workshops to understand the target user’s needs, expectations, and behavior.

Conduct collaborative sessions to come up with different ideas. Prototype and test the possible solutions with end users and iterate based on user feedback to create an optimal user interface.

Healthcare 

The main aim of the healthcare industry is to improve patient experience in a hospital setting. Begin the design thinking workshop by empathizing with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to understand their perspectives.

Discover the healthcare system’s challenges to develop innovative solutions to enhance patient care, communication, and overall experience—prototype and test solutions in a controlled environment before implementing changes.

Finance and Banking

This sector’s biggest challenge is creating a more user-friendly online banking platform. Engage with customers to understand their preferences and challenges with the current platform. Define key features and functionalities through collaborative workshops.

Build digital interfaces and test usability with a focus group. Iterate on the design based on feedback to enhance user experience and efficiency.

Education 

The education sector should offer improved student learning experiences in schools, colleges, and institutes. Design thinking workshop activities should be implemented to gather insights from teachers, students, and administrators.

Identify challenges and opportunities for improvement in the education system. Discuss current teaching methods, classroom designs, or digital tools and develop innovations. Prototype and test new teaching approaches or tools in a pilot program.

Manufacturing And Product Design 

Developing a user-friendly product is necessary in the manufacturing and product design industry. Conduct design thinking workshop exercises to collaborate with end-users and stakeholders to understand their needs and preferences.

Spot design requirements and specifications to ideate on product features, aesthetics, and functionality. Prototype physical or digital models and gather feedback through user testing. Iterate on the design to optimize usability and address user concerns.

Prominent Companies That Do Design Thinking

Here are five examples of well-known brands that have leveraged design thinking to solve business problems.

GE Healthcare

Although GE Healthcare’s healthcare machines had no problems, they still wanted to improve their user-centricity. They observed that children cried a lot during medical procedures in dark, cold, monotonous rooms that had flickering lights.

As a result, they examined pediatrics in diverse settings, consulted with experts, and conducted interviews with hospital personnel to gain deeper insights into their experiences. After extensive user research, hospital trials, and refinement, the company introduced user-friendly MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines, which were called the ‘Adventure series.’

For example, they changed MRI machines from scary rooms to pirate ships with beaches and oceans. This made kids happier and improved patient satisfaction by 90%. It also made scans better for kids and saved time and money for customers.

Oral B

A workshop on design thinking is a great initiative to offer solutions to enhance usability and test solutions before implementation. A prime example is Oral B, which wanted to upgrade its electric toothbrush by adding more functionalities like playing music, tracking brushing frequency, and observing gum sensitivity.

As a result, they enrolled two designers, Kim Colin, and Sam Hecht, to work on this project. However, they pointed out that brushing one’s teeth is an anxious activity for many people. Therefore, it’s better not to include additional functionalities as it would overcomplicate the process.

Instead, they proposed two solutions to improve the user experience. The first recommendation was to make it easier to charge the toothbrush, especially for people who travel a lot. Also, they suggested making the toothbrush able to connect to smartphones so users could easily order new brush heads and get reminders. Both ideas worked well because they focused on what users wanted instead of just what the company wanted.

Netflix

Many companies use design thinking, but Netflix has used it exceptionally well. When Netflix started, its main rival was Blockbuster, which made customers go to stores to rent and return DVDs. Netflix changed the game by delivering DVDs to people’s homes through subscriptions.

But Netflix didn’t stop there. They realized DVDs were becoming outdated, so they introduced streaming to stay ahead. Then, they listened to what customers wanted and started making their own unique shows in 2011. In 2016, they made the website easier to use by adding short trailers. Each time, Netflix used design thinking to make things better for their customers.

Airbnb

Airbnb, at first, was only making $200 a week. But then, the founders noticed a problem. The photos hosts were using to advertise their places weren’t very good. This was turning people away from renting rooms. So, the founders decided to fix it. They traveled around, imagining what customers would want to see. They bought better cameras and took pictures showing everything people would be interested in, like all the rooms and any special features. And it worked! Airbnb’s revenue doubled in just a week.

Instead of trying to get more people to use Airbnb, the founders focused on understanding why the people who were already there weren’t using it more by doing various design thinking activities. They realized they needed to think like their users to solve the problem rather than just focusing on making the business bigger.

Uber Eats

Uber Eats owes much of its success to its ability to respond to customer feedback and needs swiftly. Their Walkabout Program is an excellent example, as it allows designers to explore the cities where the service operates thoroughly. They closely examine various aspects, including local food habits, infrastructure, and transportation systems. Uber Eats has been able to introduce innovations according to specific challenges by gaining insights from these observations.

One such innovation is the driver app, which was developed based on the difficulties faced by delivery partners in finding parking in densely populated urban areas. This app now provides step-by-step guidance from the restaurant to the customer’s location, streamlining the delivery process significantly. This focused approach to addressing location-specific pain points enables the company to enhance the overall delivery experience for its users.

Uber Eats ensures that no matter where their customers and delivery partners are based, they can enjoy a smoother and more efficient experience.

Denovers Conducts Productive Design Thinking Workshops

Are you still struggling to conduct a productive Design Thinking Workshop? Let Denovers help you! We are a passionate team of product designers with expertise in creating top-tier, user-centric products. Therefore, we know how to educate your design teams and organization in developing groundbreaking ideas and problem-solving solutions through design-based thinking. Consult our product strategist to guide you for highly effective design thinking workshops.

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In A Nutshell 

A Design Thinking Workshop is an exceptional tool to up your product development game. With the right facilitation frameworks, fun-filled activities, passionate collaborations, and innovative techniques in design-based thinking activities, you can watch your organization become the leading brand in the competitive world of creating user-centric products. 

FAQ 

Design workshops are collaborative sessions that focus on solving complex issues, developing innovative ideas, and generating human-centric strategies for product development. The workshop includes empathizing with users, outlining the main problem, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing. 

Design workshops are collaborative sessions that focus on solving complex issues, developing innovative ideas, and generating human-centric strategies for product development. The workshop includes empathizing with users, outlining the main problem, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing. 

Design Thinking is different from traditional problem-solving as it has a human-centric focus and iterative nature. Unlike conventional methods that follow a linear path, Design Thinking uses empathy for users by deeply understanding their needs and experiences. It encourages multidisciplinary collaboration and creative brainstorming to generate diverse solutions.

The duration of a Design Thinking workshop varies. They depend on the scope of the problem and the depth of exploration desired. Workshops can range from a half-day session to several days or weeks, depending on the complexity of the challenge. A basic introductory workshop may last around 2-3 hours, involving essential stages of the Design Thinking process. But, in-depth workshops may extend over multiple days, as they involve deeper immersion, extensive ideation, and prototype refinement.

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