DESIGN THINKING

NOTES
UNIT - 1

🎨 Design Thinking
(MAKAUT – Simplified Notes)

🕰️ 1. Introduction & History of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a creative problem-solving approach focused on understanding users,
challenging assumptions, and redefining problems to identify innovative solutions.

📚 History:
Rooted in design practices from the 1960s
Popularized by IDEO, a global design company
Promoted by Stanford [Link] for business and engineering

✅ Used by companies like Apple, Google, and IBM to innovate products and services
👥 2. Human-Centered Design (HCD)
Design that puts people first.

Key Features:

Understand user needs and emotions

Involve users in the design process
Test solutions with real people

✅ Goal: Build solutions that are useful, usable, and desirable

❓ 3. Evoking the ‘Right Problem’
Design Thinking is not just about solving problems — it’s about solving the right problem.

How?

Empathize – Understand user pain points

 Define – Clearly describe the real problem
Ask: “Is this the problem users actually face?”

✅ Example:
You’re asked to improve a printer’s speed, but real user feedback shows confusion in
printing process — so the real problem is user interface, not speed.

📑 4. Case Study: IDEO Shopping Cart Project

IDEO redesigned the shopping cart using Design Thinking.

Steps Taken:

1. Empathize – Observed how people shop

2. Define – Found that theft, child safety, and maneuverability were issues
3. Ideate – Brainstormed 100+ ideas
4. Prototype – Built a new cart design
5. Test – Tried it in real supermarkets

✅ Result: A completely new and user-focused design

✅ Design Thinking Process (Quick View)
Phase What Happens

Empathize Understand user needs

Define Identify the core problem

Ideate Brainstorm creative ideas

Prototype Create simple versions of solutions

Test Try solutions with real users

💡 Final Summary
 Topic Summary

Design Thinking User-centered, creative problem solving

History IDEO, Stanford, 1960s

Human-Centered Design Focuses on real user needs

Right Problem Discover the actual issue, not just

symptoms

Case Study IDEO shopping cart – improved safety,

usability

UNIT - 2

❤️‍🔥 Empathize Phase & Customer Understanding

(MAKAUT – Design Thinking Made Easy)

🧠 1. Empathize Phase
This is the first step in the Design Thinking process.

Goal:

To understand the user deeply – their thoughts, feelings, pain points, and environment.

How do we empathize?

Observe users in real situations

Engage through interviews & conversations
Immerse yourself in the user’s experience

✅ Don't assume – feel what the user feels.

🧭 2. Customer Journey Mapping (CJM)
A visual map showing how a user interacts with a product/service over time.

CJM Includes:

Touchpoints – where the user interacts (e.g., website, call, store)

User Actions – what user does at each step
 Pain Points – where users struggle
Emotions – how users feel

Why use it?

Reveals gaps, problems, and opportunities

Helps improve user experience

✅ CJM = See the product from the user's eyes

🤐 3. Understanding Unexpressed Needs
Users often:

Say what they want, but not what they need

Struggle to express hidden frustrations or hopes

How to find unspoken needs:

Ask “why” repeatedly during interviews

Watch body language and behavior
Note inconsistencies in words vs actions

✅ Real innovation comes from solving invisible problems.

💡 4. Design Insight & Strategy
Design Insight:

A deep understanding that leads to a unique, human-centered solution.

✅ Comes from patterns found in user behavior and emotions.

Example:

Insight: “Busy moms don’t need more features—they need fewer steps.”

Design Strategy:

Using insights to plan a creative, useful solution.

It includes:

Who we are designing for?

What problem are we solving?
What outcome do we want?

✅ Strategy bridges user needs and business goals.

📝 Summary Table
 Concept What It Means

Empathize Understand user feelings and context

Customer Journey Map User experience from start to finish

Unexpressed Needs Hidden or unsaid user problems

Design Insight Deep realization from empathy

Design Strategy Plan to solve the right problem creatively

UNIT - 3

Here’s your exam-friendly, simplified notes for:

🔍 Analyze Phase in Design Thinking

(MAKAUT – Easy & Clear)

🧠 1. Analyze Phase – What is it?

