Design thinking
Identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent...design thinking
- Sessions
- 4
- Steps
- 10
- Last edited
- Oct 19, 2025
- Created by
- Nova
About this process
This workflow is an iterative process in which your team will spend time understanding the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. The objective is to provide a solution-based approach to solving problems. Ideal for events, short-term projects, social innovation challenges, etc.
The process in detail
4 sessions · 10 stepsFrame your design challenge
4 steps- 1
Define Your Problem
- 2
Write down the consequences of the problem.
- 3
Breakdown the barriers you are facing
- 4
Redefine the problem.
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1. Define Your Problem
Write down a concise definition of your problem or challenge. It should be a short, single sentence. You can create it as a question, as well. For example: "Improve my user experience design." or "How can we improve our UX design?"
2. Write down the consequences of the problem.
Next, define the problem in terms of consequences and what solving the problem could mean. Think about the ultimate impact achieved once the problem is solved or reasons you might want to solve this problem. For example: "we want to improve UX design so that older people will be able to buy online easily" or "we want to improve UX design so that more users make it through the checkout process". All participants should write down the potential benefits of solving the problem, and the consequences of not solving it.
3. Breakdown the barriers you are facing
Now break down the barriers you're facing. They could be: Time-based Resource-based Geographic Cultural Competition-based Skills-based etc. Write as many barriers down as you can.
4. Redefine the problem.
Define the challenge again after thinking about all topics and barriers. Use the perspectives you've just put together to redefine the problem statement.
User Persona + Empathy canvas
4 steps- 1
User/Buyer persona.
- 2
Review findings on the board
- 3
Create a life narrative
- 4
Discuss completed board and compile important points
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1. User/Buyer persona.
Start by finding information online, which is the easiest way to gather data quickly. Write down a number of places where you customers may hang out online, and make sure your team searches for recent data.
Excellent places to search are online forums, Facebook groups, comments sections of popular blog posts, Google reviews, and Amazon reviews. Comments on these sites are excellent places to observe the way your customers really feel.
Place special emphasis on posts where 👉customers define their fears, needs, habits, and personal dreams.
👈 Add all the information to the whiteboard.
2. Review findings on the board
After everybody is done in the previous step, review and discuss all findings. Takedown individual customer ‘attributes’ onto sticky notes. Add one attribute per sticky note.
This will be your Persona board.
You may choose to group notes on the board into similar sections such as:
1 Background 2 Demographic 3 Goals 4 Motivations 5 Frustrations/Fears 6 Skills
You may choose to change those sections.
You will know when you have enough information when you feel like you know this person. You should be able to imagine their beliefs, passions, aspirations, fears, hobbies, etc. Continue finding information until you feel like the personality of your persona is fully-formed and feels as real as a close friend.
Write down a name for this Persona or use the most common name that comes up in your customer files. This will help your team to have empathy for the customer as if it were a real person.
You may also choose to have more in-depth interviews to flesh out your Persona.
To finalize this board, choose a stock photo for your Persona.
3. Create a life narrative
In this step, brainstorm elements for the life narrative of your persona and add it to the board. If you have interviewed customers for this Persona, it is ideal to use a life story that is a composite of those of your real customers. Note: Add additional Persona templates to the board if you have more than one different customer segments. Alternatively, start a new session using the "Persona" tool or use the "Persona with card decks" tools for multiple personas.
4. Discuss completed board and compile important points
By now the board should be complete. You and your team should know how your customer looks, what they say, what they think, how they feel.
If the picture is not yet clear, go back and add more details to complete the board. In this step, discuss the completed board with all participants and highlight important points.
- Maria?
- Hobbies & other interests
- Tasks they’re trying to complete, problems they’re trying to solve, or wants or needs they’re trying to satisfy.
- Short description Name + short description.
- Consequences of the challenge/pain
- Negative emotions, undesired costs or situations, risks,..
- Demographic information Age, sex, status, location...
- Life narrative
- They say: "This and that"
Brainstorming wall
Monitor & Evaluate
2 stepsA Monitoring & Evaluation Framework is an outline for how you will track effectiveness of your solution out in the world.
- 1
Indicators
- 2
Lead the M&E
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1. Indicators
A Monitoring & Evaluation Framework is an outline for how you will track effectiveness of your solution out in the world.
Fill your indicators, and work through the columns to determine how your data will be collected and used later.
2. Lead the M&E
Collect data and evaluate how your project is going.
Before your start:
- Baseline What is the current value?
- Target What is the target value?
- Data source How will it be measured?
- Frequency How often will it be measured?
- OUTCOMES
- Start typing...
- Indicator 1
- OUTCOMES
- Indicator 2
- OUTPUTS
- Indicator 1
- OUTPUTS
- Indicator 2