TEI 019: Applying the 5 Steps of Design Thinking – with Ethan Appleby

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode
019 of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad
McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved
in developing and managing products become more successful, grow
their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. Our Guest: Ethan
Appleby is a Design Thinking practitioner and coach. He used Design
Thinking to create the last company he founded, Vango, which makes
it easy for anyone to select and purchase original art. In the
interview he shares the 5 steps of Design Thinking. Empathy:
learning about the audience you are designing for. Be curious
instead of leading the conversation to a conclusion you already
formed.Definition: constructing a point of view organized by needs
and insights, based on your results from step 1.Ideation: a group
brainstorming process to generate ideas using the “yes and…”
technique to build upon each others’ ideas and create as many as
possible in short sprints. Another tool is to ask “how might we…”
focused on specific constraints. A sprint is a few minutes of
individual ideation followed by sharing of ideas, then using “yes
and” to build on ideas. Additional sprints are conducted on other
needs and insights and to further explore specific ideas. Constrain
ideation to 3 hours.Prototype: building a representation of one of
your ideas to show others. When you build something you discover
more about the problem. Keep it simple – playdough, clay, tape,
etc.Testing: Show prototype to potential users and customers
to get their feedback. The goal is to continue learning about the
customers’ core problem and solutions that provide them value.