After collecting user data in the Empathize Phase, we now analyze it to find:

The real root problem

Hidden patterns
Key insights that drive design

✅ Goal: Clearly define what problem we're solving and why it matters
🤔 2. The 5 Whys Technique
A simple method to find the root cause of a problem by asking “Why?” five times.

Example:

🟠 Problem: The user abandoned the checkout process.

🔹 Why? — The process was too long.
🔹 Why? — Too many steps.
🔹 Why? — We ask for unnecessary info.
🔹 Why? — Form wasn't optimized.
🔹 Why? — We didn’t design with user feedback.
✅ Root Problem: Poor form design based on assumptions, not user needs.
🔥 Why Use 5 Whys?
Reveals the real issue, not just symptoms
Helps avoid surface-level fixes
Encourages critical thinking

⚠️ 3. Conflict of Interest

In design thinking, a conflict of interest occurs when:

Different stakeholders (e.g., users, business, developers) want different outcomes

Examples:

Users want a free service, but the business wants profits

Designers want simplicity, but marketing wants to show all features

How to handle conflicts:

Go back to user needs — what helps the user most?

Find a balance that meets both user value and business goals
Use prototyping and testing to decide what works best

✅ Remember: The user’s perspective comes first in human-centered design.

📝 Quick Summary Table
Topic What It Means

Analyze Phase Make sense of user data to define the real

problem

5 Whys Root cause analysis method

Conflict of Interest When stakeholders want different things

UNIT - 4

💡 Solve Phase & Ideation Techniques (MAKAUT)

(Design Thinking – Simplified Notes)

✅ 1. Solve Phase – What is it?

After defining the real problem (in Analyze Phase), the Solve Phase is where you:
 Generate creative ideas
Select the best possible solutions
Begin designing solutions

This is where ideation, inventive thinking, and problem-solving methods come into play.

🧠 2. Ideation
Ideation = generating ideas

Techniques:

Brainstorming – Free flow of ideas

Mind Mapping – Visual idea connections
SCAMPER – Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse
Crazy 8s – Draw 8 ideas in 8 minutes

✅ Quantity > Quality first — then narrow down ideas.

🤖 3. ARIZ – Algorithm for Inventive Problem Solving
ARIZ is a step-by-step method from TRIZ to solve complex problems creatively.

Main steps:

1. Define the problem clearly

2. Identify contradictions
3. Formulate the ideal solution
4. Analyze available resources
5. Use inventive principles to solve

✅ ARIZ guides you to inventive, not obvious solutions.

🧬 4. TRIZ – Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
TRIZ is a Russian method developed by Genrich Altshuller.

It is based on studying millions of patents to find patterns in successful innovations.

Key TRIZ Ideas:

All problems involve contradictions

There are 40 inventive principles that solve these contradictions
Encourages systematic creativity, not trial-and-error

✅ Used in engineering, design, product innovation

💥 5. TIPS – Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
TIPS is just the English adaptation of TRIZ.
It includes:

Problem analysis
Contradiction identification
Applying inventive principles for breakthrough solutions

✅ TIPS = TRIZ for global use

🧪 6. Inventive Principles (Examples)
These are standard strategies used to solve contradictions in TRIZ/TIPS.

A. Preliminary Action

Do something in advance to reduce problem later.

Example: Auto-save in software to prevent data loss.

B. Beforehand Cushioning

Prepare a backup plan or safety feature.

Example: Airbags in cars protect during accidents.

C. The Other Way Round

Invert the usual way of doing things.

Example: QR codes on products (you scan, not the cashier).

✅ These make you think outside the box.

📝 Summary Table
 Concept Meaning

Solve Phase Stage to find and design solutions

Ideation Creative idea generation

ARIZ Step-by-step inventive solving method

TRIZ Russian theory based on patent research

TIPS English version of TRIZ

Inventive Principles Standard solution patterns (e.g.,

preliminary action)

UNIT - 5

🧪 Conceptual Phase, Test Phase & Prototyping

(Design Thinking – MAKAUT Notes Simplified)

🧱 1. Conceptual Phase
This phase is about turning ideas into concepts — building a rough structure of your solution.

