A shared understanding

Define Point of View

In the third phase of the Design Thinking process, the team analyzes user data and other research results. In doing so, it focuses on the problems and user needs that are essential for the project: this creates an individual view of the team on the project topic.

From this perspective, the team develops new ideas in the next step.

Excursus: Observations vs. Insights

We seek close interaction with users when developing new products and services. Through these exchanges, we gather new insights, which usually lead to a better understanding of the needs of the people we have identified as users.

In the best case, these are insights that are not already obvious to everyone, but are novel, perhaps even controversial. Based on these insights, there is an opportunity to develop new offerings.

Method: Storytelling

It all starts with storytelling. The team tells each other the user stories from the interviews.

Story from a project

Our coach Selina has accompanied many projects at the HPI School of Design Thinking and the HPI Academy. A special moment for her is the evaluation of user data from interviews. Not an easy matter: "But so extremely important for the further project", as Selina says.

Selina knows what it's like when the team feels "surrounded" by data. The important thing now is to find a common starting point.

The method briefly explained

The interviewer gives his impressions and adds important statements with the documented quotes from the interview. The quotes that the team intuitively finds appealing are documented together.

The effect: everyone on the team has a shared understanding - a sense of ownership over the user stories emerges. User stories can be short episodes in the life of a user, as well as routines, or long periods of time.

Extended: The team session on the method

The team has conducted a series of user interviews and is now coming together to share the findings.

Method: Nugget Frame

In our projects, it has worked well for teams to first collect all data so that it is visible and accessible to all. For this purpose we use the Nugget Frame.

The method briefly explained

Instead of analyzing data from interviews and observations together step by step, team members have the opportunity to intuitively select individual data points and frame them with a Nugget Frame.

These data points are discussed together and initial links to other possible data points are sought.

Extended: Team session on the method

After our team has collected the data from the user interviews and made it visible to everyone, each team member now chooses which data they individually find promising. They frame this data with a nugget frame. The team discusses their selection and finds a narrative entry point into the analysis of the user data.

Method: Point of View

With the Point of View, the team focuses on a problem or need that is particularly promising in the context of the project. This requires active interpretation.

The Point of View in the "Keep the Change" project

The case study of a design thinking project at Bank of America shows how valuable it can be when teams engage in in-depth discussions with users.

At the time, the team noticed apparent inconsistencies in the way a single mother documented her purchases in a household ledger. This observation led to the creation of the new "Keep the Change" format - a great commercial success for the bank.

The Point of View in the "WayGuard" project

A well-known case study for a successful Design Thinking project: a team from Axa Versicherungen interviews people to find new insights into their needs for safety.

They get to know a young woman who often feels unsafe alone in the city and has adopted an interesting behavior for this purpose. Based on this observation, the team develops a new app that causes a sensation: WayGuard.

The example shows that we cannot rely on users to articulate their needs to us. We often have to observe their behavior and draw our own conclusions.

Excursus: Insights vs. Ideas

Most organizations have lots of ideas. That is the good news. But most of these ideas fail, i.e. they are not successfully implemented and introduced into the market. In most cases, it becomes apparent quite early on that an idea cannot work. More viable, on the other hand, are the insights on which the ideas are based.