Design Thinking begins with a deep interest in developing an understanding of the people for whom we’re designing the experience. It helps us observe and develop empathy for our audience. Design Thinking helps us in the process of inquiry: questioning the challenge, questioning the assumptions, and questioning the implications. Design Thinking is extremely useful in tackling problems that aren't well-defined, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, brainstorming creative new ideas, and taking a hands-on approach to prototyping and testing. Design Thinking also involves ongoing experimentation and iteration: sketching, prototyping, testing, and trying out new concepts and ideas. We're inspired by the five phases of Design Thinking, according to d.school, which are as follows:

 

Empathize – with your audience.

 

Define – needs, challenges, and insights.

 

Ideate – by challenging assumptions and creating ideas for innovative solutions.

 

Prototype – to start creating solutions.

 

Test – prototypes to see what does and doesn't work.

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And we at Intelligent Play have added a sixth step: 

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Iterate – modify our design based on what we learned from testing.

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Click on the images below to learn more about our design process.