COURSE MATERIAL
III/IV Semester
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
AY: 2025-26
DESIGN THINKING AND FABRICATION
24DTK37
Prepared by:
Mr. ANANTH PAI
Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
NEW HORIZON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MODULE 3 - TOOLS FOR DESIGN
THINKING
➢ Ideation Tools & Exercises
➢ Sample Design Challenge
➢ Introduction to the Design Challenge Themes
➢ Storytelling and Tools for Innovation
Tools for Design Thinking –
Module 3
Tools for Design Thinking
Tool 1
Visualization: Thinking Beyond Words
Visualization is more than just drawing; it's about harnessing visual
thinking to unlock new cognitive pathways. It pushes us beyond the
limitations of language, engaging a different part of our brains that
traditional managerial approaches often overlook.
This process encourages non-verbal ideation, fostering creativity and
enabling the discovery of insights that words alone cannot convey.
It's a powerful way to make abstract concepts concrete and shareable.
Tool 1
Visualization: Thinking Beyond Words
Tool 2
Journey Mapping: Tracing the Customer's
Experience
Ethnographic Research Emotional Landscape
A qualitative research method focused on Highlights emotional highs and lows, revealing
understanding user behavior in their natural unspoken needs and pain points.
environment.
1 2 3 4
Customer Interaction Need Identification
Traces the customer's path as they engage with an Aims to identify customer needs that are often
organization and its services. difficult for them to articulate directly.
Journey mapping, also known as experience mapping, provides a holistic view of the customer's interaction, from initial contact to post-service
engagement. By visualizing their emotional journey, organizations can pinpoint opportunities for improvement and create more empathetic
solutions.
Tool 2
Journey
Mapping:
Tracing the
Customer's
Experience
Tool 2
Journey Mapping: Tracing the Customer's
Experience
Switching Mobile Plans
Tool 3
Value Chain Analysis:
Partnering for Greater
Value
Value chain analysis meticulously examines how an organization
collaborates with its partners—suppliers, distributors, and other
stakeholders—to produce, market, and distribute new offerings. This
process extends beyond internal operations, considering the entire
ecosystem.
By scrutinizing each link in the chain, it reveals opportunities to enhance
customer value, streamline processes, and uncover crucial insights into
partners' capabilities, intentions, and potential for synergistic growth.
Tool 3
Value Chain Analysis: Partnering
for Greater Value
Activity
Analysis
Example: Lakshmi is a software development
It is a three-step process
manager for a software house. She and her team
handle short software enhancements for many clients.
As part of a team development day, they use Value Evaluation
Value Analysis
and Planning
Chain Analysis to think about how they can deliver
excellent service to their clients.
Tool 3
Value Chain Analysis: Partnering
for Greater Value
During the Activity Analysis part of the session, they identify the following activities that
create value for clients:
• Order taking
• Enhancement specification
• Scheduling
• Software development
Value Chain
• Programmer testing
• Secondary testing
• Delivery
• Support
Tools for Design Thinking –
Module 3
Tools for Design Thinking
Tool 4
Mind Mapping: Connecting Ideas
Visualization
Idea Generation Creates a clear, hierarchical, and visual
Facilitates brainstorming and the free representation of concepts.
flow of diverse thoughts.
Structure & Classification
Organizes complex information and
categorizes related elements.
Design Criteria
Translates insights into actionable Pattern Recognition
requirements for design. Helps identify hidden connections,
themes, and insights.
Mind mapping is a powerful tool for visual thinking, enabling users to represent how ideas link to a central theme and to each
other. It’s an organic way to explore and expand on concepts, fostering non-linear thought.
Tool 4
Mind Mapping: Connecting Ideas
• Mind Mapping links the left side of the brain that focuses on
numbers, words, lists and logic to the right creative side.
• Using Images, keywords and colour in mind maps are maximizing
brain power which enhances learning and creativity.
• It is attractive, easy to read and remember
• It is tool, not a solution
• It shows whole picture and details at the same time
Tool 4
Mind Mapping: Connecting Ideas
Mind Maps keeps us focused on the main idea and all additional
ideas.
• It helps to use both sides of the brain
• Mind maps helps to
✓ Remembering Things
✓ Making better notes
✓ Coming up with ideas
✓ Saving time
✓ Concentrating
✓ Effective time utilization
Tool 4
Mind Mapping: Connecting Ideas
Tool 5
Rapid Concept Development: Hypothesizing New Ventures
Rapid concept development is a dynamic process focused on
quickly generating and refining initial hypotheses for potential
new business opportunities. It's about moving from a nascent
idea to a testable concept with speed and efficiency.
This tool encourages iterative ideation, allowing teams to
quickly explore multiple avenues, identify promising directions,
and articulate early-stage value propositions without getting
bogged down in excessive detail.
Tool 5
Rapid Concept Development: Hypothesizing New Ventures
• Speed is the key for rapid concept development (RCD).
• RCD is not BRAINSTORMING - concept development is an individual or core team project, while in brainstorming, you and
a larger team work with a detailed thinking, listening to every idea and roughly evaluating them.
