Consulting · Strategy & Change
Facilitators for your design thinking workshop | Design thinking consulting
As design thinking facilitators and consultants we offer you
- Design Thinking facilitation,
- Consulting and preparation of Design Thinking workshops
- Integration of the Design Thinking approach into your innovation process
- Consulting and training in the Design Thinking methodology and running the corresponding workshops and training courses.
Design Thinking: the Method
The design thinking approach starts from the needs of the end user (a “user centric approach”):
Which user personas are there?
What challenges does he or she have?
What might possible solutions to the user's problems look like?
Do they work (really)? Can these solutions be made better still?
If so, how, so that what comes out is a genuinely user-friendly, useful end product that really makes a difference?
These are the core questions to which the design thinking approach delivers valid, usable, workable and relatively quick answers.
The Design Thinking Process
The design thinking process runs in these five steps:
Understand what the problem is (“ideate”)
Define the problem (cleanly) (“define“)
Develop ideas for solutions (“Ideate“)
Develop prototypes (“prototype“)
Test the solution and learn about its functionality (“testing“)
If the results of the “testing” phase are not yet good enough, steps 1-5 are repeated until a prototype emerges that users rate as sufficiently functional and “good / very good”.
Design Thinking Method Toolkit
For each of the five Design Thinking steps described above there is a very broad "toolkit". For every initial situation and objective, every type of product or category of service, there are specific methods – far too many to mention them all here.
But we have described a good many of them in our article on Design Thinking methods, in case you would like to go deeper now.
The Strength of the Design Thinking Approach
Design Thinking workshops are often booked with us (and we love moderating them!) because the method
- avoids wrong turns through its user-centred approach
- and so avoids unnecessary project costs
- and thus saves time, money and ultimately staff resources too
- and as a result gives your internal or external clients better user experiences
- … and your department, your company, your organisation will be respected still more for the value it delivers than it was before.
Examples of Design Thinking Applications
- 01
Product development:
Design thinking can help develop better products because it aligns the development process with the client and their needs. - 02
Service development:
Companies can use design thinking to develop better services by focusing on client needs and creating a client-centred experience. - 03
Process improvement:
Design thinking can be used to improve workflows and core processes, in order to reduce process lead times, improve interfaces and create markedly higher satisfaction among clients and staff alike. - 04
Organisational development:
The user-centred approach can be used to develop strategies, adapt business models and improve structures and processes. - 05
Marketing and advertising:
Design thinking can also help develop a creative and effective marketing strategy, because the design thinking approach puts the focus on the needs and wishes of clients.
All in all, design thinking can be used in every area where the task is to
- solve problems,
- create innovation
- and develop client-focused solutions.
Design Thinking Workshops: Preparation and Success Conditions
To achieve the effects described above, a number of conditions have to be met:
It Needs a "Real" Problem
A product needs improvement, a service is not running smoothly, a process needs to be "overhauled"? The Design Thinking method provides tailor-made solutions for these (and other) challenges.
All Stakeholders "On Board" and Involved
In the 1st phase ("ideate/understand"), valid data is needed from the "end users" who use or experience the service/product/process. The more strongly and impressively the experiences of "real users" flow into the Design Thinking process, the better the developed solutions will fit.
Deep Methodological Knowledge
...(we bring with us).
Sufficient Time
The more complex the problem or the question,
the more different stakeholders there are,
the more different solutions are to be developed,
the more people will have to be brought into the process,
and the longer the process will therefore take.
Rule of thumb: a typical design thinking workshop takes about one day (for the first iteration). Shorter formats are possible, but they do not deliver better results.
Space for Thinking - Material for Visualisation
Generous, airy rooms widen thinking.
Tactile material for building the prototypes makes the solutions developed in the “prototype” phase tangible. That allows more precise and better feedback from test users in the “testing” phase. It makes the work easier for everyone involved and leads to more valuable and more useful iterations.
Prototypical Design Thinking Workshop Process
Here is a typical programme for a design thinking workshop from one of our consulting projects:
Introducing the design thinking coaches
The design thinking method
Defining the challenge
"Helicopter" check-in
1. Status quo grid
2. “5 Whys”
1. User journey
2. “Fields of possibility”
1. Bodystorm, “Facilitated Stargazing”
2. Morphological box
1. Idea napkin
2. “Building” the prototypes
• 3 min per team
How We Work as Design Thinking Facilitators
- We listen
and build a deep picture of the context, the starting situation and the objective - We ask questions
and understand what you need and what may (still) stand in the way of your objective - We propose
an effective and suitable approach from our professional perspective - We agree
what is possible and adapt our approach - We select
We have the right methods for every starting situation and every objective - … and we make you an offer you cannot refuse
with a tailored approach: pragmatic, detailed, with plenty of relevant references, cost-effective and quick to put into practice.
Individual Design Thinking Facilitators or Well-Coordinated Teams
Some Design Thinking workshops need more support than others - especially when it comes to larger groups with many stakeholders involved.
With our professional and highly experienced team we are well equipped for larger projects too.
Here you will find references and client testimonials, along with an overview of the awards we have received so far.
Consulting on Introducing the Design Thinking Approach
If you are not only looking for design thinking facilitators but are considering introducing design thinking as an agile innovation method or anchoring it as a permanent part of the DNA of your company, you have come to exactly the right place as well.
We advise you on how to
- anchor design thinking in your company as a permanent part of your development and innovation process
- Train your R&D teams in Design Thinking
- improve your internal processes with the design thinking method and make them more user-friendly
- achieve better client ratings still in customer service and support
- make your services still more valuable and more client-friendly
- improve your products faster and for good, based on the real needs and requirements of actual users and buyers
Book workshop facilitators
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What clients say about working with us
A very helpful, well-run workshop. The results served us well through the restructuring phase too.
The strategy workshop was exceptionally productive. You kept the group focused on what mattered throughout. We recommend your facilitation without reservation.
It was striking how much came out of our workshop. That was outstanding.
Many thanks again for the excellent collaboration, the organisation and the very good workshop results.
I am very happy with the consulting. The workshop moved us a long way forward. Thank you.
You prepared our workshop thoroughly and precisely. Both the method and the facilitation fitted our objectives very well. We were able to carry on working very successfully with the results. Many thanks.
Four days of workshop and still playful, creative, inspiring and well structured, with good methodology. Thoroughly recommended.
Thanks again for the excellent workshop — we have already started putting the first ideas into practice, and enjoying it.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with you, personally and professionally, and it was a great pleasure to run this workshop with you.
You facilitated our two-day strategy workshop very professionally. It was a demanding brief and the result is very good. Thank you for that.
A big thank you for facilitating the workshop. We came out of the day as a team, with a good sense of togetherness and a clearer picture of the way ahead. The workshop was well worth it.
Thanks again for the excellent workshop — we are very happy with the outcome.
Free initial consultation
Contact.
We have more than 21 years of experience and would be glad to advise you. Book your free initial consultation – we will get back to you.