About​​​​

​​​​​​​The Design Thinking Process Poster shows the process for Level IV students when doing design thinking. Download the poster and print it on A4 paper, A3, or larger to display in your classroom as a handy guide.​​​​​​​

 

​​​​​​​FIGURE: The Design Thinking Process Poster for Level IV, suitable for printing.  Download the PDF poster here.

 

   

 ​​​​​​​FIGURE: The Design Thinking Process Poster for Level IV in US English, suitable for printing. Download the PDF poster here.

 

The design thinking process

 

EMPATHISE​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​To design something, first learn about the design topic.
• Beware that you can study a design topic almost endlessly.
• Who are you designing for? Those are your users. Learn what they need. Get inside their minds and empathise with them.
• You’ll go a long way with empathy and an enquiring mind.

DEFINE

• What have you learnt about the design topic?
• What is essential, that your design solution must definitely do or have?
• What is optional, that would be beneficial to do or have?
• What is undesirable, that your design solution should not do or have?

IDEATE

• Generate ideas, ‘ideate’ as much as you can. Everyone is creative and can solve problems.
• You get more ideas when you ideate in groups.
• Continue until you have ideas that excite you. Ideas are as limitless as your imagination.
• Work on your ideas, improve them. Combine them into a powerful concept.

​​​​​​​PROTOTYPE

• Make prototypes of your ideas as soon as possible. Build them as physical or working things to show others what you’re trying to do.
• Follow the advice of designers: “fail faster to succeed sooner.”
• Prototyping stimulates the imagination, giving you more ideas. And it’s fun!

TEST

• Test your design solution to see whether it works or not, and what must be fixed or improved.
• Get users to try out the prototypes in a realistic environment.
• Conduct tests carefully. Monitor and record your users’ reactions. What do they say? What do they think?
• Improve your design solution by testing, it’s key to becoming a better designer.

​​​​​​​REFLECT

• Reflect on your design project.
• How did it go? Are you satisfied with the result? Are you happy with your effort? Did your team collaborate well?
• What were your greatest challenges?
• Reflect upon your experience to gain the most from it.