The Define Phase is a pivotal step in the design thinking process, coming right after the Empathize phase. It’s where the magic of turning user insights into actionable problem statements happens. This phase is all about synthesising the information gathered during empathy work to clearly frame a problem that your team can address with creative and effective solutions.
“The Define mode is when you unpack and synthesise your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge. It is a mode of ‘focus’ rather than ‘flaring.’”
– d.school Bootcamp Bootleg
Objectives of the Define stage
The primary goal of the Define phase is to extract a clear, actionable problem statement from the insights you have collected. Here's how you can achieve this:
- Gather ideas: Begin by comprehensively analysing the information you gathered during the Empathy stage. Look for key patterns, themes, and insights that emerge from the data. This grouping process is essential to understand the basic issues that users face.
- Frame the problem: Once you have a clear picture of the basic ideas, it is time to define the core problem. This is often expressed as a “How might we” (HMW) question, which frames the problem in a way that calls for creative solutions. Make sure the problem statement is user-centered, focusing on users' needs and experiences.
- Scope and focus: Narrow the scope of the problem to make it specific and manageable. Your problem statement should be focused enough to guide the next stages of the design process but broad enough to allow for innovative thinking.
Steps of the Define stage
To navigate the selection phase effectively, follow these structured steps:
1. Affinity Mapping
Organise and group similar notes and ideas from your empathy research. Use tools like sticky notes or digital collaboration platforms to collect relevant data, helping you identify key themes and patterns.
2. User Personas
Develop detailed user personas based on your vision. Personas are fictional characters that represent typical users, which helps humanise data and makes it easier to understand user needs and motivations.
3. Journey Mapping
Create user journey maps to visualise the user experience. This helps identify pain points, opportunities, and moments of happiness. Understanding the user journey is crucial to determining where and how to intervene in design solutions.
4. Problem Statement Formulation
Write a clear and concise problem statement. Use the “How can we” format to frame the problem in a way that challenges and invites creative solutions. Make sure the statement reflects users' needs and the context of their experiences.
Main Principles and Results of the Define Phase
The Define phase in design thinking is guided by several key principles and should lead to specific outcomes that pave the way for successful ideation and solution development. Firstly, it is essential to maintain user centricity, putting the user at the centre of the problem definition process. The primary goal is to meet real user needs and challenges, ensuring that the design efforts are impactful. Clarity and focus are also crucial; the problem statement should be clear and precise, providing a definite direction for the subsequent ideation stage and avoiding vague or overly general statements that can dilute the focus. Additionally, collaboration plays a significant role. Involving diverse team members during this phase brings in different perspectives and insights, fostering open discussions and collaborative synthesis of data.
Successfully navigating the Define phase should result in several key outcomes. One of these is a clear problem statement that guides the ideation phase and serves as the foundation for developing relevant and impactful solutions. Another important outcome is the development of design criteria—a set of requirements that solutions must meet to be effective and user-centered, helping to evaluate and prioritise ideas in the ideation stage. Lastly, achieving a shared understanding among the team about the user’s needs, the problem to be solved, and the context in which the solution will be implemented is essential. This shared understanding ensures that the solutions created are innovative and deeply relevant to users' needs.
Stay tuned for the next article, where we'll dive deeper into the Define phase in design thinking, focusing on how to effectively gather insights and frame problems.
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