Design Thinking: Evaluation

In the business world, the final phase of design thinking is where a solution strategy is selected and a business case is made for the viability of the chosen solution. If the previous phases have been enacted diligently, the proposed solution has a very good chance of leading to an innovation.

By now, you have identified an issue or problem in your workspace that can be improved in some tangible way. You have generated a list of ideas that could lead to this improvement, and collaborated with your classmates to gain alternate perspectives and solutions. It is now time to step back from this process and evaluate how design-thinking can be applied to real-world business problems at your organization.

For this Application Assignment, imagine you have an opportunity to meet with the VP of Customer Services. You have 15 minutes to present on the value of the department's use of design thinking to come up with a solution to a problem the team is experiencing.
Submit a Power-point-style presentation with a pitch script in the Notes section outlining your pitch for the use of design thinking to solve a problem. Be sure to include the following, with any other relevant information that you think is essential to an effective pitch:
Identify the potential customers or end users that would be positively affected if the organization adopted the more formal design thinking process.

Explain whether design thinking could be effectively integrated into the organization, and why?

How would you convince stakeholders within the organization of its value?

Be sure to draw on the articles by Brown (2008) and Brown and Anthony (2011) from this week's Resources to support your conclusions.

Brown, T. (2008, June). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 84-92. Retrieved from http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/20331266/20331390/79d67270626d8aca2cb2e933457d14e3

When you think of design in the business context, do you think of the appealing packaging of a product like the iPhone or an iconic logo like the one on the Coca-Cola bottle? Design thinking, in the business context, refers not only to these aesthetic dimensions, but to a creative-thinking process that carefully considers user needs, financial possibilities, and many other factors. The design-thinking method is a new way to bring creativity to each step of the product or service development model. As you read this article, consider how creativity, when brought to every step of business processes, can lead to innovation.