Page 59 - The Design Thinking Playbook

1.4 How to discover user needs

Priya has a new innovation project. Rumors have it that the Internet
and technology giant where Priya is working will embrace the theme
of health for seniors—a theme and a segment about which Priya
knows little and which, for her personally, is still pretty remote.
Actually, Priya has little time for taking the needs of seniors into Define
consideration alongside her numerous other projects. Her work envi- Understand Observe point of Ideate Prototype Test
ronment teems with people in their mid-twenties; hardly anyone has view
yet crossed the threshold of 50 and can be classed even remotely in
this segment. Her friends and acquaintances in Zurich are all between
30 and 40 years old, and her parents are still working full time and Users
don’t feel they belong in the user group of retirees. Her grandparents,
whom Priya could ask, have unfortunately passed away.

How can we carry out a needfinding when we actually have All these steps have an important feature in common: the direct
no time for it? Or better: How do we explain to the boss that contact with the users, the target group of people who will use an
we won’t come to work today? innovative product or our service regularly in the future.

Priya is aware that the personal contact with potential users—that It is an illusion to think that we are familiar with the lifestyles of all
is, people—is indispensable if you really want to live good design the people for which we develop innovations day after day. Let’s take Self-reflection
thinking. a look at all the projects Lilly has gone through over the last four
years as a needfinding expert: She would have had to be old, visually
Omitting the needfinding is not an option for Priya, because it would impaired, lesbian, a kindergartener, or even an illegal immigrant. Not
mean skipping over an entire phase of the design thinking process. to mention the project concerning a palliative care ward that inev-
Because the phases of understanding and observing as well as the itably would have catapulted Lilly into her deathbed. That certainly
synthesis (defining the point of view) cannot be strictly separated didn’t happen to Lilly. At least not at the time when her task was to
from one another, ignoring needfinding would mean omitting no fewer innovate everyday life for these people in the final hours of life and
than three steps. the procedures at a palliative care ward.

It is important to reflect on ourselves and realize we don’t represent
the people for whom we develop our innovation. If we do, in very
exceptional cases, we must proceed with great caution when trans-
ferring our needs onto others.
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