CONCEPT
IDEA
Tool 6
Assumption Testing: Validating Business Ideas
Identify Core Assumptions Thought Experiments
Pinpoint the critical beliefs underpinning a new business Initial assessment of assumptions using existing data and
idea's attractiveness. logical reasoning.
Field Experiments Four Key Tests
Subject new concepts to real-world tests to validate hypotheses. • Value Creation
• Execution
• Scalability
• Defensibility
Assumption testing systematically validates the viability of new business ideas. It begins by identifying underlying assumptions
and uses data-driven approaches to assess their likelihood of holding true, mitigating risks before significant investment.
Tool 7
Prototyping: Making Ideas Tangible
Prototyping transforms abstract concepts into tangible forms,
making them accessible and understandable to potential
partners and customers. This isn't just about physical models; it
encompasses a range of techniques to simulate experiences.
Methods like storyboarding, user scenarios, experience
journeys, and business concept illustrations foster deep
stakeholder involvement, encouraging invaluable feedback that
refines and validates ideas before full-scale development.
Tool 8 & 9
Co-creation & Learning Launches:
Collaborative Innovation
Customer Co-creation Learning Launches
• Engages customers directly in generating and developing • Tests key value-generating assumptions of new growth
new business ideas. initiatives in the marketplace.
• Fosters mutual interest and shared value. • Contrasts with full product rollouts by being quick and
• Significantly reduces risks and enhances growth potential inexpensive.
for innovation initiatives. • Functions as a market-driven learning experiment to gather
• Leverages customer insights for more relevant solutions. data.
• Focuses on validating core hypotheses with minimal
resource outlay.
These two powerful tools emphasize interaction and iteration. Co-creation ensures ideas are customer-centric from inception,
while learning launches provide a lean, data-driven approach to market validation, both crucial for effective design thinking.
Tool 10
Storytelling: Making Ideas Compelling
"All good presentations—whether analytical or design-oriented—tell a persuasive story."
• Storytelling transforms a series of disconnected points into a coherent,
engaging narrative.
• It is closely related to visualization, making abstract ideas feel real and
relatable.
• Visual storytelling is particularly compelling, leveraging imagery to deepen
understanding and emotional connection.
• It persuades and resonates with audiences, crucial for conveying new
concepts and driving action.
Storytelling is the art of weaving a narrative to make new ideas not just
understood, but felt. It brings clarity and impact, ensuring your design
thinking outcomes are not only innovative but also powerfully
communicated.
Tools for Design Thinking –
Module 3
Tools for Design Thinking
What is a Design Challenge?
•A Design Challenge is a clearly framed problem that inspires creative solutions.
•It guides the design process by stating what to solve without dictating how to solve it.
•A well-written challenge motivates teams, aligns focus, and opens space for innovation.
A design challenge is a user-centered, open-ended, and actionable problem statement
framed in a way that encourages creativity and leads to meaningful solutions.
Elements of a Good Design Challenge
Framing a Design Challenge
Recommended Online Platforms for Design
Challenges
Platform / Challenge Focus Why It's Great for Students
Guided collaboration, real problems,
OpenIDEO Social innovation
storytelling tools
Real-world impact, pitch practice, global
MIT Solve Global social/tech challenges
audience
Design-for-good, SDG-aligned, peer
Student Service Design Challenge Equality & inclusive services
showcase
Skills practice across domains, rapid
Devpost / HackerEarth / MLH etc. General hackathons
prototyping, ideation
Large-scale visibility, tech-driven real
Imagine Cup Tech for societal problems
solutions
Practical, hands-on engineering
SIERRATHON PCB design & prototyping
competition
Long-term project thinking, holistic
Future City Competition Urban sustainability projects
design education
Fast-paced practice in structured
Solveathon Workshops Design-thinking rapid sprint
innovation
Tool 10
Storytelling: Making Ideas Compelling
"All good presentations—whether analytical or design-oriented—tell a persuasive story."
• Storytelling transforms a series of disconnected points into a coherent,
engaging narrative.
• It is closely related to visualization, making abstract ideas feel real and
relatable.
• Visual storytelling is particularly compelling, leveraging imagery to deepen
understanding and emotional connection.
• It persuades and resonates with audiences, crucial for conveying new
concepts and driving action.
Storytelling is the art of weaving a narrative to make new ideas not just
understood, but felt. It brings clarity and impact, ensuring your design
thinking outcomes are not only innovative but also powerfully
communicated.
Tool 10
Storytelling: Making Ideas Compelling
Opportunity Canvas Idea/Innovation Title: YUKTI Proto ID:
Date:
How will users use it?
2 Users & Customers
Who faces which challenge? 1 Problems and background
The broad issue and history to gain context. 5 Solution ideas
List multiple ways you can solve problems for your users. 6 Get practical and challenge yourself on solution usability. 7 User success metrics
Lead indicators to help you validate product performance.
Solutions today Change and risk mitigation
3 What work-arounds do people put in place currently? 8 As rate of change increases, how will you mitigate risk?
4 Business challenges
If we don’t solve these problems for users, will it hurt the business?
10 Cost structure
What will it cost to do it and what are the assumptions? 9 Business value
What performance indicators will be affected by the change? Think how user measures roll up in to higher level strategic outcomes.