Design Thinking - A Mindset

Thinking generally indicates the way we carry out thoughts in our minds. It is the internal stimuli that trigger our mind and we are bound to set up an image of the thoughts which we carry from our inner instincts. Each of us first perceives the thoughts before it is brought into action. Thus our brain is an active part of the human body which generates those thoughts into action.

Keeping in mind the process of thinking, thinking is divided as

Positive thinking

It means thinking in the right direction and at the right time. Thinking about some positive aspects or views which will tempt us to arrive at concrete decisions. Those persons who always look at positive aspects of life they are called optimistic people. They are generally highly motivated, their innermost perseverance enhances the value of the goal for you and intensifies your motivation level. 

Negative thinking

It refers to those people who look at the darker aspects of life. They are called pessimistic people. They are the people who always think negatively and they cannot motivate themselves as well as others. Negative thinking can cause serious health ailments and it cannot be recovered by medication. 

Thus keeping in view the above-referred points, it can be said that positivity is the supreme power which should be kept in mind as it is said if we have a sound mind we have a sound body and our success in life will come through sound health.

Apart from positive and negative thinking, we can also lay emphasis on the way we design the process of thinking. It is termed as design thinking. It indicates the way people create effective ideas, they brainstorm ideas, they are innovative and thus can put their ideas to work. 

Design thinking combines Creative and Critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organized, decisions to be made, situations to be improved, and knowledge to be gained.

Design thinking is needed especially by the corporate giants to produce better quality products as per the needs and requirements of customers. 

It is often seen that some corporate houses lack behind the competition with other big business houses, this is due to the effect of design thinking, as they fail to design the products as per the requirements of customers. 

We can also see the approaches to design thinking from the points given below:

1. Frame a question

Identifying a driving question that inspires others to frame solutions. 

2. Inspiration

Inspiration is the key to human success. We should inspire ourselves as well as others for thinking and discovering the needs of human beings.

3. Generate ideas

People should generate ideas keeping in mind the various changes into our day to day lifestyle In big business houses, supervisors should also provide an opportunity for subordinates to brainstorm ideas as it will improve the culture of the organization and it will reduce conflicts. 

4. Make ideas tangible

The ideas generated should be put into action. We should build rough prototypes to learn how to make ideas better. 

5. Test to learn

We ought to refine ideas by gathering feedback and experimenting forward.

6. Share the story

Craft a human story to inspire others toward action Success in life comes after hard work. Innovation won’t succeed unless a company’s employees get behind it. The surest route to winning their support is to involve them in the process of generating ideas.

It is the duty of the supervisors to provide an incentive to their subordinates who put an endless effort to work for the betterment of the organization. Incentives inspire them to work more and thus can produce fruitful results that lead to success in the organization.

We need to keep in mind that customers do not use our product for the sake of using it but it is, meant for the Value you provide. When we focus on the bigger picture, we focus on the value, and that will allow us to make more relevant and concrete decisions around the things we design.

Focusing on the value enables us to create something that customers want to pay for, and come back for. It creates Loyalty which is termed as brand loyalty, where customers become loyal to that product only.

By keeping the big picture in mind, we can set the right constraints, tap around the right values with the solutions that fit in seamlessly and make an effort not to create new problems when solving the current situation.

"Designing new products starts with a mindset."

A positive mindset helps us to create innovative designs and it will have a positive impact to create a change. If more of us get a little better at being empathetic and curious, we could get better at providing value in other people's lives. 

Writer: Sudeshna Paul

Editor: Sonal Kamble