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Design Thinking is a customer-centric development process that creates desirable products that are profitable and sustainable over their lifecycle. It goes beyond the traditional focus on the features and functions of a proposed product. Instead, it emphasizes understanding the problem to be solved, the context in which the solution will be used, and the evolution of that solution. Note: This article focuses on the tools and practices associated with implementing design thinking. It should be read along with the Customer Centricity article, which focuses on the mindset and impact of customer centricity. DetailsTraditional waterfall approaches to product development are sequential: requirements are defined; then, solutions are designed, built, and delivered to the market. The focus tends to be on the most apparent problems. Often, success is determined by implementing a solution that meets the requirements instead of the needs of the user, resulting in products and services with unusable or ignored features that frustrate users and fail to meet the business goals of the enterprise. Design thinking (Figure 1) represents a profoundly different approach to product and solution development, in which divergent and convergent techniques are applied to understand a problem, design a solution, and deliver that solution to the market. Design thinking also inspires new ways to measure the success of our efforts:
Successive applications of design thinking advance the solution over its natural market lifecycle, as shown in Figure 2. The Problem Space and the Solution SpaceIn Figure 1, the core processes of design thinking appear visually as a ‘double diamond’. This represents the focus on thoroughly exploring the problem space before creating solutions. The activities associated with exploring the problem are elaborated as follows:
With a clear understanding of the target market and the problems it’s facing, the enterprise can move towards designing a solution, the second diamond of design thinking. These are:
Note that each diamond focuses on divergent thinking (understanding, exploring options) followed by convergent thinking (evaluating options and making choices). Using Personas to Focus DesignBespoke solutions offer designers the advantage of speaking directly and frequently with a few targeted users, permitting them to participate in design meetings, PI Planning, System Demos, and other SAFe events. In several organizations, these people are considered part of the team, so creating a Persona to represent them isn’t typically needed, but may be helpful when the organization is highly distributed. In contrast, in an indirect customer market, which is common in B2C solutions, product teams need a way to maintain a connection with their target customer. So, they develop ‘personas’, fictional consumers and/or users derived from customer research. [2] They depict the different people who might use a product or solution in a similar way, providing insights into how real users would engage with a solution. User personas also support market segmentation strategy by offering a concrete design tool to reinforce that products and solutions are created for people. Personas drive product development and several SAFe practices, as shown in Figure 3. In addition to user personas, buyer personas extend design thinking to include the individuals and organizations that authorize purchasing decisions. They help ensure that the design encompasses the whole product purchase experience, including after-sales service, support, and operations. Establish Empathy Through Empathy MapsCustomer-centric enterprises use empathy throughout the design process. Broadly speaking, empathetic design dismisses preconceived ideas and uses the customer’s perspective to inform solution development. Empathy maps[1] are a design thinking tool that promote customer identification by helping teams develop deep, shared understanding for others (Figure 4). They help teams imagine what a specific persona is thinking, feeling, hearing, and seeing as they use the product. The greater the degree of empathy that a team has for their customer, the more likely the team will be able to design a desirable solution. Designing the Customer Experience through Journey MapsA customer journey map illustrates the experience as a user engages with a company’s Operational Value Stream, products, and services. As shown in Figure 5, journey maps are powerful design thinking tools for operational value streams. They allow teams to identify ways in which the specific deliverables of one or more Development Value Streams can be improved to create a better end-to-end experience. Delivering Benefits Through FeaturesWhile a journey map captures the high-level experience of the customer through the operational value stream, product Features manage the specific deliverables that fulfill a stakeholder need. Features are commonly described through a features and benefit matrix using short phrases that provide context and a hypothesis of the benefits that the user experiences. Design thinking practices promote changing the order in which we consider elements of the Feature-Benefit Hypothesis. They help Agile teams explore better and faster ways to deliver the desired benefits (Figure 6). Designing User Workflows through Story MapsFeatures are implemented through one or more Stories. There are two types of stories in SAFe:
Role: As a <user role> I want <activity/goal> so that <some reason, such as creating business value or personal value> Persona: Frank wants to <activity/goal> so that Frank gets <value>
The Team Backlog contains user and enabler Stories that originate from the Program Backlog, as well as stories that arise from the team’s local context. Like all backlogs, the Team Backlog is prioritized, and stories are implemented in priority order. Features that capture a workflow present a unique challenge to Agile teams: A workflow is a sequence of steps that must be completed to accomplish a higher-level user goal. The linear order of a backlog can make it hard for Agile Teams to understand the relationships between the steps. Frequently a given step can be improved, and teams must also balance completeness (all of the steps must be supported) before improving a specific set of steps. Potential conflicts arise when the divergent phase of developing a solution envisions improvement opportunities, while the convergent phase of design thinking focuses on what’s essential for the next release. Solutions contain both large and small workflows. Consider the small workflow of a businessperson importing a credit card statement into an expense reporting system for processing. The user must:
As described earlier, each of these stories can be captured in a workflow. Moreover, each can be improved over time: We could, for example, imagine a direct connection between the bank and the expense reporting system, or an automated AI agent that managed the task of matching transactions. Features that represent a workflow are captured through story maps [3], which organize a sequence of stories according to the tasks a user needs to accomplish their goal (Figure 7). Story maps enable teams to understand how the stories in the team backlog support user objectives (Figure 8). Story maps also clarify the relationships between quality and value:
Increasing Design Feedback Through PrototypesA prototype is a functional model of the Feature or Product we wish to build. It helps the design team clarify their understanding of the problem and reduces risk in developing a solution. Prototypes provide a myriad of benefits to product teams:
There are many kinds of prototypes, each optimized to provide different types of insights:
To help them gain actionable feedback, product teams should strive to leverage the lowest-cost, fastest form of prototyping. Often, paper prototyping is the best choice. [4][5] Learn More[1] Empathy Map Canvas. https://medium.com/the-xplane-collection/updated-empathy-map-canvas-46df22df3c8a [2] Cooper, Alan, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, and Christopher Noessel. About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design 4th Edition. Wiley, 2014. [3] Patton, Jeff, and Peter Economy. User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product 1st Edition. O’Reilly Media, 2014. [4] Snyder, Carolyn. Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces. Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. [5] Gothelf, Jeff, and Josh Seiden. Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams. O’Reilly Media, 2016. Last updated: 10 February 2021 The information on this page is © 2010-2022 Scaled Agile, Inc. and is protected by US and International copyright laws. Neither images nor text can be copied from this site without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Scaled Agile Framework and SAFe are registered trademarks of Scaled Agile, Inc. Please visit Permissions FAQs and contact us for permissions. © 2022 Scaled Agile, Inc. All rights reserved. What is the recommended order for messages that deliver bad news?Delivering negative news involves a buffer or cushion statement, an explanation, the negative news itself, and a redirecting statement. Whether you choose a direct or an indirect approach, the message should be delivered clearly and concisely, with respect for the receiver and the organization.
When delivering bad news you should always use the indirect strategy to soften the impact True or false?When delivering bad news, you should always use the indirect strategy to soften the impact. Negative- news letters often include apologies; tips for these apologies include being sincere, showing good judgement, and not accepting responsibility for the problem.
In which situation would it be most appropriate to use the indirect strategy to communicate bad news?feedback: The indirect strategy may be appropriate when the bad news is personally upsetting, when the bad news will provoke a hostile reaction, when the bad news threatens the customer relationship, and when the bad news is unexpected.
When delivering bad news you should first determine if the negative information is newsworthy?True (When you must deliver bad news, first decide whether the negative information is newsworthy. Serious offenses must be reported, but trivial, noncriminal mistakes or one-time behaviors are best left alone.)
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