The design thinking process encompasses various activities. Design thinking is not only a process, but also a mindset that involves tackling problems with a different approach built upon curiosity, empathy, and a commitment to refining until an ideal solution is discovered.
Continue reading with us as we plunge enthusiastically into the various design thinking activities. We will further explore how these activities fuel creativity and actualise ideas, enabling teams to solve intricate issues and discover innovative answers.
Ten essential design thinking activities
Empathy Building Activities
In design thinking, empathy is a core element, making empathy building exercises and activities equally important. Activities in this regard includes random acts of kindness such as walking up to harmless individuals and keeping them company through a discussion. This kind of act helps to develop empathy which will aid in design thinking process. Another empathy-building exercise is active listening. Individuals should hone their listening skills to grasp important details and nuances in discussions, facilitating a deeper understanding of user needs and preferences.
Observation and Immersion
Observation and immersion are another form of activity in design thinking. In workshops, the tutors can come up with an observation and immersion activity for the learners, such as ”I spy” and ”Spot the difference.” These games are not only enjoyable but also effective in honing attention to detail, spatial awareness, and critical thinking skills. These skills, when properly developed, will aid in observing users to gain insights into their behaviours and expectations.
Problem Definition
Problem definitions are very interesting and engaging activities in design thinking. In this activity, participants are given a series of problem statements that are connected to a particular theme or subject. They are then tasked to merge components from these problems in order to form fresh, hybrid problem descriptions. This game prompts players to engage in critical thinking about the core problems and investigate creative answers. Participating in this activity repeatedly will imbibe the participants with the ability to create problem statments focused on user expectaions and pain points.
Ideation and Creativity
Like empathy, ideation and creativity are aslo core concepts of design thinking. Here, teams are generally tasked with generating a wide range of ideas without discrimination to explore potential solutions. Various activities aid in this context. One is the crazy 8s which requires participants to rapidly sketch eight ideas in eight minutes to stimulate creativity and ideation. Another activity is the “reverse thinking” exercise where a problem or challenge is presented to participants and they are encouraged to generate solutions that go against what is typically expected. For instance, when the issue is how to boost sales, participants could brainstorm strategies for decreasing sales or repelling customers. This game promotes thinking creatively and exploring non-traditional ideas.
Prototyping
Prototyping activities are interesting and experimentative sessions carried out to allow participant bring their idea to life. These activities can be carried out with using any material such as paper, sticky notes, and other simple materials to visualize ideas.
Testing and Iteration
A popular usability testing and iteration activity is the “A/B testing exercise,” where participants are split into two teams, with each team tasked with developing two distinct prototypes or solutions. Every team showcases their renditions to the group, and members cast their votes for the preferred version using predefined criteria like usability, effectiveness, and innovation. This game promotes competitiveness and enables players to experiment with different solutions to determine the most efficient strategy. Skills gained from this activity will aid participants in making quick and changes to prototypes based on user feedback to improve usability and desirability.
Storytelling activities
Indeed, not everyone can illustrate and articulate situations with words. Story telling activities help in this regard. These activities aid participants in narrating user scenarios and communicating ideas and solutions effectively. Activities include “picture storytelling” and ”storytelling cards.” Both activities share similar concepts in that participants will create a story based on the picture presented or the concept they hold. This activity encourages imagination, creativity, and active listening and allows participants to practice storytelling in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Collaborative Workshops
In a workshop, individuals participate in interactive tasks like drawing, sharing ideas, and generating solutions together to explore concepts and collaborate on creating answers. By utilising the combined intelligence and viewpoints of team members, these workshops reveal fresh perspectives and opportunities that may not have been apparent through individual work alone.
Visualisation
Visualisation activities are essential in the design thinking process, enabling teams to convert abstract ideas into tangible representations that are easy to comprehend and communicate. Creating a visual journey map is a useful visualisation activity that shows the different steps of a user’s interaction with a product or service. During this activity, team members work together to outline the steps the user takes from first realising a product exists, all the way to making a purchase and beyond. Teams can achieve a comprehensive understanding of the user’s journey by visually representing every touchpoint and interaction, enabling them to pinpoint pain points, recognise areas for enhancement.
Roleplay
Roleplaying is a dynamic and engaging exercise that helps team members better understand consumer demands and issues by assuming different personalities and acting out actual-life situations. Team members can develop greater empathy and a clear understanding of the problems they face by placing themselves in the users’ shoes. This enables them to come up with solutions that work better. Roleplaying fosters empathy and mutual understanding among team members by promoting communication and teamwork.
These activities cover the crucial stages of the design thinking process, starting from understanding users’ needs to creating and testing solutions in a repeated manner. By including these activities in their routine, teams can encourage creativity, teamwork, and innovation to effectively address complex issues.
