Design Thinking Application: A Case Study Comparing Nokia & iPhone

This case study explores the application of the design thinking model to the products and services of Nokia and iPhone. It focuses on how both companies utilize disruptive technologies to understand consumer needs in the smartphone industry. The study examines the innovation and technological components of both companies, emphasizing the 'Empathize,' 'Define,' 'Ideate,' 'Prototype,' and 'Test' stages of design thinking. It identifies that Nokia's traditional sales and marketing strategies, weaker value proposition, and issues with battery life, user interface, RAM, camera quality, and customer support are key problems. The study suggests solutions such as improving battery optimization, updating the user interface based on consumer feedback, enhancing customer support through social media integration, increasing RAM capacity, and reevaluating pricing strategies. The prototype stage emphasizes direct engagement with target audiences to gather feedback and refine product development. The case study concludes by measuring the effectiveness of the proposed solutions and identifying potential difficulties in implementation.

Running head: NOKIA VS IPHONE
Nokia vs iPhone
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1NOKIA VS IPHONE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Innovation and technological components of this solution........................................................2
Empathise...............................................................................................................................2
Define.....................................................................................................................................4
Ideate......................................................................................................................................5
Prototype................................................................................................................................8
Test.........................................................................................................................................9
Type of Innovation: Disruptive innovation................................................................................9
Measure the effectiveness of this solution...............................................................................10
Identify potential difficulties....................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
Reference..................................................................................................................................14

2NOKIA VS IPHONE
Introduction
The foremost determination of the paper is to focus on the use of the design thinking
model on the products and services offered by Nokia and i-phone to most of their consumers
all over the world (Pierucci 2015). This design thinking process will have numerous steps and
each of the steps will be very much essential to understand the application of the design
thinking model in both Nokia and Apple.
Both the two organizations uses different categories of disruptive technologies in their
production rooms so that the needs and requirements of the consumers of the smartphone
industry is understood by the strategic team of this organization (Qiu & Chen 2019). It can be
said that action has to be taken for the issues due to the disruptive technologies.
Innovation and technological components of this solution
The technological, as well as the innovation components of Apple and Nokia, will be
considered in this section of the paper.
Empathise
This is the first step of the design thinking procedure, which helps in identifying the
problems associated with the disruptive technologies which are increasingly used in the
production rooms of both Apple as well as Nokia Corporation. The disruptive innovation of
Nokia cannot be calculated easily, thus the changes required are not identified in the first
place which leads to more complexities for Nokia Corporation (Narang et al. 2017). It can be
said that the first step of the design thinking procedure can be very much important to
identify the issues coming from disruptive technologies. This initial step in designing
thinking is very much helpful to define the problems coming from disruptive technologies
(Shah et al. 2018). It can be said that disruptive innovation is very hard to integrate in

3NOKIA VS IPHONE
complex business environments. The usage of the disruptive technologies by both Apple and
Nokia has to be solved in the first place so that the efficiency and the productivity of the
organization is maintained.
This first step of the design thinking process focuses on the needs and requirements of
the stakeholders of both the organizations as there are numerous issues due the usage of the
disruptive technologies. Domination of Apple Corporation was more than 60% of the total
smartphone industry as they look after the needs and expectations of their end users based
upon their gender (Smith & Wallace 2015). The average age of an Apple Corporation is
mostly between 34-44 years of age. It can also be said that 1 out of every 4 smartphone users
appreciates the service offered by Apple. The advanced specification and reliability of Apple
products is much more than the other similar organization such as Nokia. It can be seen that
men outnumbers women in terms of the usage of Apple Products (Mark & LaMarche 2017).
The target audience of Apple is mostly the urban communities of the world who has the
capability of buying Apple products, at the same time it can also be said that the target
audience of Apple are identified with the help of the design thinkers. The target audience of
Nokia is very different from Apple as they focus mainly on the groups of regional sales and
marketing who analyses the current expectation of the consumers (Turner et al. 2017). The
service offered by Nokia is much cheaper as compared with the service offered by Nokia.
Age grouping analysis are considered by the sales and marketing team of Nokia which helps
help in determining their target audience. Wide application of surveys and customer
feedbacks are considered by the production team of Nokia to understand the expectations of
the consumers.

