What does design thinking in practice look like? There has been much talk about its power and efficacy. However, when you peruse the many online resources available, the picture is incomplete. We know it’s a human-centered take on product design, but what does that look like in motion?

Design thinking in practice isn’t quite what you’d think. There aren’t certified members of staff that specialize in it. Rather, you’re instead looking at a natural and intuitive process that several organizations are leveraging for massive gains. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at design thinking in practice from some of the biggest organizations around.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a product design approach that focuses on empathy. While that can seem somewhat nebulous at first blush, it is a far more intuitive process than you might realize. Design thinking relies on 5 core phases, which are iterative in concept. These aren’t sequential milestones to hit, but rather, a series of distinct phases where the iterative approach might need to return.

The five phases of design thinking are Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Of these, all five rely on constant communication, either with your team or your intended customers, to truly succeed. When successfully implemented, design thinking results in a product that meets and often exceeds user expectations.

The thing to keep in mind when approaching design thinking is that is iterative at its core. For those in the tech sector, this is quite similar in scope to the likes of Agile or DevOps. The constant turnaround and revising to ship out another prototype for testing can be time-consuming, but the proof is in the pudding.

What Makes It Effective

Design thinking is an effective process precisely because of its iterative approach. Think about it for a moment. What is more successful, the product that undergoes revisions before shipping, or one that has those flaws baked into the design? At its core, there are three main tenets for the resulting product that all design thinking adheres to.

First, the project has to be technologically viable. Yes, a better vacuum cleaner would need no setup and would automatically take the refuse to the can outside. However, that isn’t technologically possible at the time of this writing. Second, it has to be viable, meaning it has to be something that fits those customer needs.

Finally, it has to be reliable. Think for a moment about the humble mousetrap. The core design hasn’t been changed in centuries, but it is a practical example of design thinking in action. The reason there isn’t a better mousetrap is because the design was essentially perfected the first time around.

Design Thinking in Practice: A Closer Look

Now that we’ve outlined the tenets and practical definitions of design thinking, it’s time to take a closer look. Design thinking in practice can take several different forms, but the core intent behind the final deployment of a project essentially remains the same. You’ve got customer needs and concerns, you’ve gone through the phases, and now the final, viable product is ready to ship.

That said, you’ll notice from the leading brands that use design thinking in practice that there is quite a disparity between industries. Keen practitioners of the approach understand it is an industry-agnostic means of achieving continual quality for your production.

Simply put, the brands we’re highlighting best exemplify design thinking in practice. It may not be immediately evident, but there is real power in heeding the thoughts and concerns of your customers to define the problem. As an approach, this one emphasizes creative thought, as you’ll see throughout many of these examples.

General Electric

When you get right down to it, no one really likes going in for imaging work at a hospital. MRI and CT scanners can be somewhat daunting, and terrifying for some. So, how do you build a better imaging device to accommodate the needs of a child? General Electric had this very same question posed to them and got hard at work to develop a viable solution.

When so many of the imaging requirements for children needed sedation, General Electric sought to rectify the problem. Enter the Pirate Adventure, a themed MRI machine with a jaunty and playful theming around it. As GE couldn’t very well redesign the MRI machine on its own, it sought instead to make it more welcoming to children.

The final design is far more playful in tone, bringing to mind cartoons and theme parks more than the austere surroundings of your typical MRI machine. Children enter the scanner and even receive a prize on the way out. GE’s concept had a massive payout in the end, with sedation dropping significantly for pediatric patients.

Airbnb

Few tech startups exemplify design thinking in practice like Airbnb. In 2009, the company was on the skids, on the verge of shutting shop for good. With a weekly revenue of around $200 to split between 3 people, things weren’t looking good. The core concept behind the service was solid, renting rooms without having to go through the red tape of the likes of a lease.

However, something was lacking. The founders of Airbnb took a closer look at 40 listings for the New York City area and noticed a common trend: the photos were terrible. Users uploading their rooms for rent relied on cheap camera phone photos or outdated images from the classifieds.

The result of design thinking in practice saw the founders traveling to New York City with a rented professional camera. New photos were taken and uploaded to match the listings. Within just a week, they had doubled their weekly revenue. 15 years later, they are a force to be reckoned with thanks to considering user needs and applying creative solutions to remediate the problem.

