Manila Science High School
SHS Department - STEM
MODULE 2
DESIGN THINKING
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DESIGN THINKING
Design thinking is a methodology that helps people understand and develop creative
ways to solve a problem (1). It is an iterative process in which the main goal is to understand the
user, challenge assumptions, and to create a solution that would be best for the problem of the
user (2). It is a framework that helps solve different problems in multiple environments, focuses
on the user experience, and encourages cross-functional collaboration and agile culture.
Some most important principles of design thinking include:
1. Human Centered - design thinking is all about having empathy for the people you are designing
for and acquiring user feedback to create a good design.
2.Radical Collaboration - design thinking is not just one-man job. Its goal is to gather innovators
with varied backgrounds and viewpoints, to create breakthroughs and solutions.
3.Show don’t tell - Communicate your vision in an impact-full and meaningful way by creating
experiences, using illustrative visuals, and telling good stories.
4.Be Mindful of Process - design thinking follows a specific method in order to come up with the
best idea for a specific problem. Be mindful of the stages, the specific methods to use in every
stage, and stick to the goal.
Process of Design Thinking
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Empathize - the goal of this stage is to gain insight of who your end users are,
what challenges they face and what requirements and desires must be met.
During the empathize stage, you'll engage with the users and their
environment to gain a deeper understanding, observing them and empathizing
with people.
Define - Based on what you have gathered in the empathize stage, the next
step is to analyze all the information in order to define the problem and
construct a clear problem statement in a human centered-manner. You’ll try
to understand what the pain points of the user/s are. This stage will guide the
whole planning measure from then on out by having a fixed objective to focus.
Ideate - Having the problem statement as your guide, you’ll now aim to come
up with as many ideas and solutions as possible. You must “think outside the
box” to generate new solutions and alternative ways to gain new perspectives
about the problem statement.
Prototype - After selecting your best solutions, you’ll now have to build a
physical representation of one of your ideas that will deliver the minimum
delightful experience or what we called prototype. During this stage, you’ll
have something tangible that you can test on the users and will help you
identify the best possible solution for your problem statement.
Test - The last stage of the designing process enables you to test the
prototype and see what part needs improving and what works well with the
users. You will gain feedback that you can use as a basis to make
improvements before implementing your final design and prototype.
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CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
TRUE OR FALSE: Write TRUE if the statement is correct, otherwise write
FALSE.
______1. In the test stage of design thinking, you engage in internal testing with employees.
______2. Ideate stage is the part wherein you must create a clear problem statement.
______3. Empathy is a synonym of sympathy.
______4. Design thinking is done individually.
______5. It’s okay to start defining the problem first before empathize stage.
______6. A list of creative solutions happens in Ideate Stage.
______7. Collecting solutions is an important portion of testing a prototype in the test stage of
design thinking.
______8. Design thinking is a problem-solving framework.
______9. Design thinking can be applied in other professions.
______10. Taking account into consideration the look and feel of a product and its presentation
is user-experience design.
______11. Design thinking teaches that enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of
the lone genius.
______12. Design Thinking is also called "corporate-centered design" because of its intense
focus on corporate interests.
______13. Design Thinking has a bias towards action, supporting the "show don't tell" approach
to collaboration and development and prototyping your way to a solution.
______14. Divergent thinking begins with a single concept and explores many possibilities around
that concept.
______15. A Design Thinking brainstorming session typically starts with everyone storming the
whiteboard.
IDENTIFICATION: Identify which stage of Design Thinking best described the scenario given.
16. Caitlin is creating a new product for university students. She takes a design-thinking approach.
Her first step is addressing who she is creating the product for and conducts research on
understanding this target market.
17. A university is re-designing their website. The main user of the website is university students.
The web-developer is choosing what elements to put on the home page.
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18. The stage allows you to observe and talk to customers. You can also learn
whether your product hits the mark.
19. The team seeks to fully understand the Design Challenge by placing themselves in the shoes
of the users.
20. stage of Design Thinking, the design team utilizes brainstorming techniques to get at unique
solutions.
ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: User Problem Statement
A user problem statement is a statement that helps a team understand
the problem of the user/s. A good user problem statement deconstructs the
user's situation and challenges into simple terms that everyone can understand.
It’s clear and direct as possible and no buzzwords or acronyms. It also provides
the team with a shared focus - narrowing in on the specific problem to be solved.
For this activity, fill in the blanks to complete the user problem statement. Think of any
problem, whether related to you or other people. Use the example below as a guide. Make at
least three (3) user problem statements.
User Problem Statement:
Our user is a __________________________.
We will improve his/her ____________________.
Currently, our user struggles because __________________________________.
In a perfect world, (Name of user) would be able to _______________________.
This would be great for (Name of user) because ____________________________.
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Example:
Our user is a quadriplegic commuter.
We will improve his/her commuting experience
Currently, our user struggles because the public transport system is currently not equipped
for all types of disabilities.
In a perfect world, Manuel would be able to conveniently use public transport to commute
anytime anywhere.
This would be great for Manuel because he/she can now go anywhere anytime without
needing help/assistance.
Activity 2: Invent a Sport
Since most people cannot go outside of their homes, especially students, you need to
design a sport that people can play together even when they are physically far apart. The goal is
to create a high interest game that requires physical movement.
Guide Question:
1. What is the goal of your sport? How will you win? Will you have points, or will it end when you
reach a specific objective?
2. Will it be timed? Will you have specific rounds? Will you take turns?
3. How many players will you need? Will it be a team sport or an individual sport? Will your sport
have positions? If so, what will each person do?
4. What materials will you use? What items can you use from home? How will you blend the
physical environment with technology?
5. What will the dimensions of the field or court be? Will you play it indoors or outdoors? Will it
be loud or quiet?
6. What will the rules be? What will you allow? What will be forbidden? And what are the
consequences for a penalty?
You must work collaboratively with 2-4 people at a distance using email, shared
documents, chat, or video conferencing. Be sure to make your game inclusive so everyone can
play. The goal is to create something that is both fun and active at the same time.
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Activity 3: Movie Time!
Watch these interesting videos to have an idea on how design thinking is
applied to solve real problems. Assess how the five steps of Design
Thinking is applied in the videos.
Transforming Problems for Children and Families.
Video Link:
(1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZWMj_H8Iqw
(2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=jajduxPD6H4
Empathize:___________________________________________________________________
Define: ______________________________________________________________________
Ideate: ______________________________________________________________________
Prototype: ___________________________________________________________________
Test: ________________________________________________________________________
REFLECTIVE LEARNING
1. What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned in this module?
2. In your own opinion, is design thinking an effective method? Explain.
3. If you are going to add another stage in Design Thinking, what is it?
4. How can you incorporate creativity in design thinking?
5. What is the importance of following the specific stages of design thinking?
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References
Websites
1. Design
Thinking.
Retrieved
from:
https://psu.pb.unizin.org/ist110/chapter/15-1-
introduction-to-design-thinking/
2. What
is
Design
Thinking?
Retrieved
from:
https://www.interaction-
design.org/literature/article/what-is-design-thinking-and-why-is-it-so-popular
3. Principles of design thinking. Retrieved from https://medium.com/a-journey-to-designthinking/design-mindsets-756bc69aed0d
4. All images are from google