4NOKIA VS IPHONE
Thus, based on the identification of the target audience it can be said that Apple
Corporation have the edge over Nokia as they invest more on the design thinkers who can
understand the needs and requirements of the consumers in a reliable and organized manner.
Define
There are different types of issues faced by both Nokia and Apple in terms of the
strategies which were taken to fulfil the expectation of the target audience. The value
proposition of Nokia is much weaker as compared with the value proposition of Apple
Corporation.
The core problem of Nokia which can be identified from the previous sections of the
paper is the traditional sales and marketing strategies. The traditional advertising procedures
are not very much suitable to identify the needs and requirements of the target audiences. The
other issues which can be identified for Nokia is their conventional online advertising
technique which are done with the use of the disruptive technologies such as Artificial
Intelligence which is not found in the Apple products (Kurikka, Kolehmainen & Sotarauta,
2017). The blogs which are very much used for the promotion of the products is not very
much informative in nature as compared with the high-end promotional blogs. It was found
that the conventional marketing methods of Nokia is not very much helpful as most of the
marketing methods only focus on the products and service offered by the organization rather
than having an opinion of the consumers about what they feel about the products (Vuori &
Huy 2016). It can also be said that the conventional marketing procedure of Nokia is very
much flawed as the prices of the Nokia products are very much higher as compared with the
specifications they provide in their smart phones. However, the pricing of each of the
specifications of the Apple products is very much justified.

5NOKIA VS IPHONE
The other key problem which is identified in the Nokia smartphones is the battery life
of their devices which is not present in the Apple products. All the background applications
which runs on the Nokia smart uses a huge battery which is not present in the Apple
Corporations (Giachetti, 2018). The User Interface of the in-built applications of Nokia is not
very much trendy in nature as compared with the UI of the in-built applications of Apple
products. The other limitation of the Nokia phone which can be identified is the low RAM,
which slows down all the operations. Considering the prices of the products, it can be said
that the RAM offered by Nokia is not sufficient enough to run all the background
applications. The other limitations of Nokia products is the quality of the camera. The camera
of the Nokia smartphones are not very much depraved but in terms of money spent by the
consumers of the Nokia Corporation as compared with Apple Corporation (Giachetti 2018).
It can be said that the VGA quality images could have been improved a little more in order to
meet with the expectation of the consumers. The internal storage of the Nokia smartphones is
very much less as compared with the internal storage of Apple smartphones. However, it can
be also said that the security measures of the Apple is much better than Nokia smart phones
as there are no options of inserting memory cards in the Apple phones.
Most of the Apple smartphones users have faces huge complexities as the screen size of the
Apple smart phones are much less than Nokia smartphones (Wang, Hedman & Tuunainen
2016). The big screen size of Nokia smart phones is very much beneficial for the users as
they can use their smart phones both for personal use as well as for in business enterprises.
The other disadvantage of Nokia products is their weak customer support.
Ideate
This section of the paper will be focussing on the problems which are identified in the
previous section of the paper. The mind map can be very much important for the readers of

6NOKIA VS IPHONE
this document to understand the solutions of the identified problems (Faliagka, Rigou &
Sirmakessis 2015). The importance of the target audience can also be identified from the first
step of the design thinking procedure.

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Figure 1: Mind map identifying the problems and solutions
(Source: Created by the author)
The above diagram explains the different issues of Nokia smart phones as compared
with Apple Corporation.
 Battery life of the smartphones is a huge concern for the consumers of the Nokia
Corporation which can be solved purposefully using the Apple smartphones. It can be
said that reducing the sleep time of the Nokia smartphones can be an important aspect
to reduce the battery issues of Nokia smartphones (Cuthbertson, Furseth, & Ezell
2015). Drainage of the background application in the Nokia devices should be

8NOKIA VS IPHONE
reduced in the first place as it can help to address the battery issues of the Nokia
devices.
 The backdated User Interface of the in-built application of the Nokia devices is the
other identified problem of the Nokia devices. This issue can be purposefully
addressed if the needs and requirements of the consumers of the smartphone industry
is studied in the first place, production strategy of Nokia should be altered to update
this design issue of the default applications (Chaplinsky et al. 2017). It can also be
stated that the needs and expectation of each of the stakeholders should be studied
with the help of the survey and interview. It can be suggested that the Nokia
Corporation should be having a corresponding bi-directional platform so that
organization can have an idea about the about the changing needs and requirements of
the consumers.
 Weaker customer support is one of the other disadvantage of the products offered by
Nokia Corporation over the years (Burgelman 2018). It can be said that this problem
can be addressed in a professional manner if Nokia Corporation integrates their online
customer service department with most of the social media platforms which are
extensively used by the consumers of the Nokia Corporation such as Facebook and
Instagram.
 The other significant issues faced by consumers of Nokia Corporation is the low
RAM facility of the smartphones. In order to the deal with this particular problem it
can be said that the capability of the RAM should be increased so that the background
applications can run smoothly.
 The other significant issues faced by Nokia Corporation is the higher pricing of the
products as compared with the specification they provide (Zhai & Zhao, 2017). The

