No business can flourish without innovation. Therefore, today’s modern world is based upon creativity and innovation. Design thinking is a tool kit which aims at generating innovation. It begins in the rawest form and marks its end at an abundance of innovation. Additionally, there are a few tools and techniques, which you can opt for a systematic design thinking. This article presents the best design thinking tools and techniques for creative thinking.
Design thinking tools are tools, which one can use to generate ideas for solving problems. A business organization requires continuous innovation in order to survive in the competitive environment of the market. Following are a few design thinking tools, which facilitate the innovation process:
1. Mind Mapping: One of the best design thinking tools
Mind mapping is an effective design thinking tool, which you can use to generate and analyze ideas. It is used in the process of brainstorming ideas followed by coming up with techniques for creative thinking. Further, the ideas are clustered in a specific pattern. Therefore, mind mapping comes in handy to summarize and present information in a creative manner.
You can begin mind mapping now, by writing a topic. First of all, think and scribble related and relevant ideas around the topic. After that, write the ideas in a clear and legible way so that you can understand them easily later on. This is one of the effective techniques for creative thinking. Know more about the mind mapping technique in detail here: THE MIND MAPPING METHOD FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS.
2. A important design thinking tool: Journey mapping
Journey mapping refers to visualizing what a customer goes through. Understanding the needs and pain points of the customer is necessary for journey mapping. This is due to the reason that, they provide an essential support to the goals of any organization. Hence, the process of journey mapping involves creating a hypothesis and analyzing its validity. Consequently, various customers give interviews to ensure that the hypothesis is in the right direction.
3. Design thinking tools are incomplete without the Design Thinking Toolkit
The design thinking toolkit includes various techniques and methods for innovation. These techniques will help you in putting design thinking tools into action. The basic concept in this toolkit is to channelize the designs in a productive direction. Therefore, it explains the design thinking process in detail.
Moreover, it lays down numerous techniques in order to generate creative solutions for various problems. Here is another effective technique to generate creative solutions: REVERSE BRAINSTORMING METHOD- REVERSING THE CREATIVE IDEAS.
4. Design thinking tools: Innovation flowchart
The innovation flowchart renders the basic stages in the process of generating techniques for innovation. It helps you identify useful resources. Development Impact and You (DIY) lays down a structured innovation flowchart. Additionally, it enables you to see where you’re in the process of innovation. It is also of great help in determining whether or not, you’ve considered the important aspects.
Use THE BEST FREE GRAPHIC DESIGN SOFTWARES WHICH SHOULDN’T BE MISSED to implement this technique and its results.
5. Assumption testing: A widely prevalent design thinking tool
Assumption testing is a design thinking tool that identifies the various assumptions underlying in the process of designing. It begins with identifying the assumptions. After which, it assesses their viability. For this purpose, it gathers a lot of data from numerous resources to conduct assumption testing. You have to sort the data in different categories. After that, you have to conduct experiments for assessing their viability. It is one of the common techniques for innovation.
6. Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping is a design thinking tool. You can use it to analyze the practicality and potential of a design. It gives you an idea of the viewer’s reaction to a particular design. Subsequently, giving its potential in the market.
One of the effective features of rapid prototyping is that it lets you check your design’s success timely, involving less cost. Most importantly, you can use various rapid prototyping techniques like story-boarding, user scenarios, experience journeys and business concept illustrations. As a result, it is one of the most prevalent techniques for creative thinking.
7. Visualization
Designing does not exclusively concern developing images. First of all, it involves an in-depth visual thinking. Secondly, it focuses on unlocking various parts of our brain. Visualization is required at every stage of the design thinking process. Therefore, it is termed as the ‘mother of design thinking tools.’
A designer’s ideal visual thinking is the basis of a good design. Therefore, visualization forms the basis of techniques for creative thinking and techniques for innovation. In fact, if you visualize properly, you will be able to create an aesthetically pleasing design. For further reading, here are the TOP 10 DESIGNING PRINCIPLES: UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS BEHIND DESIGN AESTHETICS.
8. The 7 rules of brainstorming- IDEO
www.ideo.org lays down the 7 tips for brainstorming, leading to creative ideas. You should adopt a systematic approach for successful generation of ideas. Since brainstorming is the most crucial step of ideation, IDEO has seven rules for brainstorming. The key to successful brainstorming is being open minded and generating the maximum number of ideas. Have a look at these rules on the official website of IDEO.
Read more about brainstorming in our blog: BRAINSTORMING METHOD FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGNING: IN-DEPTH DETAILS.
9. One of the most important design thinking tools: Storytelling
Storytelling is a design thinking tool which combines the process of design thinking with storytelling. It begins with identifying the objective of the narrative. Understanding the objective is very important in order to convey information with clarity to the audience. It’s a time-consuming process but can create timeless stories. Therefore, set a series of principles to develop a good story. Prepare a good scene to communicate the problem. Following that, offer a solution in the climax.
10. Design Sprint
Design sprint is a five-day process, which involves designing, prototyping and testing the viability of the designs. You can save a lot of time by adopting the design sprint. It gives you a realistic picture of your design through prototyping. Additionally, there are individual stages for every day. You can quickly get over with the design thinking process with only a few team members using the Design sprint. It is an effective and time saving technique for creativity.
Above all, these points highlight the top 10 design thinking tools. They will help you to get on the right track in the design thinking process. Your design’s success is dependent upon your approach towards the design thinking process. Your usage of techniques for innovation also play a vital role. For other related topics, check out: DESIGNING A WEBSITE- TOP 6 WEBSITE DESIGNING PLATFORMS FOR BEGINNERS.
