Design Thinking: It’s about the people stupid

Week two was a “Creative” week on the calendar at Boulder Digital Works, although the previous week’s “Business” focus and this week’s “Technology” leaning have brought out plenty of creativity from the 12 of us.

The main focus of week 2/60 was Design Thinking. We started by watching a couple videos from Tim Brown of Ideo, moved on to redesign the water fountain and a system for getting people to drop bottled water and then were exposed to Lane Becker, founder of GetSatisfaction.com and Winston Binch of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky.

Two crucial elements of design thinking that we explored throughout the week were returning design to the big time by using it to create tools and systems not just objects and products and putting the user at the center of everything you do. These notions are changing the world of design and that’s almost hard to believe because they’re so basic. If the user isn’t at the center of design considerations who is? Wouldn’t every system and product be better and more successful if the creative team behind it considered the end user in the design process?

The concept of user centered design doesn’t blow your mind, but the idea that this hasn’t been the norm does. Alex Bogusky and John Winsor explore this in their new book Baked In.

Our work with design thinking led nicely into our round table with GetSatisfaction.com’s Lane Becker. That couple hour session was definitely one of our favorite modules so far. GetSatisfaction.com creates an online space for customers and companies to interact. People can ask questions of fellow customers, talk about a company, their products and their offerings.

GetSatisfaction fits perfectly into design thinking because it’s all community interaction, listening, evolving and adapting.

I think week 2 will be crucial as we move forward coming up with ideas, creating sites, systems and various projects. We’ll be doing our research, creating personas, asking questions and tilting our heads sideways to ask the powerful questions that can change everything.

We started reshaping our perception at week’s end by totally moving around all of the furniture and creating an open studio in the back of BDW. It’s been a great change of perspective.