Now let’s get started with the Innovation Design Thinking Process!

As pointed out in the previous module, this process will help you develop a good solution to the problem you are working on.

The first step is in this process is to understand the problem you want to solve.

The best way to do this is to put yourself in the shoes of the user or customer that is affected by the problem. What does ‘put yourself in their shoes’ mean? It means looking at the situation from their position to understand their needs and how they feel. We call this empathy.

While understanding the problem, it is also useful to look at any available solutions, technologies or tools people use now and how successful they are. What is still missing from these solutions.

You can also look at how new technologies could be providing new ways of addressing that problem.

Look back at the challenges we discussed in the previous modules. Think about how the technology, social behaviours, business trends, environmental changes and politics are affecting that problem.

Then note down the most important observations that you have about this problem or challenge.