A recent article from Birmingham, Ala.-based bank BBVA’s Momentum social entrepreneurship program describes a five-step process to ensure the most effective form of design thinking.
1. Empathize: Before brainstorming even begins, put yourself in the consumers’ shoes to better understand the challenges that need solving.
2. Define: Filter through the information gathered in the first stage to determine which challenges are most in need of attention.
3. Ideate: Brainstorm a variety of possible solutions, without getting too attached to any one idea or worrying about thinking too far out of the box.
4. Prototype: Construct early drafts of the potential solutions that seem most plausible to make it easier to visualize whether and how they would work.
5. Test: Finally, test the prototypes with actual consumers to identify any flaws or shortcomings before choosing one solution to develop on a broader scale.
More articles on innovation:
UCLA launches federally funded innovation hub for medical tech, digital health
Medtech investment firm launches with $225M fund
America’s Most Innovative Leaders: 24 healthcare leaders on the list
