The What, Why, Who, and How of Design Thinking
The When and Where follows!
Design Thinking is a process of Sensing and Thinking.
You will find our subconscious mind always in a state of desire- wanting, wishing, or planning to achieve or solve something that is desired. Desires are generated from our likes and dislikes. The conscious mind takes all the logical efforts to achieve the same.
The question here is, how do we define our desires? What do they mean to us and the world? And I believe that this depends fully on one's belief systems.
Design Thinking starts with defining the way the world understands.
When we are looking to achieve or solve something, it's important to define it. For example, let us assume that we are trying to solve the question of how to map the future trend analysis.
So we may start by asking the following questions- What is the future trend analysis? How is this subject defined universally? Is it relevant to our desired context? It is important to ask these questions. You must be clear about the context of ‘what?’ Let us relate it to the category of Real Estate. In the coming, five to ten years, the real estate category dynamics will change hugely due to changes in consumer behavior, the evolving PESTLE effects, behavior demonstrated by the competition, and so on. There could be many such possible contexts one needs to address.
The next step is to define the Why
Why are we defining the future trends in the Real Estate Category? This exercise will bring clarity to the purpose and objectives of the activity. When you ask Why you are considering that you are doing this activity for ‘whom’. For example, your purpose is to write a blog, or offer insights to one of your real estate clients or give a presentation at a seminar. The relevance of scope, its perspective, and the context will change considering the purpose of the activity. And that's how this process supports in uncovering the non-tangible or unknown. Here the What and Why both are aligned more towards strategic perspectives with sense and logic.
The challenge which we face is in defining the How
In this context, we will examine how you will find the guiding parameters to research the future trends in real estate. Once your purpose or objective is defined, the context of ‘how’ will be more clear. For example, you are a consultant and your objective is to guide your client about the future trends that are likely to affect their bottom line. By studying their current situation, you start by understanding their vision, internal circumstances, competition, and the problems of the consumers. Study the consumer’s anticipated behavior in the next half a decade, and how technology is likely to impact the industry.
To achieve the How we need to align it with all the Why and What. Do you agree?
Once you are confident and prepared for what you have found for whom, the next step is When and Where. This is more connected to the place and time, but that is also substantial because of operational or execution issues, as at the end the Who suffers. Nothing is non-essential because finally, it is not about what you are delivering, but what kind of experience that delivery is generating. We are humans! We always prefer what we like!
