Design Thinking

Running head: DESIGN THINKING
Design Thinking
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DESIGN THINKING
In our fourth workshop, we were taught the difference between problem solving versus
problem finding. One can find problems by identifying the obvious. We were also taught how
visualization can be a design thinking tool and also how Persona can be a design thinking tool as
well. Design thinking is more than a methodology that solves problems. In several cases, this
implies finding a problem that is different from the one that was originally anticipated to be the
problem. In our fourth workshop, we were given photos to observe on the topic, ‘A Day at the
Beach’ The plethora of problems at the beaches include accumulation of rubbish, lack of
adequate lifeguards, scarcity of shops by the beach side, people who were drunk and were
roaming freely and sexual harassment at the beach. Piles of garbage dumped at the beach causes
problems in fishing and also has an adverse effect on the aquatic animals as well as the people
who come to the beach. While trying to solve problems, one must ensure that one is merely
spotting a problem, and not observing or staring. While spotting problems, one must be careful
not to stare and one is not allowed to formally video or audio record people at the beach. One
must not invade other people’s privacy. The point of this exercise is to become aware of one’s
surroundings and be able to spot the problem without having to look for it. One should be able to
transform information into images. We were also taught about the two hemispheres in the brain.
Right brain holds visual and spatial holistic thinking while the left brain holds the sequential and
deductive reasoning. One should keep visualization simple and think in metaphors and analogs,
use storyboards and photographs to tell stories and create personas.
During our fifth week of study, we discussed “wicked” problems. Our professor spoke
about the journey map and asked us to write about our journey of undertaking a Master program.
I wrote about my journey to Australia, right from applying to Australia to arriving in Australia.
After that session, we were told to reflect on how it went, what worked in our favour and what

2DESIGN THINKING
did not work. We discussed about persona and empathy mapping. Our professor gave us a paper
with thirty circles on it and asked us to write on the circles what came to our mind immediately.
After this, our professor gave us another activity wherein he displayed some pictures on the
screen and told us to select any two pictures and make three amendments to the selected picture.
During our seventh week of study, we were introduced to research and research
approaches, types of data, sources of data and ethics (Montgomery, 2017). There are two
approaches to research. They are Qualitative approach and Quantitative approach. We were also
taught about Primary data and Secondary data. The sources of primary data include
Questionnaire survey that is self administered, Interview-based survey or structured interview.
This is administered by interviewer, has structured questions, and is similar to questionnaire.
Semi structured interview and unstructured interview are a source of primary data. Group
interview is also a source of primary data. The sources of primary data also includes panel
discussions and Delphi method. Observations are also sources of primary data. It can be
qualitative or quantitative. Primary data is a major tool in Design Thinking, especially
ethnographic approaches. Researchers can also play various roles in observations. The
differences between primary and secondary data include the fact that primary data will be
specific to one’s project wherein the data will be relevant. Secondary data may not be perfectly
aligned with one’s project. Primary data is always current and relevant while secondary data may
be outdated. Primary data is time consuming while secondary data generally consumes less time.
Primary data requires access to participants while secondary data does not require interaction
with people. Primary data carries ethical issues unlike secondary data. Ethics refers to norms and
standards of behaviour that guide moral choices about our behaviour and our relationships with
others. Ethical issues arises as soon as one does research with people. One should ensure privacy

3DESIGN THINKING
of participants by offering to do interviews in a separate room and not in an open-plan office and
also not divulge the details of the participants and refrain from telling other people who is
participating. One should also not force participants to take part and one should not tell people
that they have to take part in the survey and they have no choice. One should also get
organizational consent so that one is allowed to carry out research with the person in the
premises of one’s organization. One should also get individual consent from every person who
participates in the study. One should also resort to anonymity if an interviewee so wants. One
should resort to anonymity and not divulge the names of the participants if they so desire. One
should also ensure confidentiality if the participants so desires. We were also instructed not to
leave interview transcripts lying around or keep questionnaires, information of the participants or
company documents openly accessible.
Interviews of Design Thinking entail exploring the problems, thoughts, motivation,
emotions and views of the interviewee, being empathetic. We were also taught to adopt a
Beginner’s Mind Set and not make any kind of assumptions and to probe the reason. At the end
of the session, we were given tips to conduct an interview. We were told to avoid personal bias
and not ask leading questions and to go down to asking specific moments, specific experiences
etc. One should also get interviewees to tell the interviewer their story or journey and get
interviewees to tell the interviewer about their stories and emotions. One should also focus on
and deepens one’s understanding of pain points that the interview discusses and use probing and
follow-up questions a lot. One should pay attention to non-verbal cues, that is facial expressions,
tone of voice, gestures, laughter, body movements, and significant pauses among others. The
various principles of co-creation include enrolling customers who care about me. Diversity
equals to security, create a no-selling zone, present more than one concept, provide visual