In short
Design thinking as a strategy-making process to avoid two common errors: relying on backward-looking data that misses future customer needs, or making instinct-based bets without evidence. It outlines three stages: invent a future (immerse in customers’ lives, observe and ask about behavior rather than poll about products), test ideas (iterative prototyping and quick experiments, then adjust product/pricing/positioning), and bring it to life (identify activities, capabilities, and resources to produce, distribute, and sell).
Key claims
human behavior focus improves strategy; iterative experiments reduce risk. Notable example: Procter & Gamble’s Oil of Olay turnaround—observing shoppers, expanding beyond women 50+ to 30s/40s concerns, testing formulations/prices/displays, then launching premium broadly distributed products.
Guests
none mentioned.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOUnderstanding Design Thinking
0:30 to 2:50
Explore how design thinking can transform strategy-making in business.
“You're taking a trip, stepping into sunshine and embarking on a flavorful journey into the tropics where ripe fruit is crafted into wildly delicious juice.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:28This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. And every time you enjoy a glass, you're not just drinking juice. You're taking a trip, stepping into sunshine and embarking on a flavorful journey into the tropics where ripe fruit is crafted into wildly delicious juice. And the best part? No passport required. Tropicana. Give life some juice.
0:53When companies set strategy, they often stumble. Either they collect a lot of backward-looking data, which doesn't tell them what future customers really want, or they make risky bets based on instinct instead of evidence. Design thinking is a strategy-making process that avoids these mistakes by applying tools from the world of design and shifting the focus to human behavior. Popularized by David M. Kelly and Tim Brown of IDEO and Roger Martin of the Rotman School, design thinking has three major stages. First, invent a future. Form a few theories about what customers might want but don't have by immersing yourself in their lives.
1:33Instead of polling them about specific products or services, observe and ask questions about their behavior. Next, test your ideas out. Use iterative prototyping with good enough products or services and conduct a few quick experiments to see how consumers respond. Adjust the product, the pricing, or the positioning accordingly. Finally, bring the new product or service to life. When you've got a winner, identify the activities, capabilities, and resources your company will need to actually produce, distribute, and sell it. For example, when senior managers at Procter & Gamble wanted to turn around the skin care brand Oil of Olay, they began by observing shoppers in both mass retail channels and high-end department stores.
2:19They realized that their industry had been primarily targeting women over 50 who were worried about wrinkles, while pretty much ignoring those in their 30s and 40s who were concerned about other issues. This was a huge market to be captured. So P &G experimented with new formulations that would tackle multiple skin care goals, then tested different prototypes, price points, and store displays. Finally, the company launched a series of new premium, yet broadly distributed, products that were well received by a wide range of consumers. By using imaginative, human-centered problem solving, design thinking can help you unlock new markets and identify new strategies.
From the publisher
The Explainer: What Is Design Thinking?
24 Jul 2019
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Popularized by David M. Kelley and Tim Brown of IDEO and Roger Martin of the Rotman School, design thinking has three major stages.
As the complexity of the design process increases, a new hurdle arises: the acceptance of what we might call “the designed artifact” — whether product, user experience, strategy, or complex system — by stakeholders. Design thinking can help strategic and system innovators make the new worlds they’ve imagined come to pass. In fact, with very complex artifacts, the design of their “intervention” — their introduction and integration into the status quo — is even more critical to success than the design of the artifacts themselves.
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