A Short Introduction to Design Thinking with Dawan Stanford — DT101 E32

Welcome to the Design Thinking 101 podcast! I’m Dawan Stanford, your host. This episode is a short introductory to design thinking through the lens of seeing, solving and acting.

Listen to learn more about:

  • The fundamentals of design thinking
  • Dawan’s definition of design thinking
  • Design thinking in three pieces: process, methods and mindset
  • Fluid Hive’s design thinking process: Seeing, Solving and Acting
  • Fixed mindset versus growth mindset
  • The mindset of a designer

Show Highlights

[00:47] Dawan likes to introduce design thinking by recounting a story from Doug Dietz, a designer and engineer at GE Healthcare.
[02:01] Doug witnessed a frightened child coming in for an MRI on the machine he designed.
[03:05] Statistics show that most children are scared and have to be sedated when getting MRIs and CT scans.
[03:09] Doug recognized a problem that needed to be solved.
[03:22] Doug talked to experts to better understand how to design for children.
[03:39] A cosmetic “facelift” turned the MRI machine into a pirate ship, and the room into an ocean.
[04:14] Parents received a storybook to read to their child before the appointment.
[04:33] The MRI appointment was turned into a game.
[04:47] Result of the redesign? A drastic reduction in the number of children needing sedation.
[05:33] Seeing and making sure we understand the problem is a fundamental part of design thinking.
[05:52] Breaking down design thinking into process, methods, and mindset.
[06:07] There is no one, single correct process to design thinking.
[06:35] Inside the process is where the design methods live.
[07:12] Mindset can’t be taught; you have to practice your way into it.
[07:44] The “definition” of design thinking.
[08:08] Taking a deep dive into the definition.
[08:30] It’s the discipline of helping people.
[08:36] Design methods help us explore.
[08:58] What problem are you trying to solve?
[10:40] The tricky aspect of “newness” and “not new enough” when designing.
[11:20] Ideas are not innovation.
[12:00] Fluid Hive’s process is three steps: Seeing, Solving, and Acting.
[12:56] Your solution has to be good for the people you serve and the people who have to deliver the solution.
[13:19] Knowing which questions to ask when in the design process.
[14:04] Fixed mindset versus growth mindset.
[16:19] What does design mindset look like?
[16:37] Everything is a prototype.
[15:56] Embracing the emotions.
[17:22] Designers are always curious.
[17:42] Designers are listeners and questioners.
[18:16] Designers are intentional about their actions.
[18:33] Designers like to dive in and try things.
[18:50] Designers are always changing and adjusting their work as the world around them changes.
[19:53] Taking a second look at Doug’s story, from a design perspective.

Links

Elon By Design and The Center for Design Thinking, Elon University
Fluid Hive
Dawan Stanford on Twitter
Book Recommendation: Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pickel, and Brian Quinn
Book Recommendation: Mindset – Changing the Way You Think to Fulfill Your Potential, by Carol Dweck

DT101 Episodes You Might Like

Ask Like a Designer — DT101 E61

Design, and One Question to Rule Them All // ALD 002 — DT101 E63

There Are No Problems Worth Solving — Only Questions Worth Asking // ALD 003 — DT101 E65

Your Good-Life OS: Designing a System for Living Well and Peak Performance // ALD 004 — DT101 E67

Tell me how the show helps you.

Photo of Dawan Stanford

Your ideas support and develop the show. Tell the world how the Design Thinking 101 Podcast has helped you think and solve like a designer. Then, tell me how I might make it even more helpful.

Cheers ~ Dawan

Your Ask Like a Designer Studio

Your Ask Like a Designer Studio connects you with people interested in thinking and solving like a designer.

Enjoy invitations to free, live Studio events. Receive articles, Design Thinking 101 podcast updates, tips, tools, templates, workshop information, and more to help you create and perform!

Innovation Smart Start Webinar

Your next project could be easier, faster and more effective if you play smart at the start. In this webinar Dr. Dawan Stanford will teach you ways to ask like a designer so your projects succeed more often and your revenue grows.

Fluid Hive's Designing Facilitation Course

Are you ready to design outstanding events that will engage participants and get the outcomes you need?

Fluid Hive's Designing Facilitation Course is a step-by-step design thinking-fueled system for creating and leading events, workshops and meetings that solve problems, save money, and protect your reputation.

The Designing Facilitation Course will teach you how to create engaging events that are easier to deliver and generate outcomes that your participants want.

Design Thinking 101 Courses — Framing

In this self-paced, online course, Framing: Creating Better Solutions by Finding More Valuable Problems to Solve, you will learn to create more effective solutions by understanding the problem you are trying to solve.

Creating effective solutions begins with understanding the problem we are trying to solve. Is this problem worth solving? Where should we look to understand our problem? What’s happening inside this problem? How do we define the problem? How do we adjust problem framing as we go? During the course, you will learn to answer these questions and apply them to your work.