Page 48 - The Design Thinking Playbook

(4) Heighten creativity and find the dark horse among the ideas (6) Determine the vision of the idea with the vision prototype

This step helps many teams to boost creativity further—not least because, for the dark horse, borders The groan zone is the transition from the convergent to the divergent
are lifted, which might have limited us in the previous steps. The facilitator motivates the groups to strive phase. The phases can be changed at any time. Experienced facilita-
for maximum success and thus develop a radical idea. Now the time has come for the teams to heighten tors and innovation champions recognize this point in time and lead
creativity and accept the maximum risk. One possibility for the creation of a dark horse is to omit essential their teams in a targeted way to the convergent phase.
elements of a given situation, such as, “How would you design an IT service desk without IT problems?” In the vision prototype, we make an initial combination of
“What does a windshield wiper look like without a windshield?” or “What would a cemetery look like if no
one died?” The main point is to leave the comfort zone and “do it in any case,” no matter what will occur. • prior knowledge (caution is advisable here),
• best initial ideas,
Instruction: Give the group 50 minutes to build a dark horse and enough time for building a corresponding • most important critical functionalities,
prototype depending on the task. • new ideas of other industries and experience,
• initial user experience,
Ask the group to answer the following key questions: • intriguing insights (e.g., from the dark horse), and
• Which radical possibilities have not been considered thus far? • the simplest possible solution.
• Which experiences lie outside anything imaginable?
• Are there products and services that would expand value creation? Instruction: Give the group about two hours (depending on the
complexity of the problem) for building a vision prototype. It should
then be tested with at least three potential users; the feedback is
DARK HORSE What if? to be captured in detail. In the best-case scenario, these users are
then involved in the subsequent concretization of the design thinking
project. If so-called lead users are known in a field of innovation, they
(5) Implementation of a funky prototype to give free rein to creativity are perfect as references because they are often highly motivated to
satisfy their needs.
In many cases, you have to go one step further because the team has not come up with disruptive ideas
so far. The building of a funky prototype cranks up creativity one more notch. It encourages the teams to Ask the group to answer the following key questions:
maximize the learning success and at the same time minimize costs in terms of time and attention. The • Does the vision generate enough attention so a potential user
goal is to develop solutions that mainly focus on the benefit. Potential costs and any budget restrictions are absolutely wants to use this solution?
completely removed. • Does the vision give sufficient leeway for a user’s dreams?
• Is the value offer of the vision convincing?
Instruction: Give the group an hour to build a funky prototype. • What else would the users wish for in order to make the experi-
ence perfect?
Ask the group to answer the following key questions:
• What crazy ideas are super cool? 1+1 = 3
• For which idea would you have to ask forgiveness in the end?
• What does an idea look like that is realized ad hoc and has not been planned?
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