Oral-B

As a father, there is nothing more daunting than trying to convince a small child to brush their teeth. You can cajole them, and you can offer rewards, but it is like asking them to clean out the dryer vent. How do you entice a child to willingly brush their teeth? Oral-B decided to pursue design thinking in practice and go to the drawing board.

The final result was a chunky handled toothbrush with fun designs. The toothbrush was easily gripped by children, allowing for more dextrous applications and hopefully getting those teeth nice and clean. However, this was quite a process to get to this point.

Oral-B met with design thinking pioneers IDEO to develop their new toothbrush. After some time of simply gathering data from Oral-B users around the country, they were able to develop a keen strategy and creative solution. The results speak for themselves, as Oral-B’s new toothbrush remained a top seller for 18 months before competitors were able to pick up the slack.

Uber Eats

I’ll level and say that I love Uber Eats, but this isn’t a pure testimonial. Tech startups understand perhaps better than anyone the efficacy of design thinking in practice. Uber had spent years domineering the rideshare market, but food delivery remained somewhat elusive.

To bolster the success of its food delivery service, Uber came across a somewhat practical solution. The fledgling food delivery service had to understand the nature of the cities it operated in. It is easy to conceptualize services in a vacuum, but a far different matter when trying to get a pizza delivered when your main office is thousands of miles away.

As such, team members were sent to major metropolitan areas to better understand their customers’ needs. If you’ve ordered a meal and had it delivered recently, you’re using design thinking in practice. This investment into empathy by the Uber Eats team has seen it become one of the leading food delivery services across the globe.

Bank of America

Saving a little per paycheck can be a blessing for later on down the road. However, many users simply don’t have the means or foresight to set aside a little nest egg. Bank of America started brainstorming on ways to effectively guarantee savings, as this was a great means of increasing customer satisfaction and morale.

They came up with the roundup system, something that was aided by help from design firm IDEO. In addressing customer concerns, Bank of America was able to put design thinking into practice to massively successful results.

The roundup system paid off massively, with record numbers of new bank accounts for the firm over a year. Say what you will about the institution, but it certainly listened to its customers and empathized with the problem before developing a new solution.

Apple

While Apple is a household name these days, that wasn’t always the case. Flashing back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, Apple struggled to gain a foothold against the likes of IBM, Dell, Microsoft, and others. Apple’s past is littered with failed concepts and products and just didn’t do much to distinguish itself from the crowd.

Their fortunes changed for the better upon the return of founder Steve Jobs in 1997. Design thinking became integrated into the workflow and culture of the company, seeing massive changes in how ideas were developed and launched.

The final result is one of the finest examples of design thinking in practice you can think of. Following the launch of successful products like the iPhone, iMac, and iPod, Apple’s cultural cachet and market share has been firmly established. It took listening and empathizing with the needs of customers to make such a sterling difference.

Ford

As one of the oldest auto manufacturers in the United States, Ford has quite a legacy to live up to. Our final example of design thinking in practice comes from Ford, who has adopted the methodology to better meet the needs of their customers. This is accomplished with D-Ford, a human-centered design lab that is helping the venerated auto manufacturer prepare for the future.

This has worked wonders for Ford, allowing the organization to retain agility while adapting to the ever-changing business climate surrounding automotive development. With self-driving and electric vehicles looming on the horizon, Ford is rising to the challenge while meeting the needs of its legacy customer base.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

We’ve outlined design thinking in practice, but what about other tools? You might want to take a closer look at digital tools that drive business agility. Agility in any organization is a prerequisite for competing in the modern market, and the tools we outline can help you achieve this objective with ease.

There is nothing more valuable to a modern business than the notion of data. Creating a data-driven culture in your organization can be daunting without the right care taken, however. Our illustrative guide highlights some steps to take to change your corporate culture for the better.

Conclusion

Design thinking in practice is what distinguishes leading brands from the also-rans in the same market segment. That said, your organization could greatly benefit from implementing the methodology for developing your next product. It isn’t just for customer satisfaction, but better prepares your organization for the future to come.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Golden Dayz/Shutterstock.com.