53 Define & Ideate Planning Worksheet
Design Thinking
Build Empathy with your user/So you can understand their needs and goals/And try to solve their wicked problem: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/design-thinking-process/
In the 1970s, Rittel coined the term “wicked problems” to describe complex problems which are tricky to define, have no set number of potential solutions, and tend to be symptomatic of another problem.
DEFINE PHASE:
A problem statement is an actionable summary of your user, their goals, and what you need to solve to meet those goals. It sets the course for your project’s user experience; however, it shouldn’t include anything about the design elements or user functionality you might employ to solve the problem. Instead, it should provide insight into why you’re designing the user experience to begin with.
- Write down 2 or 3 stakeholders for your community change (wicked) issue.
- Create a Problem Statement(s). I would write at least 2 or 3 problem statements individually. You can choose to focus on one stakeholder or write a problem statement for each stakeholder. Do not combine stakeholders into one problem statement. One stakeholder per statement. Use one of the options below to draft a problem statement or two or three.
[A user] needs [need] in order to accomplish [goal].
Examples:
- A parent of two needs to find high-quality resources in order to successfully teach his kids how to avoid internet scams.
- A young professional who works long hours needs to find a way to work out outside a gym in order to fit in regular exercise.
- A grandparent needs to easily see and speak with their grandchildren, who live too far away for them to see in person, in order to avoid feeling lonely and disconnected from them.
- A single young adult who just moved to a new city needs to figure out where to go to meet people so she can make friends and no longer feel isolated.
Now you try with your topic! à [A user] needs [need] in order to accomplish [goal].
Problem Statement 1 (use your problem-solution paper idea here if you’d like):
Problem Statement 2 (use another stakeholder or same stakeholder as 1 but with a different need or goal):
Problem Statement 3:
- Share your ideas with your group members. Did you pick similar or different stakeholders/users? Did you write down similar or different needs? Did you pick similar or different goals?
- Of your two or three problem statements, which one do you want to work with? Choose one and jot it down here:
IDEATE PHASE:
A prototype is essentially an early, inexpensive scaled-down version of a product or feature—be it a simple paper model or a more interactive digital representation.
- The Design Thinking process enables you to find innovative solutions to wicked problems, driven by the needs of the target user. Write down 2 prototype ideas for how that user can specifically attain their goals/achieve the outcome. You should try to think big here, be creative, and strive for out-of-the-box ideas. While it is not always the case, there is sometimes a technological component within solutions. Only if relevant.
Check out Slides 1 – 4 for an example: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TSTv9s8vDXtclPb6yIGNV9fCemgWogmUK7Zjf41IbzY/edit?usp=sharing
| PROTOTYPE IDEA 1 | PROTOTYPE IDEA 2 |
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- Afterwards, share out initial ideas with your group. We’ll do more work with these ideas and your group members’ ideas next week OR come up with 2 others that you like better over the weekend.