Key Focus:

Select the most promising idea

Start designing how it will work
Think about what features it will have

✅ It's where your solution starts to take shape — not fully detailed, but clear in concept.
🧪 2. Test Phase
Now it’s time to test your idea or prototype with real users.

Purpose:

Get feedback from users

Find what works and what doesn’t
Improve and refine the idea

✅ Testing tells you whether your solution is realistic and user-friendly

📏 3. Parameters Needed to Test Ideas
To test ideas properly, you need to measure:

Parameter Description

Usability Is it easy to use?

Functionality Does it solve the problem?

Desirability Do users want to use it?

Feasibility Can it be built within time and cost?

User Feedback What do users say after trying it?

✅ These help you decide if the idea is valid or needs change

🌍 4. Field Work
In this context, field work means going out to:

Observe how users use your prototype

Ask them for live feedback
Study real-world behavior, not just opinions

✅ Helps you gather practical, non-theoretical insights

🖼️ 5. Storyboarding
A visual sequence that tells the story of your user interacting with your product.

What it includes:

Characters (users)
Situation (problem context)
Interaction (how your solution fits in)

✅ Helps communicate your idea clearly and quickly

⚡ 6. Rapid Prototyping
Creating quick, simple versions of your product/solution.

Could be:
 Paper mockups
Cardboard models
Clickable wireframes
Role-play simulations

✅ Focus is on speed, not perfection

🧍‍♂️💬 7. Customer Reactions & Validation
Let users interact with your prototype and note:

What they like/dislike

Where they get confused
What they suggest

Then validate:

Does it solve the original problem?

Is it worth building further?

✅ Validation = Confirming that your solution works and is wanted

📤 8. Proposal Submission
Once your idea is refined and validated, prepare a proposal for:

Presentation to stakeholders/investors
Seeking project approval
Final implementation planning

Include:

Problem and solution

Key insights from testing
Prototype results
Resources needed

✅ A good proposal tells the story, strategy, and solution

📘 Quick Summary Table
 Topic What It Means

Conceptual Phase Turning ideas into clear solutions

Test Phase Getting user feedback on prototypes

Test Parameters Usability, desirability, feasibility, etc.

Field Work Testing with real users in real situations

Storyboarding Visual storytelling of user experience

Rapid Prototyping Fast and simple mockups

Customer Reactions What users feel/say/do

Validation Confirm if solution really works

Proposal Submission Final report for approval or funding

UNIT - 6

✅ Test Phase & Refinement

🧪 1. Test Phase – What is it?
The Test Phase comes after you’ve built a prototype.

🎯 Goal: Find out how real users interact with your idea.
What Happens:

Give the prototype to users

Observe their reactions, behavior, and feedback
Ask: "Does it solve the problem?"

✅ It helps you see what’s working and what needs fixing.

📏 2. Parameters Needed to Test Ideas
You should test your idea based on the following criteria:
 Parameter What It Means

Usability Is it easy and smooth to use?

Functionality Does it do what it's supposed to?

Desirability Do users like using it?

Feasibility Can it be built properly within

time/budget?

Value Is it solving the real user need?

✅ These help you decide if your design is ready or needs more work.
🧍‍♂️🧪 3. Field Work
🎯 Goal: Test the idea in the real environment.
Field work includes:

Watching real users use your prototype

Asking open-ended questions
Taking notes about pain points and confusion

✅ This gives honest and practical feedback, not just opinions.

🧪 4. Usability Testing
A focused test to see how easy it is for a user to interact with your product.

What to watch:

Can users complete a task without help?

Where do they get confused or frustrated?
Do they make mistakes?
How long does it take?

✅ This shows how your design feels to a first-time user.

🔧 5. Refine and Enhance Design
After testing and feedback, go back and improve your design.

You may need to:

 Fix confusing parts
Simplify the steps
Add or remove features
Rebuild prototype if needed

🔁 Design Thinking is iterative — Test → Improve → Test again

✅ The final design should be user-friendly, useful, and effective
📝 Summary Table
Topic What It Means

Test Phase Getting feedback on your prototype

Test Parameters Usability, functionality, value, etc.

Field Work Real-world observation and feedback

Usability Testing Checks how easy and clear the product is

Refine & Enhance Improving design based on user input