UX/UI Bootcamp
  • COURSE INFORMATION
    • UXUI Bootcamp
  • Self-Onboarding
    • Welcome
    • Your Bootcamp
    • Participation & Conduct Protocols
    • Tools
      • Google Classroom
      • Slack
      • Google Calendar
      • Zoom
      • Figma
      • Github
    • Learning Strategies
    • Complete your Self-Onboarding
  • Prepare for the Course
  • Foundations
    • What is the Foundations section?
    • Introduction to UX Design
    • User-Centered Design
    • Human-Centered Design
    • Design Thinking
      • Example of Design Thinking in a UX Project
    • Introduction to Project Management Methodologies
    • Figma
    • How to use AI
  • 1. Project
    • Milestone 1 - Research Planning
      • Introduction to User Research
      • Research Methods
        • Behavioral Research Methods
        • Attitudinal Research
        • Exploratory, Confirmatory, Evaluative Research
      • Research Planning
    • Milestone 2 - User Research
      • User Interviews
      • Qualitative Data Analysis
      • Practical Application of User Interviews
    • Milestone 3 - User Personas, User Journey Map
      • 👥User Personas
      • 🛤️User Journey Map
    • Recap
  • 2. Project - Mobile Application
    • Milestone 1 - UX Mapping, Empathy Map, Task Analysis, User flows
      • 🗺️UX Mapping Methods
      • 🐾Empathy Map
      • 🔰Task Analysis and User Flows
    • Milestone 2 - Information Architecture and Mid-Wireframes
      • 🏢Information Architecture
      • 💻Sitemap
      • 🏞️Mobile Navigation Patterns
      • 🌠Mobile Design Patterns
      • ✏️Wireframes
    • Milestone 3 - Prototyping, Testing and Refining
      • 🏗️Prototyping
        • Type of Prototypes
        • Prototyping with Figma
      • 🧪Usability Testing
    • Recap
  • 3. Project - Dashboard
    • Milestone 1 - Planning, Competitor Analysis, Design Proposal
      • Project Planning
      • Competitor Analysis
      • Desk Research
      • Design Proposal
    • Milestone 2 - Design & Prototyping
      • Mood Board
      • Style Guide
      • Component Library & UI Kits
      • Prototyping with Figma
    • Milestone 3 - Usability Test & Documentation
      • 🧪Usability Testing
      • Design documentation and Case Study
    • Recap
  • 👏Credits
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On this page
  • Introduction
  • What is Design Thinking?
  • Importance of Design Thinking
  • Design Thinking Rules
  • Phases of Design Thinking
  • Pro Tips for Design Thinkers
  • Get Started with Design Thinking using Figma
  • Summary:
  • Further Resources:
  • Next Step:

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  1. Foundations

Design Thinking

PreviousHuman-Centered DesignNextExample of Design Thinking in a UX Project

Last updated 10 months ago

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Introduction

Many organizations use design thinking to solve complex problems (ReDI School also applies it). This user-centric approach fosters creativity and diverse perspectives to create delightful products and services. In the following, we explain design thinking, how to apply it, how to get started with Figma, and give you an example of a UX Project where Design Thinking is applied.

What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a methodology that combines ideation and problem-solving to generate innovative solutions. It focuses on understanding user needs and creating products that resonate with them. By applying design thinking, companies can develop intuitive user experiences and improve product functionality. Watch the following video to further dive into Design Thinking:

Importance of Design Thinking

  • Increase Customer Satisfaction: By reframing problems from the user's perspective, design thinking helps teams produce human-centered designs that meet user needs and expectations.

  • Boost Innovation: Design thinking encourages teams to uncover unmet needs, challenge assumptions, and test ideas, leading to creative and effective solutions.

  • Improve Collaboration: The structured framework of design thinking aligns design teams, engineers, business strategists, and other key stakeholders, enhancing teamwork and communication.

Design Thinking Rules

Rule
Description

The Human Rule

Focus on end users to create products that address their wants and needs. Always prioritize user experience.

The Ambiguity Rule

Accept uncertainty and explore new ideas boldly. Embrace ambiguity to encourage out-of-the-box thinking.

The Re-Design Rule

Apply past designs to new work, considering constant human needs. Leverage existing solutions to inform new projects.

The Tangibility Rule

Use prototypes to bring concepts to life and test ideas in the real world. Prototypes make abstract ideas tangible and testable.

Phases of Design Thinking

1. Empathize

Conduct user research to deeply understand your target audience's thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions. Use methods like:

  • Interviews: Engage with users to gather detailed insights.

  • Surveys: Collect quantitative data from a broader audience.

  • Observations: Watch users interact with products to identify pain points and opportunities.

2. Define

Analyze the insights from your research to identify user needs and challenges. Develop a clear problem statement that guides your design efforts. A well-defined problem statement:

  • Focuses on specific user needs.

  • Provides a clear direction for ideation.

  • Helps maintain alignment among team members.

3. Ideate

Brainstorm potential solutions to the identified problems. Encourage creativity and involve key stakeholders to explore a wide range of ideas. Techniques for effective ideation include:

  • Brainstorming Sessions: Gather your team to generate a large number of ideas.

  • Mind Mapping: Visualize connections between ideas to spur further creativity.

  • Sketching: Quickly draw concepts to explore different approaches.

4. Prototype

Develop prototypes of your most promising concepts. Prototypes can be low-fidelity (simple sketches or paper models) or high-fidelity (interactive digital models). Testing these prototypes with users provides valuable feedback. Steps for prototyping include:

  • Build: Create a tangible representation of your idea.

  • Test: Gather user feedback to validate and refine the prototype.

  • Iterate: Make necessary adjustments based on feedback and retest.

5. Implement

Turn your most refined prototypes into real products. Launch them and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to guide future improvements. Implementation steps include:

  • Development: Collaborate with developers to build the final product.

  • Launch: Release the product to the market.

  • Evaluate: Track performance and user feedback to identify areas for improvement.

The following video summarizes the phases of Design thinking:

Pro Tips for Design Thinkers

  • Keep an Open Mind: Avoid judging ideas during brainstorming to keep the process constructive and dynamic. This encourages a free flow of creativity.

  • Test Early and Often: Use simple prototypes to validate ideas with users right from the start. Early testing helps streamline workflows and reduces the risk of developing unwanted features.

  • Put Users First: Always consider user needs throughout the design process. Building products and services that are both useful and usable ensures better user satisfaction and engagement.

Get Started with Design Thinking using Figma


Summary:

  1. What is Design Thinking? Design thinking is a user-centric methodology combining ideation and problem-solving to create innovative solutions. It focuses on understanding user needs and improving product functionality for better user experiences.

  2. Why is Design Thinking important? It Increases customer satisfaction by creating human-centered designs. It boosts innovation by uncovering unmet needs and challenging assumptions. It enhances collaboration by aligning teams within a structured framework.

  3. What are the phases and Tools? The phases are Empathy, Definition, Ideation, Prototyping, and Implementation. The tools Figma and FigJam can be used for user research, brainstorming, and prototyping to effectively support the design thinking process.

Further Resources:

Next Step:

Kick off the design thinking process with user research using FigJam’s .

To draw insights from your research, try FigJam’s . More info: .

Check out the example .

research plan template
problem statement example
Design Thinking using Figma
https://www.figma.com/resource-library/what-is-design-thinking/
Design Thinking from IDEO
Design Thinking (DT)
Design Thinking in a UX Project
Design Thinking Youtube Playlist from NN