Design Thinking Certification

Businesses today recognize the importance of design thinking in innovation. Due to its ability to solve complex problems and be sensitive to human needs without compromising on feasibility, design thinking is one of the leading approaches to innovation across businesses worldwide.  

Without innovation, companies cannot strive to survive in the competitive market, where user needs to change rapidly. By adopting design thinking methods, organizations can transform their ideas into functional processes and products catering to the needs of their customers. 

Design thinking encompasses the following steps or stages: 

• Empathizing: to understand the problem from the perspective of human needs 
• Defining: to re-frame the problem statement in a human-centric way 
• Ideating: to come up with a wide variety of solutions and ideas  
• Prototyping: to create workable samples to assess feasibility of ideas generated 
• Testing: to put the prototype to test to finalize on the best solution 

Several methods of design thinking exist, both in industry and academia. Here, we will focus on six methods of design thinking, all of which are known to enhance communication among multi-disciplinary teams, their use of visualization techniques, as well as, for its user simplicity for non-experts.  

1. PERSONAS: this method is used to identify the needs and desires of the user. The persona refers to a “character” which can be used by both the client and the designer as a means of communication in the design process. It is usually employed during the empathizing and defining stages of design thinking. Persona method of design thinking can be used when developing marketing products, for communication and to reflect the human-centric approach of design thinking
2. STAKEHOLDER MAP: A stakeholder map is a visual representation of the various groups involved in a particular product or service, such as customers, users, partners, organizations, companies, and other stakeholders [1]. This map can be used to analyze and understand the interconnections between the various stakeholders for a number of purposes. According to Curedale [2], this map is vital during the defining stage, to identify the key members in the designing process and their relations with one another. 
3. CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP (CJM): This technique was born out of service blue-printing. It involves a description of a collection of touchpoints from the start to finish of service delivery, from the point of view of the customer. A “touchpoint” refers to “an instance or a potential point of communication or interaction between a customer and a service provider”. Using the CJM, one can identify the chances of service innovation and improvement. This method of design thinking can be used during the empathizing stage.
4. SERVICE BLUEPRINT: This method was developed by Shostack. It is basically a template depicting the steps and flow of service delivery related to the role of the stakeholder as well as the process of delivery. It shows all actions, including technical activities, between the service provider and the customer. In the context of design thinking, this method is useful during the defining stage as it gives an idea of all the in-front tasks and back tasks.
5. BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION: Using a Business Model Canvas (BMC), one can explore the market opportunities, which is central to Business Model (BM) Innovation. Since it describes the business logic of any idea, solution, product etc via visual representation, the BMC is useful as a method of design thinking during the ideation phase. 
6. RAPID PROTOTYPING (RP): As the name suggests, rapid prototyping allows a quick, visual manifestation of the ideas chalked out on the drawing board. It is useful to determine which of the suggested ideas are technologically possible. RP enhances communication across teams as it provides a visual and tangible representation that can be assessed and analyzed to finalize a product or service that adequately solves the problem. The RP is directly in line with the prototyping stage of design thinking.

At any given point of time, no one method can be sufficient to carry out the design thinking process. The most elaborate and global approach would involve a combination of the methods during the various stages to zero in on a practical and feasible solution to the problem at hand, albeit in a way that meets the human needs – something integral to design thinking.  

DESIGN THINKING COURSES – LEARNING ABOUT INNOVATION 

One of the biggest myths one can come across is that creativity cannot be nurtured; only a blessed few are born with it. Just like any other skill may be honed and perfected with practice and effort, so can creativity. And, this creativity is not restricted to simply the arts. Creativity exists in business as well. It’s just known by a slightly different name: innovation. 

Every business strives for innovation. Innovation ensures not just the survival but also the subsequent rise of companies across domains. To be innovative, companies need to strategize and plan their course of action. They need to employ out-of-the-box methods and attempt strategies that have never been done before.  

But, how does one go about being innovative? There is no one road to innovation. Every company is different, hence, every path to innovation is different. However, one can utilize a certain vehicle which will drive them down the road to innovation. This vehicle is design thinking. 

Design thinking is the new buzz word amongst businesses. Everybody wants to try it and benefit from it. If you are well-versed with the process and methods, you stand out among the decision makers responsible for building teams aimed at innovation. That’s why design thinking courses are on the rise. There are a wide variety of courses and workshops to choose from to learn about design thinking and practice it hands-on.  

Courses can be broadly divided into two categories: 

1. 1. In-Person 
   2. Online 
   3. Blended (in-person and online) 

Most in-person courses are short duration but highly intensive and rigorous courses on design thinking. They focus on the design thinking process as well as innovation as a whole; building creatively motivated teams, methods and techniques to spur innovation, understand the psychology behind human and machine interaction etc. Although in-person design thinking courses are structured and designed with a thorough approach, they are also quite expensive to engage in. Moreover, the target groups for in-person design thinking courses are usually senior officials and team leaders.  

A more approachable option is online courses on design thinking. They are certification courses which not only teach you about design thinking, but also provide certification upon completion of course.  You may not be able to practice design thinking hands-on, but you would gain access to a wide range of resources and tools that would enable you to put the design thinking process into practice once you have learned it. 

Blended courses refer to those online courses, which also offer a few in-person sessions. In a way, this is the most appropriate way to learn about design thinking since it gives you the opportunity to put your learning into practice in a controlled environment that can be assessed and improved upon.  

Along with courses, one can choose to participate in workshops organized by institutes and organizations where you get to mingle and interact with experts and incumbents alike who share a common interest: design thinking.  

Lastly, one can opt to read the multitude of books available along with the materials they have access to from their course. Learning is best when one tries to build on the knowledge through curiosity and self-discovery.  

Design thinking is a very practical approach to innovation that requires practice and perseverance to master. A good way to improve your design thinking skills is to keep yourself updated via courses that teach new techniques and methods. Then, one must also employ their learning across a wide range of problems. Practice enhances flexibility; a core component of creativity and innovation.