{"id":16158,"date":"2017-12-19T18:30:22","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T02:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/?p=16158"},"modified":"2024-05-20T21:36:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T04:36:26","slug":"evangelize-design-thinking-beyond-just-buzzwords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/evangelize-design-thinking-beyond-just-buzzwords\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Evangelize Design Thinking Beyond Just Buzzwords"},"content":{"rendered":"

While you practice design thinking every day, outsiders most likely see it as some form of magical thinking. At the very least, it\u2019s certainly a buzzword. <\/p>\n

To make others care about the practice behind the buzzword, you need to relate it back to the business and show some real examples of its value. Cut through the jargon and describe it as a business process. <\/p>\n

First, I\u2019ll explain how we boiled down design thinking into a 30-second value proposition, then I\u2019ll explain some of my favorite case studies as evidence of its effectiveness.  <\/p>\n

Design Thinking in 30 Seconds<\/h2>\n

Design thinking might feel convoluted from over-usage, but it\u2019s actually a very straightforward concept. <\/p>\n

The core tenets are simply 1) focusing first on customer problems, 2) iterating on ideas, and 3) soliciting feedback to focus and refine those ideas. <\/p>\n

At Citrix, we boiled down design thinking into key activities within the stages of Empathy, Ideate, and Prototype.<\/p>\n

\"desing<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how we explained the value of design thinking:<\/h2>\n

\u201cFor people in non-design roles, focus easily drifts away from the customer. They might focus on a schedule or an internal process. Often, as companies scale, many employees have limited or no contact with the company\u2019s customer. <\/p>\n

Luckily, through structured activities, we can teach people to refocus on the problems that matter to customers and improve the bottom line.<\/p>\n

Rather than latch onto the first solution, employees can better evaluate a multitude of options before committing resources. They\u2019ll be able to better avoid the vicious cycle of incremental effort with minimal customer impact.<\/p>\n

As employees evaluate and explore ideas earlier, we\u2019ll waste less money on the wrong issues.\u201d <\/p>\n

And the elevator pitch version:<\/h2>\n

\u201cDesign thinking isn\u2019t a philosophy. It\u2019s a problem-solving strategy employees can learn to improve their business processes. With the right people teaching it, the company will see more profitable and innovative options appear when making decisions that can cost a lot of time and money.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Design Thinking in Action<\/h2>\n

In many organizations, UX teams become facilitators and trainers of a design thinking movement. They help employees in other roles learn this new way of approaching problems.<\/p>\n

But before you can lead design change, you need to:  <\/p>\n