From Identifying Needs to Generating Opportunities

When companies encounter problems, they tend to jump straight to solutions. Yet, it can be far more effective to reframe the initial challenge on the basis of customers' needs. This is a key component of design thinking, an approach many companies are using to transform some of the seemingly intractable problems they face. Based on extensive research and practice in this area, the authors outline the initial phase of design thinking, consisting of discovering customer needs and generating new opportunities, and they explain how to put it into practice. In addition, they describe under what conditions problems are best suited for design thinking, presenting real-life situations in which it can be applied, and suggesting some considerations for managers to help ensure effective implementation.