Built upon IDEO’s process, “Design Thinking,” is an approach organized around getting the most of humans and not technology.
After all, it is human beings that buy things. It is human beings that speak about your company or your brand. It is human beings that become your customers and must be cared for and satisfied. Technology is just what we use to facilitate the action.
Companies that are competitive, think and act with a mission/ambition in mind at all times. Companies formulate strategies that fulfill on that mission/ambition. Companies design tactics that fulfill on Strategies. No matter if we are designing a strategy or a tactic to fulfill an ultimate goal, we use Design Thinking to help us on our journey to customer/client satisfaction.
Discover – In this phase, as partners, we use the mission/ambition of the company to guide our strategic thinking. We think about the action we wish to take ( Build a mobile application, increase brand awareness, increase sales ) and think about what information we will need to effectively design the action.
Observe – In this phase we go about gathering information for the sake of the action we are wanting to take. We use the information gathered in the Discover phase to do market research (and focus groups if necessary) and make assessments about the intelligence gathered.
Design – In this phase we use assessments made about intelligence to design action. We craft the plan to create action. We build a detailed blueprint used as a method to communicate, coordinate and collaborate the plan to all team members. Contact Vince for a copy of a detailed Design Action blueprint.
Prepare – In this phase, working from the blueprint completed during Design Action, we implement the building blocks that create action. Essentially, we “build.” Coding might happen in this phase. Fulfilling on a marketing plan might happen during this phase. This is where the Mission/Ambition/Strategy/Action comes to life.
Act – In this phase we implement the action to be taken for the sake of the ultimate mission/ambition. This may be the launch of a new product, a campaign to increase brand awareness, a program engineered to increase customer satisfaction, etc.
Satisfy – In this phase the Vaughan Practice will report back to its partner how we performed. We will measure against goals outlined by what we stipulated in the Design Action phase. We will be held accountable for our decisions and recommend action going forward.