9NOKIA VS IPHONE
mind map diagram helps in understanding the Nokia Corporation should be analysing
the existing market conditions before setting the prices of the products and services.
Prototype
A prototype provides an opportunity to have a direct conversation with the target
audiences and gain their feedback. It can be anything that a use can interact with, for example
a gadget, role-playing activity or a storyboard. There are different types of prototypes which
can be used in Nokia Corporation are storyboards and role-playing activity.
It can be said that direct conversation with the target audiences can be very much
useful for Nokia Corporation as it can help to understand the needs and requirements of the
consumers of this organization. It can be said that the needs and requirements of the
consumers of Nokia keeps on changing with time. The prototype can play a huge role in the
creation and development of the exact sales and marketing plan for this organization. The
prototype can be very much useful for the consumers of Nokia to understand the products and
services which are offering or going to offer in the future (Bala & Singh 2016). Detailed
specification of the smartphones can be identified from the prototype which can be very
much beneficial for this organization from the business perspectives. The demographics of
the consumers in terms of gender can be easily identified using the prototype. The barriers
and the identifiers of the production rooms can also be synthesized using the prototype
(Borhanuddin & Iqbal 2016). The usage of the marketing tools can be also identified in the
first place with the help of prototype. It can be said that the size of the target market can also
be identified using the prototype.
Prototypes can play a huge role in understanding the complaints and the challenges
coming from the consumers of Nokia Corporation. There are both online and offline group
chats who works for Nokia Corporation which can be managed in a professional manner

10NOKIA VS IPHONE
using the prototype (Asghar et al. 2018). The negative feedback coming from the clients of
this organization can be re-evaluated using the prototype. New ideas can be sparked using the
prototype phase of design thinking. Thus, in can be said that the strategic capability of Nokia
Corporation can be successfully boosted using the prototype in order to address the identified
issues.
Test
Testing is the most important and the final phase of the design thinking process. This
step is very much important to understand the deeper understanding of the expectation of the
users. New ideas coming from the clients of Nokia can be utilized in the
The different types of issues faced by the consumers of Nokia Corporation can be
successfully addressed using the prototype (Alamsyah et al. 2017). It can be said that the
solution coming from the prototype can be significantly revised by the consumers of this
organization itself. It can also be said that the problems which were defined in the second
phase could be redefined with the help of the testing procedures.
Type of Innovation: Disruptive innovation
The solution of the problems which were stated in the mind map diagram helps in
understanding that all the proposed solution for Nokia Corporation falls under the category of
disruptive innovation (Aini & Alamsyah 2016). It can be said that the proposed solution for
the identified problems can help Nokia Corporation to explore new market areas such as
Apple Corporation. The identified solutions can be also very much useful to address other
legal issues faced by Nokia Corporation in terms of the stringent government regulations of
each of the countries in which Nokia have made their presence felt. This solutions can also
provide an added advantage to Nokia Corporation considering its market rivals such as
Apple.

11NOKIA VS IPHONE
Measure the effectiveness of this solution
The accomplishment of the project can be measured using Measures of Effectiveness
(MOE). The achievement of the results can be understood using the MOE.
The different types of ways to measure the effectiveness of the proposed solution are
discussed as follows:
 The consumer profiles can reflect their happiness after the changes has been made
which can be one of the ways to measure the effectiveness of the solution for Nokia
Corporation.
 Judging the quality of the services can be the other ways to understand the
effectiveness of the proposed solution.
 Bench marking process can be very much useful to understand the effectiveness of the
proposed solution.
 The increasing customer engagement level can be the other way to measure the
efficiency of the proposed solution.
 Group chats and discussions forums can reflect the happiness of the clients for the
proposed solution as well.
 Stronger collaboration between the employees of Nokia with the consumers of this
organization all over the world can be the other indicator of the usefulness of the
proposed solutions.
 The employee feedback section of the organization portal can also reflect the outcome
of the proposed solutions.
 Shared calendars which can be viewed by both the internal as well as the external
stakeholders of Nokia can be very much useful to identify the effectiveness of the
proposed changes as well.