Design Thinking Facilitation
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Design Thinking tasks - Working on facilitate design thinking workshops using stanford d.school's 5-phase methodology. guides teams through empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test phases for human-centered innovation
- Planning or design - Need guidance on Design Thinking approaches
- Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards
Overview
Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.
The 5 Phases
Phase 1: Empathize
Purpose: Build deep understanding of users and their needs.
Techniques:
- User Interviews: Structured conversations to understand behaviors, motivations, pain points
- Observation: Watch users in their natural environment
- Immersion: Experience the problem firsthand
- Empathy Maps: Capture what users Say, Think, Do, Feel
Outputs:
- Interview transcripts
- Observation notes
- Empathy maps
- User quotes and insights
Facilitation Prompts:
- "What surprised you about the user's experience?"
- "What emotions did the user express?"
- "What workarounds has the user created?"
- "What did the user struggle with?"
Phase 2: Define
Purpose: Synthesize observations into actionable problem statements.
Techniques:
- Affinity Mapping: Cluster insights into themes
- POV Statements: [User] needs [need] because [insight]
- How Might We (HMW): Reframe problems as opportunities
POV Statement Template:
[User type] needs a way to [user need] because [surprising insight].
HMW Question Guidelines:
- Broad enough to allow creative solutions
- Narrow enough to be actionable
- Not include a solution in the question
- Example: "How might we help developers understand unfamiliar codebases faster?"
Outputs:
- Affinity diagram
- POV statement(s)
- HMW questions (prioritized)
Phase 3: Ideate
Purpose: Generate a wide range of possible solutions.
Techniques:
- Brainstorming Rules: Defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others' ideas, stay on topic, one conversation at a time, be visual, go for quantity
- Crazy 8s: 8 ideas in 8 minutes (1 minute per idea)
- SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse
- Mind Mapping: Visual exploration of solution space
- Worst Possible Idea: Invert to find good ideas
Outputs:
- Idea wall / post-it collection
- Prioritized solution concepts
- Storyboards for top ideas
Facilitation Prompts:
- "What if we had unlimited budget?"
- "What would a competitor do?"
- "What's the opposite of the obvious solution?"
- "What would make this 10x better?"
Phase 4: Prototype
Purpose: Build to think and learn quickly.
Prototype Types:
- Paper Prototypes: Sketches, wireframes, paper mockups
- Role Playing: Act out the service/experience
- Storyboards: Visual narratives of the experience
- Digital Mockups: Clickable wireframes (Figma, Sketch)
- Wizard of Oz: Fake the backend, real frontend
Prototype Principles:
- Build quickly (hours, not days)
- Invest just enough to learn
- Make it tangible and testable
- Be willing to throw it away
Outputs:
- Physical or digital prototype
- Test script
- Success metrics
Phase 5: Test
Purpose: Learn from user feedback and iterate.
Testing Approach:
- Set up realistic scenario
- Observe without leading
- Ask open-ended questions
- Capture both verbal and non-verbal feedback
- Thank and debrief
Testing Questions:
- "What do you think this is for?"
- "Walk me through how you would use this"
- "What's confusing about this?"
- "What would you change?"
- "Would you use this? Why or why not?"
Outputs:
- Feedback synthesis
- Iteration recommendations
- Decision: iterate, pivot, or proceed
Workshop Facilitation Guide
Preparation Checklist
Time Allocation (1-Day Workshop)
| Phase | Duration | Activities |
|---|
| Empathize | 2 hours | Share research, create empathy maps |
| Define | 1.5 hours | Affinity mapping, POV, HMW questions |
| Ideate | 1.5 hours | Brainstorm, Crazy 8s, prioritize |
| Prototype | 1.5 hours | Build quick prototypes |
| Test | 1.5 hours | User feedback, synthesis |
AI-Facilitated Discovery
When facilitating asynchronously with AI:
- Gather Context: Collect all available user research, analytics, feedback
- Synthesize Empathy: Generate empathy maps from existing data
- Frame Problems: Draft POV statements and HMW questions for validation
- Generate Ideas: Propose diverse solutions using SCAMPER
- Create Artifacts: Generate storyboards, user flows, wireframe descriptions
- Plan Testing: Define testable hypotheses and success metrics
Integration Points
Inputs from:
- User research data
- Customer feedback
- Analytics and usage data
- Stakeholder interviews
Outputs to:
lean-startup skill: Validated problem → Build hypothesis
persona-development skill: Empathy insights → Persona creation
jtbd-analysis skill: User needs → Job mapping
opportunity-mapping skill: Problems → Opportunity tree
References
For additional Design Thinking resources, see: