In an era where innovation is crucial to the growth and success of businesses, design thinking is likely not a novel term.

Design thinking varies from other ideation processes because it’s solution-based and puts human beings first rather than focusing on the problem.

Let’s understand the key disciplines that join hands in the design-thinking process:

1. Product Managers (PMs): Think about how the product must be shaped to improve adoption and ensure customer success. They work with researchers to understand how users interact with the product and whether the product meets the needs of the users. They help engineers prioritize the list of features that need to be built. They use product analysis tools such as Pendo, Mixpanel, Jira, AHA and techniques like Competitive analysis, SWOT analysis, and 100$ test for prioritization.

2. UX:

a. User researchers: Understand people who currently use and might use the product and why they aren’t using the product. They conduct surveys, interviews, and usability evaluations using prototypes created by designers to provide the PMs with the data they need to make the right decisions. They use techniques like card sorting, concept testing, and benchmark tests and platforms like usertesting.com and UserZoom to perform unmoderated tests.

b. Product designers: Review the specifications from PMs, think through edge cases, build prototypes – low, medium, and high fidelity, partner with user researchers to validate designs, and work closely with engineering during incremental development. They use prototyping tools like Sketch, Figma, or Balsamiq.

c. Content designers: Craft clear, concise, and compelling language within the user interface. They produce “microcopy” by working with PMs to understand user needs and how the product solves the problem or helps the users complete an action. They partner with product designers to clarify navigation and bridge the gap between context and visual design.

3. Engineers: Communicate with PMs to build applications and functionality for the product and learn about cross- dependencies on other related products. Engineers participate in strategy workshops and customer interviews, identify use cases of the features, and help prioritize features and technical debt. They work with the product manager to establish the best process that helps them build features faster and solve problems at an expedited pace.

Here’s an example of how the triad collaborates to ensure that the outcome benefits both - the users and the business.

In summary, as key decision makers, the team decides whether to “pivot” (change direction) or “persevere” (continue the course) to make sure that the solution is viable from a business sense, is technically feasible, and most importantly, one, which the user desires.

References

• Design Thinking 101 (nngroup.com)

• What Tools Do Product Managers Use? (2023 Guide) | BrainStation®

• UserZoom | UX Insights System for user research and UX testing

• UserTesting Human Insight Platform | Improve Customer Experience (CX)

• A Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods (nngroup.com)

• The 7 Factors that Influence User Experience | IxDF (interaction-design.org)